Working in London

This post might be a bit premature as I've technically only been employed for five working days so far. But I've found working in London so unlike anything else I've ever experienced that I needed to share it with you.


If you're small, you will be roadkill

When my bus pulls up next to the pavement as I begin my journey home from work, it's amazing to watch. Well, I'm guessing it's amazing to watch. I can't really see much when it happens. Dignified, respectable-looking business men who, a second ago, were on the phone closing a deal and looking at their shiny briefcases, end up squeezing in front of a pregnant woman/pensioner/child to get on the bus.

Tourists are always there

On my way in to work, which so far has been around 8:40 am, there is without fail, an unrelenting group of tourists eagerly taking photos. Granted, my work is opposite The Shard, but really, 8:40 in the morning?

People can't tell the time

I can't say too much here in case anyone I work with reads this. But from previous experience, people start shutting down their computers at 5:15 and spend the next 15 minutes with their eyes on the door, ready to run when the clock strikes half past. But in London it's the norm to not even acknowledge 5:30, but instead wait until 5:45 before casually asking fellow colleagues: "you staying late again tonight?".

Lunch breaks have promise

Coming from a job in Cornwall where the most exciting prospect at lunch time was sitting on a bench, London lunch breaks are a lot more exciting. I can't get my head around the fact that I can spend the money I've earned that day faster than I made it.

The Commuter Serious Face

As I get on the bus, knowingly swipe my Oyster card and brace myself to stand up on a moving vehicle, there's a certain, unsaid thing I'm convinced I share with others. To the untrained eye, my body language may suggest 'just casually getting the bus to work, as always. Another nondescript day in the life of boring old me'.

But really, behind my unimpressed stare, I'm thinking 'I'M IN LONDON! WORKING! WORKING IN LONDON!'