“Until you have cried on public transport, you’re not a true Londoner.” The line sounds as if it was taken from a book of modern proverbs, but it’s in fact something that was overheard in London.
With its historical landscape, vibrant culture, beautiful gardens and canals, narrow streets and arts, and double-decker buses, no wonder London is among the most visited cities in the world.
And where there’s a lot of action going on, there’s a lot of miscellaneous things to be overheard. Like the internet’s powerhouse “Overheard LA” that collects conversations which were not meant for others’ ears, “Overheard London” is exactly that but with a Greater London twist.
So make yourself some afternoon tea with bourbon biscuits and get ready to see what Londoners are buzzing about, which is honestly the most entertaining thing ever.
More info: Instagram | OverheardLA.com
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Don’t believe everything you read, that’s really not the case. That aren’t that many shortages, there are only more because some idiots don’t have their minds.
my old boss in London said EXACTLY the same thing to me on the day of the london bombings when he refused to let us leave early to be with our families!! - probably the same guy!
I'd tell him to sit and spin as I was walking out the door
Load More Replies...Many Arab people don't use toilet paper, they have bidet things in the toilet that spray water.
As someone who once accidentally ended up as one of very few single women in a club, I will never again take those allowances for granted. The single guys were like vultures, and I was super uncomfortable. Made me glad I'm average-looking and don't get this kind of attention most of the time.
I can hear the guy: "Hey you can take my voting right and give me your club entrance right."
It takes all my strength not to backhand whiny, white guys into next week. Y'all need to STFU and sit in the back.
technically "girl" can vote. it was the women that came before her that didn't.
I need to memorize this. It would fit in many situations, not just in London...
My standard answer to people like this is, "Your lack of preparedness is not my emergency."
Similar thing happened to me at Dublin. This family stood in the wrong passport check line, when they found out they tried to skip ahead of me (in the correct line), when I said no.one of then shouted 'but I've got a plane to catch!' I was like ' it's an airport, we all do.' he shoved ahead of me, but I managed to cut in front I'd the other 3.
I love to say "Sure, I'm just waiting for the bus."
Load More Replies...I had similar in line at the grocery store at lunch time. Some guy comes in and goes to the person at the front and asks if he can go in front because he needs to get to work. She said he would have to ask everyone behind her. There were only about 4 or 5 of us, all with 2 or 3 things (we were obviously all buying our lunch) when he asked me if he could go on front "because he only had a couple things and needed to get back to work" I said "we all only have a couple things (he had more than we did) and needed to get back to work too, but we've been waiting already". The look on his face when I wouldn't say it was fine was pure shock. And rather hilarious.
Working international arrivals at Miami International, I had the guy run ahead of hundreds of people in line and tell me he had a flight to catch and that the next guy in line said he could cut. I asked if the hundreds of others in line had also agreed. Sent him to the end again.
This is universal. My time is more valuable than everyone else's, so get out of my way.
The old stereotype is that people from London are usually unfriendly workaholics who only care about money and themselves. You'd better not look in the eyes of a Londoner on the tube, as they will give you the evil eye back. Some foreigners think of them as self-obsessed, arrogant and stingy.
But this is just an exaggeration. The rude Londoner stereotype might have been created by the standoffish reputation of London’s fine citizens, who are otherwise genuinely very polite and have great manners. There’s something about this etiquette that is simply unparalleled and that’s why it may have caused a side effect of foreigners getting the wrong impression.
nah, a lot of europeans who went to international schools have American accents. We really honestly just don't care.
Load More Replies...Not exactly true though. When I lived in England, I got asked what part of America I’m from all the time. I’m Canadian.
I do sometimes ask people with an American accent where they’re from, mostly because I can’t tell the difference between the US and Canadian accents… And then they mention some random town and state or province and I still have to google it to find out their nationality 🙄
Just ask, what province they're from. If they answer they're Canadian, if they looked confused they're American.
Load More Replies...I think the worst social Americanism is, "what do you do?". You're immediately judged by your job/career, which is a small part of who you are.
