to hate every single parent and child crowding up South Kensington during half term?!

[misspantomime]

I work in the area and every single evening during every single school holiday it takes me 30 minutes more to get home because a) I cannot walk down the streets as they are too crowded and (b) I cannot get into South Ken station due to crowding and also due to parents letting their kids walk down the road either on scooters or at 0.00000000005 MPH and also not knowing how to use the ticket barriers properly.

I am a Londoner and we are notoriously intolerant of people who can't use the underground properly but even so I never truly knew rage until I started working round here. There are queues all the way down the road. For the fricking science museum.

88blueshoes totally agree with you, I've often wondered the same. I think it's generally because location is seen as important in how people view your business. I used to work for an office that started out somewhere fairly quiet and relatively unknown but then got a bit more money and moved to Mayfair. I much preferred the way it was before but clients preferred us to be central.

I now work in Higher Education so anywhere I work in London is going to be central/touristy unfortunately.

Poor you working in London. No wonder you are pissed off.

My dh works in Central London and hates it. Loves the weekend in our peaceful area.

Deep sympathy.

We are about to start home ed and I'm really excited about being able to go up to London on a weekday in term time! Although it'll probably still be packed with tourists and school trips anyway, I guess.

That there are so many attractions (museums, theatres, theme parks, resorts/hotels) unused for more than half the year is not tenable. At some point the disequilibrium must give way.

I feel for you living in Cornwall in the summer, shabby.

YAB a misery guts. I bet you burst a blood vessel if somebody asks you for directions.

I work in a big city that gets a fair few tourists. I am happy to see them as I am proud of my city.

YANBU about children on scooters. They are a nightmare and belong in parks not on busy pavements. I cringe on here when someone suggests a child scoots somewhere.

YABU not to mention all the other lovely to visit places. If they were so easy to research then more people would do them. My aunties (Londoners) always keep this kind of thing to them selves.

KneesOfTheBee it's pretty standard as a woman that you get called a misery guts/bitch etc if you dare to express a negative opinion about something. It's the 'calm down dear' mentality. Incredibly patronising but unfortunately not unreasonable.

I love it when I get asked for directions actually, especially if I know the way!

YANBU.
I'm currently waiting in a coffee shop for my OH to have a short meeting, then we are off to the British museum for my birthday.
We travelled off peak (Cheaper, and we get a seat) and are going during lunch so it's a bit quieter. We will not travel home until this evening.
Unfortunately my birthday falls in half term, but we always plan around peak hours.
Anyway. The NHM is rubbish now. Dumbed down so much it's not worth going unless you're five.
Think happy thoughts OP.
I live somewhere very pretty and it's swamped the moment the sun comes out. You can't escape...

*unexpected

crazypenguin hope you have a lovely day!!!

I live in London and I take my children to the museums, sometimes during school holidays and I don't moan.

Don't be so miserable

The museums are busy all day every day GTAT. They're super-impossible-bursting busy during school holidays.

Thanks misspantomime !! He's taking me somewhere secret too! I'm quite excited!

Sounds like you have a great day planned Penguin

MissPantomime YAB so very U on so many levels, it is hard to put it into words.

Just as an example - not knowing how to use the ticket barriers properly Just because YOU know how to use the ticket barriers, why would this be an ingrained instinct for anyone other than a 'Lunderner'

If your employers are so stupid as to have the workplace within a touristy area, then you need to take it up with them, not the visitors who have every right to visit the area as and when they choose.

FFS!

We visited the science museum yesterday and didn't have to queue for anything. Most people we encountered seemed perfectly reasonable and considerate to me. It is frustrating when usual your routines/journeys are disrupted but can't see that's there's any other choice than to sick it up.

Suck

Instead of complaining about how these parents / children are getting in your way - why not be positive about the fact that they are actually taking their children to visit places of interest & education.

crazypenguin How exciting, sure it will be somewhere fun!

SooticaTheWitchesCat I'm not miserable. I get frustrated with this, as I've said, but I'm not miserable. Thanks for the helpful comment though, I'll make sure to give out nothing but sunny positive vibes from now on, lest I offend.

arf at 'misery guts' being a sexist comment

come on, love cheer up, next week all the nasty, slow things will be back at school. which is rather ironic given you work in education

EvansOvalPies I work for a university that has been based in Central London for hundreds of years, I'll just pop over to the Provost's office now and ask him if he'll consider moving though, sure that will go down really well.

Also - ticket barriers are not rocket science. My cousin moved here from Brazil 3 months ago and she knew how to use them from the get go. You tap your oyster card on the reader when the light is orange. You get your oyster card out before you get to the barrier. If it doesn't work you get out of the way immediately and go and speak to a member of staff, you don't stand there tapping it 3 million times to see if it suddenly starts to work. There you go - you've now been trained.

I agree - I sound angry in that last post. And I am, actually. Experienced something similar a while ago. My daughter took me to see the Tower Poppies, and we did happen to have the misfortune of trying to get home during rush hour, after a lovely day of not managing to annoy any of the locals/very important workers.

Well, jumping (I use the term very loosely) onto the escalators for the tube was a feat in itself, with MrBusinessSoot huffing and puffing down my neck. I do wish I'd just given him a quick shove so he'd fallen flat on his face. Bastard!

Hindsight, eh?

JennyOnTheBlocks I do actually have a nasty, slow thing of my own btw, and I carry him if he's getting in other people's way, and I don't let him ride his scooter in busy places.

Also - higher education.

you do sound a leetle bit of a fucker tbh OP.

But mums dressed in walking boots and Berghaus jackets waving rice cakes merely for a day walking a couple of miles around a city do get my goat

I once did a thread on this

EvansOvalPies you should have told him to bugger off if he was being rude to you.