Is there such a thing as tube OCD?

It's funny the strange behaviour exhibited by some on the tube. You get to witness all sorts of foibles and potential cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Earlier this week I was travelling in relative Tube bliss for once, not in rush hour. I was sitting quite happily reading a second hand metro when I noticed the woman in front of me staring and huffing repeatedly at the advertising board above my head.

The board was hanging down slightly at one corner - not by much - but annoying perhaps to some people, particularly those with some form of OCD.

After a few minutes she became increasingly agitated and started edging towards the board. After a few further minutes she started prodding at the corner that had come unstuck. 

At this point said lady is quite close to me as the board is directly above my head. The man sitting to my left looked a little alarmed at her behaviour as she became more animated - jabbing at the board repeatedly as the corner refused to behave and go back into its frame.

Eventually she became so annoyed that with one over-zealous jab at the corner of the board, the whole thing popped out of the frame and bopped on to mine and my neighbours' heads.

At this point the man next to me looked pretty scared at what appeared very irrational behaviour while others, who hadn't realised what the lady was doing at all, almost jumped out of their seats in surprise at being hit on the head by an inanimate object. I was less alarmed, having witnessed the build up for a while.

The poor lady looked mortified, her face now a shade of red only witnessed at Christmas. At the next stop she dashed off - I don't think it was her stop but the variety of faces being made around the carriage made her realise her personal war with this board had been made very public.

Is this the tube equivalent of repeatedly turning on and off a light switch as you enter a room - making sure all the adverts are perfectly straight and positioned?

Or, did she work for the advertising company behind the board? If she did, it didn't work because despite her drama I still can't remember what the board was promoting - and I work in marketing too.

What disturbs me most about the whole episode however (other than the bump on my head) is that I could actually see the drama coming and I kind of understood how she was feeling.

While I don't get quite so upset about errant tube advertising boards for example, other people's behaviour sometimes makes me feel irrational and wound up - hence The Little Book of Tube Etiquette.

Perhaps I have some form of tube OCD too? Although I hope that by channelling mine into humour it's not quite so annoying to others....The jury's out on that one.


Laura King is the author of The Little Book of Tube Etiquette, available in Waterstones Piccadilly & Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Cards, Amazon and other online retailers.
@LauraKing14
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