I'm not stopping for anyone!

Walking through Central station can be dangerous. You could die! OK, maybe I'm exaggerating but you definitely could get seriously hurt.

I thought, when living in London, when I'm back in Sydney commuting will be a breeze, I have survived Waterloo! I could survive anything. How wrong I was.....

I've noticed people really power walk at transport hubs. They should join the Australian Olympic Walking Team - I'm sure they'd win gold for Australia every time.

After walking through Waterloo station every day I thought I was ready for any level of overcrowding and angry commuters.  I, with my rose-coloured glasses on, use to tell my London friends 'Australians don't act like this we still have manners and are polite'. I was wrong. Well at least wrong for St Leonards station at 8am and Central station at about 8.30am. People are going to get where they are going without delay and if you get in their way you WILL be pushed aside.

I used to wonder how people can be so rude and without regard for their fellow passengers. I could never get to that level - head down, walking fast with arms swinging with the mental attitude that if someone gets struck by a swinging arm or suitcase/handbag or luggage items, it was their fault for not watching where I was walking. Like walking with your head down meant you could feel somewhat better about what you were doing; you didn't have to see the faces of those people you barged pass. It also limited the chance that if you pushed a friend or work colleague out of the way you could hope you were not seen and continue pushing (literally) on. I tried once or twice. I was in a bad mood after stepping out into another cold and dark morning and was ready to give this style a try. I bumped into two people, apologised, then walked with my head up dancing my way through the crowd until it was time to face the gauntlet of the tube.

But scarier is the person with their head up knowing what they are doing. Those commuters with their heads up, walking faster than the Olympic Walking team and willing to knock you down without hesitation or even a pause - surely, they are not human - they are machines in disguise.

I think those commuters are lucky there are people like me who dodge and weave when navigating their journey through the transport hubs. But the 'me's of this community are a dying bread. We slowly get sucked into the world of the rude commuter and question why we continue to bother with showing a sense of decency and courtesy - it gets you nowhere, and actually makes your journey slower - as the crow flies the distance from station entry to train is 100m, my city to surf dodgem track adds at least another 20m to this journey.

I wish I could sit on a highchair and watch these commuters and show them later when they are relaxed and their 'normal self' a video of their behaviour, surely, they would be outraged by how they conduct themselves. Probably not.....

Or maybe just sit and watch the carnage and then get off the high seat when peak time is over and be glad not to be part of the rat race.