Surge and the cargo pant monster

Oh. My. God. What's the deal with Waterloo train station (London)? It was 5:30pm and my friend had suggested meeting at said train station. No wuckers! 4 stops from work .. dead easy place to meet. Ha! After elbowing my way out of the underground, I arrived at the overland train station. I got swept up in the surging sea of humanity. Honestly, if you stopped still for as much as a nanosecond you'd be obliterated ... at the very least someone would let fly a string of profanities at you. It was overwhelming. I wanted to lie down and curl up into a foetal position (if I wasn't so scared of being stampeded!). It was completely insane. How can so many bloody people fit into one relatively small place.

I got there a little early and took the opportunity to peel off and find safety near a pillar. Oh! A little time to indulge one of my favourite past times ... people watching! Ever done it? It's soooo fascinating! Tall people. Short people. Skinny people. Fat people. People with immaculate dress sense but unfortunate faces. Others who really shouldn't have been allowed out their front door in the ensemble they were strutting around in. Old shoes. New shoes. Obviously expensive shoes. Pink hair. No hair. Facial hair (was that a chick or a bloke?!).

I spotted my mate. We stoically fought out way out of the station - against the flow. Oh! Brilliant move, bright sparks! We made our way down to the river and found a little Italian restaurant. I immediately made a move for the menu and studied it. Hmm. Soup. Fish. Risotto. Likely to be suitable. Chicken. Pasta. Pizza. Hmph! I so know I'll have dilemmas with that (especially as I'm still meant to be on soft food). Thinking. Thinking. Thinking food. Thinking, I should tell my mate I'm not going to eat much. Thinking.

"Hey, I still really don't have a huge appetite since my op."

"Don't worry .. you're sitting next to a human waste disposal!" Ah, bless!

I ordered risotto. My mate ordered chicken with a variety of vegetables. I sipped tiny sips of water literally up until our meals were served. Once again, I had the experience of my mate well and truly finishing his meal before I had even put a dent in mine! I saw him giving my risotto the hairy eyeball. The bloody stuff was getting cold faster than I could eat it. After a small burp, I figured I must be full - no definite hard stop sign but better to quit while I was ahead. My mate polished off the remainders in no more than 9 heaped spoonfuls!

We sat soaking up the last of day's rays and talked about life. A dessert menu appeared on the table. "Up for it?", my mate asked. "I might've lost my appetite but not my dessert reservoir!". I ordered a delicious, creamy panacotta. Bellisima! Very nicely satiated .. we wondered back down the river to the station.

***
People can be so mean without ever opening their mouthes (myself included). I watched this very large girl board the train dressed in exercise clothes brandishing a brochure from a local gym. She fought her way to an empty seat and forced her bulk into it. To be polite she squashed her body well and truly into the partition to her right to ensure she wasn't encroaching on the space of the person beside her. I watched as people stared at her. I watched as people looked at the brochure she was studying and then at her. You could read their minds. I wanted to yell, "At least she's trying to do something about it, you oafs!". I refrained. It probably would've been seen as a little anti-social and attention grabbing. But at the same time, I was a bit of a hypocrite. I looked at her majestic mountain of flesh ... her overflowing apron tummy and cringed. I felt sick. I felt for her. I felt for me. That could very well have been me one day.

We both disembarked at the same station. I trotted up the stairs. I could hear her huffing and puffing behind me after only three stairs. I was so wrapped up thinking about this woman I've never met that my face was nearly gobbled by a cargo-panted monster! Yup! My face nearly ended up in a woman's bot-bot as she stopped to answer her mobile. Don't you hate that!

Obesity.
It's bloody everywhere.
It destroys people's lives .. their self esteem, their health, their relationships.
Dear God ... please let this band help me.