31 Aug 2014
People pass the time of day, hold open doors and wish you a pleasant journey. It takes me a day to adjust, and I always return home reminded of the one thing about our capital that I dislike. Londoners are rude.
We don’t look at people and smile, like they do elsewhere. We don’t engage in small talk or pass the time of day with strangers. If we want something from a shop or a restaurant that is not available we are grumpy and impatient. Why have they run out of soya milk/gluten free brownies/focaccia/buffalo mozzarella? Have you no idea of the inconvenience this is causing? We are the same with transport. Heaven help you if you attempt to put your car in gear after the lights have turned green, or are on duty at a station when a train is cancelled. We had our hearts set on reaching our destination at a specific time. There is no room for error.
I wonder what it is that makes Londoners so short tempered. Perhaps it’s the crowds, or the fact that we are scrabbling for limited resources. But there is more to it than that.
London is a place where you can see or do anything, and this has translated into a feeling that we can have whatever our heart desires, the minute we snap our fingers. No need to ask nicely, no need to be polite. We want it all, and we want it now. We are Entitled.
A friend of mine was in a coffee shop recently, standing behind a woman who was berating the barista because the coffee machine was broken. She huffed and swore at how outrageous it was that her flat white was not forthcoming. No matter that it was simply a cup of coffee or that there was little the barista could do. As far as this woman was concerned, he was not a person entitled to respect or understanding, but was merely an extension of her entitlement to coffee. And since it was not being produced the moment it was demanded, a temper tantrum followed.
My friend could not listen to any more, and pointed out to the woman that her rudeness was unacceptable, and that she shouldn’t speak to other human beings like that. And here is the point. We can blame stress or pressure or finances, but in the end we can chose to be nice if we want to.
Life does not end because we cannot find Thai basil leaves, and we are not entitled to the last bottle of organic almond milk. If we can’t make do with a cold drink or a different loaf without behaving like a dictatorial toddler, then we really do need to find something better to worry about.
