Happy New Year?
So, I had just left Wembley Arena after seeing Kylie Minogue in concert, so, of course I was buzzing, if not a little de-hydrated (my hand was tingling and I couldn't feel my gums?!?!). We started our mad dash to the train station to catch the last tube, to catch the last train to Sevenoaks, where the car was parked. We managed to catch the tube back to Waterloo Station, but then things took a turn for the worst! The entrance was closed and everyone was told to go to another entrance. We panicked, as the last train was just minutes away, so we ran like our lives depended on it, through the crowds. Still dehydrated, I was finding it very difficult, and then when my shoe almost fell off, I started to get a bit fractic. Eventually we came to a halt, as a crowd of possibly over a thousand people was gathering at the other entrance. Needless to say, we became part of that crowd, and there were many more behind us as well. There were police everywhere and they weren't letting anyone in because "there were too many people" (well, what can you expect just after midnight on New Years Eve?) People were outraged and started pushing. It just got worse and worse and they were only thinking of themselves. There were children in the crowd, but they didn't care who they were hurting. And they were hurting people. At one point I honestly thought I was going to die, as I was so crushed that I couldn't even breathe and I could feel my body losing circulation and my ribs were almost at breaking point. A woman next to me had launched into a full scale panic attack, and through my tears all I wanted to do was cuddle the poor woman! People in front of me were desperately trying to shout some sence into the crowd, mainly so that the children didn't get hurt. The police were standing almost next to me and the woman having the panic attack, but did they try and fish us out? No, of course they didn't! All they did was keep shouting for people to move to the side. All this created was more pushing, as the people on the far side weren't having any of it and stayed put. Eventually, the crowd started to break up, and I almost lost grip on my cousin's hand. To be honest, I was a blubbering wreck, which was not my finest moment. Finally, we all got out and stood by a police van wondering what we would do. We had missed the train long ago, and there was no way we would ever get into the station. We decided to go and get some food. I don't think any of us were hungry, but there was nothing else to do. After we had eaten, we decided to just go for a walk. It was cold and wet and we had nowhere to go, so it was all we could do to keep warm and sane. We eventually found another underground station and thought that if we managed to get to Charing Cross, we might be able to get somewhere, maybe even home, if we were lucky. But no, we just ended up at Charing Cross Station. By now it was about two o'clock. We sat in a corner in the station, on the floor, and set ourselves up for a camp out with loads of other people who were also stranded in London until morning. After a while, we decided to go for a walk to kill some time. We walked around the streets, passing many other people, who were either still celebrating the New Year, or stranded like us. We ended up in Westminster, and I found a coffee shop. It was the first open building we had found since leaving the station, so we went in for a coffee and a sit down. There were a group of other strandees in there too, but it wasn't long before we were all kicked out for closing time. It was now four o'clock. We went back to the station and found a wall to lean against. The station was full of policemen. There must have been fifty of them randomly walking around and rocking on their heels. About all they actually did was go and wake up anyone who fell asleep, which was kind of them. A while later, a policeman came and told us that the station would be closed at five. We asked where we could go, and he just shrugged his shoulders. So, we were back on the streets again. By now it was raining, and my jeans had soaked up so much water that it was up to my knees and all in my shoes. I couldn't feel my feet, but it didn't seem to matter. There was nothing we could do. We walked around and saw so many famous places that would have been quite enjoyable if we weren't all so cold and tired and pissed off. We ended up standing in a shop doorway in Regent's street for quite a while, and at one point were joined by three young Welsh people who were also stranded. One of the girls was wearing a skimpy dress and strappy, open toe shoes, which made me feel a little warmer for a brief moment. Cabs kept tooting at us, and we would have taken them up on their offers if only we had somewhere to go. After a while we decided to see if we could find our way to Piccadilly Circus, in case there was something open there, but the rain came back and we ended up standing in another shop doorway until six, when we decided to go for another walk, eventually making our way back to the station for seven. We were walking along and a man came towards us asking if we had any change, as he couldn't get home. My uncle gave him the few pennies that he had in his pocket as it was just about as useful to us as it would have been to him. As we were about to cross the road, a man came towards us from behind and grabbed hold of my arm. He was drunk, and he lost his grip, but continued to try and grab at me, but luckily another man came along and pushed him over into a huge puddle that we had just been avoiding. He sat on the man until we had got away and around a corner. I would have freaked out, but I honestly had gone past caring about what would happen to me by then. As we walked away, I said calmy "that man just tried to grab me." My mum simply replied "I know." Eventually we spotted a restaurant that was open. We decided to try our luck in there to see if we could grab a coffee. We walked up to the counter and asked if we could have a coffee and the woman replied "We only do food." We didn't quite know what to do, and I said that I would try and eat something if it meant we could sit down for a while. We took a table and read through the menu. Everything seemed so huge and expensive and none of us were hungry. I felt sick from being crushed half to death and the thought of eating anything was turning my stomache, so we gave up and left, moaning between us. What kind of restaurant would turn down customers? So what if we didn't want food? We would have spent money on coffee, so what was her problem? We continued wandering aimlessly around London. We peeked into Planet Hollywood and were told my a random man that it was closed, but we had already realised that. We went back to the station and waited at the doors with some girls, one of whom was throwing up all over herself, a drunk girl who was shouting and singing and some business people who kept looking at me like I was the one creating the scene. All that I was doing was standing there, bobbing on my knees, desperately trying to get the feeling back into my toes which were ice cold and wet. Eventually the doors were opened and we perched on the sill of a shop window, being frozen by winds from two openings at either side. All I wanted was to take my shoes off and get the water out. A mad French man/woman (we really couldnt tell) stood near us yelling frantically in his/her language for a good twenty minutes. This killed some time and was vaguely entertaining, but then, by that point a pigeon was also proving quite interesting to watch too. Eventually I went to the toilets and removed my shoes. I threw my socks in the bin as there was no use for them now. All they were doing was retaining unwanted moisture. I slipped my shoes back on and went back to meet the others. We decided to go off in search of breakfast. We found a corner shop and my mum forced me to buy something. I bought a sandwhich, but I really didn't want it. The others decided to try the Burger King in the station. We went in and sat down. We saw people in there who we'd seen roaming the streets in the early hours, including an old couple who were standing in the opposite doorway in Regent's Street. Everyone in there tried hard to fight sleep, and some people lost the fight and slumped across the tables. We stayed in Burger King until half past eight, when we went to see if our train had arrived yet. It hadn't and we sat down again. Eventually, the time came, and we went onto the platform to meet the train. We got on and me and Caroline fell asleep pretty much straight away. It was warm! It was dry! It was brilliant! We got to Sevenoaks and hurried to the car park. (I fell flat on my face, which was fun) We got in the freezing cold car (which I was a bit worried might have been clamped as it had been there all night) and started to drive home. My and Caroline were fast asleep the whole way. When I got home, the first thing I did was put some lip balm on my chapped and bleeding lips. Then I took my jeans and shoes off and examined my blocks of ice, I mean legs. It was eleven o'clock now. I'd been out of the house for nineteen and a half hours and home had never seemed such a great place to be. There was no way I'd be able to sleep, as I was still so cold, but at least the whole ordeal was finally over.
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