I'm on the train! by Wendy Perriam

work here full-time?’
    ‘No, twenty-one hours a week – long days on Sunday and Wednesday and a shorter one on Thursday. We get lots of breaks, though, and we’re often not that busy, so I manage to wangle quite a bit of reading time. Actually, I’ve only been here since Christmas. Before that, I used to help out at an arts complex and I also did a spell at the British Museum. I may move on yet again – to a gallery in Bethnal Green, but not unless it’s very much part-time. I consider it unreasonable to give away the whole of your life to work, even work you enjoy.’
    His views really were exasperating and she felt duty-bound to put him right. ‘Unreasonable or no, most of us need to earn a living, so that we can pay the rent and keep ourselves in food and clothes.’ Not to mention handbags, she thought, glancing down at her latest acquisition: a mulberry-coloured Mulberry, which, even in a sample sale, had been something of an extravagance.
    ‘We own far too many clothes,’ was his rejoinder. ‘And eat excessive amounts of food. And, as for rent, I don’t pay it. I’m sleeping on someone’s sofa at the moment and I have an option to join asquat. A guy I know called Boyd is squatting in what used to be a Museum of Antiquities in Shoreditch. It closed down in 2007 and it’s been empty ever since, so Boyd moved in to prevent the local council nabbing it for some nefarious purpose, and he wants me to give him moral support.’
    ‘But squatting’s wrong ,’ she objected. ‘In fact, you could say it was theft – taking over property you’re not entitled to.’
    ‘What do you mean by “entitled”? There’s not just one morality, you know. In my opinion, it’s infinitely more immoral that buildings should stand empty and unused, when hundreds of people have nowhere to live, often through no fault of their own. In any case, once squatters move in, they usually improve the place – do repairs and suchlike and make it habitable. Squatting isn’t easy, though. You have to be prepared to live like a speculative nomad, with an ever-changing tribe, and be able to stand your ground and cite the law, in order to get the heavies off your back. That needs dedication and a good deal of hard graft. But, look, apart from any principle involved, the arrangement with Boyd will benefit me personally. The fewer outgoings I’m saddled with, the more time I’ll have to think. In fact, if I didn’t need cash at all, not even for absolute basics, I’d spend my entire life brooding.’
    ‘Brooding?’ she echoed, sarcastically. This guy really was bizarre.
    ‘In the best sense, yes – thinking out who I am and what my purpose in life is. It amazes me how other people accept the status quo. Most of my contemporaries have gone into jobs they hate, just because the current view is that high income and high status are desirable in themselves. In my opinion, that’s selling out. In fact, it’s outright slavery. I mean, just last week, one of my friends was seriously reprimanded for – wait for it! – wearing red socks. His boss told him, and I quote, the socks were “inappropriate, if not disrespectful to the client”. Well, as far as I’m concerned, he’s sacrificed his autonomy to a company with pretty ludicrous values.’
    ‘You can’t generalize like that,’ she said, feeling increasingly annoyed. ‘I mean, I’m well paid, but I love my job and the firm I work for does have proper values.’
    ‘How can it, Alice, for heaven’s sake? Any PR firm must be severelycompromised, on the grounds it’s willing to push anything and everything in return for filthy lucre. OK, lots of people don’t see the harm in that, but only because they swallow what society keeps telling them about the importance of a so-called good career. My parents are the same – always on my back and nagging me to get a “proper job”. They think I’m wasting my life, because I’m not an adman or accountant. They just can’t grasp