Observations on rail passengers

I work on a railway in the mornings and there are some of the interesting types of people I meet.

The School run dads.
These people, all men, are dropped off at the train station by their wives quite early in the morning. Not unusual you might think, however, it is their behaviour in relationship with their wives which is. They are subordinate to them, their wives will usually ask them if they have forgotten anything and suggest any items which they might need during the day. Generally, the wives will be casually dressed, as, if not on the way to work but to go home again, to go out to work perhaps at another time. This image is compounded by the presence of school children in the car, as the efficiency of the journey is improved, making one trip for the mother, even more if the children are going to school by train. Once again the mother reigns supreme in the car, all departees must give their formal sign to the mother when they go, a hug, a kiss or the groups participate in a complex display of hand shaking, hugging and kissing, if more than one person is departing. The one nod to the male sense of responsibility in this situation is the driving school run dads. These dads do the same as above, except they are allowed the small responsibility of driving the car to the station, where the wife takes back the responsibility, probably saving the family £4.00 in car park charges.

The car joggers.
These people, usually in the small villages, use the newspaper stand in the station as their local newsagents, not having one of their own. Early to mid morning, between 0800-1030 these people arrive at the station, pull up in their cars, hurry through the ticket office and to the newspaper stand, then back in their cars and away. These people are car joggers, as usually they are dressed in sports attire, whether ready to go to the gym or just to go home to be comfortable and lounge, enjoying the morning paper. None of these people I see are fat or overweight, so they must get some exercise somehow, however it is not though walking to buy a daily paper. Do these people realise the amount of pertrol they are using? Would it not be cheaper to have one delivered to their door, instead of having the hassel of driving to buy a paper? I have nothing against them, they are usually friendly enough and as regulars I appreciate their custom to the newspaper stand.

The post rush hour commuter
These people are businessmen and women who on the whole are working flexi time or going into London for a midmorning or lunchtime meeting. Therefore they can afford to be relaxed in their approach to work and life in general. Usually travelling to London, they typically are more polite than rush hour commuters and have a more favourable outlook on the train system. I admire these people and wish that more companies would employ people like these as they make my job easier, without the aggravation of London employed people.