Is it just the cooler weather, or are Evening Standard readers normally this cold-hearted? The story of 41-year old Claphamite Lee Roberts, who nearly came a cropper when his bag got caught in the doors of a Northern line train at Clapham North, has received short shrift from commenters on the paper's website.
"It's your own stupid fault" and "he brought this on himself" are two, not atypical responses, while a number of commenters are incensed by Roberts' decision to wear his rucksack on his shoulder; an annoying trait, certainly, but one deplorable enough to deserve being dragged face-first into a brick wall?
The most barbed vitriol is directed at Mr Roberts' request that the next train be halted while he retrieved his belongings from the track: said one class warrior, "City types need to realise that the world no longer revolves around them". Staff at the station were unsympathetic to his pleas, and Mr Roberts retrieved his belongings himself, without a helping hand from from his impassive fellow commuters.
While compassion isn't London's strong suit, blaming the victim is a little extreme, and clouds the bigger issue — that neither the driver nor station staff seemed aware of what was happening.
Image by Martin H
