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It came as no surprise to me to learn that relatively few people were
unemployed, and I am glad to know there is this high level of employment.
I would, however, be happier if I could think that more was being
done to put round pegs in round holes and square pegs in square holes.
To my mind there can be nothing more hateful and nothing more futile
than for people to spend the greater part of their lives doing something
for which they are not suited and something in which they cannot possibly
be interested.
What is more, we must make provision for seeing that the right types
physically are recruited for the right jobs.
TRAVELLING FACILITIES
The sprawl of London still continues, and more and more people are
constrained to spend a substantial part of their days travelling to and from
their work. Fortunately for me I seldom need to use the underground
railway system, but I am sure that if all the unfortunate people who do
use it by routine were to keep detailed diaries, many entries would be made,
similar in vein to the following note I have written in mine:—
"From time to time I have spoken and written about the
transport to Barking, about the sewer that runs on four wheels, and
I have made other uncomplimentary remarks about the whole system.
What I have written has, I feel, a ring of truth about it, and, of course,
it has been written from actual personal experience.
"My previous experiences, however, were completely eclipsed
by a journey made some time after Christmas, 1950.
"It was about 5.15 p.m. when I began my homeward journey
to Barking from Hclborn Station. At that station I let one train go
by, hoping for something better in the next train. I boarded the
next train and thought I had taken part in a Rugby scrum, only to
find my conception of what did actually happen was childish, because
at Chancery Lane a dynamic force that would put to shame the
best of our Rugby Clubs pushed its way in, and I felt myself so confined
I feared I might crumble up at any time, with the knowledge that to
crumple up and sink at the knees would almost certainly mean being
trampled to death.
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