It’d been a long night. My girlfriend and I travelled all the way to Hounslow which, let’s face it, might as well be Cornwall. Still, it was for a charity pub quiz, so we had fun and got to do some good. It was gone 11 when we left. 11pm! I was knackered, and looking forward to getting home and having a cup of tea. Plus we had an episode of Only Connect recorded. That’d be good.
About two stops later a group of whippersnappers boarded the train. I looked up from my book as they boarded. They’ve clearly had a lot to drink before they left home. And they’ve probably been mixing drinks. God, and I thought I’d had an indulgent night because I had fish & chips with nary a leafy green veg in sight.
My middle-class upbringing gives me a natural caution around groups of young people (which is doubly true when I’m one of them). I look up from my book and decide to spare them my wrath (which would of course consist of harrumphing quietly and praying none of them heard it). They’re clearly out celebrating and aren’t doing any harm. Still, I keep an eye on the exits and plot how long it’d take us to nip out at the next stop and hop onto the next carriage.
More people are joining the group with each stop. They now number around 20 and can’t all sit together. When the next batch join, my girlfriend and I offer to shift up so more of them can sit together. They fully appreciate this and suddenly I’m accepted as one of them. At the next stop, some of the people opposite us get up and leave the train. I know their game, fleeing to the next carriage because there are young people in this one. Terrible.
We get to talking and it becomes clear they’re out celebrating a 19th birthday and are off to the only nightclub in the UK with a swimming pool. They say this as if it’s the greatest idea ever, but to me it sounds like a Health & Safety nightmare. Surely there’s not enough chlorine in the world to clean the mixture of bodily fluids which must accumulate by the end of a busy night? And as for the logistics, well where do you put your towel? So many questions.
Now as I write this it occurs to me many of you might not know anything about me. And it may surprise you to discover, based on everything I’ve said, that I’m 24. Only 24, damn it! I should be going out with my friends like this, having wild nights and seeing the best of the London nightlife. I’ve lived in Shoreditch for two years now and it’s taken a random encounter with these people, barely younger than me, to show me what is on my doorstep.
When we leave the station we say goodbye and wish them a good night. We leave them cheering and whooping in one direction as we head another, towards home.
I turn to my girlfriend and say “what do you think of trying out that club some time?”
“Definitely!” she replied. “Not tonight though, I fancy a cup of tea and a bit of telly. Besides, where would you put your towel?”
photo credit: @Doug88888 via photopin cc
