Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Watching the Buildings Go Up and Hearing the Whistles Go Away

London is a city that has a history of rebuilding and improving, and the British are known for being avid home renovators. As a die-hard HGTV fan, I totally get it. Unfortunately, all these improvements mean that there's scaffolding and construction workers everywhere. I mean, everywhere. There's a scaffold in the alleyway behind our corporate house, and I pass by at least two major projects on the way to J's office. We can't move into our flat yet because it's being improved, of course.

Growing up in LA, I got resigned to the fact that construction workers will hoot and holler at you while they posture like cock o' the walk in front of their fellow workers. It doesn't matter that you're wearing Sponge Bob Squarepants pajamas on under your full length puff coat with Uggs or whether you're in a skintight Herve Leger bandage dress. They don't care if you're with your mother or if you've fallen down in an epileptic fit while foaming at the mouth. It's an inevitable fact of every day life, construction workers will leer at you no matter what. In fact, they will even do it hanging out of the driver's side window while they're steering their truck even if doing so means that they will probably not see the stop sign ahead of them and crash into a parked car. Because that is what you do when you're a construction worker in LA.

Not so when you're in London. Mum's the word around here. I've passed by many "builders" around town, and I've never heard so much as a peep out of them. I haven't even heard them talk amongst themselves. It's like a brotherhood that's taken an oath of silence. It's like the Twilight Zone. It's like possibly the bestest thing about moving to London. It's just awesome.

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