In London, people thought we were from New Zealand. (We had just flown in from Johannesburg.)
Brits can smell an American from a hundred paces and recognize their appearance from further than that.
That's a double burn. Good job.
Load More Replies...I can't even look at America, and I'm American. My country is a hot mess, a dumpster fire, and a toxic sludge dump all rolled into one. If we actually had a representative democracy, we might improve, but we won't as long as Congress considers its own bank account to be more important than the needs of its constituents.
America is very different depending on the region. It's more like many different countries with their own laws, culture, traditions, industry, and economy under a large unregulated government. We don't even have an official language, just de facto. The Northeast is only a little like the southwest.
Even though Texas is by far the greatest state.
Load More Replies...It always fascinates me that America is such an easy target for ridicule and scorn. It must be nice to live in one of those perfect countries.
The rest of the world seems to confuse Internet U.S.A. with actual U.S.A. They're very different places.
Just to be the man, who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door!
Da lat da (Da lat da), da lat da (Da lat da), Da-da-da dun-diddle un-diddle un-diddle uh da-da, Da lat da (Da lat da), da lat da (Da lat da), Da-da-da dun-diddle un-diddle un-diddle uh da-da
Load More Replies...I used to be an assistant manager at a convenience store, and one night during shelf resets I had music playing and that song came on, so I started singing "And I would stock five hundred shelves and I would stock five hundred more just to be the dope that stocked a thousand shelves at Casey's general store"...
Have an update! I like that because it fits the tune.
Load More Replies...Also, one of my all time favorites. It's brings back some really good memories of me and my aunt when I was younger🤔💭
I don't know why, but I freakin' love this song. Hilarious logical comeback.
On the other hand, it’s more or less true that people tend to be in their own little worlds on the transportation network. However, the tragic London bombings in July 2005 and the optimistic 2012 Olympics certainly showed that Londoners can join together when it counts.
This is really no joke. I couldn’t believe this, until I experienced it myself in London. Like after it happened a couple times the driver got real mad and she said something like „thanks to all those idiots, we will arrive 2 minutes late, and all who miss their connection can thank them for it“
Would happen in Berlin as well. We're famous for our politeness. 😎
Load More Replies...I never understood it. It's London - the next train is there in TWO effing minutes. TWO!
having been a prisoner of the tube for a hellish ten day stay in london,i can sympathize...i am very claustrophobic and would shove my way out at the wrong stop just to get off the bloody train!!! oh....and mind the gap.....
Not familiar with The Tube's PA system, but here in Boston and NYC, it's just a garbled mess. Poor tourists haven't a clue what's being said.
Probably puking his or her guts up, the pregnant women did not wished to be puked upon.
Unfortunately, the ones that are that stupid have a habit of drawing attention to themselves... so they are the ones people remember.
Load More Replies...A US customs agent once questioned why I held an Italian passport while I was born in France, he wanted to know why I didn't have a French passport. When I told him it would be redundant (EU passport), I could tell that he truly didn't get it...
I guess he just never thought about it? Many US Americans never leave their country. They can't and don't even have the opportunity. Plus, it's so vast. I was born in Poland, but am a German citizen, with German ID, Passport and nationality. Maybe this would have blown his mind, lol
Load More Replies...The most (insert European ethnicity here) people live in America. Many think they're more Irish, Italian, etc. than actual Irish and Italian folks.
I know such people here in Germany. They are old and went through a war, so they may be forgiven. (They think they know best how Poland is, because they lived there when they were kids.... in a place that was Germany before the war, when they lived there and no Polish people were to be found for miles around)
Load More Replies...Another belief is that food in London is expensive and simply awful. It’s true that not even a BLT sandwich is cheap in the city compared to other European capitals. But when it comes to British food, not everything there is bland and greasy. If unpretentious but hearty is your thing, you’ll like the traditional pub food. Plus think of the crazy meal names like toad in the hole, bubble and squeak, and spotted dick.
Also, the sheer level of worldwide famous British chefs suggests that we may be underestimating the British talent to cook. After all, it does have famous chefs like Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay flying the flag for British cuisine everywhere they go!
