The Monastic Order of Commuters

It struck me this morning as I made my way to work (with a nasty cold that I shared with the rest of the carriage, and indeed took my time to spread through the train as I made my way to the buffet) that the silence on the train is deafening. Only the squeak of the carriages and the unintelligible babble of the "train manager" punctuates the silence.


Where else would you get a few hundred people gathered together in one place and there to be absolute silence? A monastary perhaps. And this isn't the only similarity.


1) Monks get up early in the morning. So do commuters.
2) Monks often spend a lot of time in silence... See above.
3) Monastries encourage the rhythms and routines of life. So does Network Rail - using a timetable.
4) Monastaries serve basic and often tasteless food. So do 1st Great Western Trains
5) Monks spend a lot of time reflecting on God and in prayer. Commuters plead with God that the train will be on time.

This list could go on for a long time... But I think it would be fun if the station manager handed out monks habits for all commuters and the PA system on the train played back track by Enigma or some such gregorian chanting.

While I was looking for photos of monks and trains, I came across the truly wonderful website: http://www.transport-of-delight.com/ Never have I seen so much web space dedicated to something so truly innocent and quite possibly dull.