Don’t get it twisted – I love London. I like the hustle and bustle, the noise, the shops, the nightlife, the parks, the Thames, and all the great stuff that goes on in the capital.
I love the dry humour and sophistication of Londoners, and the fact you’ll find women wearing dresses, full makeup, and three-inch heels just to go Sunday shopping on the High Street.
If we could have bought the house we needed, in the safe, family-friendly environment we wanted, we’d never have left. But with that first division lottery win sadly eluding us, we waved goodbye, and moved to the Home Counties late last year.
On a good day we can be back in London in 20 minutes flat, yet we could be a million miles away…
Here I look out of my window, and I see trees and hills. In London I saw school kids puffing on ciggies, and plastic supermarket bags blowing down the street. At night I see stars. In the capital I saw drunk people stumbling home from the pub. In London I hear sirens and the constant whine of pizza delivery mopeds. Now, I hear birds and… silence.
We have a house (albeit semi-detached) rather than a second-floor shoebox flat. We have a garden, and a driveway, and a car to park in it!
But it’s not just the material differences that I’ve noticed.
Londoners have a reputation for being cold and arrogant, but crack that veneer (and it isn’t really that thick) and you’ll find witty, fun, warm, smart and fascinating people. Unfortunately, with a big city like London you need a tough exterior to get by, and you sometimes forget to lower the guards again.
When I first arrived I couldn’t believe how combative and unhelpful some people could be – particularly in areas of so-called customer service – but after experiencing it day in and day out, it just became the norm.
I can’t even begin to count the number of times I stood waiting at a store counter while the sales assistants chatted amongst themselves. Or the occasions when they snatched the purchases out of my hand and rang them up, without even looking at me, or saying hello. It used to shock me. In time I grew to expect it.
Moving here was a revelation, or should I say a rediscovery. When I walk into a shop here, people smile and greet me. When my partner tried to book a doctor’s appointment before work, and all the early slots were taken, they juggled a few patients around, and squeezed him in anyway.
When I was struggling with a toddler and a screaming baby at the supermarket, one of the staff came over and opened a new checkout, just for me. That same day a teenage boy rushed ahead to hold a door open for me.
When I was looking for a particular DVD in HMV, the sales assistant spent a good 10 minutes really searching for it, not just scrolling down a computer screen with barely disguised boredom. And when she couldn’t find it, she was genuinely apologetic.
But here’s the kicker – the other day I missed the fortnightly wheelie bin collection. Unpacking and decorating meant we already had an overflow of black bags sitting in the conservatory. I couldn’t get to the local refuse centre because I have a 3-door car, with two car seats (and accompanying kids) taking up the entire back seat.
So I rang the local council on the off-chance I could pay for a special collection, before our entire home was engulfed by a black bag avalanche. I expected them to say something along the lines of: ‘Too bad… rubbish days are clearly stated on our website… not our problem.’
Then they’d take my name so someone could call me back, and I’d never hear from them again. Because that’s pretty much what had always happened in the past.
Except, this time someone ACTUALLY called me back. A lovely lady named Angela, who listened to my dilemma, and made a few enquiries. Then she called back to tell me that – just this once – they’d get their rubbish truck to make a detour, swing past our place, and grab our refuse. Not just the jam-packed black wheelie bin, mind, but all the extra black bags too!!
It totally made my day to see that empty wheelie bin afterwards.
Sometimes it’s the small things, isn’t it???
Any for sale signs up near you? I’m moving! lol
It’s great when things work out right for a change! I think we are fortunate to be living in a very ‘green’ part of London so it would take rather a lot to get us to move. But the long term goal is still to move out to the country to enjoy the quieter life.
Wow I want to move where you live. I’ve lived in 2 cities in this country and most my life in the countryside. Everyone is rude and doesn’t care about anyone but themselves. Leicester was probably the nicest place I ever lived, and that’s full of university students! I loved going to the market there, so cheery and friendly.