The joys of commuting.

[deird_lj]

Usually, train station announcements are the same old standard boring and unintelligible.

This morning, however...

At Richmond station, the loudspeakers were being used so that a very intelligible announcer could rhapsodise about the joys of commuting, and going to work.

Seriously. He was saying things like:
"...and isn't it great getting to go through our glorious train system, knowing that a productive day's work is waiting at the other end? We're thrilled to have you using our public transport this morning, so sit back, relax..."

It was... odd.

Comments

[silveronthetree.livejournal.com]

Very odd and I'd imagine very disconcerting. I had a complete wtf moment because I also commute to a station called Richmond (the one in London).

My favourite train announcement moment was coming home on the last train of the day and the conductor saying "Do not fall asleep, once you reach Staines you have reached the point of no return". (i.e. no more trains back until the morning. This is particularly funny if you have ever been to Staines, it has quite an interesting reputation and is best known for being the home of Ali G.

[deird1]

I had a complete wtf moment because I also commute to a station called Richmond (the one in London).

Ahh, the joys of Australian place names...

From what I can gather, all the British settlers felt incredibly homesick when they got here, so they started naming things after bits of Britain ("New South Wales" being a prominent one). So we have Richmond, Brighton, Belgrave, Laverton, Malvern, Fitzroy, Newmarket, Sandringham, Croydon, Cranbourne, Albion, Alphington, Brunswick, Strathmore, Preston, Lyndhurst, Melton, Newhaven, and Sydenham.
(All in Melbourne, and yes there are definitely more. I found those by looking at a map of the city, and randomly googling the English-sounding ones...)

Plus "Launceston" in Tasmania, and an entire island filled with place names from the Isle of Wight.

[silveronthetree.livejournal.com]

That would explain it. The names are repeated all over the place in England (for various reasons). The Phillip Island thing is awesome. The Isle of Wight is my field area for my PhD, but it would have been a lot more exciting and possibly a lot less muddy if it had been near Cowes, Australia!

[klme.livejournal.com]

We drove through Stratford upon Avon (in Gippsland) today ;)

[louise39.livejournal.com]

Does your train system have drug testing?

I'd be very worried...

[deird1]

I really was...

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

...scary. O.O

[deird1]

Very.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

I suspect his mate bet him that he wouldn't dare do that...

Or else it was his last day before leaving that job and he wanted to have fun.

[deird1]

Heh. Very possibly.

[taiba.livejournal.com]

Can you tell that their contract will expire soon?

[deird1]

Absolutely!

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I think that's kind of fun. Certainly unexpected.

[deird1]

Definitely fun to listen to - if a little weird...

[padawanspider.livejournal.com]

The fellow must be heavily influenced by Douglas Adams. :D

[deird1]

Hee! Probably!

[snickfic]

That's fabulous. Service workers with a sense of humor FTW.

[deird1]

Absolutely. :)

[klme.livejournal.com]

No, that guy is famous! Has his own Facebook fan club and all! Apparently he announces that way all the time and people love it. Read Mx, he features quite often.