We all love retro things. I saw on Facebook how many friends were off to see bands from the 1980s who are all on reunion tours.

I play lots of 80s music on my afternoon radio show and I’m still dressing the way I did back then. That part might not be because I am a fan of retro trends, it’s that I never bothered changing my style.

Those of us who like to relive the 1980s have something else to look forward to that could kick off nostalgia. We have rail strikes happening in the UK.

Sit back and relax, because you probably won’t be going anywhere, and imagine it’s 1982 all over again.

At the moment the official advice is to avoid travelling on the rail strike days if you don’t have to. It’s the same advice we get when there’s a bout of snow or some such impediment and it still ignores the obvious; people tend to only travel when they have to.

Very few people wake up in the morning and think “I don’t have to do anything today. I know, I’ll go and cram myself into a stranger’s armpit on an over-priced peak-time train.”

I suppose some people might be into that but they are best ignored. While I am talking about peak-time trains, why do some tickets tell you you can’t use them on peak-time trains but not tell you which trains that means? There’s nothing I enjoy more when I am rushing into a station concourse than a riddle.

Just put a P next to the trains that are peak on the display boards. Or would that be too simple and mean fewer people spend extra on their ticket when they didn’t need to?

Back to my original complaint. If you usually use the trains what are your options?

You could drive instead. If you opt for the car I would refer you to the column I wrote a few weeks ago about the cost of fuel.

You could read it on the train. Oh, scrap that. I’d suggest reading it in an actual newspaper, not online, as the paper will help absorb the tears.

You could work from home as many people did during the pandemic.

The problem with that option is that the Government seems to hate the idea of working from home and some national newspapers keep implying you’re work-shy if you do.

This column isn’t about the rights and wrongs of the strike, it’s about acknowledging how annoying this 1980s retro trend is for the passengers. And if you prefer your retro from the 1970s, I’m sure I’ve written about inflation recently too.