Draw

Last night I got quite drunk and talked a lot and listened even more. But last night I reconfirmed (or had reconfirmed to me) my basic character. Then I took that and threw it on its head! Well sort of. Farringdon to Moorgate had quite few England fans on the tube homeward bound from Wembley and for some inexplicable reason I just wanted to talk footie (having stood outside a pub all night before realising in the 82nd min - my first loo stop, see - that it was on inside!) so I asked a chap standing in the doorway what the score had been,
"I take it we won?",
Startled look - no-one talks on a tube, and certainly not a female to a group of relatively plain looking chaps about footie,
"Grunt".
"How was the Wembley experience?",
"OK but still got this stupid bloody journey home after waiting for a tube for ages at Wembley",
"How was Beckham? Worth his place?",
"Not really, well you know",
"So was it actually a good game",
"Not really".
At which point I reached for the Premiership dosh soap box and stood on it.
"Bit like your average Premiership game then? Overpaid Man U and Chelsea players not bothering?"
"You wot?"... suddenly the lights were on and the thought processes behind the eyes were along the lines of she may well be a girl and this may well be a tube and I may be talking to a stranger on it, but I have to defend my beloved Chelsea. "Wot's wrong with Chelsea? Who do you support then?"
I should know better but there are certain arguments that no-one can win but I do like to see them squirm. "Gillingham. Season ticket holder as it goes so I understand the stress of travel. I just resent all the money in your division."
"It could happen to you - we were shite once and then we got a rich man in and now look..."
I resisted saying 'yeah and you are still shite judging from the FA Cup performance' and instead played a safety shot,"Mmm. Your rich man probably only wants your expensive Chelsea plot of land. Who in their right mind invests in teams which are not in big cities? And certainly ones in the out posts of Kent? We need your greedy gits to share a little of the wealth..."
At which point it was Moorgate, I wished them a good evening and alighted.

Alive and feeling on top of the world.

There are certain days when you travel the tube and you really do believe anything is possible. Last night I felt like that. I thought everyone could just shake their neighbours hand and smile. Spread some happiness for a change. Let the commuter scowl drop and see each other as human beings. Individuals.

As it was an older bloke got on at Bank and sat next to me - his son opposite and a bit worried about his dad being on a tube. The chap had a programme from the England game. And there were ticks next to which Brazil players had played. I had my earphones on at this point and ordinarily I would have left it that way... but my dad does that ticks them off. And I wanted to share my vibe for football a bit more. No fights this time I just pointed to the programme and said 'My dad does that, not quite sure what he thinks he is going to do with all those stats but its a weekly habit pre each match' - to which the chap looked a bit taken aback and when he worked out I wasn't a total loony he pointed at his grinning son and said, 'oh yes so does he'. And so I spent the next 30 minutes talking about football... he a Fulham fan. He was not as defensive as my earlier subject and seemed to rue also the shape the sport has taken.

I felt quite elated as I wandered home. The texts I had been trying to send finally went and I felt as if London was my playground once more - not my prison. I realised that without my Gills shirt and hat I was more confident to talk about - I suppose because I looked less likely to care about such matters. Oh yeah and I was drunk and I hadn't spend loads of money and time to go to the game! That perhaps explains my less conversational stance when I go to Gills games... who knows. Maybe team conversations have to focus on stats and predictions - which I fear is definitely a more male past-time. Was good to feel part of something though - football and England.

All that and England drew. Needless to say a Beckham cross was punted in by the Chelsea captain.
Where would we be without these high quality ex Man U players and Chelsea ones?!