London oddities

One thing that I am still getting used to here in London is random acts of oddness. I see them everywhere. I suppose it has something to do with the sheer population size and the fact that more people are willing to be themselves regardless of how ridiculous it may seem to anyone else. 


Australians, as friendly as they may seem, are a little up-tight. I guess I fall into this category too, really, because New Zealanders are not any different. We come from islands down near the Antarctic and we pretty much like to keep to ourselves. We are quick to judge anything out of the ordinary and tend to frown upon the unfamiliar. We are homogenous to a fault. Oh sure, we may travel a lot, but we rarely bring any of this open quirkiness back with us from our eye-opening trips to lands abroad. 


I started thinking more about this the other day when I saw a small child get his head rammed firmly in the closing doors of the London tube as he attempted to squeeze his way on. Nothing about the incident itself was particularly weird, in fact it looked incredibly painful. No, more peculiar was the father of this small boy. He was dressed in what I deemed to be a "really strange" manner. He looked more like a travelling minstrel (which he may well have been for all I know). Shaved head, long beard, weird pointy shoes (decorated) and a corduroy vest. Imagine:

OK, so that is an exaggeration but you get my point. 


I guess that I am now living in London I will have to become more accepting of these deemed "oddities". People dress how they like, do pretty much what they feel like and not a worry for who might be watching. I think I need to take my Antipodean up-tightness and learn to relax a little. In a city of 7.7 million people, I am bound to encounter even stranger things over the next few years. 


So to the father of the small boy with what I can only presume is one massive headache, I apologise for judging you. If you want to decorate your pointy shoes, go right ahead.


Till tomorrow....