The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

On my way to Provence, I was enjoying a quiet journey through the French fast train. Don’t get me wrong, “TGV” stands for “Train à Grande Vitesse”, however this is not reflecting the actual speed of the train, at least not in the north-east-south portion I’m currently taking.

What about my western allusion then?

Well, I was deep into my book (Alexander Mc Call Smith, Corduroy Mansion, Volume 1, review to come), when suddenly, the 20^th century Fox music echoed in the carriage. I first thought of a mobile ring, thinking to myself that at the very least it was not that bad a choice.

But as music kept going, I realized that a young man, sitting just in front of me, had simply decided that now would be a good time to watch a movie. Without headphones, that is. In a full carriage. I wasn’t too surprised by people’s lack of reaction, having already experience a similar lethargy in a Berlin subway, when all of a sudden a man emerged in a carriage, armed with a bloodied kitchen knife. Oh, but I’m actually omitting ONE reaction, that of the mid-fifties woman sitting next to me, who then exclaimed “aber das ist immer so, mit dies’Bahn, wir werden noch einmal verspätet sein”. CQFD, as we say in French. That was just the thing that matters.

Anyhow, back to Mr. Fox, since he had interrupted my (and a few other people) reading with his noisy occupation, I took a look at his screen. And I must give him credit for his movie choice, for as dim as he looked, he at least tried to watch a John Wayne movie. Not that I’m much into westerns, but nowadays, I’d rather go watch a good old Indian/Cowboys movie from the fifties rather than an action-sci-fi-special-effects-no-thinking-required American blockbuster. No offence towards those movies, it’s just not my cup of tea.