I actually agree, what's the fun in getting so drunk you don't remember last night and then wake up with a terrible head splitting headache and bad nausea? Really, where is the fun in that?!
Load More Replies...well isn't all dates like that? if he likes you, why the makeup and if he doesn't, I doubt more makeup will fix it... and if you are a guy with makeup - you are ugly, deal with it like the rest of normal people.
I remember once having to tie my shoelaces in London. Though I tried to take care where I stopped, I was silently pushed to the floor by angry pedestrians striding with purpose. London has its on rules.
Londoners are invariably rude, and drive in a similar manner to this...when they're not stuck in traffic.
Load More Replies...I swear they put speed in their tap water. I only thought I was a fast walker until I went to London. These people are unreal.
One of the scariest things I have seen was at an underground station. My wife and I were standing on a platform at a station looking at a schedule. I look up and saw that about 100 feet away a train had stopped and people has just gotten. There was a mob of people stretching from the edge of the platform to the wall and several people deep moving toward us like a tidal wave. I will always remember the look of the woman in the middle front. She looked like she was going to strong arm us out of the way if we did not move. I quickly move my wife and me into a side hallway just before they swept past.
Load More Replies...Sounds like NYC because those people loathe lollygaggers with a passion.
Try attending the university. Then you'll bloody laugh.
Load More Replies...Years back, someone put into google maps the directions for NY to somewhere in Europe. The directions got them to some shore point and then it said, 'Swim for 1,100 miles'. It was hilarious.
A group of Yanks were in Bedford in East Anglia. We were looking for a Chinese restaurant. Some local drunk comes up to us to bum a smoke. The guy leading our pack, a large burly young man asks the town drunk where the Chinese restaurant is. "Do want one that's open?". Without missing a beat, our group leader says" "No, we all want to stand outside of a closed restaurant". The drunk realized how daft his question was & he gave us directions.
I'm in Miami. I had someone hail me down one day to ask where was Disney World... About four hours away...
I hope this response was given to American tourists. They deserve every burn they receive.
Brilliant! Seems this is what we need to accept across the board.
Load More Replies...This should be the USPS slogan now that Louis DeKillJoy has taken command.
I wish once a year you could upvote something 100 times. Like a birthday wish. This.
My mother was once in a pub in England and remarked, “We never get tea like this in the United States.” A woman sitting nearby said, “The last time we sent it to you, you dumped it in the harbor!”
Gin and tonics are life. If you're going to have a hard spirit, have gin. No hangover, and all the botanicals in it actually do you a bit of good. In moderation, of course.
huge laugh! i was on British airways and i am a terrified flyer,no kidding...great attendants figured that out REAL fast and all i did was raise my hand and 2 bottles of gin would magically appear! totally hammered by the time i hit Ohare but i never was a bother to anyone...god bless these professionals, treat them well, you over entitled, embarrassing POS!
I'll have to fly with that airline. Whenever I fly, I always ask for a gin and tonic and if possible, a Mars Bar. My favourite was Emirates where a stewardess when I told her that I we can't get Mars Bars in Chile, gave me about 30 - they only lasted about two weeks!
Actually fortuitous. They recycle the water on planes. ALL the water.
One time I was so terribly bloated (courtesy of my IBS) that someone offered me their seat. I was too embarrassed to refuse...
Pregnancy has effects on a woman‘s body long before the baby belly shows. So if a woman says she‘s pregnant and asks you to let her sit, give her the benefit of the doubt :)
If you don't, you might just get murdered if she's having a particularly hormonal day
Load More Replies...Good response to this selfish idiot. Are pregnant woman supposed to carry an ultrasound image or speculum with them before asking for a seat?
Man,'I do, do I? Well you can bloody well stand, you cheeky mare!' Promptly sits back down.
And me, much sensible request compared to "scratch my butt", for example.
Load More Replies...Packed in so you can't lift your arms. Rush hour on London Underground.
Load More Replies...Tell me what the song is, first. If I like it, I'll borrow your headphones and listen myself.
