My First Day in the Third World

Let me tell you about my journey home from work this evening from the City of London.

The temperature outside was 29 centigrade – hot and muggy by normal standards.

I jumped on the Central Line at 5pm. All and well and good until I got to the Piccadilly Line at Holborn at 5.20pm.

What followed was truly frightening. A journey lasting 90 minutes to Arnos Grove in a completely packed train standing up in temperatures that must have approached 50 degrees centigrade. Included in my trip was a twenty minute stop between Manor House and Turnpike Lane, lessons in many new Eastern European languages and entertainment provided via a caring passenger’s headset in loud rap music.

This wonderful experience on the day that the UK government announced the beginning of its austerity programme with £ 6 billion in spending cuts.

Those train signals that broke down at Oakwood station have little chance of getting fixed. The infrastructure behind the London Tube has little chance of being improved.

The old volatile me would have said “A plague on the houses of those who created the necessity for this austerity programme. You know who you are.”

The new me thinks “Big Society”. Lets understand how we got into this mess and make sure it never happens again – we owe it to the next generation.

In the interim, welcome to the Third World.