I’m From There, Myself
From time to time I come across people who have spent some significant time in the British Isles (ok, Southern England, not met many people who lived in the Hebrides) and claim great knowledge of the place. Also from time to time I come across people who were there for a short space of time and think the same.
I lived in NYC for almost a year but never would I claim to know more about the place than a native, and yet these people want to tell me what I don’t know about the place.
“There are no Citroën 2CVs in England”. Um, there are, I saw ’em, rode in them. “Well when I was there I didn’t see a single one”. How long were you there? “6 months”. Maybe you needed to be there a bit longer, like 30-something years? Just sayin’.
So I do this kgb_ text answering thing as most of you know and starting this weekend we’ll be answering questions from the UK equivalent service, 118 118. The chat room is abuzz, many people are worried but a lot are excited. “I’m going to do so well as I’ve been there!” or “My brother lived there for a year, I so know English information”. And then last night someone claimed to know every post code in the country “because I lived there 3 years”. I was tempted to cry bullshit but satisfied myself with a smile instead; I can’t even remember my Dad’s or my sister’s postcodes let alone the one for Chard or Piddington.