Have the people of London forgotten their sense of humour? Have I forgotten to check if the people of London speak English? Or am I simply incredibly insensitive? I’ll let you decide.
I came out of work last night to find 6 police cars and a riot of policemen and women (is riot the correct collective noun for the police?).
They were all congregated around the end of the street, and several people had gathered to try and work out what was going on. I looked about but could see no clue.
The police were concentrated near the recycling bins and I watched as the world’s most self conscious man separated his rubbish out in front of 10 staring policemen. I immediately turned to the man that I was walking past and said “Wow, they really take recycling seriously around here don’t they?”
The look of horror this man gave me was immense. Clearly I was either about to eat, mug or have sex with him and he wasn’t too sure he liked the idea. Had I broken a code by not only catching eye contact but actually talking to a stranger on the street in London?
Was it that he just couldn’t understand English very well and had thought I’d said “Bring me your Mother – I must have her now”, this being a phrase he had attempted to memorise from his English/Bavarian dictionary?
Was he a Daily Mail reader and was simply infuriated by the accuracy of my statement? In his head, he was composing a letter to the Mail complaining about the Police State he was living in where such control was being imposed on Londoner’s recycling. I had clearly touched a nerve.
There is a small possibility that he simply didn’t think I was funny, but I refuse to accept that so I won’t give it any credence here.
The last thing I pondered, as I climbed aboard my tube train, stopped me in my tracks and made me say “OH!” I’d passed him right there hadn’t I? Was he stood around being nosey? Or…. Oh dear he was part of it wasn’t he? He wasn’t chained up so I don’t think he was guilty of anything – EVEN WORSE – that means he was the victim! I’ve just mocked somebody that was having a really bad day. This poor Bavarian lad had just witnessed a gang of ruthless London granny grabbers kidnap his mother, only to have some fat English bloke walk by laughing and demanding to have her for himself.
I put my eye contact protection device (book) down and threw caution to the wind by looking around. People dived for cover as my gaze fell on them, panic spread around the carriage as the commuters thought that someone might be trying to get their attention. Fortunately my momentary feeling of guilt passed quite quickly, and so I put my eyes back down and concentrated on reading again. The carriage relaxed.
If any of you have any other theories, please let me know.
I came out of work last night to find 6 police cars and a riot of policemen and women (is riot the correct collective noun for the police?).
They were all congregated around the end of the street, and several people had gathered to try and work out what was going on. I looked about but could see no clue.
The police were concentrated near the recycling bins and I watched as the world’s most self conscious man separated his rubbish out in front of 10 staring policemen. I immediately turned to the man that I was walking past and said “Wow, they really take recycling seriously around here don’t they?”
The look of horror this man gave me was immense. Clearly I was either about to eat, mug or have sex with him and he wasn’t too sure he liked the idea. Had I broken a code by not only catching eye contact but actually talking to a stranger on the street in London?
Was it that he just couldn’t understand English very well and had thought I’d said “Bring me your Mother – I must have her now”, this being a phrase he had attempted to memorise from his English/Bavarian dictionary?
Was he a Daily Mail reader and was simply infuriated by the accuracy of my statement? In his head, he was composing a letter to the Mail complaining about the Police State he was living in where such control was being imposed on Londoner’s recycling. I had clearly touched a nerve.
There is a small possibility that he simply didn’t think I was funny, but I refuse to accept that so I won’t give it any credence here.
The last thing I pondered, as I climbed aboard my tube train, stopped me in my tracks and made me say “OH!” I’d passed him right there hadn’t I? Was he stood around being nosey? Or…. Oh dear he was part of it wasn’t he? He wasn’t chained up so I don’t think he was guilty of anything – EVEN WORSE – that means he was the victim! I’ve just mocked somebody that was having a really bad day. This poor Bavarian lad had just witnessed a gang of ruthless London granny grabbers kidnap his mother, only to have some fat English bloke walk by laughing and demanding to have her for himself.
I put my eye contact protection device (book) down and threw caution to the wind by looking around. People dived for cover as my gaze fell on them, panic spread around the carriage as the commuters thought that someone might be trying to get their attention. Fortunately my momentary feeling of guilt passed quite quickly, and so I put my eyes back down and concentrated on reading again. The carriage relaxed.
If any of you have any other theories, please let me know.
7 comments:
Nope, I think you hit the nail on the head. Recycling is a very serious thing. Should you take it lightly, you shall spend forever in recycling purgatory, endlessly seperating newspapers and glass bottles.
Can't help you, people talk to strangers all the time over here, it's expected!
recycling purgatory? An endless bag of mixed up rubbish that needs sorting - nightmare.
KB - sounds scary
I must be strange, I don't mind speaking to strangers in an brief moment of comment, in a situation such as yours. But when spoken to, I simply nod politely and avert eyes discouraging further discussion as most do with me. The trains are a different matter, I feel trapped there.
I live in the Northeast part of the states, but I'm from the Midwest. Growing up I always used to say hi to people on the street, just as a way of acknowledging another human being. But here, people often avoid eye contact. It's weird.
Ever been on an elevator where no one dares look at anyone else? When I was in India back some years ago I got on an elevator and EVERYONE stared. Just stared and stared. That was a long ride up!
You looked at people? On the underground? After talking to a stranger? Have you gone stark staring mad? You know the rules.
JAW - you have nowhere to run on the train!
Guy's Perspective - being stared at on the elevator? madness!
Barbara - I know I know - I just lost the plot
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