To be totally dreading the Olympics because I live in London

[labelwriter]

I just am! Yesterday, I went to London Bridge to get to work and there was a practice for the Olympics and the whole station was in chaos and it was really shambolic. Last week I went to St James Park and most of it and the Mall was closed. It's going to add ages on to my journey. We have been told to cycle to work if we can but the bus lanes are to be closed so the VIP cars can use them and as i am sure anyone who cycles in central London will agree, this is going to cause lots of problems. Am sure the games themselves will be brilliant but it's the trying to get about in London bit I am dreading.

You seriously don't get it do you?

Unfortunately I'm not a goddess who glows during exercise. I'm one of those people who sweats. So if I cycle 70 minutes to central london - bare in mind the monsoon weather we are having - I'm going to look rather glorious by the time I get there. You seem to be concentrating on my hair for some reason. I'm talking about being presentable. My work doesn't have showers and I'm not being a sweaty betty all day because my boss wouldn't appreciate a representative of the company looking like shit.

Another reason I oppose the other posters idea of people cycling is that it is stupid to tell a bunch of amateur cyclists to go on the road during what is supposed to be one of London's busiest times. In fact if I cycled to work theres a good chance I wouldn't even make it there.

Hey ho... takes all sorts.

You were the one who mentioned your hair
You said even if your work had showers it wouldn't make a difference. I understand, I am a sweaty betty too so I wouldn't like to do that cycle into work either. Just came across to me that you were worried about your hair and make-up. I obviously read it wrong, apologies.
Surely though, your boss knows the situation, either he accepts you turning up sweaty and allows you time to refresh yourself or he accepts you being late?
I agree with your bit about people cycling who aren't used to it.

I guess, where I am coming from (which is just from reading) people are worried about day centres being closed, not having adequate childcare, etc so I saw your post as being worried about something that whilst important to you, really isn't compared to others.

YANBU - the whole thing is a mess, as others have said, unless you are a 'dignitary' swanning around in limos, even as a spectator you are likley to be stuck on a tube line or in a security line - better just to watch on tv, amd so it could be happineing in beijing or atlanta - I just wish the Frech had got it for Paris and been suffering instead As it happens they have a big influx of tourist who are stayin there, and hopping on te Eurostar to visit the gaems, so they are getting teh toursit dollars wihtout the infrastrcuture costs. Already there is traffic chaos here in West London before the lanes are even in place - last night was a nightmare, and woth the plans to have a VIP only lane on the A4 as teh M4 is out of action - gee, lets all stay at home - er execpt that most us are not like MPS with three months off... There will be considerable confusion about which roads are open etc, and encouraging people who don't normally cycle to cyle into cnetral london

Elephants -

Most people I speak to will be expected to make up any time they miss at work due to lateness etc. The fact is the Olympics are an inconvenience in many ways. I was just trying to point out to another poster that actually cycling to work isn't a realistic option for most people. How many commuters would suddenly be capable of cycling for 70 minutes? I can run for that long, but I doubt I could safely cycle for it.

I get that moaning about presentation sounds incredibly superficial, but actually to most businesses it's important. No company wants to be represented by somebody un-groomed.

Well I'm not going to be the worst inconvenienced (I work at home 2 days a week anyway) but I think on principle that it's bollocks to spend £9.3bn + of public money (much more than originally claimed) on something which the evidence suggests doesn't deliver any lasting benefits to host cities. Plus the economic cost of disruption that we hear so much about if it's just a one day tube strike. And the whole corporate branding lockdown is pretty grim, too, with some of the companies involved as sponsors being pretty unsavoury (look up Dow chemicals and Bhopal).

So that's not exactly what you were talking about, OP, but YANBU, it's going to be a nightmare commuting in London!

I can't imagine what living in London over the next few weeks is going to be like.

They should have, at the very least had some sort of ticket lottery for London residents as a thank you for all the inconvenience.

Other parts of the UK are affected as well though.
For example many of the groups and charities in Scotland that rely on lottery funding etc to exist have not received any money as all the lottery funding has been diverted to London.
I would guess its the same throughout the Uk.

YANBU, it is going to be ghastly. By great good fortune I'm going to be able to work from home most of the time, but if I couldn't I'd be utterly dreading it. I cycle to work regularly, and I don't actually want to do it during the Olympics because the roads are going to be so dire.

I imagine Sydney and Beijing's major public transport systems weren't built in Victorian times.

How come we keep saying Sydney (2000) and Beijing (2008) were fine and not Athens (2004) - was Athens a big mess?

I agree that during the Olympics is a very very bad time to take up cycling if you don't do it already.

I've just looked at it would take me 50 minutes to walk from the station where I get into London to my office. (after a 55-minute train journey) Luckily I'll be working from home for most of it.

about 5 kids from every school got tickets, and some year 5s are singing in a choir that welcomes the torch or something.

but i dont think the torch is even going through Newham? so how come Billy on Eastenders is carrying it?

YABU - you've had 4 years to make plans to be out of London if that was your preference. Its only for a few weeks.

You're lucky to be in a host city at such an exciting time - the opportunity will never come again - make the most of it or leave town!

givemeaclue - you can't leave London if your company won't allow you to take annual leave!

You're lucky to be in a host city at such an exciting time

I think we may have different ideas of what is "exciting". You can be close enough to be massively inconvenienced without being close enough for anything exciting or entertaining to be anywhere near you.

^^ What Trills said. I can't take annual leave, and I have loads of friends who can't either. In fact I have one friend who's in the military and has just had all her plans for the whole summer screwed up because the people who had the security contract for the Games can't do what they promised. I think she might punch someone who suggested she was lucky!

givemeaclue there are several professions who have an embargo on taking leave during the olympics - the police being one. A friend who is a criminal barrister is also unable to because she will have to deal with a predicted increase in crime. I'm sure there are a lot more that I'm not aware of.

Re tickets - there are still some on sale for the Olympics (were some for the gymnastics when I looked yesterday but DH has vetoed going as they were too expensive). There are loads on sale for the paralympics and we are going to take DCs to those so that they still get to see the parks/stadium and see some events.

YABU - you've had 4 years to make plans to be out of London if that was your preference. Its only for a few weeks

Ha ha! Really? Come on-just how likely is it that simply leaving town is an option for most people?

i know loads and loads of people who are leaving London - i daresay more are leaving than arriving

Leave ban for me :)

This thread is exactly what's worst about being British. All the gloom and complaints and none of the joy of living. The Games haven't even started yet and you're all competing for Gold in the Cassandra event.

I think its shaping up to be a spectacular shambles.

The joy of living?

To the poster who recommended everyone just cycle to work, what about those people who live too far to feasibly do it? Those coming in from Kent, Surrey, Essex etc?
I personally live 18 miles from my office, it's not really feasible (or advisable, medically) for me to begin cycling 36 miles a day when I am not a 'seasoned cyclist'. I also pay an exorbitant amount of money for my annual train ticket, I should bloody well be able to use it without so much hassle, or get a partial refund for all this chaos that I did not want or ask for.

Suggesting that people who have never cycled before start cycling to work is madness...the experience cyclists that ex-p works with have all had near misses cycling to work in London.

Oh and Beijing 2008 was definitely not fine!

I know a lady who works for the Olympic office liaising with businesses around travel plans for staff during the games, she showed me some pictures of Beijing 2008 that they used to hammer home to businesses just how bad it can be without any planning, and believe me Beijing had little to none. Four to eight hour queues to get onto a train at some stations!
Atlanta (1996 I think it was?) was such a disaster that it then became obvious that travel planning for host cities with large business populations was needed.