"I thought you'd like to know. Deirdre is staying with Ken." I'll never forget where I first heard it. Denmark Hill station. The nation was gripped. It was 1983. Would Deirdre stay with Ken or do a flit with Mike? Coronation Street had never been so hot.
The chap doing the announcements at Denmark Hill had broken ranks, he'd strayed from the guidelines to give us the news because being one of us he knew that those of us travelling when it was showing wanted to know. And this, girls and boys, was way before the days of mobiles and the web as difficult as it may be for some of you to imagine such a prehistoric landscape.
It was really quite special. Everyone on both sides of the platforms started applauding and laughing, as did the announcer. Commuters began chitty-chatting to each other and all because one chap shared his whimsy. People who work for people are people too and should be allowed to be so. It is winning behaviour, not destructive or hostile.
There should be much, much more of it about. And there is, as any regular traveller on the tube knows. There's more than a few comedians working down there. It's good customer relations...understanding what's going on and not being afraid to give of yourself, to be yourself, even if it's not in the rulebook.
It should be page one.
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