After yesterday's somewhat inconvenient dicking around with a cancelled flight, we arrived in Halifax in plenty of time for the overseas leg. These are gruelling flights - in this case, two hours from Halifax to St John's, Newfoundland, fuelling up there before setting off on the five hour leg from Newfoundland to Heathrow.
There was a saving grace, however. I was able to persuade the passenger agent to upgrade us to Executive Class, which really makes a huge difference. Plenty of room, seats that recline to near horizontal, personal DVD players and your choice of movies, andof course free drinks, which ... come on ... I have real difficulty distinguishing between the terms "free" and "mandatory" when it comes to alcohol.
We arrived at London's Heathrow Airport bright and early this morning. Well, early. Not so bright. As our wide-body jet maneuvered towards its gate, I was astonished at just how busy Heathrow is. It's as if somebody kicked over an anthill - people and machines and carts and vehicles going this way and that way and crisscrossing paths, each no doubt with a real sense of purpose but all gathering to create a sense of chaos and frenetic activity.
Through it all, the people remain calm and steadfastly polite. The British people are breathtakingly polite - even more so than Canadians, and I thought we set the damn standard. But next to these folks, we're boorish louts.
My wife was walking along and came to one of those mving sidewalks. Now, you dont really NEED a sign posted to tell you that you stand on the right and walk on the left - much like a passing lane on a highway. But they have those signs anyway. And still my wife - no doubt still dozy from the flight, insisted on placidly standing in the walking lane.
Did they bowl her over? No. Cuss her out? Nuh-uh. Shoot her dirty looks? Not even.
What they did was patiently wait behind her, then dart around at the first opportunity saying "I'm terribly sorry, excuse me." . It was like being invaded by a Hugh Grant convention. I'm not sure I'd have been that polite, to be honest. In fact, I'm sure I wasn't.
So now we'rein Heathrow, waiting for our flight into Manchester, where Iwill rent a car and test the legendary British patience by repeatedly going over into the lane containing oncoming traffic. What fun!
More to come. Assuming Hugh Grant misses my wrong side of the road ass.
Reminds me of one of Bill Bryson's books, where he says that only the British will apologize for having placed their foot beneath yours.
Posted by: candace | February 21, 2006 at 10:38 AM
In both Canada and Britain I got the sense that the people surrounding me were several millions of years more evolved than the people back home in the states.
Posted by: kalki | February 21, 2006 at 04:20 PM
Wow, I wouldn't think of trying that in the states. We just don't have the patience for that kind of politeness.
Posted by: Squirl | February 21, 2006 at 09:41 PM
ps - I'm the person who will HUFF and PUFF and get all annoyed at people who stand in the middle of the freakin' airport walking conveyor belt thingy, and then on the next one, absorbed in thought or maybe just in a daze, I'll BE the person standing in the middle of the thing. And Rob's all, "How can you get mad at people when you do the SAME thing?" Well, duh. Because they're stupid, whereas I just wasn't paying attention.
Posted by: kalki | February 21, 2006 at 11:19 PM
This seriously fascinates me. I am amazingly impatient and do not recall being so when I was much younger. My family is disgusted with me when I go home to Canada.
I guess there is no getting away from it. I have lived in the states for 16 years. I need to be more aware. My friends all say I have changed. And NOT for the better. *sniff*
Thanks for the reminder to be nice, like I used to be:)
Update as much as you can, PLEASE! I would LOVE to go to England. I want to hear as much as you have time for:)
Posted by: laura | February 22, 2006 at 07:21 PM
This is totally unrelated to your post, but is related to YOU - so everyone who wonders what the omnipotent Nils sounds like, c'mon over to my blog, which now features podcasting goodness, and a STAR turn by none other than Nils himself, doing the intro to my show.
*excuse me for my shameless self-promotion*
Posted by: whfropera | February 22, 2006 at 09:10 PM
Oh will you see Great Big Sea? Can't wait to hear more...loved the Hugh Grant convention line...
Posted by: marybishop | February 23, 2006 at 09:56 AM
You'd think they'd stand on the left and pass on the right on moving sidewalks in Britain.
Posted by: mel | February 24, 2006 at 07:16 PM
Free alcohol. Mandatory alcohol. Hmmm. I can't tell the difference either!
Posted by: wordgirl | February 24, 2006 at 10:28 PM
Candace: Yeah, love the Bill Bryson travelogues - I've been thinking of doing something similar with my experiences ...
Kalki: I agree - other people's stupidity ought not be confused with our understandable quirks
Squirl: It's a pcae you get used to, I think .. after a while, patience just becomes second nature ...
Laura: I'll update as often as I can - getting internet service is the challenge ... I'm doing this from a library ...
WTF: People should go there to listen to your show, not to me.
Marybishop: GBS are from Canada, of course - so while it would be unlikely to see them here, as it happens I ran into Bob Hallett in the airport in Halifax - he was heading home to St John's .. what a coincidence ...
Mel - yeah, you'd think they'd get their trafic straight, but Nooooo
Wordy: my life in a nutshell ...
Posted by: Nils | February 25, 2006 at 10:53 AM
hi i am from somerset in england and its so interesting to read an americans view of the uk. Did you visit the west country on your trip? You should- i think it is undoubtedly one of the most lovely places in the uk.
Posted by: Nora | September 24, 2009 at 07:48 PM
It isn't necessary to have 8 million dollars/££££££'s to buy a house in Great Britain!!!
I bought my house--everyone around me bought theirs.
We work & save for our houses in Britain just like people in other countries.
Posted by: Jennifer Knight | November 23, 2010 at 10:40 AM