We seem to be getting the barriers in Melbourne too, at least in a few places, and they annoy me for the same reason! But I can sort of understand why they are more common here, given the lack of separation between the rushing traffic and the footpath here, as noted above :)

One last whinge: why do shops never seem to have fridges to store cold soft drinks and the link in? Instead they’ve got these chilled open shelves which are a few degrees below ambient temperature. Seems pointless and inefficient. I knew about the warm beer but this is really too much!

Oxford Street is ghastly. However, during the week it more or less seizes up, clogged to death by buses (especially those bendy bastards). You try cycling up it (or down it, for that matter) during rush-hour…

One thing that has always hacked me off about this damn town - all those wretched metal barriers along the sides of the pavement. If I want to cross the road at a particular point, I’ll do it, damnit! Not be constrained by the nannying of some arrogant town planner. They’re more dangerous than just letting people cross where they like, as they funnel people into dangerously narrow gaps - outside Holborn station is the worst.

And yes, you’re right about the public transport prices. Horrendously excessive for such cruddy service. My advice: get a bike!

Jack, I always enjoy your rants :) It did seem to me that there were lots of people being paid to stand around and not do very much, so it’s interesting that you say the same thing.

Jess, I too am curious now about your negative experience at the BL. I used the St Pancras reading rooms for the first time today (actually for a book you might be interested in, W. Holt-White’s The Man who Stole the Earth, 1909) and found it very smooth process — I was told off a couple of times for not knowing the procedure but wasn’t made to feel like an idiot about it (an induction for new readers might help though). The microfilm printers (and the print/photocopy costs!) at Colindale are another story altogether! They are going to become the bane of my existence here, I can see.

Finally, to soften the negativity somewhat, a positive consumer experience. On Sunday, after trudging nearly a mile down Oxford St looking for a towel, and near closing time, I stopped to buy a milkshake. In desperation, I asked the guy serving me if he knew anywhere I could find a towel. It was the end of the day, I’m sure he was tired, it wasn’t in his job description, so he could have just shrugged his shoulders and said “Dunno”. Instead he wracked his brains and came up with a shop not far away, which I made with 10 minutes to spare. I was 36 hours without a shower by that stage and may well have gone another 8 or 10 if he hadn’t helped me out, so nameless guy at BB’s Coffee and Muffins of Oxford St, thanks mate, you’re a champion!

As for the lack of service, it’s partly a cultural thing - US ultra-cheery service always leaves me wanting to do a Garbo…

I know the BL is badly run and that the workers have reason for bad morale, but, my god, many of them need a good slapping.

I have a friend who has been pushed to say ‘Oi, you work in a shop. Drop the attitude and serve me.’ Or he just walks out if people are rude. I’ve been known to say ‘I am the customer. Even when I’m wrong I’m always right’ or ‘I’m sorry, I thought you wanted me to buy things in order to pay your wages’. Now I just walk out too. That is ‘consumer choice’ and ‘free market economics’ in action - which is, after all what Mrs Thatcher taught us would make Britain ‘Great’ again… ‘Respect agenda’? - I think this is where it should start.

Here endeth rant! :)

Well, that would be cheaper than maintaining a full-sized hospital! Perhaps the NHS should look into deploying placebo hospitals more widely.

Jakob:

That thought did occur to me, but I just couldn’t resist. I’m happy to say there were no ill after-effects!

Jess:

I found the staff at St Pancras to be very helpful (though I only did the reader registration thing there, this time), the ones at Colindale more of a mixed bag. But that’s about what I would expect from my experience with Australian librarians — about half are fantastic, the rest are just surly. And the proportion of surliness seems to increase with the size of the library. (Though I probably wouldn’t be terribly happy if I had to work at Colindale, it must be said!) Overall, though, I’d tentatively regard the BL as one exception (and there are others) to my above snark about service. (I’m not used to being looked at with dismay when I try to get assistance with a purchase. I’m trying to give you money, you pillock, you could at least be pleasant about it!)

Oh yeah, Jess, you may find a previous comments thread on the BL to be of interest.