One of the Hardest Things About Walking in London... (Originally Posted 4/9/08)

is forgetting which way to look when crossing the street!

I'm guessing that most of the people reading this (Kris, I'm not sure about what side of the street y'all drive on) drive on the right side of the street. So as pedestrians, when we're crossing the street our natural tendency is to look left, right, then left again before we cross. (Except maybe Senobia who probably just walks out, glares at the oncoming traffic and it all stops for her and lets her cross).

In Bath, I almost got sidelined a couple of times because of my natural tendency to look left first. It's a hard thing to catch onto because for most of us, it's something we do without actively thinking about it. Well, today I'm in London for the rest of my stay and after arriving, going up to my room (which is another story all together!!!!) and unpacking, I decided to go for a walk to get acquainted with my 'hood for the next 6 days.

Lo and behold, as I went to cross a street, I happened to glance down and I guess that Londoners got tired of scraping visiting Yanks of the street because in big, white letters, it says, "LOOK RIGHT" or "LOOK LEFT", thus eliminating the need for thinking when crossing the street.

THANKS Londoners!