Booze Culture Good, Booze Ban Bad

The weather is amaaazzzing here in London. There's a little breeze and it's sunny, so I'm busting out the Rainbow sandals and Ray Bans (does that make me a brand whore?). London has really come alive with the great weather. I took the bus home from The Castle today and people were out in swarms walking home or to the tube from work. The after-work pub crowd was spilling out onto the sidewalks pints in hand on every street. Soooo nice. One thing, among many, that I will miss about London is this casual attitude toward alcohol. People enjoy the beer. They have a conversation over a pint or two, whether it be at noon or nine. It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see everyone so relaxed and happy on a Wednesday afternoon.

Then... I opened the London Paper. Newly elected Mayor Boris Johnson has announced an alcohol ban on the Tube, bus, tram, and train in an effort to reduce "small crime," which he says will reduce "large crime." God damn. This is infringement on the culture that I have come to love about London! Unless they can stop drunk people from using the tube or bus, they can't prevent the type of crime that they're targeting. In my experience, the passengers drinking on the tube are having their Stella like a cup of coffee: casually sipping while reading the London Lite. They are not behaving aggressively or violently.

I suppose that in time, we'll see if the booze ban leads to any positive results. But until June 1st, find me sipping a Kronenbourg on the Northern Line with the other sexy people, haha.

Smiles and Some Doom

Living on a tight schedule of school and work is a tough adjustment following 6 weeks of flying by the seat of my pants. It's not so much that I have a lot of classes or lectures... I don't. It's just that the sense of urgency and anxiety about revision is creeping up and days are just going by. Combined with the impending doom of exams, I really want to savor this last month and a half in London by hanging out with people who I potentially will never see again for the rest of my life. That's dramatic, yes, but also a real possibility. I haven't seen some high school friends for a few years because we're on different coasts. Different continents could prove an even greater obstacle.

That's all gloom and doom, I know, but I've been almost all smiles since coming back to London. I returned to work today for the first time in 2 months and was unfortunately greeted by a notification that I need to have over 100 pounds deducted from my salary for running a credit note incorrectly through the system almost 3 months ago. Yes, I am pissed. And no, I have no real idea how to accept a credit note at the till. And that's why, as a part-timer (and an irregular part-timer at that), I always ask someone else to do it for me. And now... here I am in the red and owing the damn company money. So for the next three days I work, I am paying off debt. Bollocks, as they say. Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks.

Still, the day turned out to be good. Selling spring merch is far from the hassle of eager ski-loving shoppers. I could relax a little bit more and have fun with co-workers. Anyways, work again tomorrow. Afterwards, I'm heading to Waterloo with an LSE climber/co-worker (yes, my two worlds merge) to check out the Cans Festival. It's a street artist exhibition featuring Banksy and other artists. Oooh, I walked by one of Banksy's newest pieces (shown above) the other day while walking to a friend's flat on Essex Road... cool stuff.

Another thing. I've learned that in situations where you can grin and bear it OR complain, you should always complain. When my showers were perpetually lukewarm, I just accepted it and took cold showers. Then I complained and I had warm water. But still, my water pressure, even water volume, was sub-par. Only now with a month and a half left did I complain. And now I have amazing water volume. You can actually hear water running now when I take a shower. Soooo glorious. Lesson learned: complain. Always complain. Haha.

Alright. That's all for now. Take care everybody.