On the train, in...

...the mornings at least, I always try and go for one of four special seats in the carriage (well, special to me, anyway)...these seats are my super leg-room seats that can be found where a rack of 3 faces a rack of two (by the doors at each end of the carriage and also by the sliding doors that we all use to get on and off)...

Today I scored one of the special seats and sat grinning smugly to myself, rabidly consuming the last few chapters of Alex Garland's "The Beach" (which is *well* worth the read, even if you have seen the movie (which was good in it's own way, but did't quite get it right)) all the way into East Croydon (the first stop outside Redhill), where the train normally fills right up...right on queue the crowd piled on, forcing me to shift position slightly (as often happens)...however, this time I grimaced as I went to lift my left foot from where it had been resting (stuffed inbetween the luggage of the person to my left and my Nike rucksack (in between my feet)) thanks to the dawning awareness that it was stuck...not stuck *fast* but more like I had left it to rest for a long period in a huge puddle of pre-chewed, sun-melted, super gooey chewing gum...

It took perhaps 3 greasy seconds to slide it free of whatever it was that I had trodden in... (yuck!)

Dreading what I would see when I looked at the sole (but unable to manuvure myself into a position whereby I could do so by the passing crowds) I just had to put up with visions of other peoples point of view of me when I stepped onto the train, leaving a huge trail of chewing gum, or wet tar behind me (quite unawares)...

This ruined the mood I had been placed in by the book. I spent the whole of the rest of the journey subtly trying to wipe whatever it was off my shoe and onto the carpet, quite without success. Whenever I left my foot in place for more than a few minutes it stuck again, in exactly the same way as before. By now I was having visions of the whole of my sole covered in some mozzarella-like goo...sticking, as it was now, front and back...

At City Thameslink everyone piled back off the train again and I finally got a chance to peer at whatever it was...but mysteriously the carpet, and my shoe were completely devoid of any sign of any sticky material...!

I can only imagine that someone must have dropped a load of colourless glue (or something) into the carpet but my imagination had already done it's job, I'm *still* sat here, left with the feeling that the bottom of my shoe is tainted in some way, even though there really isn't anything there... :(

*grumble*