Life In London: September 2004 Archives
I'm riding on the Tube when a woman who looks to be about 20, with her blond hair tied in Heidi ringlets, enters the car and addresses the crowd. "I'm a medical student," she says, "and I'm collecting for Guy's and St. Thomas Hospital." She's wearing blue hospital scrubs, and holding a large bucket that says "GSTH" on it, with a slot for coins. But other than that, there is no way of verifying that she is who she says she is. She's just as likely to be raising money for her drug habit or cult leader as for medical research. In fact, given that London underground regulations forbid solicitation on the trains, she is almost certainly a scammer.
About a year ago, Lauren and I went to a cricket match. It was so thrilling that it was another year before we felt able to go to another one.
Many Americans view cricket as only slightly less impenetrable than your average income tax form, and marginally less fun. In fact, the sport couldn't be simpler. A pitcher is called a "bowler," and a pitch is called a "pitch." The field is called the "pitch" (except for the part outside the pitch, which is called the "field") and when a pitch bounces on the pitch, that bounce is called a "pitch." To "bowl" is to throw a pitch, to "bowl" is to engage in a period of several bowls, and to "bowl" is to get out. By contrast, a "bowl" is a turn at bat. Now that you have the basic terminology, explaining the game is simplicity itself. The bowlers bowl pitches which pitch on the pitch until the batter is bowled, and when that happens enough, the over is over. (Oh, I forgot to mention: an "over" is six pitches. No, not that kind of pitch. The other kind.)
For a country once derided by Napolean as a "nation of shopkeepers," the English seems to have a hard time with certain basics of the capitalist system. A common complaint among American ex-pats is that customer service here is disastrously bad. That's not entirely fair. In my experience, the ratio of good to bad service is equal in both countries, and if the clerks and cashiers of England aren't quite as friendly as those of Los Angeles, they are vastly more polite than those of Boston.
Yet there is a difference.
