Epilogue Part 12 and the final instalment of a series on motivation
I first conceived this series and began to write notes as I sat on platform 11 of Birmingham New Street Station. I had my iPad and 40 minutes to kill before my connecting train was due.
I kept a regular watch on the VDUs to check for delays or alterations.
At the scheduled time of departure some intuition drew my attention to platform 10 opposite.
I watched fascinated as my last train departed from there.
Did you miss your train, Sir?
An old joke goes:
Question: ”Did you miss your train Sir?”
Answer: “No. I didn’t like the look of it so I chased it out of the station”
In high dudgeon I marched off to the Duty Station Manager’s office to lodge my protest – why had there been no notification of the late change of platform.
Well there had been no fewer than three tannoy announcements, each of which I had successfully filtered out. I am prepared to attest that Birmingham New Street station is the noisiest place on earth with tannoys announcing arrivals and departures in a near-constant assault of noise. Unfortunately, the video displays had not caught up with this new information and so, satisfied with that channel of information, I missed my train.
There is a lesson to be learned – the next time you feel ready to say, “They should have known; the information was there for them to hear, see read, etc”, take heed.
Thanks for reading.
