Story Time (3) The Case Of The Busy Train

Up until about 7 years ago, I didn't have a car of my own. I would take trains, buses, taxis and the offer of a lift whenever I could. Sitting on a busy train in full Santa get-up was interesting.

On one occasion, I had agreed to attend a wedding fayre where I could meet future happy couples in the Glasgow area.

I filled my briefcase with everything I thought I would need (probably far too much to be honest), and hopped onto the train.

This was a Sunday morning and the train was busy. Lots of people were heading to the wedding fayre, many were going into the city to watch football, and some were heading home after a good Saturday night out!

I didn't want to take up an extra seat unnecessarily, and my case was too big to fit under the seat, so I pushed it into the overhead rack and sat under it.

We trundled along the tracks for almost an hour until we reached Argyle Street Station. My stop was next: Glasgow Central.

I stood up, apologising to those around me, and reached up, past the seated and standing travellers, grabbed the handle of my magic filled case, and pulled. It was stuck! I pulled a little bit harder, and then harder still.

It came free, and so did the lock. The case burst open, sending playing cards, dice, poker chips, silks and fake bunnies all over the carriage!

It was a real close call as to whether I was more embarrassed or more panicked about getting everything together before my stop.

The crowd laughed and tutted in equal measure as I crawled between feet, umbrellas and carrier bags. Some haha reached out with my belongings, and I just managed to get everything into my case just as we reached the station.

I left that train with a face redder than the back of my playing cards and to this day, I can't believe I retrieved everything. Maybe I didn't. Maybe the train cleaner that night found a lucky poker chip, or a funny looking coin.

Either way, I was just glad to get to the venue and pretend that I was cool, calm and collected, rather than the sweaty, panicked mess I actually was!