Dispatch from the Land of the Unnecessarily Cryptic

[nanila]

In Kings Cross Station this morning, I heard the following announcement on the tannoy.

"Would an operative please go to the North Ticket Hall, Escalator 17 for a Code 4?"

Having been in the North Ticket Hall not 30 seconds prior to this announcement, I can state with confidence that an 'operative' is a 'cleaner' and that a 'Code 4' is a 'spilled cup of coffee'.

Now I'm wondering what Codes 1 to 3 mean.

Comments

[clanwilliam]

Code 1 is a cup of tea.

[happydork]

Code 2 is herbal tea.

[clanwilliam]

Code 3 is hot chocolate.

Codes 5-27 are a variety of flavoured lattes.

[happydork]

Code 28 is Lemsip.

[nanila]

I'm having a Code 28 right now.

[happydork]

I hope unspilled? Feel better soon!

[nanila]

Unspilled so far, yes. Thank you!

[ankaret]

Code 29 is soup, and code 30 is that kind of comforting but unfortunately orangey thick vegetable soup that could be mistaken for Another Kind Of Spill.

[djm4]

No, code 5 is a vampire. ;-)

[nanila]

This entire post needs to have some kind of warning for Incredibly Obscure References. That was from Ultraviolet, right? Twas one of the first British TV series that my dear friend imyril introduced to me when I moved here. Cue crushes on Jack Davenport and Idris Elba.

[djm4]

Ultraviolet, yes. How I do love that series. ;-)

[oursin]

The time to worry is when someone starts paging Mr Sands.

[nanila]

I remember once when Inspector Sands was called to Platform 4 just as the train I had boarded on Platform 4 was shutting its doors. I admit I found that somewhat unnerving.

[recessional]

You must admit "for a code 4" is quicker to say than "to clean up a spilled cup of coffee".

Especially since "code 4" probably really means "something messy but not biohazard is all over the floor, come clean it up" and may thus apply to anything else, too. :P

(I am reminded of the Ankh-Morpork Watch's "number 26", which is "running at someone screaming and trying to hack their legs off at the knee". "It's shorter to give them numbers," Angua explains.)

[nanila]

"For a Code 4" is quicker, but you could also say, "...for a coffee", which is as terse and would sound more appealing!