Columnists
Toast of London
Still in London. Oh, yes I am. Until this morning, Saturday, London proper hadn’t experienced a drop of rain since our arrival. I’m sure Londoners are grateful for our visits when we bring Ontario’s sunshine. I’ve been following the goings- on in the County and I must say I am a bit surprised by the weather you’ve been experiencing. All of the rainy weather, usually associated with the UK, has become the norm for the County. LOML and I are wandering around in all-weather coats and the locals are wandering around in shorts and flip-flops. Oh, dear. Obviously, cool is the new HOT for Londoners. This trip I didn’t bring my sandals or sunscreen. I’m wise to the sunshine pretending to be warm.
On that bright note, whenever LOML and I travel, we still have a look-see around the local real estate listings. Looking at property has always been an indication we’re having a good time. We are not surprised to find we couldn’t possibly afford to live here, not even in our dreams. Even the small flats, in Islington-Angel district, are selling for outrageous prices starting in the 600K pound mark. That works out to be over a cool million Canadian dollars for one bed/sit and a kitchen a person could only describe as being junior petite and, perhaps, rustic. Not only are those flats microscopic but they aren’t really close to the downtown area. Additionally, the cost of utilities is astronomical. While we complain bitterly about the price of water and electricity at home in Ontario, the truth of the matter is doing a load of laundry in the UK is a luxury. Most everyday working folks don’t have dryers. Living in London, in general, is astronomically expensive. Although there is an abundance of council flats (geared to income housing), there is a long wait-list and what is available isn’t remotely close to the city centre where there’s the kind of work folks need to have to pay the bills. A lot of people here are on some kind of assistance due to the cost of housing and the lack of decent fulltime jobs. In that respect it seems a bit like the County. Lots of service industry jobs are available, but they rarely pay more than minimum wage. Here, like home, young folks struggle to be independent. Educated people abound—but being educated isn’t always the key to a well-paid situation.
Speaking of making a living, a lot of young people juggle two or three jobs in order to make their rent, eat, and pay for public transit. Last time I was here, one of the young people working at Budgens told me access to cheap beer helped and being able to afford a pint at the local, at the end of a workday, with her friends, made it all bearable. I told her about how our Premier built his election platform on cheap beer, and she said it was no consolation if you didn’t have a job or a place to live. However, fresh food is “As cheap as old chips!” Not just in the County, but worldwide there’s a housing and job crisis by the look of it. People are under-housed and underemployed. It’s still a sore point when one realizes how difficult it is to cobble together 40 hours of work in a week and not be able to live in anything other than subsidized housing, with the occasional visit to a food bank.
Oh, London! I know you aren’t exotic, but I have to admit you are a bit exciting to me. You are a delightful mix of “that accent” and all of those other accents. You are fish and chips with curry sauce, and doners with a side of dates and lovely cheeses and tea with cakes. I still love being here, but I’ve come from a place that has plenty of loveliness along with its own little problems, many like yours. London, you’ve given me lots of ideas, along with my beer and crisps. I may have to come back.
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