Notes from London...

So the Brits drive on the left side of the road, I get it. It does not really matter where they drive as long as everybody knows the rules, and they do. Their walking, however, is plagued with indecision and confusion. In America the ambultory standard is to walk on the right side. Walking paths are, in short, a leggy microcosm of their vehicle-bearing counterparts. In London, however, walking strategies do not follow a similar analogy. I will begin with a few brief remarks on escalators before I vent my considerable fury on sidewalks. On escalators, common knowledge is that travellers stay to the right when standing, opening up a path on the left for those who wish to continue walking. The vexing thing here is that, given the rules of the literal road, it would stand to reason that passing on escalators too should be done to the left. Another frustertation is the juxtaposition of clearly defined and obeyed rules on the escalators (however seemingly contradictory they may be) with the veritable anarchy of the sidewalks. On sidewalks there is no rhyme or reason to collective stepping and indeed one must be on constant guard of walking in to someone head on. One would think that the walking traffic would follow the plan of the driving traffic but, sadly, that is not the case. Indeed no plan at all can be readily identified. In other cities it is at least the case that poor walking will only lead to front/ back collisions, not the case here. Walkers will heedlessly barrel down opposite sides of sidewalks with little regard for the confort, nay sanity, of their fellow pedestrians. In the midst of this anarchy, needless to say, there is no semblence of a slow walking and passing lane in each direction as the cities most skilled in foot-traffic will approach. London has many virtues indeed, walking, however, is not one of them