musings on london life

London is a funny old place. I have these moments when I just stop and observe the chaos surrounding me. While waiting for a severely delayed bus this evening, I attempted to calm the inner voice that was screaming from anxiety at the thought that “I had to be home ten minutes ago” by just taking it all in. As I tuned out shouts of “Free Evening Standard” and tried to retreat to my happy place whilst fending off six attempts to hand me a free newspaper I watched those who were rushing past me at an exhausting pace. Having just disembarked the tube where I was stuck under someone’s smelly armpit from Earl’s Court to East Putney I stood at the bus stop considering why on earth anyone chooses to live in this crazy place? With five years of London experience now under my belt I feel I’m at liberty to highlight the uniqueness and oddities of the city I call home.

There was a moment on the tube a few weeks ago when a lady tried to make conversation with those of us on the carriage about the unreliability of the London Underground. We simply stared at her for all of four seconds and then simply continued about our business of pretending we were the only person on the tube that morning. When did I become such a Londoner?

A torturous amount of time had now passed while I waited for the 430 bus and I could no longer resist the temptation of a freebie. ARGH…if only the bus had come two minutes earlier I might have held out. So, I accepted the next offer of the London Evening Standard and used it to distract myself from the thought that I had some stranger breaking the personal space barrier when the bus finally arrived. I did come across a feature written by “Paddington Bear” which spoke of exactly the London life I had been contemplating. I thought his words were rather apt: “There are a lot of things you need to get used to if you live in a big city like London.” Phew! My heart hasn’t turned to stone, I’ve simply adapted to my environment. And as much as this city might drive me totally mad at least once a week, there’s no place I would rather be right now. As Paddington says, “When I count my blessings, living in London is top of the list, with marmalade* a close second, I know I shall never. ever. get tired of either.”

*FYI, personally I really don’t like marmalade but I didn’t think it right to misquote Paddington.