It's as if Bush and Blair are trying to ruin my trip before I even land at Heathrow! The following is a link to an article in the Times about how Brits are staging a new invasion (as if they haven't invaded everything enough times already), this time of NYC in particular, because the pound is way up and the dollar way down. I really think Bush is trying to outsource the whole country and not just the jobs. By the way, I have a funny story about a techie who loved Bush and voted for him in the election. Two weeks later, guy gets a pink slip with an explanation that his job is going overseas. So much for conviction, dude.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/nyregion/28tourism.html?oref=login&8hpib
A month or so ago, I was braving my way through the crowds on Canal Street, laughing at the little teeny-boppers from Oklahoma calling mom on their cell-phones saying "Woo-Hoo" and going on about the Prada bag they got for $20 and the bootleg of Troy they got for Grandma. Little did Ms. Tulsa know that the Prada bag will fall apart as soon as she tries to pack it in with all the rest of the fake-ass brick-a-brack she bought. And poor Grandma is going to have to do some heavy squinting if she wants to see Brad's right pec. Maybe she'll get a nipple or something.
My point is that most of the accents I heard on the street that day were British and Irish. Them, I can never make fun of because they are cultured and at least somewhat aware of the world around them. I suspect this is because they tried so desperately to conquer it all, but I digress. I don't know, maybe I'd prefer it if New York City were overrun with Brits and Irish. I don't think I'd mind them half as much as the drivel that visits our city now. Maybe this is good news. Brits seem to know how to get with the program easier. You know, stand to the right on the subway escalators (if they are working, that is), walk fast lest you be run over, don't hover around looking up at the sky like blithering idiots, etc. Probably because they have their own, similar rules, like "mind the gap" and whatnot.
