I just joint a group on Facebook called:
You know you’ve grown up in London when...
although I only lived there for just over 2 years and got to know it inside out, I wonder how many I qualifiy for:
- You have the reflex of always leaving home with an umbrella no matter how sunny it is.
YEP
- You can tell when Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Fulham, West Ham or Charlton are playing because you can here people screaming from the pub down the road.
NOT QUITE
- You only know what’s going on in the world because of the slogans on the Evening Standard boards.
YEP
- The Millennium Dome. Enough said.
I REMEMBER WHEN THEY BUILT IT
- You have an Oyster Card.
OYSTER CARDS ONLY CAME IN RECENTLY
- You’ve lost your Oyster Card.
ONLY BOUGHT ONE WHEN BACK ON HOLS, SO NOT ENOUGH OPPORTUNITY
- You go Christmas shopping on Oxford Street and/or High Street Kensington.
DEFINITELY
- You remember when Krispy Kremes came to Harrods...and the vendors gave them away for free.
WAS THERE BEFORE THAT TOO
- You knew better than to go anywhere near Westminster Abbey when the Queen Mum died.
WAS AWAY AT THE TIME, BUT WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE GONE. I STOOD ON THE MALL AND WATCHED THE PROCESSION WHEN SHE TURNED 100
- Big Ben’s really not that big a deal.
WELL IT'S NOT THAT BIG, AGREED, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE IT IS ACTUALLY THE NAME OF THE BELL INSIDE AND THE TOWER IS CALLED ST STEPHENS. BUT WRONG IT IS A BIG DEAL.
- The rest of the world seems inexpensive.
HOW TRUE
- You were happy that London got the Olympics for 5 minutes, until you realized what a nuisance it would be.
I'M FAR TOO OPTIMISTIC FOR THAT KIND OF OUTLOOK
- You’ve had your phone stolen by a chav.
WHAT? GUESS I DON'T QUALIFY
- You've bought clothes at Selfridges.
BEEN WITH MY WIFE WHEN SHE HAS
- You’ve gone ice skating and bowling at Queen’s Way, but never bothered to ask why they combined the two under one roof.
MY FIRST 4 NIGHTS WERE JUST OFF QUEENSWAY, BAYSWATER. BTW - IT'S ONE WHOLE WORD, NOT TWO. GET IT RIGHT.
- Your parents have complained about the congestion charge.
SORRY - THEY'RE AUSTRALIAN
- You don’t actually know anyone who works at the Gherkin.
MY MATE'S WIFE DID. BTW - IT'S CALLED 30 ST MARY AXE
- “Mind the gap”.
MANY TIMES, MOST COMMONLY ON THE SOUTH SECTION OF THE CIRCLE AND DISTRICT LINES.
- As we speak, there’s probably something wrong with the Piccadilly Line.
OF COURSE, ALTHOUGH IT'S ONE OF THE QUICKEST WHEN IT DOES RUN.
- You’re furious that Ken Livingston wants to do away with the double-decker.
YEP
- Your parents voted for Ken Livingston but they won’t admit to it.
SEE ABOVE
- You know someone who survived the Blitz.
NOPE
- Everyone has a story of how close they, or someone they know, were to taking the tube on 7/7.
I HAVE HEARD MANY STORIES OF FRIENDS' EXPERIENCES. AS FOR ME, I USED TO WORK RIGHT NEXT TO ALDGATE EAST, KINGS CROSS WAS A COMMON COMMUTER TRANSFER POINT FOR ME AND OUR BUS USED TO DRIVE RIGHT THROUGH TAVISTOCK SQUARE. WHILST I WASN'T THERE, I WAS VERY 'CLOSE' TO HOME
- You love to hate that Jesuit with the loud speaker on Regents Street.
NEVER SEEN HIM BUT HAVE BEEN UP AND DOWN REGENT ST MORE TIMES THAN I'VE HAD HOT DINNERS. USED TO GO TO CHURCH ON UPPER REGENT STREET
You may even have gotten into an argument with him.- Oh, the sales...- You’ve had the urge to hurt a pigeon.
NOPE. WAS ALWAYS AMAZED HOW CLOSE THEY'D COME TO YOUR FEET IN SEARCH OF CRUMBS. A SIMILE OF LONDON. PIGEONS MAKE LONDON. WHAT WAS KEN LIVINGSTON THINKING WITH TRAFALGAR SQUARE.
- Things close when the Queen’s horses need to take a walk.
I KNOW THEY USED TO COME PAST OUR APARTMENT IN BELSIZE PARK FREQUENTLY. I LOVED WATCHING THEM AND HEARING THEM APPROACHING.
- People think that, because you’ve lived in London, you say things like “frightfully, frightfully”.
NOT QUITE.
- The most exciting time of your life was when the cast of Friends came to London and you so hoped you would run into one at Sainsbury’s or something.
THE PERSON WRITING THIS ISN'T GETTING OUT INTO THE REAL LONDON ENOUGH. STARS COME TO LONDON ALL THE TIME. I'VE SEEN: TOM HANKS, JOHN TRAVOLTA, RUSSELL CROWE, KATE HUDSON, GOLDIE HAWN. PLUS ALL THE ENGLISH STARS: KATE WINSLET, HUGH GRANT, ELTON JOHN ...
- You know of the concept of Seasons, but you've never lived them.
LOVE THEM ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS OF LONDON
- It’s probably raining right now.
SADLY I'M IN PERTH SO I COULDN'T TELL YOU.
SUMMARY - WELL I GUESS I HAVE THE LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND HAVE HAD THE EXPERIENCES WITHOUT THE SIDE OF INGROWN PESSISM THAT SOME HAVE.
I was sitting in a café looking through a book on London Film Locations with my 2 year old daughter (as all responsible parents should do) when we came to a picture like this (insert).
