Girl on the train

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

A few Thursdays ago, on the 18:56 Eurostar from Brussels-Midi to London St. Pancras, an elderly, dyed-in-the-wool trade union activist broadcast his crackpot opinions loudly to his fellow passengers. With a thin strip of table as the only barrier between them, a middle-aged Finnish couple smiled politely as he held forth.

He only paused once, asking them about their itinerary. The wife explained that they had been taking the train…