Apparently, I don't Hate FGW enough
When I started this blog, I was angry. Livid. To mention the words "First Great Western" to me were unwise, as they would spark a lengthy rant, full of expletives. I was highly pissed off.
I feel I should mention this at this juncture, because I have recently come under attack from someone who feels I am not angry enough, and am some kind of champagne-sipping toff who gets narky if commoners try to invade my space in the first class carriage.
It's true that I'm not as angry as I was, but to be honest, I don't think anyone could have that much energy, as being angry is pretty hard going, even for a few days, let alone for 18 months, and makes you liable to lose friends and alienate people. What I did instead was start a blog, in order that I could share my ranting with others with a similar hatred of FGW. And then, I moved house, in order to be nearer to my work. And then, I discovered the alternative service of South West Trains. And, all of these things have made me calmer, because I am opting out of the thing that makes me angry. I think this is called anger management. And, I suggest to Samuel Roberts, rather than simply being angry for its own sake, it's better to try and find out why something is making you angry, and to do something about it. It helps me to be sane, whereas you sound like someone I'd be very frightened to share a train carriage with.
But, I now have the honour of someone blogging about hating this blog, the imaginatively titled "I Hate I Hate First Great Western". Please visit it here: http://ihateihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/
In other news, my car has sold in a rather alarming three days, leaving me to mourn its absence, as I really am rather fond of driving. However, the bundle of cash I now have in its place enables me not only to pay the troublesome unexpected tax bill I mentioned in a previous post, but also to invest in a shiny new bicycle. I haven't been this excited since I was a child, and got a bright red shiny racer for Christmas. How I loved that bike. I hope I am able to be as fond of this one, as it will help me to get over the loss of my four-wheeled friend.
23 comments:
"It's better to try and find out why something is making you angry*, and to do something about it**."
* Half-arsed moaning from the first class Port Salut and Cabernet Sauvignon brigade
** http://ihateihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/
Tickets Please is the summation of my commuting life, inspired by all the train companies I've used, their happy fun-filled staff and the friendly considerate customers I share my life with. I added my poem to this site because other people share my experience of using public transport.
Love it, hate it or delete it, do whatever you want, my poem won't make one jot of difference to the running of the railways, FGW, commuting, finding a cure for cancer, learning Japanese or anything else. Neither will this blogging community at their Evening Primrose Cricket Match get together with tea on the table after the first innings and old Wobbly Mac pulling pints of Best behind the bar.
I'm sure most of the noble folks on this site feel very strongly about the state of First Class policy, the turnout of lower classes and all the rest, and my heart bleeds for them. Tickets Please does not fit into their Stilton scented, crystal chandelier conception of commuting pain: good. If it did we would live in a joyous world, the sound of twittering tits berry nibbling in the bushes by the train tracks, fluffy bunnies bouncing around in happy land and all of life's troubles would melt into the ether under a blissful halo sun.
I wish it were true. Then I wake up cramped and stuffed into a factory seat amongst the other sardines, see a pair of tits nut nibbling on the station and have the indecency of being accosted by rent-a-cop skinhead thugs in the name of revenue protection.
My hope for a better world is restored every morning and efficiently destroyed when I buy my way back on to the depressing platform amongst the other automatons going through the motions of life. That is what I hate.
err you seem to have a nutter stalking you.
Anyway - calling it a "racer" dates you (as it would me). Apparently they call them road bikes now :/. Strange as I thought all bikes went on the road (even most of the mountain bikes). But really hope you enjoy it.
Just discovered your site after writing a letter of complaint about the rude, aggressive and obnoxious FGW member of staff - Mr Hennessey - who was on the 9.39 from Newton Abbot to London on Sat 19th July. Has anyone else met this charming chap?
Loving your site - keep up the good rants!
Mr Roberts appears to hate his fellow humans/passengers as much as FGW
I too have come across aggressive Revenue Protection staff. Most unpleasant.
I got rid of my car some months back. It's not too bad.
Sorry about that peeps, my fault. I replied to Mr Roberts on his blog and he seems to have posted his counter-argument on his blog, my blog and your blog.
Still, you may have to sit through my counter counter-argument and his response yet because I'm not quite finished.
The biter bitten! Funny as F***
Insider, you don't argue with the mentally ill, you pat them on the head, say "there there" and get them sectioned.
Jo m ... awhhh, was diddums made buy a ticket?
Just because somebody doesn't give you the answer you want to hear does not mean they are rude. It usually means you are being a tosser.
Insider don't argue with the ill pat head there, get sectioned.
Absolutely right
I'm considering applying for a job at FGW. What do you reckon? Should I?
looks like we have ourselves a little comedian....
ever occured to you the problems you have with fgw has little to do with frontline staff on the trains who have to follow rules and guidlines otherwise they lose their jobs. and if they occasioanlly seem pissed i would be to if i had to put up with the likes of you at work samuel, and i don't work for them or have any connections with the railway in any way. i'm just an average commuter like most people who understand sometimes the problems are higher up the scale who hide behind staff lower down to take the rap.
why don't ypu do everyone a favour and if you hate fgw, or rail travel in general for htat matter, then do sometihing about it like contacting fgw yourself instead of critiscing someone who deos something about through creating a blog like this or abusing people who try to defend fgw.
I haven't abused anyone on this site. Regarding what I've "done" about FGW, see my comment above and I submitted a formal complaint recently, blah-blah-blah, no one cares, won't do any good etc etc. And if I decide to work at FGW I imagine you would change your opinion about front line staff very quickly.
