Or, Scenes From Modern Britain, a possible series:

We’re trialling a calm space at Ealing Broadway station for four weeks 💙

From today, you’ll find a quieter space for customers who may benefit from a calmer environment during their journey.

What we learn from the trial will help us understand how we can make our network… pic.twitter.com/mRFiD2vtvM

— TfL (@TfL) September 4, 2026

The purpose of the magnificent facility seen above, a “compact sensory support space” sited at Ealing Broadway station, is to “make public transport in London fairer, safer, more inclusive”:

“The aim of the pod,” we’re told, “is to provide… a dedicated, low-stimulation space where customers can pause and take a moment away from some of the noise and activity of the station.”

And what’s more,

Which possibly hints at the actual uses to which said pod will most likely be put.

The possibility that any emotional fatigue among passengers may be due to particular kinds of “noise and activity” – say, increasingly routine aberrant behaviour and public indecency – does not appear to have been pondered.

Needless to say, a lively thread ensues.

Update, via the comments:

Mags adds,

A sentiment echoed by Malc,

One could, I think, argue that if TfL directed their efforts to more obvious targets, then the weirdly small calming huts might not be felt necessary.

One might even view the creation of glorified dog kennels for stressed commuters as a kind of displacement activity, a symptom of a broader malaise. A way to not look directly at the actual problem. Which might entail all kinds of other inklings.

It seems likely that if passengers are feeling unnerved or unsafe, and in need of momentary calm, that may have quite a lot to do with the fact that their daily commute can entail encounters with people openly smoking crack on the Tube, or people vigorously shagging on a moving bus, or vibrant individuals enlivening train platforms via the medium of machete fights.

But hey, let’s have more random uselessness instead. The bizarrely ineffective seems very much in fashion.

Via Tim Newman.

Readers will, of course, recall Transport For London’s previous efforts at uplifting its customers.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

From the Maltese town of Sliema, scenes of vibrant door-knocker relocation:

The Mayor of Silema, a small town in Malta, has appealed for witnesses after a man stole his door knob.

What kind of person goes around stealing door knobs?! pic.twitter.com/52iKgeOHia

— Rare | ♻️🇬🇧 (@RareRestore) August 31, 2026

The gentleman, whose identity has not been disclosed, is, it turns out, involved in “other ongoing court cases.”

Update:

Update:

Our aspiring knob engineer returned to pinch the other one, thus completing his set of stolen knockers. pic.twitter.com/TU4buTaSBH

— Rare | ♻️🇬🇧 (@RareRestore) September 1, 2026

The above now seems weirdly close to a comedy sketch.

Via EmC.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

“You’re being yourself,” says a cross-dressing man who parades around the streets at night in a fetishistic latex maid’s uniform. With bonus dog collar and leash, obviously.

“I’m openly trans now. It’s a lot easier. But that rush will be missed, of having that secret.” pic.twitter.com/wWjnwSXfcT

— Genevieve Gluck (@WomenReadWomen) August 30, 2026

But he doesn’t want to talk about his sexuality, because “it’s complicated.”

As if we couldn’t guess.

Says our enthusiast of bondage and public humiliation, “The rush eventually wears off… I miss the rush… you do more risqué things.” And of course this chasing of transgression entails onlookers. People to be scandalised, disturbed or in some way imposed upon. Reluctant participants in his naff erotic drama.

At risk of seeming insufficiently affirming, what I see is a man being consumed by his own sad and grubby fetish. Not, I think, the most obvious basis for applause. Or indeed pride.

But hey. Modernity, baby.

We’ve recently mentioned how the realities above are difficult to convey in a normal social situation. Consequently, you may encounter people who wish to be seen as supportive of all things trans, because they’ve been watching the BBC and therefore know almost nothing about the phenomenon that they feel obliged to be seen supporting.

And so, you may find yourself in a social situation where nodding along or some affirming noise is expected, and you may then have to decide whether to sidestep the subject or introduce the other person to a world they may not care to enter or wish to spend much time in. But which is a very large part of what it is they’re affirming, if, perhaps, unwittingly.

And which isn’t necessarily what you want to think about when, say, having a meal with friends or coffee with the neighbours.

Update:

Regarding the endless chasing of transgression, mentioned above, it’s worth bearing in mind that our tedious transvestite is recording his interactions, any double-takes or looks of disgust, for sexual purposes. That’s his thing. He’s making other people part of his fetish, whether they wish to be or not.

See also this piece of work, mentioned here some years ago.

Dr Colin Cremin, a sociology lecturer, wants you, and his students, to be disconcerted by his stockings:

Same dynamic. Same imposition. Same sad creepiness.

And note how readily Dr Cremin – our balding, middle-aged man in a frock and court shoes – employs the now-familiar language of “gender fluidity,” identities, and mandatory tolerance.

Lifted from the comments, which you’re reading, of course.

Via Stephanie in the comments, a glimpse of the wider world and the wonders it contains. I’m assuming she collects these things. For reasons we won’t go into.

I mean, all things considered, this place is almost respectable.

Classy, even.

Oh, yes. Nearly forgot. Open thread.

Lifted from the comments, which of course you’re reading:

A thread ensues.

I particularly liked, “Albinos do not have gold nuggets stored inside their skulls.” Though the reminder that “In the UK, we do not shit in the street” also has a certain relevance. Oh, and if the one about public masturbation seems too outlandish, I have news.

And remember, dear reader. This is where we are.