Monday, February 02, 2009

You know you've been living in London for too long when

Mexikanska For Invandrare paminde mig om "you know you've been in XXX for too long when" skamt. Jag hade en hel lang lista med sadana for Mexico men de forsvann nar Hotmail bestamde sig for att radera hela mitt gamla konto forra julen (tillsammans med en bunt gamla karleksbrev som jag behallit utav ren nostalgi). Efter lite surfande pa natet hittade jag dock en lista over London istallet och den ar sa mitt-i-prick att jag maste kopiera in den har. Prickade sa ratt i min otroligt daliga Brittiska geografiska kunskaper av allt utanfor zon 3 i London, hur man inte langre hojer ett ogonbryn fastan notan i baren/affaren/resturangen visar ett belopp som skulle kunna foda en sydost asiatisk by i tva manader, hur manadshyran for min tvaa i London skulle kunna ge mig en villa i ett fint omrade har i Mexico City med fem sovrum, tva garage samt live-in maid, hur konceptet "tradgard" och "varmeisolerat" har forandrats sedan jag flyttade till London, samt naturligtvis att man blir van vid att sta med nagons armhala i nashojd mellan London Bridge och Oxford Circus i rusnings traffik...

Ladies and Gentlemen, You Know You've Lived in London (For Too Long?) When:
1. You say "the City" and expect everyone to know which one.
2. You have never been to The Tower or Madame Tussauds but love Brighton
3. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Shepherds Bush to Elephant & Castle at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Dorset on a map.
4. Hookers and the homeless are invisible.
5. You step over people who collapse on the Tube.
6. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multilingual.
7. You've considered stabbing someone.
8. Your door has more than three locks.
9. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
10. You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a garden.
11. You consider Essex the "countryside"
12. You think Hyde Park is "nature".
13. You're paying £1,200 a month for a studio the size of a walk-in wardrobe and you think it's a "bargain".
14. Shopping in suburban supermarkets and shopping malls gives you a severe attack of agoraphobia.
15. You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the UK pay in rent.
16. You pay £3 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28p.
17. You actually take fashion seriously.
18. You have 27 different take-away menus next to your telephone.
19. The UK west of Heathrow is still theoretical to you.
20. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
21. Your idea of personal space is no one actually physically standing on you.
22. £50 worth of groceries fit in one plastic bag.
23. You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.
24. You don't hear sirens anymore.
25. You've mentally blocked out all thoughts of the city's air/water quality and what it's doing to your insides.
26. You live in a building with a larger population than most towns.
27. Your cleaner is Portuguese, your grocer is Somali, your butcher is halal,your deli man is Israeli, your landlord is Italian, your laundry guy is Filipino, your bartender is Australian, your favourite diner owner is Greek, the watch seller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was African, your newsagent is Indian and your local English chippie owner is Turkish.
28. You wouldn't want to live anywhere else until you get married.
29. You roll your eyes and kiss your teeth at the news that someone has thrown himself under a tube train.
30.Your day is ruined if you don't get a copy of Metro on the way to work.

1 comment:

Marius S said...

Håå! Jag gillar de där. Kan inte hitta mina heller, så synd, de mexikanska var verkligen träffsäkra.

Jag behöver nog vara i London lite mer för att förstå alla. De där 5 dagarna för tio år sen räckte nog inte.