Wham! Bam! Thank you, Pram!

"Why yes, I had to take out a small mortgage for this lovely pram."

One of my biggest pet peeves.
Think of the above sketch I did as a holding card for the next topic.

Jen
x

A little background...

Just to give a bit more of a description of the landscape, which is that of my brain and thought process to follow, this has been a seed of an idea for quite some time, circa Autumn/Fall 2007.
Back in the days as a bookseller, at a well known book chain in the U.K., the thought of etiquette in the city, especially London sprang to mind one lunch time.

I was on my lunch break, sitting in the staff room on the 7th floor (I believe) and reflecting on my daily commute into work whilst eating a semi-bland tuna and corn sandwich and a bag of ready salted crisps.

My commute in was an a-typical combo of both mainline train, underground and less than ten minutes of walking. This particular day, I had a rough time traveling into work(a little more than usual), due to the insensitively, lack of awareness, and rudeness of my fellow commuter/passengers.
It wasn't necessarily a new concept to me, the blinkered approach of a daily commuter's life. With the threat of rain showers and darkening skies, umbrellas were seemingly aimed at my eyes with every corner turned, people rushing about, bumping into and pushing with no apology in sight, if you got elbowed, and the Pink Floyd-eque vacant stares, circa The Wall, into imaginary and individual black holes, that everyone seems to carry around in their proverbial pockets, to then whip out at a moment's notice.

More often than not, I likened myself to that of a salmon - if not otherwise killed by natural causes swimming up stream, eventually I would succumb to Mr. Phenoptosis or Ms. Semelparity.
In the short of it, it was Mission(close to) Impossible: Get from point A to B with little or no contact from other commuters. I mean who would want a bit of friendly banter or a nice smile or nod- to acknowledge each others existence? Heck, no! Not today, not ever!

So, back to my tuna sandwich. I was still raging from a lady that pushed in front of me to then sprint to the last available seat on the carriage I was boarding.

All of a sudden, like jumping a dead battery, my brain switched on to a really good thought.

Reenactment: My face as I make sense of an epiphany, suddenly thrown into my existence

I wanted to get my just desserts, even if those around me didn't realise it at the time, and write down my experiences of etiquette or the lack of, that appears everyday in our wonder city of London.

So, I say THANK YOU, my dear commuters of past, present, and future.
I now have something funny to write about and share...YOU(maybe).

Jen
x

In the beginning, there was PLEASE!

This is quite a beginning for me.

More for the purpose of venting off everyday frustrations, I would like to share my perspective/experiences/observations/humour on modern etiquette in a city setting(or rather the lack of it), more specifically the wonderful city of London.

As I am fairly confident that my perspective is a "shared perspective", this blog should resonant with many of its readers, so please feel free to share your own personal experiences by clicking on the comment links below each entry.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy a funny little story I like to call, modern etiquette.

Oh, and please do forgive me. My name is Jen.
Please to meet you.

The one and only