Sliding Doors

Everytime I take the Tube, as the buzzing alert starts to go off followed not long after by the carriage doors closing, there is always someone who rushes in (or try to rush in) at that very second to squeeze into the 10cm (and slowly decreasing) of space. I see that everyday I take the Tube - without fail.

Why is that? It's central London, so there's always one train every 3mins or so. Does getting to your destination 3mins earlier really make that much of a difference? Fair enough if you're rushing for another train at the other end, but I often wonder how many of these people actually have another train to catch. Or is it a streak of competitiveness in people to try and get the earlier train wherever possible, regardless of time (and safety - seeing some people putting their limbs at risk as they try to stop the doors closing!).

As I wondered aloud to my colleague today, he reminded me of the film Sliding Doors and how catching an earlier/later train could potentially change people's lifes. I thought more about it and realised that there have been instances in extreme cases where catching the earlier/later trains affected lives. Take the July 7 bombings for example. Some people reported that they would have caught a particular train/bus but couldn't make it in time. Similarly, some people unfortunately were caught up in the explosions because they caught the train they wouldn't normally have.