Friend giving safety tips for London?

[breezeofqinter]

Maybe I sound horrible but me and a friend are visiting our mutual friend in London tomorrow, she’s lived there for maybe a year.

Shes just text us to give us safety tips. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been to London, I even work from the London office occasionally.

I know she means well but aibu to find it a bit patronising?

So, if it's out of character for your friend, given what you know of her, do you think it's coming from a place of concern for you, or anxiety in herself, or a deliberate attempt to patronise you out of spite?

Its just her being concerned. I lived in london for 15 years, when i go back I forget how different it is from other places that feel safer.

Its a you issue

AHH, back in the 90s , my boyfriends nan warned us to watch out for the Trams along Oxford Street. We all lived about fifteen miles from Marble Arch.

I’m a lifelong Londoner. Of course it’s funny that anyone would give safety tips.

You need to tell us the tips before we can judge. She might just be letting you know the latest local scams, she might live in a high crime part of the city, she might be telling you the green cross code - without context we can't really give an opinion.

Sounds like a plastic Londoner. The kind that make moving to London a part of their personality. Just smile and nod.

London has definitely got rougher on some areas- probably due to far less police on the streets.
When I was mugged I went to the police station and they got my money back for me!
That wouldn’t happen these days due to the local police stations being shut down.

Edit: By my description of the muggers the police knew them and knew where they hung out.
Care Leavers.
No charges were pressed.
I was happy to get my money back.

Also here for the tips. I was in London 7 times this year and would love to know.

What are her tips? Impossible to tell otherwise

I live in London, the last couple of years I tell anyone visiting about phone snatchers, as it's not something you necessarily know about if you visit only occasionally.

It's rife in my area that you get our phone snatched while waiting to cross at lights, at a bus stop, or if you are sitting on an end seat on the tube.

Can't possibly give a constructive answer until I know what the tips were.

So do I. I’ve seen phones snatched right in front of me so I do ‘remind’ people.

I think it's a current social media obsession atm. I've seen loads of videos on tiktok/insta these last two weeks all about how if you step foot in London you'll have your phone nicked.

It's part of the London bubble effect, where people who live in London think that they're the centre of the Known Universe, and forget that millions of other people across the UK also live in major cities.....

Best advice would be keep yoir possessions in a zipped pocket and don't walk along texting. Same advice as a lot of places nowadays sadly

Id find it patronising

Maybe she has watched the latest Despatches episode and was just looking out for you. Say thanks and forget about it if the tips are of no use!

Come on OP, what are the blooming tips?

Wow it's been decades since I've heard (read) 'south of the river' as some sort of no go zone @LlynTegid! You realise we are very respectable down here now and no more dangerous than any other part of London!
OP I was once told by my driving instructor (I was 24) to 'be careful' when I told him I was going to town (I worked outside London). I just said 'you know I live there'!

Basic common sense

BUT I’m currently walking dog en route to park with phone out- In a fairly big City
But it’s an old phone - New phones have a different look to them with more lenses on the back.

A plastic Londoner 😂
What the hell are you on about?

I don't think it's patronising, but perhaps it reflects her own insecurities of being there. Perhaps she struggles a bit at the moment and feels vulnerable herself.

Impossible to say whether you are right to be offended without knowing the advice.

I would probably be irritated, but I was in London today and couldn't believe the number of people wandering around with their phone in their back jeans pocket. (Also, who wears jeans when it's this muggy?!).

I sometimes think of starting a public mugging agency where I grab phones from back pockets and hand them straight back but of course would never do it as it would be enormously cunty.

Depends on the area she lives in ?

Some areas more than others do need a slight warning !

There's no one more "London" than someone who's relatively new to it, OP.

Roll your eyes in private. Try not to giggle at the accident she'll have adopted. She'll calm down eventually!

What part is she in?