Einstein’s stubbornly persistent illusion

Thanks guv...very kind of you..ah, that’s a brilliant cuppa… You ever stopped to think about tea? No? I have, quite a lot. Strange thing, just a few leaves floating about in hot water. But it’s a tonic … don’t you reckon? There’s nothing it can’t fix...Ok, let me ask you this? What’s the first thing you think of when there’s been an upset? Put the kettle on, right?… Oh, sure, mostly us Brits, I’ll give you that... I think about it alot, sitting here… camellia sinensis… that’s the botanical name. Not because I haven’t got anything else to think about, mind you. I have, plenty... I just like to pay attention, be a bit mindful...there’s a buzzword for you… focus on the moment...You’d think that everyone would do the same, wouldn’t you? Live in the present, I mean. But they don’t guv... look at these people, most of them a million miles away…. Like, that guy, the one coming towards us … navy overcoat and burberry scarf, phone stuck to his ear. I see him every day bounding up the escalator from the Bakerloo.. Want to bet he’s headed for the City? A trader, I’m guessing. Shares, futures… Whatever he’s talking about, it’s not the here and now, I guarantee it. No sir, tomorrow, next week, next year... And you know what? When next week or next year comes, he’ll be there on the Bakerloo talking about the next week or the year after ….chasing pots of gold to his grave. And what about the woman, there, with the red carryall. See her?...Used to travel with a chap, could’ve been her husband. Smiling, holding hands, they were. A kiss goodbye at the ticket office every morning… Not any more. Alone since before Christmas. Break-up, maybe worse. Whatever happened, she’s in another world now... She’d say hello.. look at her - like the walking dead... she’s had happier days, nothing surer… Me? I live in the ever-present now, guv, me and my begging bowl. I’m the point of stillness in Einstein’s four-dimensional spacetime, I am….oh don’t look surprised. I’ve got a Masters in Physics... Never thought I’d end up like this, homeless, sitting in a tube station all day...just happened. One minute you’re an aerospace engineer, next minute laid off...a hundred and fifty-nine applications, no-one calls back...not at my age. Drink a bit much, no more savings then you can’t pay the rent...like I said, it just happens. Still, I make enough for a curry and a beer… what’s that?...Ok, nice chatting...take it easy, guv... and cheers again for the tea.


Rosemary McBryde