Traveller's Tale

I get annoyed when people insist that everyone is getting meaner nowadays, because it doesn't fit with my experiences. Which I grant are only mine but ...

While I'm aware that anecdotes are not data, have another one.

So last Friday I was catching the train home to go fencing in Liverpool. Firstly there is a gentleman who is letting people on ahead of him, and would have let me go ahead of him, except I told him to go ahead because the fencing kit requires a lot of manoeuvering. I then greatly amused him with how I get the kit into seats (it involves reversing into seats).

We make good time to Wolverhampton, and then about two minutes outside of Wolverhampton, the train stops. In that bad way they sometimes do.

A message comes over the tannoy saying that the signals are down Stafford (again). Everyone is reasonably calm about this.

Unfortunately, nice gentleman from previously is running low on battery on his phone and all the plugs in the train are not working. So someone else lends him their spare battery to get him at least as far as where she was getting off (Crewe from immediate recall).

As we're going up and down the mainline due to the signals going up and down like (finish simile as you wish), everyone is trying to help other people out. Phones are being lent, papers swapped, everyone is doing what they can. The train crew, who are doing their best to keep us up to day with what's going on, are also joining in, as there are free bottles of water, and tea and coffee for everyone, and free chocolate bars for the kiddies.

Eventually I make it to Warrington but have completely missed the train I was supposed to get, and the next one was an hour away. The station staff offered to let me use the station phone because they knew it was really inconvenient.

Every single person mentioned could have been a lot grumpier and got nothing out of being nice but they were still nice.

As far as I'm concerned, people are pretty awesome, on the whole.

4 Comic Book Movie Trailers - 4 - X-Men: Apocalypse

This is the review that has used all of the exclamation marks.

All of them!

There are those as yet ungotten and unborn whose lifetime's supply of exclamation marks I have used up already. Just a warning.

Mostly because the non-spoilery version of my comments on the trailer are:

!!!
!!!!!
!!
Oh Erik, you idiot!
!!!
!!!!
!!! (squee)
!!!!
!!
!
!!!!
!!!
!! Prof. X. !!!!!!
!

The really worrying thing is that L. actually guessed what all of the non-exclamation mark points were from.

The squee was Mystique's 'that's why I'm here, to fight,' and generally being Field Marshal Mystique with a vengeance. (Because she is my favourite, just don't tell Hank.)

The 'Oh Erik, you idiot!' is the obvious thing, because, you know what, the other three have excuses, by now Erik you are old enough to know better. And then I realise I am ranting at a fictional character (again) and ... damn it, the X-Men have got me, again.

Magneto doing it at least makes more sense than several of the other characters who do it. I'm just deeply amused because my original comment from Apocalypse turning up in the end credits for Days of Future past was "(Gambit cut bit that turns out to be wrong and even worse, long) ... even while going "no, don't believe Apocalypse, because he lies." I can't see them having it be Wolverine that turns into a Horseman because he's very much the viewer's entry character and Apocalypse is the one guy I don't think even Erik would try to use in a "stop humans from killing us". I want to believe that last sentence so much."

And oh I was wrong but I knew I would be and it's glorious.

( Spoilers for the general set up of all the Apocalypse stories )

I try not to get too excited in advance because that way lies disappointment but I can't help myself on this occasion.