British Influence

I feel like I am still living in London.
A hot, sticky, tropical London.

I was in Marks & Spencers today.
Sure, it is smaller, but it still has tinned baked beans, preserves, and biscuits.
I still have to queue for a taxi.
The plugs are big ole three prong deals.
There are Brits everywhere.
Cars are driving on the "wrong" side of the road, but somehow it looks "right" to me.

So here's a funny little story from today - it reminds me a bit of London as well...

I went to the mall to get a mobile phone. On the way, I stopped into a bakery (I love all those sweet buns filled with pork, wasabi, bean paste, etc.). I was tempted to purchase a green tea muffin, but instead selected a flat bread that had nuts, raisins and some kind of paste in the middle (methinks it was bean paste) and took it over to the cashier. There was one woman standing in front of me (yes, she was British).

The bakery is set up in such a way so that when you enter (after you pick up a tray and tongs), you are immediately forced to go left. You then circle an island of various bread products before arriving at the cashier - which puts you just to the left of the person in front of you.

When I arrived at the cashier, there was one woman directly ahead of me. I stood behind her, just to her left. The cashier gave me a piercing look and pointed, saying, "the queue is over there." I looked at where she was pointing, but I didn't see a queue. I didn't see anyone. And then it occurred to me that I must be standing on the "wrong" side of the woman. Even though there was no one else in line, I wasn't queuing properly, which is, as we all know, the end of the world.

The woman I was queuing behind turned to face me and gave me a look like, "oh, you must be new."

"Silly me," I said, giving her a smile. She returned the smile as if to say, "yah, I know, the woman behind the counter is crazy, but you need to learn how to queue properly."