I'm waiting for a train, bouncing around to my music, when out of nowhere a young man grabbed one of my earbuds and stuck it in his ear. He excitedly flipped out when he realized this old broad was listening to some OG hip hop. Made his day.
Load More Replies...Pre-pandemic, being squeezed into a car like sardines was a daily occurrence, so I fully appreciate the need to "rely on the kindness of strangers".
Apparently I can't say "oh that's a shame" without being accused of sounding sarcastic (which I more than likely am but that's not the point)
When opening a gift the more excited I am, the more sarcastic I sound. I now stay silent and look like an ungrateful ass.
Load More Replies...The word the Englishman might want to try instead of "Great" is "Superb". I've never heard a "Superb" in an English accent that I didn't like. I'm an American, and I don't think the American accent does "Superb" any justice. :-)
I was told the other day that I sounded like Mary Poppins by an American, I’m British
Would've been worse if they said Ozzy Osbourne instead.
Load More Replies...we have no idea what we sound like to americans....I would love to know..
My American friend sometimes asks me to say random words. She asked me to say strawberries once. I said strawbriz. She said strahberreez. Be nice to see her again.
Load More Replies...Why are Americans so enthralled with the British accent, yet tell New Englanders/New Yorkers they talk funny? It's all non-rhotic dialect.
It is just something we voted for and we got it, but we still got no clue what it is!
Just be patient. In a few years they will have worked around all of the EU-tyrants punishments and get things running smoothly again. And then you will all reap the benefits of not being under control of the EU. They just had to punish you really hard so that no more countries dare to try and win their freedoms and independence back
Load More Replies...As an Englishman, I never really understood what being in the E.U. did for us. I thought it was all just politics but then I realised since we left that it's basically just a big toilet paper and petrol smuggling ring.
'toilet paper' instead of 'toliet roll'? Scagsy I'm disappointed in you, though from the Yorkshire rose it should be 'bog roll'.
Load More Replies...I don't know about that. It doesn't sound like you supported it?
Load More Replies...so, question from an American here; - what happens 7, 10, 20 years down the line if you decide you want back into the EU? Will they take you? Will you have to apply and go through the process that any new applicant has to go through?
I don't know. I'm pretty sure the eu will have more strict rules and no exceptions (like the pound that gb kept instead of using the euro). The British economy is s**t now but never underestimate the british, tough buggers !
Load More Replies...Even I knew that inflation was going to rise and I'm no economist, but I have to admit, I didn't see the lorry driver thing coming. Never realised quite so many of our delivery people were European.
The rich countries of EU and their tax payers lose billions by being members of the EU. The companies in these countries however are free to use and abuse to poor countries people with terrible salaries that outcompete the domestic workers (who can't live on that low salaries in their home country). These greedy companies that are used to abuse poor people suddenly have to start paying fair wages to domestic employees and create more work opportunities for the brittish. This of course is a hassle at first, but it will of course in the end be a good thing
Load More Replies...Hahaha. Again, this is why I love London. They take no sh!t and give no fu*ks.
Is saving a space in the queue global or just another dumb, selfish American "tradition"?
I once apologised for almost bumping into someone, only to realise I was talking to a mirror.
I'm Canadian too! Q: how do you make a Canadian apologize? A: step on their foot
Load More Replies...So he will start drinking, smoking and doing drugs after he is married. That’s one hell of a honeymoon.
Good call. I've never heard of abstaining from anything but sex before marriage and even that's stupid and unnecessary. Who buys the car without test driving it first?
"Well, there's a time and a place for everything... and that's called college."
She sure dodged the bullet here. He sounds like an incel—-and for good reason.
They're everywhere, especially in basement levels.
Load More Replies...Why don't we have platform announcers here in US? These guys are a freakin' hoot!
Brexit is really hurting the British and it's sad. Just because a group of wankers wanted more money and lied to get it (and admitted they lied). Boris is a twat.
And another group of wankers wanted to be able to shout at foreigners and tell them all to go home.
