20 AUGUST 1994, Page 29

Mind the Gap

It's difficult to find your way around In London. I was smart. I brought a map. Now I am standing in the Underground; A tinny voice is saying 'Mind the Gap'.

Is it referring to the gap between The platform and the train (the naked line Could kill you in a flash), or does it mean The tens of years between your age and mine9 Is it an omen? Have I gone insane, Taking these disembodied words to heart? No, it will never work, but here's the train And I get on. Maybe I'm not so smart.

Sophie Hannah