Paper round

on the day:
11/04/2012


on the way:
A man just spoke on the train. 
Not to his mate sitting next to him, can you believe it, just a few weeks ago we were wondering whether we'd get into Europe and now I reckon we're nailed on for third. 
Not to his child who is on holiday this week so must accompany him to the office because his wife's colleagues can't be expected to watch over the boy again, however well-behaved he is, especially compared with Ansa"s brat, this isn't a creche you know. 
Not to the incomprehensibly invisible entity who turns out to be on the receiving end of a hands-free kit who may or may not care what "he's turned around and he's like..." but the rest of the passengers in the coach certainly don't, especially not at that pitch and volume and over the course of 25 seemingly interminable minutes. 
Not to the incomprehensibly invisible entity who turns out to remain invisible but more comprehensible as the provenance of the faint but distinct and unavoidable smell of dried-on human urine becomes clearer in the shape of that bloke with the. unrestrained beard in the irredeemably stained parka. 
No, to the skinny chap in red trousers, khaki green jacket and dark grey beanie. Whom he has never met. Probably. And he has said, "Sorry, that newspaper next to you..." The rest of the request goes unspoken but fully understood. Without need for any more words the pre-used Metro crosses the carriage, left to right, from the train's perspective, right to left from mine, over four people, and its recipient hunkers down happily with the puzzles page. He likes to have the morning paper crossword solved.


on the pod:
Lose It (In The End) - Mark Ronson and the Business Intl


on the front page:
Briton's murder exposes power struggle in China (The Times)