Load More Replies...The real problem was the British government lied for decades about their incompetence and blamed the EU and it came back and bit them on their a**e
I mean, could someone please tell me any negative things of being part of the EU except "not being ruled by people you elected"? I'm genuinely confused as to why people voted it
As well as the EU mainly being run by the unelected European Commission, their ultimate aim is to form the United States of Europe. So each country that currently exists won't be one in future. As the cultural and political difference is so vast this is not appealing to the majority of British people. There are way to many reasons to list here to be honest. But some others include that the whole institution is largely geared to benefit France and Germany, the UK was a net contributor to the Budget (had to pay them more that the benefits we received back), their red tape and burocracy is suffocating (they insist on metric and even regulate how curved a banana is allowed to be), their currency is a basket case (that eventually they will insist all members join), they want to create their own military to supplant national forces, and they like to meddle in national matters that don't concern them by insisting their laws take supremacy, which is enforced by activist judges. That enough?
Load More Replies...What do America and Britain have in common? Old white men in positions of power.
That's most first world countries actually. But at least Britain has had two female Prime Ministers (both Conservative). So I think your point is rather blunt.
Load More Replies...I like that answer. In America we watch the wrong cable news networks.
Yeah, could be US if sub president for EU & TV news for newspapers.
Load More Replies...has anyone started a "Re-join the EU" campaign? what happens if you decide you want back into the EU? Would you have to apply, get vetted, and go through the process and meet all the requirements that any new applicant has to go through?
only good thing to come from Brexit is that now Scotland will defo be leaving the corrupt AF UK
There aren’t any fuel shortages.... just shortages of licensed drivers. And not just in the UK either, we’re just the idiots who put it in the papers so everyone panics when they don’t need too. Only a couple of stations near me ran out - supermarket stations were fine as they pool their drivers
Load More Replies...Nope, we just don't feel the need to fill every quiet moment with useless word-vomit
There's a variety of silences then. The comfortable, the tired and the hostile.
Load More Replies...“Many people could say things in a cutting way, Nanny knew. But Granny Weatherwax could listen in a cutting way. She could make something sound stupid just by hearing it.” ― Terry Pratchett
Granny Weatherwax is one of my favorite characters, across any franchise or media. So many movies or series could be improved with an headologist witch.
Load More Replies...That is atually true. It is amazing how the loudest people start to become quiet on London public transport. The seething contempt for noisy people is palpable. Man, I miss London, right now. Lived there for five years.
Even though both words are in italic, somehow hostile looks really more hostile, than awkward which only looks slightly awkward.
Oh, how I long for silence, hostile or not. Americans just can't STFU no matter where they are. Museums once offered refuge, but that's no longer the case.
I've heard it as champagne tastes on a beer budget. Old Aussie saying :P
I’m currently living a rockstars life on a homeless persons budget 😁✌🏻
Nice burn, Guy. I've heard many excuses to get out of exercise, but this one shoots to the top.
you don't tell your friends you're moving house, you ask them if they have plans for that day.
Load More Replies...A friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a body.
That's an ex-friend, then, or, "Actually we had to change our moving date, and I know how much you wanted to help. Now you can."
Yup, that's the English. They don't want to seem rude, so they come up with convoluted ways of saying no.
That's harsh. I've been very fortunate over the years with moving assistance, but then I always threw a marvelous party in the empty digs, so all were happy.
Earlier : Woman to Taxi drive- Go to La guadia, La gouida, Lagida...forget it JFK please.
So, did the taxi drive from London all the way to JFK?
Load More Replies...Showed up at 7:00am at San Diego Int'l for my flight to Spokane, WA - which was leaving at 8:45 PM. Had to reroute to Seattle and fly to Spokane from there. No way in hell was my 78 y/o Mom driving 45 minutes to pick me up at midnight. (Nor would I even suggest such a thing). Thank you Alaska Airlines for being so understanding and helpful!
Former colleague of mine at the ticket counter shouting to the crowd in front of him: Anyone for the Manchester? A few people frantically: Yes....US!! My colleague: You missed your flight.
I just learned that London has 6 major airports!!! Honestly, I had no idea this mistake could actually happen.
