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https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/if-youre-not-tired-of-london-youre-tired-of-life
Menus of local eateries were stuck somewhere between 1965 and 1972 and the local " chinky " as the locals happily call it closed at 8pm which is just as well because it served food that had escaped from a Vesta packet somewhere in the mid 1970s and bore absolutely no resemblance to any Chinese food (Cantonese, Szechuan or Shanghainese ) that I have ever seen.
I swear;the day after we moved -in an old man came to the door to introduce himself as "the Crow Man " . I was polite and nodded as he mumbled and told me how long he had known Mr Atkins the previous owner. He said he would be back Thursday. I assumed he was a local character albeit a bit odd and never thought any more of it.
On Thursday my wife phoned me at work aghast ......the old boy had come back on his bicycle from which hung a string of dead Crows .......For sale .........For eating !!!!!!!! I suddenly realised the significance of 4 and 20 Blackbirds when she told me that he had explained how "local folk" were partial to a Crow Pie ! This was 1980s .
I know people who I went to school with who go through all the grind you describe to live in a dismal 1 bed flat for the same cost as buying a 3 bed semi with a huge garden down here, and Bristol's hardly cheap.
Mortgage payments are fat and the station is a 9 minute walk what's not to like?
Having said that, I quite understand the desire to leave. I'm pretty fed up with the place.
I don't dislike London, but the daily feeling of rudeness and complete abandon for overall respect from people in the city, does make me not like it more.
It was airless in the summer, smelly and too hot, the prices were insane and the service was crap. Too many cars, mad cyclists and litter. It never ceased to amaze me that you could drive for miles and never see the country-side, each suburb would just bleed into the next. It was like one of those nightmares where no matter what direction you drive, you keep coming back to the same spot.
When I finally used to drive home, the moment I was north of the M25 was magical, it was like someone had lifted a huge weight of my shoulders.
Nothing is quite as nice as seeing London disappear behind you in your rear-view mirror.
But whilst there are definitely rude people and the transport can be unpleasant, it is a massively tolerant place - far more tolerant than the commuter belt Surrey town I worked in for 7 years, where, if you weren't white and Tory, you were regarded as very weird. The constant low grade racism and classism began to really grate.
I admit the houses were (a bit) more affordable, driving was easier and it smelled less. But it was like living in a little bubble where you couldn't get away from people. Every time we get fed up of the crap bits, we take a trip into town, walk across Waterloo bridge and remember it's the worlds most exciting city where, for the price of a ticket into town, you can enjoy world class museums, street shows and walk amongst world famous historical landmarks for free.
I think if you don't really like city life, London can drive a person to the other extreme, it did for me anyway.