This week

for two mornings I have been catching the tube and getting on the same carriage as one of the Partners who works at the firm I do.

I have been in meetings with the individual before and indeed was invited to the client lunch which followed whereupon I was studiously ignored. It was during this lunch I learnt she lived in my neck of the woods, but no-one wants to hear 'support' staff stories so I could not warn her!

My dilemma each morning therefore has been - do I make conversation with said invidual? (and challenge the unspoken order) Or wait for them to make conversation with me? (And maintain the unspoken order) Do I acknowledge but remain tuned to walkman and engrossed in 'Everyman'? (And seem dismissive and rude) Or do I seem so distracted by own world that in fact I am not aware of their presence at all? (Hide behind book and hope for best minimising all awkwardness).

Guess which I did.

Can't help wishing I'd chosen another option.