No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at
Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the
electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide
travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to
take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to
negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went.
Poignant. Heartbreaking.

From the Guardian Diary, Hugh Muir,
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/08/1

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:48:48 +0100
"Recliner" wrote:
No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at
Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the
electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide
travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to
take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to
negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went.
Poignant. Heartbreaking.

Figures. Not only does he not drive but he apparently doesn't even use the
tube or train either. What a perfect choice he was as transport minister.

Presumably to become the chancellor he had to show he had no concept of
what money is or how to balance books properly...

oh , wait...

B2003

wrote in message
On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:48:48 +0100
"Recliner" wrote:
No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at
Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the
electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An
aide travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was
seen to take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users
manage to negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then
off they went. Poignant. Heartbreaking.

Figures. Not only does he not drive but he apparently doesn't even
use the tube or train either. What a perfect choice he was as
transport minister.

He does drive, though as a minister, probably has few opportunities to
do so. Ditto with the Tube -- the back seat of his ministerial Jag would
be his normal mode of transport in London.

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 15:02:04 +0100
"Recliner" wrote:
He does drive, though as a minister, probably has few opportunities to

Well, doesn't or can't, either way, a man who gets chauffeured everywhere
probably with a police escort to cut through awkward queues has no idea of
what commuting is like for the majority of the public.

For all his faults , at least Ken Livingstone used the tube and bus on a
regular basis and eventually passed his driving test. Mind you, transport
was about the only thing he got right.

B2003

Recliner wrote:
No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at
Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the
electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide
travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to
take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to
negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went.
Poignant. Heartbreaking.

From the Guardian Diary, Hugh Muir,
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/08/1


I always said Oyster was a useless, inconvenient white elephant that
didn't work properly. Nice to see someone in authority finally
discovering that fact for himself. Now they've seen the light, maybe
we can get the stupid system scrapped once and for all.

Or is that too much to hope for...?

On Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:30:34 -0700 (PDT), solar penguin
wrote:

I always said Oyster was a useless, inconvenient white elephant that
didn't work properly.

It has many problems, but that is certainly not an accurate
description of it. It has brought many benefits as well.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.