Rude London!

London is so rude.

I don’t mean the actual City itself of course, actually it’s quite inviting, but the people, the hustle and bustle lot who can never wait five seconds for anything as they make their way about their day; they can just be so totally and unnecessarily rude!

I’ve written before about the commuter’s who tut as you stand on the escalator with a buggy and make them wait all of 15 seconds to get to the bottom because they can’t rush on by. Of course some of them just push you out of the way and exercise their right to ‘walk to the left’ regardless! Unfortunately it’s not just people with buggies who annoy London’s travelers because all over the shop people seem to be in a mood about something? Goodness knows what?

If I have ever struggled with something while travelling, luggage or a buggy say, more often than not I have had to ask for someone to help me. I will stand waiting while I assess people’s faces and try to ask the kindest looking one. That doesn’t mean I always get it right though. I remember being 8 months pregnant with Florence and asking a woman sitting in the priority seat if she’d mind if I sat down. She looked me up and down, thought about it and promptly said NO! Rude!

People have said no when I’ve asked them to help me carry the buggy also. One time I was again heavily pregnant, this time with Jimmy and I had Florence in the buggy. The man said he was in too much of a rush and ran down the steps to then stand at the bottom watching me struggle down with my bump and buggy. Rude!

It’s not just people unwilling to help though and not all about pregnant or women with children either. It’s just a general thing I think. I have seen people refuse to give up seats or fail to notice they are needed in the first place for elderly and disabled people too. I’m not sure if it’s genuine selfishness in every case or if everyone is so consumed with what they are doing themselves that they simply don’t have tome to think about anyone else but whatever it is, it’s rude!

The thing about London and being out and about in our Capital City is that there’s an unwritten rule that we DON’T speak to each other and god forbid we make eye contact or smile! Why is that? It’s simply just rude!

What’s so bad with making the time of day with someone and saying good morning? When I went out to work I saw the same faces every day but did we ever acknowledge each other? Of course not! We sat together on early morning starts whizzing into the City, we sat together delay after delay each huffing quietly to ourselves but never in solidarity with each other and with the rush hour ‘people throng’ we’ve stood pressed up closer to each other for longer than I have with some with some of my closest friends! But we never made actual voice contact… That wouldn’t be right? Except that’s wrong and it’s simply rude!

I don’t like the way Londoner’s are so conditioned to this way that they don’t even say ‘hello’ or ‘see you later’. Where I’m from even the bus driver says ‘cheerio’ as everyone gets off AND thanks him on their way! I think London would be a much nicer place if it were a bit more friendly and well, less rude!

It saddens me when the other people tut because some poor person has made them late by throwing themselves under a tube train. You hear voices then of course! Oh yes, people speak at that point to announce ‘HOW SELFISH’! What? I mean like really, What the eff? Some poor person was so miserable that they felt they had no way out and they jumped in front of your train. They were so sad that they did that? Where is your compassion? Why do you only care that you are late? Why are you SO rude?

We’re such ants in this big City of ours, rushing about on a treadmill at speed, you very rarely get to observe ‘the people’ unless on public transport but I have seen people rush about without caring, looking or thinking about others in the street too. For some reason that irks me less? Maybe because it’s happened and gone in a second. On transport, where you all sit together for 45 minutes, it’s shouting out loudly that ‘WE ARE A CITY OF RUDIES’!

Last night on my tube home, the driver kept coming over the tannoy to keep us updated every few minutes about our delay. He was funny, entertaining, apologetic and informative. He explained what each signal meant and why, he told us how many trains were lined up, he explained someone was coming to take the train in front and remove it to the depot because there were too many close together… The people in my carriage tutted every time he came on, they grumbled (to themselves of course) and rolled their eyes. Rude!

The driver started the story by explaining a girl had been threatening suicide earlier in the day and the line had shut down causing this disruption. That sent the carriage into a bubbling, over reactive aggro capsule! They were clearly unmoved by the story and clearly peed off with the driver continuously speaking to us. I decided I was going to try and smile at him as I got off the train because personally I was grateful! I had the children with me and it was good to know what was happening, he kept me entertained too and I appreciated it! If the rest of London wasn’t so flipping damn rude perhaps they wouldn’t have been so annoyed and had a better journey home themselves! The driver was a real human being who was doing his best to do what he thought was the right thing… To the rest of my carriage, you were SO rude!

London people, please just stop being so awfully rude, you’d be so much lovelier (and happier) if you did!

MY LIFE WITH TWO!

This past couple of weeks we have all just been a little bit poorly really. Not the best!

I took Jimmy to the Doctor and was told antibiotics were borderline needed for his cough and to give them to him as a precaution. The only thing was he refused to take it and we tried EVERYTHING! I thought it wouldn’t be so bad because it was only a precaution but then a couple of days later he started coughing so much he couldn’t even take a breath in between and started going blue! Very scary!

We all went to the Doctor because Florence couldn’t hear and her ears were painful, just like mine and obviously we needed to sort Jimmy’s cough! The Doctor said that we ALL had ear infections and that Jimmy also now had a rattle on one side which meant he absolutely HAD to take the medicine. When I explained he just wouldn’t take it mixed with juice or yogurt and spat it out the Doctor prescribed it in a more concentrated form and told me to give it to him mixed with something he’s not usually allowed in order to entice him. The only thing I could think of was Cola and the Doctor said he thought that was a brilliant idea… He said if Jimmy hadn’t taken it by the next day we would have to admit him and he’d need it intravenously! We all went home with prescriptions for amoxicillin!

Anyway, to cut a long story short he took it! Thankfully! I thought there’d be no trip to A&E as I had feared when the Doctor said it and was very please… But… Turns out that Florence, just like Jonny, is allergic to penicillin! So with hands and arms red and stinging we did indeed have a Friday night at A&E… The poor thing! At least we now know!

The thing is that she’s had it before and been fine so I wonder if breast feeding somehow stops the allergy from coming through just like she would have had my immunities? I must talk to the Doctor about this because perhaps later on when Jimmy isn’t breast feeding he might have problems with Penicillin too?

Anyway, all with the right antibiotics now and we’re much more on the mend! And actually enjoying taking them because they’re being dished out with the usually forbidden ‘Cola Cola’ as Jimmy calls it! It even comes from a can which ever since we were on holiday and I would have one occasionally has been something Jimmy has been after!

Taking medicine is much more fun mixed with the parent dreaded ‘cola cola’!

Also this week, Jonny and I performed on the same bill for the first time ever! We both took part in my friend Ellie’s ‘Milk and Sugar Event’ in aid of Age UK! It was at Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush and was an evening of music and comedy. Ellie and I did three comedy skits which we wrote ourselves; a ‘band argument’ and TOWIE and MIC spoofs while Jonny did what he did best and sang some of his wicked songs! Muchos fun!