As I descended down the elevator into the London underground I couldn't help but smile to myself as that familiar smell of dirt and grime wafted up my nostrils. It was a scent that reminded me of my younger years and those special days that I would travel into the city centre with Mum for some form of shopping or day trip out...
Getting on the tube is always a funny old thing. First of all there is the awkwardness of eye contact, it seems that no one is entirely sure about where exactly they should look. You occasionally feel the heat from a pair of eyes burning into you as you casually avoid their consistent glare. Yet, as soon as you return their stare they look away as if they had never noticed you in the first place. Perhaps this is the real reason that people sit there with their eyes shut. They aren't really tired or resting their weary eyes, instead the truth of the matter is that they just don't know where else to look...
As if the uncertainty of where to focus wasn't enough, it is made even more uncomfortable at rush hour. Then not only are you battling with the difficulty of averting your gaze, but you are also in such a close personal space to someone you've never met that you may as well embrace in a hug.
There are few times that you get so up close and personal with a complete stranger in your life, I guess one would be in crowds at festivals, here you wouldn't really blink an eyelid and it certainly doesn't feel out of place, yet when you are stood on the tube making your way home after a busy day at work, there is no stranger feeling than being pushed up against some businessman with his armpit in your face and bum against your hip...
Sitting down while on the tube isn't something that should be taken lightly either. If you are fortunate enough to get the honour of having a seat, then by all means embrace it. You are one in very few that has the pleasure of sitting down during your commute. The competition for a seat is somewhat recognisable when people are poised over sitters laps in wait for their disembark. Yet however busy the tubes get, I cant help but smile to myself at the awkwardness of the situation.
It seems that every day in London is a manic one. Life is fast paced and crazy. No one seems to smile, and men's manners go out the window. But the way of life is somewhat easier when it is lived this way.
Gone are the times of being left in the lurch when a shop doesn't have the size that you need. In London there are so many of the same shop in such a close proximity that all you need to do it walk a few blocks to find what you are after in the next store.
Taxis don't require the lengthily wait that they do elsewhere. If you want one, you flag one down. Simple, easy and hassle free.
All in all, London life is growing on me. Despite the every increasing population and over-crowding that the city suffers, I cant help but feel like I belong.
After all, as they say, you can take the girl out of London, but you can't take London out of the girl...
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