Friendliness on the tube

BBC Learning 1 English
London Life

Friendliness 2 on the tube

Yvonne: I'm Yvonne Archer 3 and this is London Life from

bbclearningenglish.com.

Hello! In today's programme, we're talking about

friendliness on London's tubes. Is there any?

As you probably know, the tube is also known as 'the

underground' because the trains run on tracks which are

mainly under the ground or streets. There's usually nothing

to see out of the windows unless we've stopped in a station

and many people read books or newspapers – but talking is

not the done thing!

Now sadly, this lack of friendliness on the tube is

something that tourists to London notice very quickly. So

why aren't people friendlier towards each other? What

reasons do these three American tourists give?

Vox

A. There's not really any reason to talk to anyone. B. I

think it's because it's too loud.
C. It just doesn't feel like the right thing to do.

Yvonne: The first tourist said that passengers don’t have

any real 'reason' to talk to each other – so talking isn't

necessary. And perhaps you agree… after all, we live in a

noisy world so, should we be pleased that we don't have to

listen to other people's voices on the tube?

Vox

A. There's not really any reason to talk to anyone.

 
Yvonne: Our second tourist gave us a more practical reason

which actually makes sense to me. Do you remember what she

said?

Vox

B. I think it's because it's too loud.

Yvonne: Tube trains are so noisy inside that perhaps

passengers don't bother to talk to each other because it's

difficult for them to hear what's being said. I know that's

true for me some of the time. Now let's hear from our third

tourist who talked
more about how people feel when they're on the tube.

Vox

C. It just doesn't feel like the right thing to do.

Yvonne: We heard there how talking on the tube doesn't feel

like 'the right thing to do' – so he would feel

uncomfortable if he talked to strangers on the tube. As we

know, most people like to fit in and behave like the other

people around them - so if Londoners aren't talking to each

other on the tube, why should tourists? And this Englishman 4

agrees – he'd never talk to strangers on the tube and
doesn't believe that others should either…

Vox

Never, I mean I wouldn't have no reason to – we're

English. It doesn't work that way – it doesn't work that

way here; I think they need to know that.

Yvonne: Oh dear – luckily not all English people feel that

way!

Now as a Londoner, when I'm on a busy tube train, a little

smile, a quiet 'good morning' or even a short, polite

comment from another passenger on how full the tube is can

really help to brighten 5 my day – perhaps because it's so

unexpected 6. So how are those 'friendly' people seen on the

tube? Listen out for
 
the noun 7 this London based traveller uses as she tries to

answer the question: Why aren't we more friendly on the

tube?

Vox

I don't know. I suppose there's nothing to say to other

people on the tube and then you come across like a weirdo

if you start talking to anybody about anything.

Yvonne: Did you catch the noun she used there? Yes, it was

'a weirdo' – which is a rather rude way to describe

someone who we find strange, odd 9 or different from most

other people. In her opinion, if we start talking to other

tube passengers, we could 'come across like' – give the

impression that - we're
'weirdos'.

Vox

I don't know. I suppose there's nothing to say to other

people on the tube and then you come across like a weirdo

if you start talking to anybody about anything.

Yvonne: But there's one man who decided 10 to risk 'coming

across as a weirdo' on the tube when he tried to share his

sweets. Steve called BBC Radio London's Breakfast show and

explained to Jono and Jo – the show's presenters 11 – what

happened as a result. Was it good or bad? During his phone

call, Steve uses the phrase 'absolutely packed' to describe

the tube he was on. Try to work out what he means by that…

Steve

Yeah, I once got on a tube and it was absolutely packed.

And I had a packet of Opal Fruits on me and I turned around

to everybody and said "Oh, anybody fancy 12 an Opal Fruit?"

And then I sang the jingle 13 "Opal Fruits, made to make your

mouth water".
(Jo: Oh, I'd fall in love with you if you did that!) The

whole tube went completely quiet.
 
Yvonne: Poor Steve! His tube was 'absolutely packed' so it

was extremely full of passengers but they greeted his offer

with total silence – as he put it, they went
'completely quiet' – so they probably thought that Steve

was a weirdo. Luckily, one passenger did accept a sweet

from Steve but after that, Steve was so embarrassed that he

decided to get off the tube – even though it wasn't his

stop!?

So, was Steve wrong to try to be friendly on the tube? Hmmm

– I wonder about his singing. Perhaps that was a little

bit weird 8!