Last Train

I'm not sure exactly why, but I had chosen to use public transport for tonight's outgoings. That decision was a bit strange to say the least, since I know it would be a late one and on any other occasion I wouldn't have hesitated to drive. It's a shame that I did though 'cos it meant I had to rush the close of the evening in order to make sure I got a ride home from Mr Friendly Tube Driver. In fact, the rest of the party stayed well into the night.

Not that I know when a last train is, of course. The last time I took the last train home was way back in college. I had just seen Miss Saigon with some friends and had underestimated the time needed to chill out at Leicester Square's Haagan Daaz afterwards. In fact, it was worse than that since we actually got chucked off the last train at Holborn. Night buses are fun, but oh so scary too.

This time I was jammy though. To be honest, I was wondering why Oxford Circus was so busy and why there were so many people running around. When I usually use the Tube late (where "late" is around 10pm for me) it's pretty dead, so this was all very surreal for me. It only clicked after a while (oh, OK, my much more experienced cousin had to explain it to me); everyone was rushing to get the last train home. We hurried and ended up being a good ten minutes early for the last Epping train (and if you know anything about the Central Line you'll know how frequent Epping trains are. Not).

And so we got home safely. Still, it's not something I'd want to get used to. Where I live now is probably safer than Leytonstone, but I don't feel comfortable walking home at 1am wherever I am (in London, that is. Abroad it seems to be much more acceptable). Oh, and of course there is another reason why I wouldn't want to get the last train home ever again: avoiding being greeted by a massively irate mother when all you really want to do is crash in bed. I think you can already guess the last time she was that angry.