GOING HOME
Sadly nothing of particular interest has happened to me recently (some might say ever), and the usual tactic of rehashing what's in the papers has already been dealt with by several other bloggers, but a local colleague here moaning about the state of public transport here in HK and claiming he had caught a cold as a result of using it (for those who are not in HK, or have not visited, public transort here is amazingly clean, efficient and pleasant to use) reminded me of this little gem which is ages old, and may well be false, but was sent to me a while ago by a fellow englishman. The alarming thing is that even if it is false, it is believable. It is number 9,184,528,472,531 etc etc on my list of "reasons to never go back to Mud Island"
If you are a regular traveller on the London Underground, here are some facts which you are going to wish you hadn't read.
During Autumn of 2000, a team of scientists at the Department of Forensics at University College London removed a row of passenger seats from a Central Line tube carriage for analysis into cleanliness. Despite London Underground's claim that the interior of their trains are cleaned on a regular basis, the scientists made some alarming discoveries.
The analysis was broken down. This is what was found on the surface of the seats:
1. 4 types of hair sample (human, mouse, rat, dog)
2. 7 types of insect (mostly fleas, mostly alive)
3. Vomit originating from at least 9 separate people
4. Human urine originating from at least 4 separate people
5. Human excrement
6. Rodent excrement
7. Human semen
When the seats were taken apart, they found:
8. The remains of 6 mice
9. The remains of 2 large rats
10. 1 previously unheard of fungus
It is estimated that by holding one of the armrests,you are transferring, to your body, the natural oils and sweat from as many as 400 different people.
It is estimated that it is generally healthier to smoke five cigarettes a day than to travel for one hour a day on the London Underground.
It is far more hygienic to wipe your hand on the inside of a recentlyflushed toilet bowl before eating, than to wipe your hand on a London Underground seat before eating.
It is estimated that, within London, more work sick-days are taken because of bugs picked up whilst travelling on the London Underground than for any other reason (including alcohol).
Night all and happy commute (especially those unlucky enough to be in blighty.
