I’m on the train to Edinburgh, blogging via the handy WordPress app on the iPhone, Mogwai in my ears, and having already done some work.
We’re somewhere near Pitlochry, it’s pitch black outside, and it’s not even 8am.
So why do the two women across the carriage from me feel the need to be ploughing through a bottle of Bucks Fizz?
Honestly, alcohol at this hour would churn my stomach. Mind you, simply being awake at this hour churns my stomach, but that’s not my point.
Why do some people find it impossible to undertake a train journey without enough booze to feed a street party?
I’ve seen obnoxious Weegies tucking into pre-breakfast cans of Special, hen parties and gangs of day-tripping women drinking wine before most folk have had their tea, and even on one occasion a Highland League football referee set about no less than twenty bottles of post-match beer, aided by a belly that indicated significantly greater ability at drinking than refereeing.
Oilies fresh from a month of rig-based abstinence can be excused their tin or two of Export, and I don’t deny having had the occasional drink myself if coming home very late at night after a long day away.
But to automatically compute that train journey equals lots of drink indicates either an addiction, extreme claustrophobia or an inability to entertain oneself.
Train journeys (metaphorically) fly by for me, as I always have work, a book and my iPhone. But maybe I am just jaded. Or smug. Or both.
Now, I wonder if there’s a Buck Fizz app on the iPhone…?
I’ve been known to have a morning pint during connecting flights, especially in Heathrow where I can get a pleasant pint of ale with an all-day breakfast. I doubt I’d be ploughing through cans of Tennents in a morning train; however, a few beers during the journey can help ease the passage of time, just as in the evening at home, a few beers, whiskeys, or bottles of wine help numb the reality for at least a short period.
Re: the Bucks Fizz – why ever not!! Bubbles are great any time and champagne for breakfast is a lovely, decadent treat! Maybe those two ladies were off on a special jaunt for the day and wanted to start in style!!
Happy – bubbly – Christmas!!!
Personally, the prospect of alchohol at breakfast makes my stomach churn (a bit like the prospect of drinking Scotrail coffee at any time of day). I see no problem with people drinking as and when they want. However, as with all things, there are then those who selfishly affect other people’s lives (and wallets) as a result of their actions – people drink too much on a train, start behaving anti-socially, and then cause the train to be late, etc, etc. Alternatively, they drink a lot and their resultant health problems have to be remedied via the NHS (ie paid for by the tax-payer). I don’t mean to sound like a kill-joy, but I get cheesed off when I see limited government resources having to be spent on dealing with people who don’t have the self-control to not drink too much – I’m all in favour of on-the-spot fines which reflect the REAL cost of people’s stupid actions. I take Hilary’s point that they may have been off on a special jaunt, but are they really going to enjoy it if they are rubbered by 9am!
Of course, Scotrail are never going to ban drinking alchohol on their trains as it makes then too much money, but of course the real issue is that the alchohol selection on trains is vast…..whilst the selection of food available is a disgrace!
I suppose it all comes down to context. I need to remember, for instance, that not all rail travellers are as frequent as me, and a trip on the train (or even out of town at all) is a big adventure for some.
Furthermore, there’s probably a distinction to make based on what you’re like when you’re drinking. To that end, the Bucks Fizz brigade are probably okay; the Buckfast brigade less so.