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The Nervous
Most of us become a little worried on rail journeys, the Nervous is the extreme version of this. Increasingly, there are fewer and fewer guards to ask, so the Nervous is forced to get on the train without being fully certain that it is the right one. As a result they ask the person opposite "Is this the Birmingham train?", "I don't know" comes the reply "I'm going to Cardiff, it might stop at Birmingham though". This sends the Nervous into mild panic 'Was it platform 8 on the timetable?' they think to themself 'Why does it say 8a here? Should I be on 8b? Is 13.21 twenty past one, or twenty past three? What if this is the train BEFORE mine, I did get here 2 hours early? What if this one goes out to Cardiff, then my Birmingham one comes in?'. Another six people on the train heard the question asked by the Nervous. They all want Birmingham too, and their own slight doubts are amplified. A telepath at this point would pick up a strange unified paranoia from the whole carriage 'IS THIS THE BIRMINGHAM TRAIN?'. Someone outside the train has found a guard and is asking something. Ears are strained, lips are read. Is that someone asking if this is the Birmingham train? The person gets on. The nervous bravely asks the new arrival, and Birmingham is confirmed. Everyone hears, and a wave of sighs and relaxing shoulder muscles sweeps through the compartment.