I'm Starting a List

Things That Never Fail to Amaze Me

This brilliant idea came to me while I was on the bus yesterday, returning home from Westfield (the mall, to those who aren't familiar). While passing Harrods I saw a guy taking a picture in front of the Harrods sign and voila! In my head I immediately started a list of things that never fail to amaze me. I assume that I will constantly need to update said list, but for now I am putting down the 4 things I witnessed while on the bus, in the span of about 15 minutes.

1. The fact that people always take pictures outside Harrods, in front of the Harrods sign. The guy I saw had his thumb cocked to the side, like "hey, here's me, the sign and the store." Genius. I can think of very few equivalents in the states, Tiffany & Co being one, especially the NY store. While visiting NY, twice in 3 months, we walked past Tiffany on 5th Ave and always saw people taking pictures out front, in fact I think we probably walked through a couple and were caught on camera. So perhaps I should add "the fact that people always take pictures outside Tiffany NY" to my list. But this is primarily a London list, so a NY reference has no place on it. But seriously, what do these people do with their Harrods sign pictures once they get home? Do they show them to their friends? Add them to Facebook (probably), put them on the wall? I guess they could have an album of store signs, as people also seem to like taking pictures in front of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada etc. So maybe I should amend this entry entirely and just say "the fact that people take pictures in front of stores, PERIOD."

2. In a similar vein, the fact that people always take pictures of themselves peeking out of the red phone booths. We saw at least 3 people doing this last weekend. And you know what? They all look like idiots, and will probably regret taking such a douchey picture once they get home. I would.

3. The fact that people always decide that sitting on the bus (in the case yesterday) or the tube is the BEST time to cut their nails. I cannot stand this. It really grosses me out to hear the click-click of the clippers and know that little nail bits are flying around. I get really paranoid that one nail bit is going to land in my hair and I won't discover it until much later. Ick. Really, save it for home.

4. The fact that women think that black tights, no matter their thickness, are totally appropriate substitutes for pants. This is probably a common concern for people with even a modicum of style (or Americans) who live in England, as tights-as-pants runs rampant here. If you can see the outline, or worse, the color and pattern of your underwear then put some pants on. Simple as that. And real ones, you know, the type made out of actual MATERIAL (i.e. denim, cotton, even polyester will do), with zippers, and buttons and maybe pockets and cuffs. I swear, if Dave and/or I point out one more woman wearing see through black tights while out and about in public I will...I don't know what I will do actually as it will probably happen TOMORROW. And isn't it funny that most of them happen to wear cropped or short t-shirts too, so everything is extra visible? What a coin-ki-dink.

I think that's it for now. Those are the 4 things that amazed me while I was riding through Knightsbridge. And remember, I did all that thinking in the span of about 15 minutes. It was a busy day for me.