The stereotype of grumpy Londoners on the tube that would rather die than talk to you is well known. When I moved down to London last May, I realised I will once again have to understand the new people I'm surrounded with. Yesterday, I had a lesson in London communication...
On my way from my first to my second job I was waiting in line to buy a tube ticket. Suddenly a Londoner (as I soon found out) cut right in front of me.
In previous encounters of rudeness I -in my tourist manner- grinned sheepishly and thought: "Pssh, Londoners." (Anybody who knows my mild manner understands...)
Not yesterday. I was late. I was stressed. I needed that ticket, quick! Therefore I took all that bottled annoyance and vented it in saying: "Aehm, excuse me..."
5'5" of London East-End British Bulldog turned around, fletched it's teeth and barked:
"Whot?"
"...well... you know you're cutting in line..."
"Well, you shouldn'a left so much space then, should'ya?"
Furious (and bewilderedly amused) at the gall of this half-pint I heard myself exclaiming:
"You know, you're the reason everybody thinks Londoners are Dickheads!"
"Yeah, whotever."
I was stunned. His last comment is like saying "Yo momma." (Brits: "Your mum.")
There was no comeback.
But then I realised that for the first time I had joined the bickering between Londoners.
In a city where a girl can throw up at a tube station and nobody cares (true story), this man had just decided to bother with me and thus treat me as an equal! It was his way of saying: "Welcome to London, and have a nice day!"
As he was leaving I greeted his scowl with a chuckle and walked up to the ticket booth. Behind the counter was a stunning 6 and a half foot black man who -looking a little embarrassed- said: "Sorry 'bout 'im, mate."
...pssh, Londoners! Head of bricks, heart of gold...
Got any good big city stories? let me hear them!
12 comments:
Could be worse. You could have someone from London cut in line while your on the toilet.
"Hey, I was doing my thing, here!"
"Yea, so whot? You shouldn't have left so much room on the bowl then!"
Ha! I wouldn't put it past them...
Couldn't help but but read your bio on your web site and I thought of another positive.
Living in London can't be any worse than living in North Carolina. Especially Jacksonville.
That's true... I love big cities anyway. How is South Carolina treating you? Havent been back in the States in years...
I don't care for it much, really. I'm only here because of my job. Hopefully soon I'll be moving to Washington, which puts me one step closer to where I want to be.
Nice Webpage by the way...
and where exactly do you wanna be? I'd love to come back and stay in New York for a couple of years. Just gotta see if it takes me there...
You use AOL Instant Messenger? Might be easier than me "spamming" your blog. If you do, IM me (same name as I'm posting with (jedimacfan). Might be easier.
New York City?
sorry, no messengers here at work. got a meeting at 12 anyway, so won't be around too much longer.
Yeah New York City! Been there only once for three weeks, but it's left an impression...
I've been to NYC once. And it was only for a layover in the airport on the way back from FL. No air conditioning. But I hear NY's a nice city to visit :-D
If you ever get on AIM drop me a line. Have fun at your meeting. I found your blog by clicking the "next blog" button at the top. You didn't have any porno, ads, or foreign language and for that I thank you. Your entries are already funny, so I'll be sure to check back.
Thanks dude, I appreciate it! And tomorrow when I gota a little more time I'll pop into yours, no sweat!
Well.. I surely got some big city stories.
You know my NYC stories (If there are any), cause you never left me out of sight when I went there ;-)
Heidelberg'll never be any kind of big city.
Hamburg always treats me good.
And Berlin... I guess I really could swap your blog with my Berlin stories. But well... I got my own blog for stuff like that :-)
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