The Problem with London*
So my Saturday plans included an Evil Dead fest** on the other side of town. Not that much the other side, mind. An hour's journey — hell, everywhere's an hour's journey for me.
Part the first:
I get on the tube in the middle of the day; I resurface in the middle of the night. Wrong on so many levels.
Part the second:
I leave shortly after 11pm; I get home at 1am. And that's without recourse to night bus or similar evil. That's a perfectly respectable tube journey (only briefly interrupted by failed attempt to catch a train). That's riDICulous.
Conclusion: London is a myth. It's an illusion to think that I live in the same city as my friends. It's a lie that I live in a town where there's all this stuff going on. I have access to this exciting cosmopolitan centre, yes, but live in it? No. Few of us do. We live in what used to be villages sort of close to the capital, and now are considered part of it, but they're not. It would be fairer to say that Pretoria, Johannesburg and Germiston are the same city.
_____
* No 1 of a potentially infinite series.
Not that I'm a whiner or anything.
** Also a ludicrously excessive sugarfest. And, surprisingly enough, a knitfest. I don't think I could ask for a more perfect social gathering. Muchas gracias, chaps!
4 comments:
your truly bonkers. but entertaining!
You've switched to Blogger Beta! Allow me to hijack your comments to whinge about my own problems for a moment: Blogger won't let me switch to Beta, AND I CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY. The Labels, I want them, AND I CAN'T HAVE THEM. It's making me crazy. More crazy than before.
Un-PC: you're clearly not a Londoner. Or you would know I speak naught but the unvarnished truth. But, thank you!
Cate: you're aliiiive! This pleases me. Re Blogger Beta: it seems to be one of those classic Google things, you have to be *invited* to make the switch. (Although entirely new accounts are all Beta.) They'll give you a chance soon enough. Relax. The labels are cool, but on the minus side, comment emails no longer include links for easy replying. Bummer. Maybe they'll fix that yet.
No ag but don't you know? Germiston is mos a tiny farm outside Joburg. Not as tiny as close-by Benoni, that *other* farm just outside Joburg where onse Charlize mos grew up bless her soul.
:)
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