Commuting Arts & Crafts – folding a newspaper

Current chat on the I-Stomp pages of the free paper in Singapore is about capacity on the MRT. Apparently the system is just too crowded. In my recent blogs I’ve aired my frustration with commuters here in Singapore about how there is little perspective on how good they have it here, about how easy commuting is here and how much space, comparatively, there is in the MRT carriages. Rush hour lasts about 30 minutes and if I wanted, I’d never actually have to miss a train, however I choose to let the odd one go so that I can have a little more space to myself.


One of the things that I think people like about the cosy system is that they are still able to read a full-size newspaper, completely open with their arms out in front of them. That requires the equivalent of two human spaces to do and this is the problem. There’s almost double the space on trains that people actually realise, but they are unwilling to give up their precious personal reading space.


So I thought I’d put down the five simple steps on how to fold a newspaper in order to be considerate and thoughtful to your neighbouring commuters.

Step 1 – Obtain your free paper, choice of title is yours, chief-editor is the same....

Step 2 – Open your free-paper prior to entering the MRT or Bus.

Step 3 - Fold the paper in half on itself.

Step 4 – Half that page again, lengthways, showing columns 1 & 2 on one side available for your confined-space reading pleasure.





 

Step 5 – Flip the skinny paper and continue reading columns 3 & 4.

Of course, this method is best employed on a proper daily whose content and comment is worth the paper it is written on. You’re probably reading a free-paper, so it’s probably not worth the effort and adverts on every page don’t count. Like I said, it’s your choice; read selected news that you’re spoon-fed or get a small A5 book that might have something intellectually challenging or thought-provoking between the covers.

Shovel