Things I don't 'get' in this modern world

[ianrauk]

And I remember trying to buy a tube ticket from a machine where the first thing you have to enter is your 'zone'. How am I supposed to know what zone I'm in ? And I only discovered by accident after several visits that having bought a DLR ticket from the City airport I didn't need to buy a second ticket when I joined the tube. How are you supposed to know these things ?

If you have a 'contactless' credit or debit card, you can use that. Then there's no need to buy a ticket or Oyster Card for London transport. What is good about that is that you will only be charged the maximum daily rate if you do a lot of journeys and changes.

Oh yes, most escalators (all on the underground) do have a sign saying 'keep right'

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Thinking about it further, probably the biggest thing I don't get is London. I have to go there for work every so often. Even though its the capital of my country it feels like a foreign land. Everyone seems in a mad hurry and no allowance is made for the uninitiated visitor. On my first visit I inadvertently committed the apparently cardinal sin of standing on the 'wrong' side of an escalator. (Is it only London that has this practice?). And I remember trying to buy a tube ticket from a machine where the first thing you have to enter is your 'zone'. How am I supposed to know what zone I'm in ? And I only discovered by accident after several visits that having bought a DLR ticket from the City airport I didn't need to buy a second ticket when I joined the tube. How are you supposed to know these things ?

Copenhagen and Stockholm have escalator rules. Typically for Sweden the rules are enforced. Typically for Denmark no enforcement is needed as everyone complies.

But, yes, London, where I haven't now worked for over 11 years, seems to have gone from a collection on villages to a semi-independent state. For most of us I think it feels like a foreign country.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

If you have a 'contactless' credit or debit card, you can use that. Then there's no need to buy a ticket or Oyster Card for London transport. What is good about that is that you will only be charged the maximum daily rate if you do a lot of journeys and changes.

Oh yes, most escalators (all on the underground) do have a sign saying 'keep right'

Yes I used the contactless thing on my last visit after a colleague told me about it. Worked a treat but he did warn me that in my haste to catch my return flight if I forgot to wave my card over the reader at the end of my DLR journey it would continue to rack up charges.
And yes I have seen the escalator signs since my first visit but obviously missed them at the time.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I don't recall Edinburgh being such a quaint, sleepy village, where no one is in a mad hurry.

Does Edinburgh have rules for escalators ? I rest my case.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

If only you had made it clear that it was solely an escalator based issue.

The escalator rules are symptomatic of the wider culture. They very much evidence the point that you are in foreign parts.

 

[ianrauk]

Yes I used the contactless thing on my last visit after a colleague told me about it. Worked a treat but he did warn me that in my haste to catch my return flight if I forgot to wave my card over the reader at the end of my DLR journey it would continue to rack up charges.
And yes I have seen the escalator signs since my first visit but obviously missed them at the time.

It wont continue to rack up charges rather then charge you up to the daily maximum capped rate.

 

[EltonFrog]

If you have a 'contactless' credit or debit card, you can use that. Then there's no need to buy a ticket or Oyster Card for London transport. What is good about that is that you will only be charged the maximum daily rate if you do a lot of journeys and changes.

Oh yes, most escalators (all on the underground) do have a sign saying 'keep right'

It wont continue to rack up charges rather then charge you up to the daily maximum capped rate.

I don't go to that there London much but the contactless payment system with the credit card is on of the very few things I DO Get about the modern world. It's FAB.

 

[Tin Pot]

Thinking about it further, probably the biggest thing I don't get is London. I have to go there for work every so often. Even though its the capital of my country it feels like a foreign land.

In all senses of the word, except international legal, it is. London is not similar to any other part of the british isles.

Think of national borders as purely tax borders and you'll have a much better notion of the world - nationalism and patriotism just evaporate.

How are you supposed to know these things ?

By keeping quiet, never making eye contact, and copying everyone else . No, we have people in bowler hats dotted around the place to explain things.

As an aside, the Japanese Embassy repatriate their citizens that have gone mad just being here.

I'd recommend reading London by Edward Rutherford
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004GKMV16/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

And the Terry Praychett novels based in Ankh Morpork, say Guards! Guard! which also deals with "coming to London".
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00354YA5E/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

 

[DaveReading]

Does Edinburgh have rules for escalators ? I rest my case.

In Edinburgh, the rule is to stand on one side of the escalator so that the path is clear for people travelling in the opposite direction.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

Who'd have thunked that escalators would bring Herr @Flick of the Elbow round to the realisation that we are not "one nation" and that Scotland should break free of Westminster

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

Who'd have thunked that escalators would bring Herr @Flick of the Elbow round to the realisation that we are not "one nation" and that Scotland should break free of Westminster

We are indeed 2 nations - London is one, the rest of the UK is the other.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Does Edinburgh have rules for escalators ? I rest my case.

Does Edinburgh have escalators? Seemed to be stairs everywhere last time I was there.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Does Edinburgh have escalators? Seemed to be stairs everywhere last time I was there.

They have some at Waverley train station, nobody knows how to use them properly. Thankfully there are also stairs, unfortunately nobody knows how to use them properly either.

 

[Tim Hall]

They have some at Waverley train station, nobody knows how to use them properly. Thankfully there are also stairs, unfortunately nobody knows how to use them properly either.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

That would cover the Waverley escaltors.

Hopefully there will be something similar on the stairs to highlight they should use a lift.

I think there might eventually be gridlock at the lift as everyone stares and wonders what to do.