Wednesday 16 May 2012

From Yorkshire to here?

This evening, when I left the train after my commute home, I was asked direction by a lady who had left the train. I say a lady, but she was I think a few years younger than me. She looked completely disorientated: she had some address scribbled on a piece of paper, was watching a map on her mobile, etc. She had a British accent, but I couldn't find from where, it was very particular. I couldn't help her as I had no idea which place she was looking for. Thankfully there was another local (read: a genuine local woman who spent her life here) who could help her more. But in this short conversation, I learnt where she was from (once she was reassured someone could help her she seemed eager to tell us): Yorkshire.

I sometimes get fascinated by my fellow train travellers (Miss Clint Eastwood for instance, or a South African ticket inspector, or simply people I see daily). But people who travel so far a distance to end up in a small British town, for whatever reason, are the most interesting. I saw French and Italian tourists here, people coming for conferences, guys from Eastern Europe (I think), a football player from the West Indies, a crowd of strangers. I am not a local myself, I never felt like one, I just happen to live here, so I relate to these people.  Yorkshire is not exactly a foreign land, but in train it is still a very long distance. Often places become more real when you know what distance you need to go through to get there, what odyssey you have to do. This town I live in now, Yorkshire, or where the water is deep. I wonder what my readership thinks about it. Maybe I am just rambling.

3 comments:

tao.owl said...

I don't think you are rambling, in fact I found this to be very interesting. I am very much an observer and love watching people. I can also empathize with the the woman from Yorkshire. I have been lost many of times in foreign areas. Sometimes, when I ask for help, people will not even acknowledge me once they hear an American accent.

PJ said...

Je pense que tu devrais dire "peculiar" à propos de son accent, et non pas "particular", qui est beaucoup plus rarement utilisé en ce sens in English, du moins de ce bord-ci de l'Atlantique...

The Gill-Man said...

In a somewhat related note, my niece has a friend visiting her from Yorkshire! He's a great guy, so we're all hoping they get married and start reproducing (okay, it helps that he's an incredible chef! Yeah, I'll confess that I want him to stick around to make us all amazing lemon tarts and yorkshire pudding!!!)

To answer your question...no, you weren't rambling at all! In fact, I understand exactly what you're talking about.