Oyster Vintage

Finsbury park: Two old foreign woman sit munching on some foreign looking version of percy pigs whilst the man opposite consults a map. It's like google maps, but in book form! What an idea.  I wonder if they sell that as a vintage product.  He is now consulting a plastic wallet full of tickets, maps and other documents.  I wonder if he carries a phone book with him too. 

Supposing we all abandoned modern technology to go back to the old ways, how much would we actually need to carry?  We'd need some spare change for the phone box, a phone book (with landline numbers), a diary and a little map book perhaps.  For those wikipedia moments an encyclopedia would be essential as well as a reading book.  A pen, paper, possibly a pencil for those people arrogant enough to tell a friend that they'll 'pencil them in' like they are some sort of business meeting. (Playing it by ear is of course a different and acceptable form of flakiness).  You'd need cash and a cheque book.  Perhaps a walkman for playing some taped music on the go. A watch, that would be important, even if just to keep track on how late you are for meeting somebody. 

A big issue for tube travelers would be how they would cope once they've left the station with no GPS and useless map reading skills.  There would need to be a counseling service offered at some hotspot stations to cope with the mental breakdowns that would be inevitable in such situations.  Perhaps a peer mentoring system would work whereby you'd be paired with somebody looking for the same street as you.   The man with the map book seems sensible enough though, I think he'll make it out himself.  I can't say the same for the two old ladies who are having enough issues with their bag of sweets after what appears to have been a violent battle over who gets the last foreign percy pig. 

 
Obviously nowadays the mobile phone basically does all of that, not that you'd know it on the tube. What tfl have created without realising it is the 'vintage travel' experience.  Unless you are registered with virgin media, and able to enjoy 30 seconds worth of internet at every station, our modern technology is of little use.  Let's hope they never realise this otherwise like all the other old rubbish that gets labelled vintage and then sold for a ridiculous sum of money, Oyster Vintage could be an expensive experience!

Meanwhile a woman is drinking from a rectangular bottle. She probably believes that this water is somehow better than the water everyone else drinks and has no doubt paid a lot more for it.. This is what comes of earning lots of money perhaps.  She is certainly the type that carries a pencil with her.