"Monsieur. I'm sorry, but you can not board. You are late for your train" "What? It's right in front of me with the doors open! It leaves in two minutes. Why can't I board?" "Monsieur. Your train (pause) it left two weeks ago. Your ticket is for the 1st, not today, the 21st" (to their credit they let me on the train, though every porter/train operator had to pass by and take a look at the 'late passenger' (other words, really, which one can not us on the internet without being banned.)
'Sir, it is good to be early for one's flight, though a day early is a tad too early. Your flight leaves tomorrow." .....yep, me at Charles De Gaulle, Paris.
I think I could understand Quidditch. Have not figured out Cricket.
At least cricket would be slightly more exciting if flying around was involved.
It is! It still sounds a bit pretentious though - Bucks Fizz conjures up all sorts of exciting ideas and then they give you orange champagne. Bit of a let down in my book. I was expecting a sparkler at the very least.
Load More Replies...Whoever you are Girl, you have my undying appreciation. I don't even want ice cubes diluting my alcohol.
The station attendant would probably have actually said “hey lady with the fake Louis vitton, you have no money”
Load More Replies...Well, they're pests. They bite, they stink like you wouldn't believe it and they have parasites.
Load More Replies...That so unfair. I love foxes. I have lived in the countryside fro the past 34 years and I have only ever seen one once.
Awww, maybe try some fox watching, or leaving a dead chicken and a wildlife camera beside it is great for some recordings ^^
Load More Replies...I'm sorry but that's such a funny name for a town (says someone who lives in a state with towns such as Humptulips. What the hell, Grays Harbor county?).
How did it get up there? Did it go up by the stairs or the elevator? Did you leave your door open? Do you have a catflap that it decided to use?
Not once, but TWICE!!! This is hilarious: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4135700/Unbelievable-moment-fox-broke-locked-London-home.html
Hey, the UK is the place with the highest amount of convertibles in europe - talking about optimism here....
Oh you're just talking to the ones that can afford to leave their country. That makes a difference.
What Americans are you talking about? None I know. We are mostly Eeyore's, not Tigger's.
I'm simultaneously optimistic about my own life, but pessimistic about my country's future. To the point of nearly continuous existential dread.
Oops pardon me but I won't stop being too happy and optimistic and I won't stop smiling..sometimes with all the crazy going on around you it's the only thing that keep you going! The hope things will get better 😄🙂
Not all of us are! For example, I am so pessimistic that my mother had to give me lessons on how to be more optimistic. No joke.
So was I. I'm a stay at home orphan now. Ok so I'm 60 but sometimes you still want Mummy and Daddy
My daughter will be glad knowing that she actually doing something. It's a better title than freeloader
He also committed the cardinal sin of not minding his own business by paying attention to the people around him
Load More Replies...If you're at the top or bottom of the escalator you get off and move out of the damn way as fast as possible. Anything else is a hanging offense.
Men still don't understand how sexist this "nice" gesture is. Treating women and children as feebles, is outrageously insulting.
Absolutely, they know I talk more about the stuff drunk as I never open up sober. Yeah those friends are really lovely
Load More Replies...If said in jest, this is funny. If not, then this is a potential set up for a date rape.
When I first read this, I mentally swapped "girl" & "guy" and didn't get it. Meh. Stayed up too late ...
The De Beers people are licking their chops at this idea!
Load More Replies...Question is, is the American disgusted or excited by that? I'd be disgusted personally.
Carpet in a house toilet / bathroom is bad enough, in a public one?! Yeah, every sane English person also finds this disgusting
every sane person period should find this disgusting! not just the English
Load More Replies...Oh come on, even Brits find this one weird - you've just encountered a Londoner who doesn't get out much.
It IS a bit old fashioned now. I guess it was seen as a luxury for a while, but I've not seen a carpeted bathroom since 1990-something.
Load More Replies...Maybe every public toilet in London is immaculately used and cleansed after every use. The public toilets I've seen, well, are not. Given the amount of urine I typically see on the floor in any particular public restroom, I shudder to think of carpet being in one.
