My family has an unhealthy amount of nicknames for each other

Mom: “Tim the Toolman Taylor has kids.”
Lisa: “Yeah but he…”
Mom: (cutting her off) “Is a jerk.”

I think when my mother goes home, she will report back to friends and family that her least favorite part of London was when a 20-something girl on the Tube offered up her seat so my mom could sit down. She declined the nice offer but probably moreso because she wanted to keep SOME pride rather than rest her weary, ancient feet.

Here’s another funny thing about my mother…and please let me know if this is common to all moms out there or if it’s just Janet. She dictates options. Going to a restaurant? She’ll be sure to read the menu out loud for you even though you’re holding one in your very own hands. (“Peter! They have hamburgers! Oh and look, baked haddock!”) Browsing in a store? There’s no way you’ll leave without knowing their entire inventory. (“Lisa! Look at these toasters! Oooh, garden tools! Hairbrushes!”) Yes, all three of those things were in the same store.

I’ve realized what my favorite thing about London is. And while I think I knew it already, it just didn’t materialize into an actual thought until last night as I was riding the Tube home and saw a woman who was CLEARLY a man; I wouldn’t have given him a second glance since he was very convincing as a woman except for the well-groomed goatee. In London, you can be whoever the hell you want to be and people will accept you and not even THINK to question or judge. (This observation does not apply to the masses of tourists. Tourists will stare at anyone and everyone and judge like they’ve never judged before. But you will find this in any city.) The goth kids we saw on Saturday who had more skin showing with black make-up than not were just going about being themselves free from ridicule from the Brits. And I think that’s great. London is full of such different (read as ‘freakish’ to some) people, but they fit in and are appreciated for who they are. This is something you would never find in Boston, and thus, one thing I think makes it the worse for it.

*music – you’ll never know how slow the moments go, ‘til i’m near to you