On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 22:52:17 +0100, Ian Jelf
wrote:

In message , Paul Corfield
writes
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 00:15:26 +0100, Ian Jelf
wrote:
My group this weekend were on what was essentially a theatre break and
many of them do the same thing several times a year. And yet I
estimate that 80% of them went no further than they could walk from Park
Lane this morning (bearing in mind we dropped them off there at about
1030 and picked them up at 1500). Coming back to the coach, four
ladies managed to get lost between Hyde Park Corner and the coach which
was parked near the new "Animals at War" monument near Upper Brook
Street.

Do you have a theory as to why this is? Are they just nervous about
being in a big city, frightened they are going to be robbed or just have
no sense of direction and thus are likely to get lost?

They often seem not to understand London's vast size, strangely enough.
I'm regularly asked how far it us to "the centre" or "the shops" as
though we were talking about Norwich or Saint Helens or somewhere much
smaller. The concept of a multiple-centred city seems not to occur to
some.

Ah this is a good point. London is, as you say, multi centred although
really it is just a series of rather big districts that all touch other.
Odd that they can obviously cope with little a town or even a city with
districts (and centres of such) but still expect there just to be one
big centre in London.

As for the theory, I think all the things you suggest there can be
factors. I'd add to that fear of being blown up now, too.

Well I suppose that is understandable although there seem to be as many
people as ever using the buses and the tube and the tourist areas seem
to be heaving with people. Is that your experience of more recent weeks
compared to the immediate aftermath of July's incidents?

There are also *many* people from other parts of the UK who *never* use
public transport and I think that that can be a BIG factor.

I would entirely agree with this. So many people have no idea how to use
public transport and more often that not see it was the "failure" option
to get about.

I appreciate you are not being cruel about these people but it does make
me wonder how they cope in doing other basic life tasks - assuming they
are not disabled in some way.

Maybe because they only ever do things in a routine. Exploring new
places is off the agenda for a lot of people.

Again a very fair comment but I use holidays to get out of a routine and
try something or somewhere new with all the unfamiliarity that brings.
Goodness knows how they'd cope with Japan!

While there is always a learning curve in
any new city - Rome's ticketing system and its buses were a good example
of that for me recently - it's normally quite easy to do a bit of
research, read a guide book, ask some "dumb" questions and off you go.
Do your clients not do any of this?

Often not, no!

I guess I'm just odd then ;-)

Someone in a shop told me recently that when they ask people if they
have a PIN for their Credit Cards, a lot of people promptly recite it to
them!

chortle
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!