What do you mean I can't get to that meeting? There’s got to be a way, right? The tube system is one of those ‘don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone’ things.
 
Every day, millions of Londoners commute around the underground network. So when the people who operate the trains and man the stations decide to strike, it’s impossible not to notice – it really throws everything out of whack.
 
For instance, getting to a 9:00am meeting across the city would usually be as simple as strolling down to the tube station at the end of my street, swiping my oyster card, stepping on to a train within a few minutes of stepping on the platform and ka-clunk-ka-clunk-ka-clunk, I’m there.

When I found out the tube strike was occurring on the same day as this meeting I needed to attend, I thought “ok, fine, what bus do I catch?” But oh no, I had to realise that I wasn’t the only one with that thought in mind.

On an ordinary day, the busses are about as full as the tubes already, so when millions of people can’t catch the tube, the bus stops overflow with people trying to squeeze onto a bus.
 
I was lucky enough to postpone the meeting – turns out the client I was to meet had decided to forgo the commute all together and work from home that day.
 
My flatmate however, wasn’t so lucky. Working from home was not an option for her so she was forced to brave the mayhem and get there and back some way some how. This involved an ordinarily straight-forward 45 minute trip by tube becoming a 3 hour bussing ordeal.
 
Now a week after the strike, have Londoners taken much notice of the plight of the underground workers? By my observation, it’s all back to business as usual. For the time being that is.

Further union talks are due to begin this Friday with the possibility of another strike.

Oh boy.