Dear LPG readers, 

I am one of those pensioners who makes quite a lot of use of my freedom pass and, unlike all the people who now use their public transport travelling time to multitask as they spend every spare moment doing something vital on their mobile phones, I still find myself indulging in a much older travelling-pastime that harks back to the days when the mobile phone was the sort of technology that you only saw in Sci-Fi films.

Even though I now have a smartphone, I spend much of my travelling time observing the world around me, including a certain amount of blatant people-watching.  I remember a time when many more commuters indulged in that pastime as we all rolled down the street (or along the train tracks) because the only natural alternative was a book or a newspaper.  

During my daily journey to work, I had lots of time to hone my skills back in the day.  It was harder not to be seen taking too much interest in people back then because so many more of us were all doing the same thing.  So the art of being able to speculate as to what was going on in the minds of fellow travellers was also mixed with assessing what they had worked out about your thoughts as all those glances did as much travelling as the passengers.

Now, even though most commuters travel with their heads buried in a bit of technology, I still focus on things a little further afield as I study the expressions that we can see much more of now that the lower half of most faces are visible again. 

Not so long ago, I noticed one young man with a phone in hand, but a quick look at his demeanour showed me that the bus was not travelling fast enough for him. 

I know the feeling because it is one I have experienced on many an occasion, although, at my time of life, my days of mentally willing any mode of transport to go a bit quicker are long gone.  I wondered if he was on the way to an interview and thought about how fortunate we retirees are not to have to hurry that much anymore.   Now that I have retired, I have nearly forgotten what those days were like, but the strained but hidden expression of the young commuter’s face got me remembering the daily dash.

 I wonder if you remember that feeling, or perhaps you were one of those ‘always on time’ workers.  Either way, the fact that we don’t have to hurry as much has to be counted as one of the definite advantages of retirement.

NI, Crofton Park