This brings back many horrible memories and smells from my time renovating houses.
Load More Replies...This doesn't happen a lot, but I'm with the American on this one. Carpeted bathroom is *bleeping* disgusting.
Dear heavens, Pandora has a lot to answer for, if nothing has happened if you don't have a charm for it
Uh, oh. Sounds like trouble is brewing in Paradise. That fellow might want to find the nearest exit now before he marries what sounds like a future Bridezilla.
Maybe she had the phrase 'Third's a charm' in her mind - she was hoping for 3P?
Cutting comments, so early on? I hope you haven't booked your big day yet.
I'd pull the ring, buy her the charm and tell her it's to remember our breakup.
Lately it's Girl: "3 bottles of prosecco please" Bartender: "How many glasses?" Girl: "Glasses?"
some grapes or apples would also be nice, with the cheese.
Load More Replies...My mom used to say "don't tell anyone your troubles, half of them don't care and the other half are glad it happened to you".
It's actually so interesting, because in Poland it usually is an invitation to complain, about anything from weather, to your job or generally political events in the world. When we ask a colleague or a family member how they are doing we kind of expect them to complain about something, so that we can also complain to them in return. I love this part of our culture 😂
Load More Replies...Always be happy. This will please your friends and upset your enemies. :)
Here, I get asked, "Have you had a busy day?" I get it *everywhere* – supermarket checkouts, gas station tellers, *bank* tellers, barman at my pub, the guy who cuts my hair. People are *obsessed* with my busy-ness. What the hell does the busy-ness of my day have to do with anyone, except my boss? And he never asks, because he *knows*!
I loathe this Americanism. The person asking doesn't give a crap about you or your stupid day, but now you're stuck either being a silent d**k or mumbling some benign phrase.
Being rolled around in a barrel is my preferred transport method. ;)
Load More Replies...Yeah, don't take a black cab any distance from the airport. I did that once after an 18-hour coach ride following a day in the office, with no sleep. He wanted more than I had in cash on me, and very graciously let me off about a fiver... on a £130! Won't be doing that again!
I believe this. Cabs are horribly expensive. Especially the ones that take the "scenic routes".
Who takes a cab?! Although when we were on our way to Heathrow, the train just stopped for no reason. "There's a problem. You have to get out." If not for Uber we would have missed our flight. (Don't @ me. We were early.)
I had something similar once, needed to get from Victoria to Kings Cross. Tube had a fire and was closed. Cost £80 in a black cab!!!! I would have been better walking and it might even have been quicker given the queue to get the cab in the first place! No wonder they lose our to Uber, complete rip off merchants.
Hmmm ever seen any big red things when you are in London? They have wheels on them and the number 390 does the same trip for £2.
Load More Replies...Great tip, thank you! Already downloaded and installed! 😄
Load More Replies...Oh great. That's probably what my coworkers are doing while I have to show up at the office every day since the worst of it all they get to work by the pool side and just wiggle their mouse. 😒
Been working from home for a year and a half. Met all my targets and even overachieved, while regularly playing YouTube in the back, or farming gold in an online game. All of this while in my underwear. Home office is the best thing that ever happened in my career, and actually made my work tolerable.
Load More Replies...If it was like Brexit, there would be people hanging off the train trying to get back in after it's already left...
So you will get in and once the doors are closed you figure out that the train is going in the wrong direction?
Guess I’m a true Londoner (despite the fact I’ve never stepped out of Asia) ;’)
And apparently I became a true Londoner on the subway in LA.
Load More Replies...I know it doesn’t count, but I’ve cried on a cross country flight. One of my brothers had died suddenly and unexpectedly, and I was flying from Baltimore to L.A. for his funeral. I leaned my head against the window with tears rolling down my face the whole time. When you’re that devastated you just don’t care where you are, what other people think, or how you look. You just don’t..
Guess I'm a true Londoner (even tho I've never had the pleasure of going there).
I try not to show emotion in public. I don't wanna deal with annoying and insipid well wishers wanting to know what happened.
