Returning to London is a total onslaught. I feel like a kettle drum with an over enthusiastic trainee percussionist beating the living daylights out of me.
I have two irksome and problematic, intense dislikes . One is loud noise and the other is inconsideration. I find that as I get older, these issues have magnified and I have to constantly talk myself out of letting anything associated with these bugbears get to me. I try to look at them as challenges that God has presented to me to test how far I am prepared to strive in order to have joy within me, whatever the circumstances. I am failing miserably.
On the noise issue: I can live with noise as long as its constant and low-grade, rather like the white noise you can get on an App that they say can help babies to sleep. Ironically, I actually have a little machine called a Noise Maker and this is not just a juxtaposition but a Godsend! If I am travelling and staying in a hotel where there are bound to be various disturbances during the night, I place this machine near my pillow and it blocks out a lot of external noise with white noise thus allowing me to get to sleep. ( Not withstanding the added assistance of my silicone ear plugs which I am never without . ) I don’t mind the sound of aircraft , the low hum of traffic or trains but don’t let me be anywhere near a stop street or a bus stop where traffic will be stopping and starting.
Consideration : Oh my goodness. Why can’t people spend just a fraction of their time thinking about others?? If there are 3 of you walking along a pavement, think about all those people behind you who don’t want to have to walk at your pace and listen to your conversation because they can’t get past you. If you share a communal front door ( as do most flat dwellers in London ) , when you get home at 4am how about closing the front door quietly so as not to disturb everyone else who for some mad reason, happen to be sleeping at that time. Don’t get me started on some ‘ elderly ‘ shoppers who block the aisles in the supermarket with their trolleys because they think they are the only important people in the store. On the supermarket front my favourite people are those who a) start telling the lady on the till their entire life story and she is so entranced that she can’t put through the items at the same time ,whilst a steady queue is building and building and b) when they finally complete the shop, they spend 30 mins packing and then spend another 30 mins scratching around in their bag/wallet looking for their credit card/money. Small tip here people: Why not have your card ready before you hit the till and whilst the card is being processed, THEN complete your packing. All it requires is some consideration for those behind you with a little forethought.
God was having a laugh when He presented me with the love of my life who turned out to be the maestro of all snorers.
