To be sick of London?

[schoolrunner2000]

I know the old phrase..."to be tired of London is to be tired of life" and I'm not tired of life in the slightest, I'm just so annoyed at lots of petty things about London that never bothered me when I lived up North (up until last year).

• I'm sick of the really rude and aggressive London drivers...what gives them the right to tailgate and cut you up and refuse to signal and generally drive like they want to cause an accident?! I have to actively avoid an accident at least twice every single fricking day in my way to work and back. That's 10 hours a week of being scared for my life...it's like I'm in the bloody army to avoid some of those cars
  
• I'm sick of not being able to stay out after 12am as that's when the Tube closes and it's nearly impossible to get home otherwise.
  
• The High Street is about 6 miles away and it's rubbish...Oxford St and the other big shopping centres are a nightmare to get through the crush.
  
• I get so excited when I hear another old Uni friend is moving to London, only to find that "London" means anywhere within a 40-mile radius and actually it was quicker and cheaper to visit them on the train up North than it is to see any of them now.
  
• Cashiers are really actively unfriendly at times and noone has time for a greeting, let alone a chat.
  
• £10 for a double vodka and coke!! £4 for a pint!!!
  
• Every single bar and pub I've been in Central London has been so full there's no room to stand inside, let alone get a seat, let alone hear your friend talk.
  

There's others...I'm just not seeing the glamour I thought I would see when I moved here. Thank God for London-born DP or I would have retreated long ago. I feel really disloyal now :\

[GrandPoohBah]

To be fair. You only live in London if you have a London postcode and I'd suspect in zone 5 you don't. In which case you live too far out (I'm assuming Essex/Hampshire if you're complaining about the tube?).

Move. Being on the underground does not mean you live in London.

[Lighthousekeeping]

I'm zone 4. I still think of it as London. I would never go out central London unless I'd been shopping or was meeting someone straight from work. Do people actually go out in the centre on a weekend? Yesterday I got the tube all the way in to Covent Garden and was there in 30 minutes. OP it's a much better area to shop than Oxford Street. Learn to embrace London because there's really nowhere quite like it. The night buses are fantastic and safe. Not that I've got one recently. I'm far too old now to be bothered! I've nevertheless, ever found people less friendlier down here and I get really annoyed when my Northern relatives come out with those remarks.

[WeightyKaty]

Black snot = normal and why I take the train

[SomeBear]

I was sick of London and I moved out. I am not cut out for country living, I hate it. I'm sick of being in the arse end of nowhere.... Turns out it wasn't London that was the problem.

[schoolrunner2000]

I don't think anyone can deny the pace of life in the city is much quicker, though, which perhaps to inexperienced eyes (my own) comes across as quite abrupt at times. Maybe that's why London has a reputation for unfriendliness, when it's really just efficiency.

[mymatemax]

fck off then. Its grumpy people who dont want to be there that make the place seem miserable.
Londoners are happy people full of fun & character.
I love london!

[MrsKeithRichards]

I laughed my arse off in hamleys when the cashier insisted I take the VAT receipt and the info on how to claim my VAT back. When I declined and said it's ok, I'm from Scotland, he said I could claim the VAT back as I had came from another country.

[Lighthousekeeping]

And as for the price of drinks. You'll find that the drink culture is different down here. People don't tend to have a drink in one bar and run to the next all night until they are legless. I found it strange at first too but now I'm glad. Ps if your fella is a student won't you have access to cheap student bars?

[squeakytoy]

black snot is quite normal, probably gets worse if you have your hooter stuck up in the air though..

[schoolrunner2000]

SomeBear, what was the problem? My biggest problem at the moment is missing my friends, as it's so hard to meet up with them scattered like this, and I miss being all together in a small town as we were up until a couple of years ago.

[nancy75]

Can't go out after 12 because of the tube? What time is the last tube in the countryside then?

[schoolrunner2000]

squeakytoy, so cheeky! I don't have it stuck in the air when I'm looking at my toes getting stepped on! :P

[miaowmix]

zone 2 rocks

[AnnandBarryAgain]

ah the night bus! I once missed the last tube from Arnos Grove and needed to get home to Acton. 2 x night buses. What turned about to be the guts of a 3.5 hour journey. I was nearly incoherent with tiredness and weariness. (but home safe :))

I've just moved North and recognise what OP is talking about. You need to be in a good headspace for London I think.

[MrsBertMacklin]

Yes, the black snot thing is normal. It's general grime and brake dust from the tubes (the same stuff you get on your car's hubcaps). Don't worry, if it's getting stuck in your bogeys, it means it's not going into your system.

[MrsBertMacklin]

My worst night bus was when I kept falling asleep. I think I went from Leicester Square to Heathrow and back about three times, someone put gum in my hair and I didn't get home until 5am.

[ChippingInIsEggceptional]

I miss London - but it's hard to get back once you leave :(

Move to London OP and you might actually like it.

[abbyfromoz]

Been here 8 years. You get used to it

[GirlOutNumbered]

Yanbu...I managed a few years before retreating to Devon.

[idiuntno57]

zone 2 is London: 30 mins to the centre. Night buses all night and lots if urban villagey stuff during the day.

I love it

[SomeBear]

The problem with London was the vacuum of ambition that I lived with - a slightly abusive ex-boyfriend who thought we ought to live in a nice town with a Waitrose. .
He's long been consigned to history and I'm happily married but I still long for the smell of the Tube.

[OrWellyAnn]

YANBU, I moved away from London 10 years ago, and though I love to visit, I couldn't leave the north now. Come back up here...everyone chats to everyone with a big cheery smile, people smile when you pass then on the street and it hasn't rained here in 10 years p, ahem...you can't get better than Northern life! though the bastard drivers are getting worse

[suburbophobe]

Cashiers are really actively unfriendly at times and noone has time for a greeting, let alone a chat

Try being friendly to them, you might be surprised at the response.

I love London! (Disclaimer: Don't live there, don't even live in UK but do live in a Capital City).

When I smile and am friendly and respectful of people (which is how I am generally unless they piss me off) I always have nice responses. What you put out, you get back. (O.k. you always have some assholes in life, but ignore them!).

Sounds like you are more frustrated with your situation than the place you live in. Wherever you live you make it what you want. It's all about attitude. Cup half full half empty type of thing.....

[chickydoo]

London Rocks
Love it.