Looming large through the early morning mist
The 6:23am to Glasgow Central
Half-filled with the less than half-awake
Pulls in to platform 5
I take my seat and my ritual begins without thought
Case – up above, jacket – to my side
Ipad to the left, phones to the right
headphones plugged in to the ipad and my ears in turn.
Something is not right
Millions of years of evolution
Tells me instinctively that something is out of place
Though it is not clear at this stage what that is.
It takes me a minute, maybe two
To work out that, whatever it is, it’s something
To do with the man in his fifties, sitting three seats up
and the other side of the aisle
My eyes scan him briefly
His double denim apparel
His streaked silver hair
His eyes, tired and bloodshot
But tired and bloodshot eyes do not make someone standout
Not even double denim
You have to remember that this is
The 6:23am to Glasgow Central
It’s not clear what I’m looking for
This isn’t a rational review
My eyes scan him as thoroughly as they can
While still avoiding eye contact – I’m English after all
And then I see it – there on the table
White painted metal
Tall, slender, with hints of green
And flashbacks to less controlled times
And slowly it comes properly into focus
Slimline gin and tonic
In a can
On the 6:23am to Glasgow central
There’s a certain defiance – arrogance maybe
No attempt to hide
And I can’t work out whether that’s good or bad
Whether I should applaud or condemn
There are other questions
Dancing around my mind
Such as how do I recognise
That shape so well
What does it say about me
That I’m judging his beverage
As I pull at the ringpull
Of one my own many addictions
Knowing that, were the train
To be going in a different direction
Albeit a few hours later
Those slender cans might be on my table
Why do I feel so smug
At his drinking slimline gin and tonic on the 6:23 am to Glasgow Central
When I would quite happily drink slimline gin and tonic on
The 3:17pm to London Euston
And I’m left with a single, disturbing thought.
Do those eight hours
And fifty four minutes
Really make such a difference?
(c) Michael Gurner – April 2019