There is the tacit contract we have each with the other, (no abuse, no assault etc.), and there is the very real and tangible contract between rail passengers and carriers.
The latter was torn to shreds, the former crumpled on the one hand and violated on the other. [the distinction is gross because of the physical contact]
What keeps this issue going here, so far removed in time and space from the incident itself, is the placing of oneself within the scenario and the adoption of the conflict to represent and replace some personal slight in the life of the observer. [the second point here is a guess on my part, but a reasonable one (?)]
Might it be too much to ask that instead of, "yob/mouthy git/tourettes sufferer" vs maligned hero we were to consider, "unfortunate traveller vs industrial leviathan"?
It is, after all, a situation involving two mother's sons and one grasping-gormless-giant. A Pantomime for the times?
Happy Christmas eve to all.