Have a fun commute, friend. I know I won't.
I really wouldn’t worry too much about our misanthropist friend.
You, and the many, many people who agree with your views on First Great Western, are doing a sterling job in sharing your experiences of this company. Those who are fortunate enough to enjoy an acceptable level of service from them are welcome to dispute your comments, and I suspect they will do so by providing an evidence-based argument to support their claims. This is to be welcomed in a democracy.
Who really cares about a misguided tirade from someone with an apparent tit fetish? We can only assume he referes to the bird variety. Whilst he appears to have a general disappointment in life, we can only assume that the author and contributors to “Ihatefirstgreatwestern” only have to bear similar frustration for the period between stepping into and out of a railway station (and possible the odd hefty tax bill). And we all pay dearly for it.
Regardless of the class you travel, you generally pay a high premium for your journey on First Great Western, and indeed all other rail companies. If you choose to travel beneath the yellow stripe, you will find that you actually get very little for your extra money. And whilst Mr Roberts is labouring under the misguided impression that it is the domain of the elite, it is possible to pick up off-peak first class tickets for little more than standard tickets if you know where to look. Regrettably, if he does, he will find no wine or cheese in first class. At least on Virgin Trains you get a sandwich and a drink (alcoholic or otherwise) if you have upgraded. You can’t even get a bag of crisps on First Great Western included in your ticket price. But happily he will also discover a rich and diverse cross section of life, all of whom have availed themselves of the more reasonably priced off peak fares. The elite generally tend to drive their S-Class Mercedes to work, rather than go through this.
First Great Western has real problems. Unmotivated staff, overcharged and disillusioned passengers, and a timetable which is at the mercy of the shocking Network Rail. Their trains are some of the oldest in the UK, and the new additions have been sent off to Hull because they fail to make the grade.
Our misanthropist may have a point – perhaps one voice may make no difference. But this blog is more than one voice. It is many, and they do read them because their corporate communications people will be watching these blogs on a regular basis.
Sharing his eternal misery with the rest of the world is something that may offer the misanthropist an opportunity to vent his spleen, and I am personally delighted we can help his with his burden, but don’t let that deter you from sharing both the positive and negative experiences of your dealings with this company. If I treated my customers in this way, I would simply lose contracts. You make sure you keep up the good work.
I was assaulted by three FGW employees at 7:45 this morning at Newbury station - can any one help me with bringing an assault case againsts them as they seem to think they are untouchable
I like tits. Cyanistes caeruleus - blue tits, often seen in hedgerows between Reading and Basingstoke. I compared these honest British birds with the unsavoury drunken copulators that hang around train stations after dark.
Calling me a misanthropist is a bit strong, and I thought I'd made that fairly obvious by now, like the tits above, at least for those of us who are capable of abstract thought.
I don't hate humankind. I hate seeing people load themselves onto cattle trucks every day, like zombies, or volunteer Auschwitz inmates, to fulfill pointless menial tasks for other people, under the facade of work. This isn't work: it's life, it's our life time which we will never get back, five days a week vanish from seven, for what?
People are mirrors reflecting life in all its infinite aspects and we fall like drops of rain in the ocean of the world in our quest to make a difference. First Great Western is a very small obstacle in the path to happiness, alongside the greater threats of work, bills, taxes (et al) illness and death.
Bravo to this blog, let them hear your roar and prepare to be disappointed by the blandness of the response you will get, if any.
Typical, I haven't read the site for a couple of weeks and it looks like I've been missing some very amusing lunatic rantings!
They say that you haven't made it until you have your own stalker...
This will make you all feel better. A pigeon dropped a stealth turd on my shoulder on the morning of Suicide Tuesday. I walked all the way to my platform, which was packed, and stood there for, hmmm, ten minutes engrossed in a novel about naval heroics during the age of sail, before a very concerned looking lady pointed out my decoration. I felt mortally embarrassed, quit the station, and was late for work.
I shot a pigeon recently and felt guilty about killing it for target practice. I made a point of hand feeding a pigeon at Reading station to try and even things up, but it clearly didn't work. At the very least I hope it crapped on someone else.
So, have you lot changed the world yet? It looks the same to me.
Are you mentally ill?
all FGW haters are all utter asswipes
I am currently researching a one hour TV investigative programme about the state of the nation's rail services.
We are in the very early stages of research and would like to talk to some commuters about their experiences.
I have been reading the posts on this website with interest and I would really appreciate it if I could talk to you in greater detail on the phone.
If you feel passionately about your train journeys - if your are frustrated and angry, or if you are very happy about your experience with trains - please email me to arrange a time to talk
My email: trainsandrail2009@googlemail.com
Many thanks,
Jessica
A year on, this puny site hasn't achieved anything, the pretend haters have gone back to their executive wine tasting jobs, FGW is still shite, and this poxy blog is our only testimony on how pathetic trying to change anything is.
So well done you lot - clap clap clap - good job.
"It's better to try and find out why something is making you angry*, and to do something about it**.
How do we make customer service staff more intelligent?
I have written the same thing 4 times now and got a different patronising response each time. They're not even consistent.
Arrrggghhhhh, they desperatly need new web design too, links rarely work, the booking system is full of loops you can't get out of..
and now my tickets are on their way to someone in my old house.
does anyone have a phone number that doesn't start with 08? I can't phone them from abroad.
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