For those who may have been wavering as to whether I was self-centred or not (not that there could possibly be anyone who is wavering if you've read this blog) here is a tale from my early morning today.

As everyone knows, I have the unfortunate dishonour of attending the University of Sydney. I still shack with the parents, so I am forced to travel the perils of CityRail any day I have to attend. My sister, after graduating Year 12 last year, secured a very respectable job at a law firm (where I did work experience so many years ago, and trust me: it's a hectic job she is doing), and too must travel into the city, and yes, is forced to put up with the atrocities of CityRail. Of course, working a real job means starting at 9am, unlike the cushy life of student who starts whenever they want to, so we rarely ever see each other on the train. In fact, there is only one day where we catch the same train, and we get on at either end.

Anyway, today, I was getting a train an hour after my sister. I was headed for the door when the phone rang, to which my father answered (he has a court case this week, so isn't going into work, otherwise I wouldn't see him until he passed my room headed for bed every night). Through the ensuing conversation, of which I could only hear one end, I deducted that my sister had fainted on a train or at a station. I was concerned. I waited until the phone call ended, then asked what happened. Indeed she had fainted, was receiving attention from a family friend that happened to be with her, and was not to worry. But it was too late; I was already worried.

But my aforementioned concern was not for the overall health of my sister, nor was my worry about her receiving the appropriate medical attention. No, it was that if she had fainted on a train or station before the East Hills line splits into two, I would be stuck on East Hills Station for God knows how long until they moved the train that was blocking the single line.

Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't not worried at all about my sister, but the first thing that sprang to mind was how inadequate the CityRail system really is, and that how inconvenienced I could have been now that my sister was unconscious somewhere.

Anyway, there is no need to worry ...

I got into the city on time.

Thomas.