Cities

      I might have already done a post on cities, but I'm unable to find one, so let's assume not. Anyway, I'm currently posting from London, where I'm staying for some of the half term, so I figured I might as well do a post on cities. I'm not sure I really fit in in London, as when I got a ticket for the tube I nearly said "Thank you." This wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that I was using a self-service machine.

      For the most part I enjoy large cities for the very reason you might think I would hate them: people. I've never been a huge fan of interacting with lots of people, although I will when necessary, so it might seem strange that I don't feel uncomfortable in places where there are many people. But the key factor here is the interaction; in cities people have a tendency to avoid any sort of communication with strangers. This is most easily seen on the underground, where you could have a mariachi band performing covers of Snoop Dogg without anyone batting an eyelid. For this reason cities are great places for the socially incompetent.

      However there is still an uneasiness when I'm in a city as I perpetually feel like I'm just a visitor. This is largely due to the fact that I'm always just a visitor, but there is more to it. I feel like I'm visiting the real world, where real people are. I become an anthropologist studying my own culture.

      But even ignoring the people, cities fascinate me. The scale of them, the intricacies of their streets and the complexities of their infrastructures. They're places where the constancy of structure is matched only by the changeability of people. (N.B. the constancy of structure does not include anything connected to the London Underground, which has more "improvement work" done on it than an ageing celebrity's face.)

      So, to summarise, cities are quite nice. That's some cutting edge journalism right there.