Monday, March 14, 2011

Left, right. Pull, push.


Despite my decidedly dark hair, friends and coaches have often admonished me for acting blonde. I have done more than my fair share of ditzy things – not for the attention, no, merely because my brain just doesn’t work some ways. For example, here, in England, where they drive on the wrong side of the road, it is naturally imperative that you perform a switch-a-roo on that advice you’ve gotten since childhood. Look left, then right, now becomes, Look right, then left. This, my friends, is way too much for my slightly dyslexic brain to deal with. Even when they have the white lettering painted on the road admonishing pedestrians to “look right” I always look left first. I feel like I’m going to be blindsided.

Similarly, here in London (and I suspect the rest of England as well) all the doors to the shops open in. Now, I know in the states there is a lot of variation, but I feel like generally most stores have doors that open out. At least, I hope that’s the case, otherwise I would have no excuse for why every single time I go into a store I try to open the door the wrong way! Including on my way out, where I should know to pull rather than push, because on the way in, I had to feign that my pull had, oh you know, always been a push, I was just stretching my arm.

Which is way, ladies and gents, I will absolutely positively NOT be driving a car EVER while in this country. (Fear not, UK pedestrians!)

But speaking of driving – Has anyone been to parts of the UK other than London? If so, where did you go and would you recommend a trip there? Chris and I want to do some weekend exploration outside of London, but there are so many options it’s a tad overwhelming (in a good way)! (And yes, that amazing husband of mine will be doing the driving.)

2 comments:

  1. My dad informed me that the reason doors to shops open out in the states is because it's the law for fire safety. Imagine dozens of people running to the exit and trying to get out a door that opens in... the American way makes more sense!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This explains so many awkward door interactions that I've had. And don't worry, you'll get used to the look right thing- that is until you go back to the states to visit and your brain explodes because you were just getting the hang of which way to look :)

    ReplyDelete