Escalators: People in London are definitely more polite than in the USA (or at least in New York). Like Jaimee said, if you step on someone’s toes, then they’ll apologise to you! The most obvious manifestation of this though, is on escalators. Escalators out of New York’s subway are random acts of chance at best. People stand wherever they want to, because it’s their God given right to do so. I have no doubt it’s even written into the constitution somewhere, under one of those shadier amendments. This is most annoying for those of us who are willing and able to walk up the escalators, as there really is very little you can do but stand behind impatiently and wait.
Not so in London. Now admittedly, there are signs all the way along the escalators giving clear instructions of how to behave, but people quite strictly adhere to the rules: stand on the right, walk on the left. Rule breakers are looked upon with much scorn. Though, being (mostly) English, no-one actually says anything to the rule breakers – they literally just look upon them, with scorn. And then they queue up behind them – directly behind them (think: violation of personal space) – and start breathing loudly, kind of huffing and puffing. When the offender finally realises that they’re standing in the walking lane and move aside, the thankful walker – whose only real crime is obeying the rules – inevitably apologises and continues along their merry way.
Footpaths: New Yorkers are always in a hurry. It doesn’t matter what time of what day it is, there is always somewhere to be, and what’s more they should have been there at least 15 minutes ago. Consequently, people move along the “sidewalks” often faster than their less fortunate peers stuck in the gridlocked traffic next to them. Tourists stopping to crane their necks upwards at the Manhattan skyline are jostled around with little regard for their well-being. The lesson: don’t stand in the way! If you have to stop, pull over first! Oh, and you’d better believe you’re going to cop an ear-full if you disobey…
Time must be more generous in London however, as people never seem to be in a hurry. This confuses me somewhat, as (a) I hate walking, hence I motor along as quickly as I can (short of running that is), and (b) usually it’s raining in London, so I don’t understand why people aren’t moving faster to get out of the rain. Additionally, people here don’t seem to follow the rules of the road – i.e. stick to the left-hand side of the footpath (in your direction of travel). Nope, they’ll just walk along, willy nilly, and – of course – apologise whenever they get in someone’s way. This to me is really quite bizarre, especially given how well behaved folks are on the elevators.
3 comments
Fact: If you walk faster in the rain you hit more raindrops.
I’m finding the same issue here now living in Melbourne! People are all over the sidewalk, and forget about walking in the mall. Coming from NYC, I have a real hard time with people not walking to one side. It’s hard enough remembering what side I’m supposed to be on in the first place
Re Fact: If you walk faster in the rain you hit more raindrops
That is sort of true … per unit of time.
But when travelling a set distance, if it is raining at a constant rate, then it doesn’t matter if you run or walk. You hit the same number of raindrops.
Moral of the story? Run if the rain is increasing in intensity, walk if it is decreasing. At least that is my theory, although I have sometimes been accused of being wet.