IT’S the latest epidemic to hit London and it’s only going to get a whole lot worse. Each day at least five single gloves are left behind on the Tube.
It is the case of the lonely glove.
Over the past week my friend Adriana was visiting from Australia. Naturally we were frequently out and about exploring London town. This is when I was made fully aware of the growing number of lonely and sad looking single gloves.
I helped out where I could – if I was given the chance I would rescue the glove and return it to its rightful owner with a polite, “Excuse me, but you have dropped your glove”. A lot of times people were happy to have a complete stranger return their lost item, but sometimes all I got was a grunt.
However, there were also times when it was just too late and the glove was found on a platform or on a tube station staircase.
It has slowly become something I constantly notice and it is no longer easy for me to see a glove that had come away from its other half. A lonesome glove left to fend for itself in the big city. Never to be reunited with its mate again.
It also made my mind wander to Tube headquarters Lost and Found. Imagine all the lonely gloves just lying around, waiting for the day someone might wear them again.
Do these owners not care for their gloves enough? Do they take the warmth of the tube for granted and for the rest of the day put up with one cold hand?
As the weather gets colder over the next few weeks keep an eye out on the tube and tube stations – if you see someone drop their glove put yourself in their shoes. Make sure you help those lonely left behind gloves help find their way back to their friends.