I have been in London for three months now, and it’s wonderful. There’s beautiful architecture, good coffee, and phenomenal public transport. But if you want to get anywhere on foot and think you’ll be able to do it in a nice, calm, orderly fashion, you’re wrong.
This cities sidewalks are a mess of people walking in all directions, swerving all over the sidewalk like a toddler trying to drive a car. In fact, I’d rather be in a car driven by a toddler than walking anywhere in this city.
When I came here I assumed everyone would walk on the left side of the road, as their traffic is the opposite of ours. But no, people just walk on whichever side pleases them at the moment. Switching from left to right every five seconds if they feel the urge to or maybe they’ll just head right down the middle in a line of four friends and then glare at you, a heathen, as you try to pass by walking as far to the left as you possibly can.
In some tube stations, I walk in and think I’ve found a safe haven of orderly walking. In King’s Cross St. Pancras station there are signs saying “keep left” and a divider down the hallway as to keep people going opposite directions moving separately and efficiently. But, yet again, no. People blatantly ignore the signs, the divider, and the mob of people walking the opposite direction of them and proceed to push through the crowd like they are Moses parting the red sea or some shit.
I don’t know how to fix this. I’m not sure anything could because everyone here seems to be content with the chaos. The thought of leaving London in two months makes me sad. However, the thought of going home and walking down the street on the right-hand side and then having people pass by me on the left-hand side? That makes me want to get on a flight right now.
