Under Pressure
I am continually amazed and impressed by the stoicism that the English show in a crisis.
Today a unique accident occurred on the A12 between Marks Tey and Colchester. I don't know the exact details but it involved a vehicle on fire and gas canisters in the vicinity at risk of exploding. Both the A12, the main thoroughfare through East Anglia, as well as the train line, were closed to all traffic for most of the day.
As a result, replacement bus service was established between Witham and Colchester, with trains running from London to Witham. However, because the main road was also closed, alternate routes were heavily clogged and buses were running very slowly. So by the time I got to Witham, there was a queue of, I would guess, over a hundred waiting for buses.
I thought things would only get better over time so I walked into town to get something to drink, find a toilet, and wait things out in a more relaxed manner. On my return, I saw this had been a bad idea as the queue was now about a quarter of a mile long, with no buses in sight.
But you know what? There was no whining. Some complaints, of course, but spoken jovially and in an air of camaraderie. People were orderly and patient and quite agreeable. It's as if Englanders are closet Buddhists - very able to accept situations beyond their control and bear down and tolerate them.
By the time I got within a busload of the front of the queue, the trains started running again, so my timing was probably ideal as, if I'd gotten on a bus, I'd probably have been much later. All in all, I was only about two hours late. And the mood on the train was quite jovial at the passing of a crisis shared by many.
Today a unique accident occurred on the A12 between Marks Tey and Colchester. I don't know the exact details but it involved a vehicle on fire and gas canisters in the vicinity at risk of exploding. Both the A12, the main thoroughfare through East Anglia, as well as the train line, were closed to all traffic for most of the day.
As a result, replacement bus service was established between Witham and Colchester, with trains running from London to Witham. However, because the main road was also closed, alternate routes were heavily clogged and buses were running very slowly. So by the time I got to Witham, there was a queue of, I would guess, over a hundred waiting for buses.
I thought things would only get better over time so I walked into town to get something to drink, find a toilet, and wait things out in a more relaxed manner. On my return, I saw this had been a bad idea as the queue was now about a quarter of a mile long, with no buses in sight.
But you know what? There was no whining. Some complaints, of course, but spoken jovially and in an air of camaraderie. People were orderly and patient and quite agreeable. It's as if Englanders are closet Buddhists - very able to accept situations beyond their control and bear down and tolerate them.
By the time I got within a busload of the front of the queue, the trains started running again, so my timing was probably ideal as, if I'd gotten on a bus, I'd probably have been much later. All in all, I was only about two hours late. And the mood on the train was quite jovial at the passing of a crisis shared by many.
posted by Michael Nelson at 12:01 pm
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