People

[ Source] They clamber aboard at Upminster - they being man, boy and girl - eventually ending up on the seat opposite us. We are on the C2C service from Ockendon towards London Fenchurch Street, the first leg of what we hope will be an uneventful train ride into town; towards Tottenham Court Road for a pitstop at Dominion Theatre for Hillsong. Of the trio who disrupt what peace we’ve had so far, the girl ends up by the window, the man by the aisle and the boy - who can’t have been more than 2 or 3 - in between them. The most noticeable thing about the man is his rather tight shirt, one which his stomach strains at ever so slightly and his flip flops. If I were a betting man, I’d place him as some sort of suburb dwelling city slicker, kicking about with the family on a weekend, slightly overdoing casual in the process, perhaps as his way to compensate for being cooped up in a suit and tie all week. ...

Back… Tired.. But excited in the main. The flight to Luton was delayed both ways (Note to self avoid Luton/ EasyJet like a plague unless it is absolutely necessary) - the small positive being that I saved a shed load of money over what I would have paid had I gone for the full BA shebang through Heathrow. What Luton did though was put pressure on my return trip, I had to catch the First Capital Connect from Victoria to Luton as early as 3pm to make my flight which meant I ended up having to cut short what turned out to be a surprisingly decent weekend away. ...

I caught my first whiff of light headedness half way through my second pint of Guinness Extra Cold – in all its frothy, 3.5 degree chilled gloriousness. The group from work – ever happy for an excuse to hit the town and splurge on the brew – had decided they were up for a second night out, a mere two months after our February jaunt, and that on a Wednesday evening no less. ...

I get the call late – sometime between 5.00 and 5.30pm on Monday evening - as I drag my bone weary self homeward, plowing a lone furrow down Guild and up Union through the masses of people heading home in the opposite direction. A sudden change of plans on The Project has thrown the curveball that is being the designated short term relief in my direction, and being the young, unmarried bloke on the team I get first dibs at the possibility of catching a 9.30 am flight the next morning. With the prospect of performance reviews due in a mere two weeks, I’m not exactly keen to refuse an opportunity to demonstrate my ability to ‘handle changing priorities’, so I shrug inwardly, accept my lot and grumble all the way home. ...

Walking into the phone store in the bowels of the big sprawling mall that sits right next to the hell-hole I currently work at, my eyes are drawn to one of the lads at the till. My first impression is that he is Nigerian - what with his thick lips and his quick and easy smile. I am in-store to activate the 6 month’s free internet that should have come with the phone I bought. After much haranguing from my cousin about my being notoriously difficult to catch, I agreed to buy a blackberry - even though I am well aware of the madness being pinged at odd hours can cause. ...

Any pretensions to still being young I might have had are slowly evaporating. It does look like all around me, there is a slew of people having to face age related health problems. Over the weekend, I learned that someone close had a biopsy and was facing possible surgery over an enlarged prostrate. Someone else had somehow copped an ankle strain in April which hadn’t eased up since then and another one had significantly elevated blood pressures. ...

This morning on my commute into work - whilst plugged into my iPod staring out of the window as the city stirs to life - a little boy and a man I assume is his father catch my attention. They are seated two rows in front of me. The boy cannot be more than five by my reckoning, especially because he is dressed in the navy blue jumper that the school down the road from my stop uses for a uniform. The man has his arm around the boy who rests his head on his side. From where I am sat, I can hear them conversing in low tones. I am not close enough to make out what they are saying but in that moment I allow my mind roam. ...

This week I: Learned that I’m still irritated by text speak and mixed up grammar - when I am not the one dishing them out. Having a supposedly ‘serious’ conversation with someone highlighted this very clearly to me. Learned that the expression ‘appearances are deceptive’ may sound cliche but it can be really true. I have just had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine which segued into territory I never knew she had loads of experience in. Finally got to cross out one more book from my reading list. Kite Runner was sad, engaging and provided an insight into the Afghanistan situation - almost Chris Abani-ish. I loved the hint of redemption in the final scenes. Received a non work related handwritten note for the first time in close to six or seven years, on scented paper no less. The hand writing was horrible, but the gesture was well appreciated by me. Became an Uncle, then a God father twice - all within three days of each other. My littlest sister, and two very close friends all conspired to deliver babies within three days of each other, and my birthday. None of them shares the day with me though. Talk about bad timing! Saw new evidence that convinces me I live in my head - which is well insulated from the world. I went another week without getting angry, happy, sad or feeling any other strong emotion.I think I need for someone to get under my skin enough to make me exhibit strong emotions. That would convince me I am still connected to the world and not in my own cocoon. Got assigned a fancy new title at work - its one of those ones that is as long as your arm, but means absolutely nothing to my pay packet. Tsk! Tsk! Watched two interesting TED Talks - Dan Cobley on What physics can teach us about marketing and Ethan Zuckerman on Listening to Global voices. Acted totally out of character and reached out to someone I would never ever have connected with previously - oh and it was truly altruistic.. at least in my head. Averaged three and a half hours of sleep per night all week - so not good! Off to the comfort of my duvet now.. :)

In one of those moments - of serendipity or plain coincidence, I met someone who I know from Nigeria on the streets. I was chatting with two friends of mine on a particularly busy street when someone walked up to me and called my name. He attended the same church with my parents for a bit, before he moved on to a new town - got a job in one of the so-called new generation banks and quit his University Lecturer job. ...

This provides some background to this and this (number five) She still wore her hair in a ‘fro… still wore only lip gloss… still wore a yellow shirt and black pants….still followed Liverpool… still had the dimple on her left cheek…. still wrote with her left hand… still kept a big jar of peanut butter in her fridge….still laughed at my inane jokes…still hummed whilst making her mean stew! I could be forgiven for thinking that time had stood still…. and it was the first day again….. only she was more grown up… More alluring.. more woman less girl… ...