How frantic was his search for a toilet?
Posted: 26 Feb 2017, 18:51
I made a reference to a 'what happened next' potential regarding another story. But on the topic of what might have happened shortly afterwards, do any of you remember that I posted the following, I think, just a few days before the old site disappeared so we never got the chance to properly speculate about what might have followed this sighting...
I saw something that (for me, anyway) was brilliant yesterday morning.
I was waiting on a platform at an un-manned station (SW trains) and suddenly a police van pulled up in the open car park adjacent to the platform and three uniformed police officers got out - twenties, possibly thirty. They were all transport police. They came and stood right next to where I was standing and only a minute or so later, a train pulled in (not my train) and I thought maybe they were waiting for someone on the train.
But, it turned out they were doing a random ticket check, asking all those who got off to present their tickets. Unsurprisingly, there were a few who didn't have the right tickets - or didn't even have tickets at all - so it took a while to issue notices or tickets, whatever they were doing.
As everyone finally went, just leaving a couple of us still waiting on the platform, one of the officers said, "I'm just going to see if I can find a toilet anywhere" and he walked off in the direction of the ticket office, which was closed. I saw him try the door and then walk around the side of the building. He came back few seconds later and walked round the other side which just led into the car park.
I could see him walking along looking around him and then he saw another door and again pushed it, but it was closed along with everything else.
His two colleagues were standing chatting as he started to walk back towards them. As he approached, one of then said, "Find one?" He shook his head and said "I wonder if there's a supermarket or anything nearby?"
The others didn't answer and one of them said, "We're going to Alton next, they might have some toilets there" and the three of them went over to the police van.
I'm not a local to the area but Alton had to be around 20 minutes by road from where we were. As they drove off, I saw the officer who had needed to go, take his cap off in the rear passenger seat and sweep his hand through his hair and then seemingly mop his brow with the back of his hand. It was a hot day so maybe he was sweating a but ... or maybe ...?
Aren't there some occasions when you wish you could become invisible and sit next to him in that van for the journey? Especially if they had an unexpected call/delay?
I just love the thought of the police van getting to Alton station following a fraught half hour journey in which they hit traffic several times, as the next train is approaching imminently with a whole host of passengers about to disembark and needing to have their tickets checked carefully...
...and the officer in question scrambling out and in a panic asking a random member of the public, "do you know where the nearest toilet is?" - only to be told "there aren't any toilets here".
It's a bit of a "what happened next" scenario, isn't it?
All three of the officers were probably aged somewhere between 24'ish to 30-ish although they were all wearing caps so it is always difficult to tell. I honestly don't know whether the one who needed the toilet was the oldest or youngest of the three or whether there was much difference between them but maybe that makes for an even better story? He wouldn't have been embarrassed to express his desperation in the company of older, more senior officers, nor would he have felt awkward about admitting to junior colleagues that he was bursting to go.
I don't know why he sat in the rear seat in the van - perhaps he felt that he could stretch out a bit more to ease his predicament? Or even have a few discreet, comforting squeezes?
I wonder how everyone would like to imagine things ending up?
I saw something that (for me, anyway) was brilliant yesterday morning.
I was waiting on a platform at an un-manned station (SW trains) and suddenly a police van pulled up in the open car park adjacent to the platform and three uniformed police officers got out - twenties, possibly thirty. They were all transport police. They came and stood right next to where I was standing and only a minute or so later, a train pulled in (not my train) and I thought maybe they were waiting for someone on the train.
But, it turned out they were doing a random ticket check, asking all those who got off to present their tickets. Unsurprisingly, there were a few who didn't have the right tickets - or didn't even have tickets at all - so it took a while to issue notices or tickets, whatever they were doing.
As everyone finally went, just leaving a couple of us still waiting on the platform, one of the officers said, "I'm just going to see if I can find a toilet anywhere" and he walked off in the direction of the ticket office, which was closed. I saw him try the door and then walk around the side of the building. He came back few seconds later and walked round the other side which just led into the car park.
I could see him walking along looking around him and then he saw another door and again pushed it, but it was closed along with everything else.
His two colleagues were standing chatting as he started to walk back towards them. As he approached, one of then said, "Find one?" He shook his head and said "I wonder if there's a supermarket or anything nearby?"
The others didn't answer and one of them said, "We're going to Alton next, they might have some toilets there" and the three of them went over to the police van.
I'm not a local to the area but Alton had to be around 20 minutes by road from where we were. As they drove off, I saw the officer who had needed to go, take his cap off in the rear passenger seat and sweep his hand through his hair and then seemingly mop his brow with the back of his hand. It was a hot day so maybe he was sweating a but ... or maybe ...?
Aren't there some occasions when you wish you could become invisible and sit next to him in that van for the journey? Especially if they had an unexpected call/delay?
I just love the thought of the police van getting to Alton station following a fraught half hour journey in which they hit traffic several times, as the next train is approaching imminently with a whole host of passengers about to disembark and needing to have their tickets checked carefully...
...and the officer in question scrambling out and in a panic asking a random member of the public, "do you know where the nearest toilet is?" - only to be told "there aren't any toilets here".
It's a bit of a "what happened next" scenario, isn't it?
All three of the officers were probably aged somewhere between 24'ish to 30-ish although they were all wearing caps so it is always difficult to tell. I honestly don't know whether the one who needed the toilet was the oldest or youngest of the three or whether there was much difference between them but maybe that makes for an even better story? He wouldn't have been embarrassed to express his desperation in the company of older, more senior officers, nor would he have felt awkward about admitting to junior colleagues that he was bursting to go.
I don't know why he sat in the rear seat in the van - perhaps he felt that he could stretch out a bit more to ease his predicament? Or even have a few discreet, comforting squeezes?
I wonder how everyone would like to imagine things ending up?