Points: The location — The queue at the counter — The nerve-centre.
Every railway station has a ticket-counter. It is a window with a small opening. It Is meant for receiving money and issue tickets. Inside the window is a booking clerk. He counts money, calculates the balance and presses out the proper ticket or tickets. For minor children he has to issue half-tickets.
Outside the ticket-counter there is always a queue. There is always a last-minute rush for buying tickets. There is one window reserved for ladies. But even there, the rush is heavy, particularly on holidays. Some rough people try to elbow their way up to the window. They do not care for standing in a queue. Then follow exchanges of hot words. Challenges and counter-challenges are thrown. Appeals are made to supposed eye-witnesses. Luckily a third person may arrive just then to mediate and restore peace. This is a common scene at any big railway station.
If anybody asks me, ‘Where is the nerve-centre of a railway station?’ I would at once point my finger to the ticket-window. They say, all roads lead to Rome. But at any railway station, we can say, all roads lead to the ticket-counter.
Every railway station has a ticket-counter. It is a window with a small opening. It Is meant for receiving money and issue tickets. Inside the window is a booking clerk. He counts money, calculates the balance and presses out the proper ticket or tickets. For minor children he has to issue half-tickets.
Outside the ticket-counter there is always a queue. There is always a last-minute rush for buying tickets. There is one window reserved for ladies. But even there, the rush is heavy, particularly on holidays. Some rough people try to elbow their way up to the window. They do not care for standing in a queue. Then follow exchanges of hot words. Challenges and counter-challenges are thrown. Appeals are made to supposed eye-witnesses. Luckily a third person may arrive just then to mediate and restore peace. This is a common scene at any big railway station.
If anybody asks me, ‘Where is the nerve-centre of a railway station?’ I would at once point my finger to the ticket-window. They say, all roads lead to Rome. But at any railway station, we can say, all roads lead to the ticket-counter.
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