For me, one of the great pleasures of public transport is getting into a conversation with a stranger. But in our age of smart-phones and headphones, where everyone is plugged into their own private space, it’s a pleasure that’s becoming increasingly rare. So when I heard of a new scheme by Transport for London (TfL) to encourage people to chat to each other, I was eager to sign-up.
I admit that I’m not keen on most of TfL’s schemes to affect public behaviour. Has the public ever been subjected to a slogan more irritating – and relentless – than TfL’s demand that we be on our guard and, ‘See it, Say it, Sort it’? And if we’re not looking out for terrorists we’re told to watch out for pervs ‘staring’ at women. And then there’s the constant command to, ‘Be Kind’.
But I like the idea of this one. Their new scheme to get people talking is called, ‘Chatty Cabins’. You get a ride on the IFS Cloud Cable car across the River Thames, a spectacular view of London, a hot drink – and it’s all free! All you have to do is chat to your fellow passengers for 20 minutes or more.
The trip is being promoted as part of a wider campaign to help the lonely. And not just any lonely person, but ‘young, low-income, LGBTQ+, single parents, deaf or disabled, or ethnic minority Londoners’ who, according toTfL, suffer loneliness more than other lonely people.
Despite all my reservations I have to admit that taking a ride on the Chatty Cabin gave me the best day out in London I’ve had for decades. Helpful staff usher you into a purple pod like cabin and suddenly you are floating over London. Before this journey I would have said if you’ve seen one breath-taking panoramic London view, you’ve seen ‘em all. Not true. It was like seeing London for the first time. It takes your breath away – and doesn’t give it back to the end of the ride. The sky was sunny, the ride was smooth and my fellow travellers were terrific company.
They consisted of a young married Asian couple – Jock and Sheena – with their very young baby and our ‘chat facilitator’ Tracy, a young black, Christian woman with a big warm laugh. Why were the young Asian couple there, ‘We had nothing to do today – and it was free!’ Jock tells me with a chuckle.
Usually, when you get into a conversation with a passenger on public transport it tends to be polite and rather formulaic – i.e. where are you off to or how’s your day been? But not this one. According to the TfL press hand out we should have been talking about our experiences of London life. Fortunately, the topic of London didn’t get a look in. Instead we got straight into Love, Marriage, Sex, Death, Shagging and yes penis size.
How did that happen? I’m not sure. Our chat-facilitator Tracy started us off with a question all along the lines of would you say you were a true romantic or was all that flowers and chocolate stuff just a scam?
From there we were off. Topics included ‘What Do Women Want?’ ‘What do Men Want?’ ‘What makes a man a good husband’, ‘What makes for a good wife?’ The women opened up and revealed what they wanted from men; we men opened up and said what we wanted from women; we men shared our private worries about being good dads and our anxieties about being bad husbands.
When Sheena explained what she expected from a husband – ‘it’s important for the relationship that he is a good father’ – I could see the look of worry on his face. Was that, I asked, an expectation he could live up to? Much nervous laughter followed. And when he talked about romance and relationships – he even cited the book The Language of Love – I could see his wife was anxiously looking out of the window.
One of the fascinating topics under discussion was ME! Me and my current love life (and lack of), my marriages and would I have sex with the singer Dua Lipa? For the women the question was would they have sex with Idris Elba?
Half way through our journey I realised that here I was flying across London in this silly purple pod engaged in a full-on, hardcore group therapy session. We were all opening our hearts and minds to each other, sharing some really personal stuff. This would end tears, tragedy or a big group hug.
But there were plenty of laughs too. I was the subject of much good natured mockery – about my age, my American background, my accent. And then I spotted the 60-foot bronze sculpture called Demon With a Bowl by Damien Hirst. And as you would expect from the bad boy of Brit-Art he was anatomically in proportion.
We all had a good look and a good laugh. ‘See it, Say It, Sort It’ I cried. It was a wonderful Carry On moment with lots of double entendres.
I don’t know if the Cosy Cabin scheme will contribute to the problems of loneliness in London and it ends quite soon. I only hope that TfL will make it a permanent feature of London life.
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