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p> My gripe dates back to a time long before TFL and Journey Planner or any of the other delay-verifying software now available. In fact, even before the internet or cell phones!
I used to work at a place just 5 stops away from my local train station and normally the service was marvellous. One particular morning however, I was delayed by nearly half an hour and without any tannoy announcement. The most annoying thing was when I arrived at work late, my supervisor at the time was quite unsympathetic and kept reiterating how I "should have caught the one before" a comment I always found not just unfair but quite unfeasible.
The "one before" could have been derailed, in which he would have contested at "the one before the one before" and so on. If I could see into the future I would have done just that rather than waiting like a numpty on the platform that morning.
I have thought a lot about that comment and realised how people have lost their jobs over it through the years and found that we really have no means to contest it. We have some brilliant apps and websites to verify delays but still nothing to prove you were there even if the train wasn't. Therefore, I would like to propose my low-tech solution :
- Use your phone's camera to take time-stamped snaps of the train pulling up late.
- Take a time-stamped selfie standing on the platform with the station's name behind you.
- Take a time-stamped selfie while on the train with the announcement board visible.
- Show these pictures to your boss whenever they choose to utter this silly comment!
Proving you were there even if the transport wasn't.
By William Appleyard - Founder : Why I Was Late