I sobbed on the bus after finishing Carson McCullers' "Member of the Wedding". I knew it was sad, but not that sad. Damn, I'm tearing up now just thinking of it.
I'm doing this but not trying to push off adulthood, I'm trying to make a career in academia.
Load More Replies...Anything above 20 degrees and the middle aged beer bellied men are sitting topless in the beer gardens, its one of the ever so fascinating sights of a British summer. ._. (but hey I don't blame them, I don't mix well with heat whatsoever xD)
Look, true Irish people recognise townies easily by the weird clothes. An AMERICAN... simple.
No-one will break the no talking on the tube rule. It’s like fighting on holy ground. You just don’t.
I did but in my defense, someone was making a loud clicky sound (like clicking a pen) constantly, I cracked and addressed the compartment in general. The clicking stopped.
Load More Replies...And that's the exact opposite of being on the NYC subway where everyone will get up in your business for any reason. Well, except if you're dressed in costume as a palm tree (or the like) or if you're Robert deNiro -- then you won't get a second glance and will be totally ignored.
Maybe I'm biased, but the British sense of humour is one of the best in the world. The Aussies are also very funny.
I think I'm secretly British. Nice, snarky people. Wanna move there.
If you can look at someone and express all your pity and incredulity without words: you'll fit right in! :D
Load More Replies...On the tube years ago I heard 2 guys talking about a friend having trouble with IVF. First guy says "if a girl can't get pregnant is she impregnable?" His friend replies "no I think she's inconceivable" I could see the logic but it cracked me up way harder than it should have
Maybe just because I have only experienced Britain through television, I'm always charmed when they make a statement, and then ask for agreement. Ex: he's made a mess of it, hasn't he? Or this is really fiddly, isn't it?
I thought that is the norm. Was taught since primary school that's how you ask that kind of question (I'm obviously not a native speaker)
Load More Replies...On a British Airways flight that had been given a gate so far from the runway it took 10mins to get there. Pilot came on and announced, " Sorry for the long taxi to the runway everyone. Seems our gate was allocated by someone who doesn't know their a**e from their elbow". Made my day.
My husband reminded me today of when we came back from DisneyLand and we were coming through customs at Calais. The lady at the desk asked me how my trip was. I said, ‘It was good. Weather was rubbish and I couldn’t get a cup of tea but yeah, it was good :)’ After, my husband said, ‘Could you be anymore British?’ I didn’t even realise what I’d said xD I also have no memory of this and he took great delight in telling me again xD
The real difference is that Americans seem to fell the need to state the bloody obvious.
Maybe I'm biased, but the British sense of humour is one of the best in the world. The Aussies are also very funny.
I think I'm secretly British. Nice, snarky people. Wanna move there.
If you can look at someone and express all your pity and incredulity without words: you'll fit right in! :D
Load More Replies...On the tube years ago I heard 2 guys talking about a friend having trouble with IVF. First guy says "if a girl can't get pregnant is she impregnable?" His friend replies "no I think she's inconceivable" I could see the logic but it cracked me up way harder than it should have
Maybe just because I have only experienced Britain through television, I'm always charmed when they make a statement, and then ask for agreement. Ex: he's made a mess of it, hasn't he? Or this is really fiddly, isn't it?
I thought that is the norm. Was taught since primary school that's how you ask that kind of question (I'm obviously not a native speaker)
Load More Replies...On a British Airways flight that had been given a gate so far from the runway it took 10mins to get there. Pilot came on and announced, " Sorry for the long taxi to the runway everyone. Seems our gate was allocated by someone who doesn't know their a**e from their elbow". Made my day.
My husband reminded me today of when we came back from DisneyLand and we were coming through customs at Calais. The lady at the desk asked me how my trip was. I said, ‘It was good. Weather was rubbish and I couldn’t get a cup of tea but yeah, it was good :)’ After, my husband said, ‘Could you be anymore British?’ I didn’t even realise what I’d said xD I also have no memory of this and he took great delight in telling me again xD
The real difference is that Americans seem to fell the need to state the bloody obvious.
