Sean, how long are you in London? What do you plan on doing while you're there?

Heh. No, I don't think that's it. It has nothing to do with the actual words being spoken, and everything to do with smiles, attitude, friendliness/helpfulness.

Sure, but its easier to be utterly achingly charming to someone if you can cuss them out with them standing right there and they don't even know it.

I remember hearing that London cab drivers are required to know every nook and cranny of the city ... which, coming from a place where a comedian remarked that when you catch a cab into town from the airport you're both seeing the city for the first time, is a charming idea.

The Knowledge! [link]

I remember hearing that London cab drivers are required to know every nook and cranny of the city

They have to take a test. It's called The Knowledge.

xpost!

I remember hearing that London cab drivers are required to know every nook and cranny of the city ...

Yeah, it takes lots of study to become a London cab driver.

eta: also x-posty, except my x-post was lame....

London taxi drivers are the BOMB DIGGETY. They're so cool, they even had their own TV series. Seriously, 2 times out of three I have to give directions for ten minute cab rides from my house. In London, you have to study the entire freaking A to Z and pass the Knowledge.

Of course, this would make me very grumpy, if I had all that in my head, but surprisingly I never had that experience.

I did have quite the culture shock moving to the UK, though. Definitely not as randomly friendly as Jamaica. We got a lot of MYOB looks. In Jamaica, we'd just say hi to anyone walking past our house, for no reason (and I was technically a shy kid). In London I was soon disabused of that as a fun way to pass the time.

But people were rarely outright rude to me when I needed help or anything.

Though there was one time I got spat at for being American...which, you know, makes you get really vocal about not actually being American.

My Jamaican cab driver had a "gas grass or ass" sign above the rearview.

It is nice in London to just be able to say, I want to go the the British museum, etc, without have to give them the address or tell them what it is near. They just know.

I'm only in London for one day. No specific plans for the day, other than seeing the play in the evening.

I also suspect at least some of the friendliness I experienced in Italy and (briefly) in Paris stems from the fact that I am able to say hello, goodbye, yes, no, please, thank you and "Sorry, I am an American and I don't speak your language very well" in Italian, French and German (for the few German tourists we ran into), with rather impeccable pronunciation.

Also, as an aside, I was very VERY amused by Italians speaking to each other. Pretty much every time I watched two or more Italians speaking to each other, I found myself wondering, "Is there gonna be a fight?"

And I strongly suspect that each time, they were having a friendly conversation about the weather, and were in complete agreement with each other.

Sure, but its easier to be utterly achingly charming to someone if you can cuss them out with them standing right there and they don't even know it.

I'm really trying to bite my tongue on this one, because it was a crap travel day, and I know that I am in general in a very down mood, and have been for a very, very, very long time, but Trudy, why are you trying so hard to crap all over my Italian vacation, and the one real bright spot I've had in quite a while?

It's really unwelcome and unappreciated.

Just being silly, Sean. Sorry if the joke didn't read as joking. I'll resist the urge to try and defend the honor of London with great flourishes of hyperbole lest you think I'm trying so hard to crap all over your opinon of London.