I love it when bus drivers wave to each other…

…I always have, but now that I’m in London the sight is so rare I have started to join in with the waving; but only if I’m sitting up on the top deck at the front and have a clear view of the other driver – well, I’d look like a weirdo otherwise.

It’s struck me how unfriendly a large city can be, not just London – any of them. I’ve spent the past year or so thinking about the lack of chatting if you’re in a lift with someone, or in a queue where something funny happens. Isn’t it just as easy to chat about the obvious rather than ignore it? I don’t blame people really – even I’ve started to keep my head down on the tube for fear of someone actually talking to me – but that’s cos they’re usually a bit odd – I, on the other hand, am perfectly charming to chat to.

I’ve been described by a fellow Irish person in London as “friendly – even by Irish standards” and yes, if I’m in a queue for too long chances are – I’ll strike up a conversation with someone; but there’s nothing wrong with that surely? It’s only now while being away and noticing how little people actually speak or interact with each other at all that I realise just why people describe Ireland as so friendly. I truely never realised it before – I assumed everyone just spoke to each other, or at least stopped to help if it was needed. I have been fortunate enough to have people kindly help with a heavy suitcase and to do so with charm rather than a nagging feeling they had to help me. So not all’s lost – but I do miss thanking a bus driver on the way out or even a ‘hello’ when you get on. Maybe I’m too naive, irritatingly friendly or just plain homesick but it’s not the teabags and chocolate I miss these days.

On the plus side – I think that bus driver just waved back….