God, Belly Dancers, Hookahs and Ooompah

Not a typical evening on the tube, but it was our office Xmas party last night and we all trooped off to Queensway tube to have an evening of Morrocan food, belly dancers and hookahs at Casablanca and then the die hards (me included) went off to the Tiroler Hut for a very late night of singing and swinging large steins of beer (see my colleague's blog for a short report on the office party).

So where's the God part? I got separated from the rest of my group and ended up walking to Oxford Circus by myself to get on the Central Line. Due to advanced "walking the streets of London and getting on at the right end of the tube" skills - I managed to arrive about ten minutes before everyone else, even though most of them left five minutes before me. ("You got a taxi you couldn't have possibly got the tube", my colleagues moaned.)

Anyway, outside Oxford Circus tube station was the Liverpudlian guy with the loudspeaker who talks about God and Jesus. He's there every year. I spose he does it there as Oxford Circus is one of the London Underground's busiest tube stations and the tube station of the gods of consumerism. It was about 7.40pm when I arrived so shopping had died down somewhat, but there is was shouting down his megaphone into the depths of Oxford Circus. (Apparently he's either called Phil the Preacher or Terry and this guy is responsible for buying his megaphone)

So why does Terry do this? Faith, conviction, an urge to lead us to the paths of righteousness? It is Xmas after all. But no one seemed to be listening, everyone heading home with shopping or like me off to celebrate.

I spose it's similar in a way to blogging. Why do people blog? Why the urge to open their lives up for the public to see them? The urge to shout in cyberspace whether anyone may or may not be listening? The urge to try to make a difference? To own one tiny space on the internet and hope that you can slightly effect another person or people for just a minute?

If my blog or any other of the blogs in the Guardian Awards or any of the blogs we link to, have made you think - "yeah I'd like to have a go at this blogging lark" - fantastic. Long may it all continue.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Friday, December 19, 2003 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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