eating and drinking

Thames Turbo Reading to Surbiton 11 June 2004 8am

traveller "...

The lady opposite me finishes her Twix and cleans up the spills from her coffee... I notice a Lucozade bottle, empty, and some biscuit packaging on the table... A woman across from me... is looking out the window and eating a bag of plum tomatoes, branded by Boots... People are passing to go to the shop, coming back with silver and grass bags of food and drink. [notebook: Virgin Trains London Euston service 10 March 2004 2pm]

system "...

"...In Standard Class, we have a wide range of meals and light bites to tempt your taste buds as well as tea, coffee, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages at our onboard shop" [extract: 'Travelling with Virgin Trains' leaflet collected Lancaster 25 March 2004]

"... please be considerate towards fellow passengers. Strong smelling food and loud music, even on personal stereos, should be avoided..." [extract: 'Tips for using the tube' Transport for London collected Euston April 2004]

ethnographic guide

Eating and drinking are culturally located in time, and often involve sequences of practices (purchase of food, laying out of accoutrements, ordering of items into perhaps a main dish and dessert, and so on). This can therefore delimit a period of time, fragmenting time. The journey can then be experienced as a transition from one fragment of time to another. For example, from mid-morning snack to lunch to a mid-afternoon snack.