We Londoners are notorious for moaning about public transport, and with today’s tube strike I’m not about to break the mould.

Money? Safety? Working conditions? Sandwich allowances? To be honest, I’m lost on what the tube drivers are striking for today. And suspect many of them may be too.

For anyone unfamiliar with the current state of Trade Unions vs Big Employers in this country today, a quick perusal of any of our papers will reveal characters of Pantomime-esque proportions. Union representatives are usually cockney barrow-boys made good, thugs-in-suits, apparently electing their leader as the one with the thickest neck. Employer representatives are usually aloof ex-Oxbridge twats, whose cold personalities convey impassive explanations of their company’s position.

Stubbornness is the order of the day. So ‘Boooooo!’ and ‘ Ssssssss!’ to the lot of ‘em. Because the losers in any strike are, of course, the General Public. The Common Taxpayer. People Like You And Me.

But I’m not about to get up on my high horse, as today’s strike made me catch a bus. The journey, despite taking three times longer, provided me the rare opportunity to take in some great sights and great people-watching.

After a twenty minute wait for my bus, I leave the fading reddy-pink shopping centre of Elephant & Castle, which I affectionately refer to as the ‘Arse of London’, behind me. Traffic slows approaching Waterloo, but eases beyond the IMAX cinema. As the Thames shimmers beneath the bridge I spot press photographers with their extended lenses, taking shots of the hordes of suited commuters for tonight’s inevitable ‘Travel Hell’ headline piece. The bus rattles past historic Somerset House to the right, cuts across the Strand and meanders up Kingsway past Holborn. It continues through Bloomsbury and the recently regenerated Russell Square before hitting gridlock by Euston. After a quarter-hour sat tight, we’re moving again and soon at Mornington Crescent, from where it’s a only a short drive through Camden with its colourful markets and shops, tramps and goths then eventually, eventually, eventually… Chalk Farm. Hallelujah!

It’s good to travel overground. But I’m not relishing the journey back. And not holding my breath for this latest dispute to be resolved.

Breathe, breathe…

Related posts:

1. TfL huh?
2. Huh? There’s a tube strike?
3. London transport rocks!
4. The Chunnel
5. Photoblogging London’s Tube strike