Was I being unreasonable? Was it actually legal for him to be watching it? Although I’d felt shocked at his audacity, I also felt almost apologetic, like when you walk in on someone in the loo – and, in that moment, complicit. I do know that I felt intimidated and confused. Twice previously, it has happened on the Tube, and once on a mainline train where a man was watching a porn film on his iPad with the screen tilted towards the aisle.Įach time, I’ve never known what to do other than remove myself from the situation. I shouldn’t have been too surprised because it’s not the first time it’s happened to me: it’s the fourth. And, without even wanting to take it in – without the option to make that choice – I saw that he was watching porn on his phone. I looked lazily to my side, my eyes glazing over in the way that a lifetime of travelling on public transport teaches you: seeing all but nothing. I took the one available seat, next to a middle-aged man, and huddled my children around me. A couple of weeks ago, I got on the London Underground.
