London bashing

[CruCru]

Recently there seems to have been a spate of London bashing from friends and acquaintances who live elsewhere. I'm surprised that people think it is okay to totally slate the place that someone else lives just because it happens to be the capital.

I think London is awesome, possibly the bright centre of the universe but wouldn't dream of telling someone how ghastly, say, Lancashire is (I have never been to Lancashire, I am sure it is very nice, it is just an example).

AIBU?

Stokey - not a fashionable area? Au contraire !!!!!!

Ok, sorry, hard to tell on the screen instead of face to face :)

I would never bash where someone lived to their face unless they took the piss out of me being provincial first

I'm from Essex and live in London. Imagine the trauma I suffer !

thast why I never call someone provincial to their face. For fear of being bashed .
When I trained all offices outside London were officially known as "the Provincial Offices"

I like London. City life isn't for me, but it's nice.
However, I live in the middle of countryside, miles from anywhere, and a surprising amount of city people have slagged it off when they've come to visit. "Oh! I don't know how you do it! I mean, we are so lucky to have museums and cinemas and lots of people around. I could never live like this..." I don't make a judgement on their lifestyle, so they shouldn't on mine.

The media thing is interesting though. If you take out central government news and financial markets news and sport I wonder if the remaining news does reflect the population or not.

Someone must have worked it out at some point?

DogEared - if its any consolation I have lost count of the number of times (real and on MN) when someone has said to me "oh I couldn't adopt, I don't know how you do it" (which believe me feels way more personal). "That's lucky that I wasn't asking you to then" generally suffices.

The only media thing I have really noticed with London is the weather. "ooh get your brollies out its going to be a wet day" then the weather comes on and its only raining in London I just put that down to the presenter forgetting they are being shown nationally.

you must be mistaken - it never rains in london.

And it's always warm.

gafhyb alas my user name is a bit our date. Moved South East a couple of years ago!

out of date, even.

Kewcumber, I don't dislike London and I would never say, "Ugh! How can you live there", or similar, to anyone who lives there.
I may well say I liked living in London for a few years when I was younger, but I would never live there now, or similar.

A two bed semi, kewcumber?

I rest my case.

"I just can't bear the attitude that some people have."

I know exactly what you mean. My family are the worst when it comes to being parochial and xenophobic. My sister is the only one who isn't and that is because she went to university in Sheffield.

"The news would be as dull as ditchwater"

Erm, round here we have a couple of murders, a suicide, a drowning and the M1 is currently closed near us due to an accident. What else do you want?

Those of you who extol the virtues of culture and museums. Exactly how many days of the year do you visit them?

We have loads of excellent museums within an hour's drive, a handful of stately homes, Opera North, several theatres, art galleries, a sculpture park, cinemas and a wildlife park plus some beautiful countryside. All of which we visit.

I grew up in a market town, lived in London in the "swinging sixties", then moved to St Albans (whereupon my SW1 living boss said "what do you want to go up north for ), then moved back to my birth county (Northants) where I've lived in two villages and spent nearly 15 years commuting to work in London.

I think I had the best of both worlds, living in a village and working in London. That was my preferred option.

Since stopping commuting to London I've worked in about 40 different countries so seen and worked in quite a few capital cities in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. All are nice in their own way but I have kept a special spot in my heart for a) London and b) my birth county.

BTW - it isn't just London bashing on threads. There's been a thread running over the last week bashing Northants.

I can honestly say that rural or city, UK or 'forrin', most places have something going for them and aspects you won't like.

Keep an open mind folks and make the best of wherever you are the time.

The one thing that always gobsmacks me about Londoners is that they are seemingly perfectly happy to live in a crappy little terrace or flat with no parking, no decent garden, high crime rate and noise on a busy road AND pay the sort of money that no one outside London in their right minds would ever pay!

Do you honestly think all of London is like that? really?

LadyBeagle
You can say what you like but I know for a fact yes a fact that you are less likely to encounter racism in London or any other large city that you are in smaller towns/countryside.

usualsuspect note that I already said that in my earlier post I know that there are other diverse towns/cities! I know that London doesnt have the monopoly on diversity.

Again OP this thread has proved your point.

Yes, huge thread about Northants and another one about a town in the North a few months ago that was considered to be very 'rough' - my inlays live there and we love visiting

I dont think everyone who lives out of big towns/cities is racist etc not at all, but its certainly a lot more insular and the country/small towns far from London are the only places my kids ever got called niggers.

That's awful :( but surely you're not suggesting that racist insults are never used in London. I must have misheard when my DH was called a fcking pki.

I can genuinely say that the integration in my small diverse town is infinitely better than in many parts of London, where some communities are living in virtual ghettoes. I know where I'd prefer my mixed race dd to grow up.

Kewcumber OMG! Do people really say that? How rude!

Can someone please, PLEASE tell me how London isn't racist but the only BNP MP ever was voted in there?

but surely you're not suggesting that racist insults are never used in London

Not like they are out of London/largecities no and ive not heard 'nigger' used like that in a very long time unlike in the smaller towns.

Im assuming your DH is asian? I think there is a difference in how black people and asian people are percieved by the ignorant and I think the exerience will be different.

OP I totally agree somehow it socially acceptable to slag off London to a Londoner yet if the Londoner responds in kind it isn't. When I moved from London to Bristol I got all sorts of negative comments but didn't feel I could reply in the same vein. Bloody rude.

But then I am at things some people come out with. When I was a City lawyer it was how do you live with yourself defending the indefensible you are overpaid etc etc. When I became a SAHM it was I would be so bored I need to use my brain etc etc. I spend my life being careful about what I say to others and ensuring I don't offend anyone so it gets right on my nerves when Im not extended the same courtesy. Slagging off someone else life choices to their face IS NOT ON!

Youattheback well why dont you google it and you'll see why that happened.

Are you seriously suggesting that London is racist? really?

Sorry that should have read from Bristol to London getting carried away with my ranting!