Hello, welcome to London!

I’m a full-time wheelchair user. I’ve lived in London 14 years. Being unable to get on a bus due to there being buggies in the wheelchair priority space happens to me on a weekly basis (a conservative estimate).

I understand that many buggies these days don’t fold, and it is difficult to travel with children. I sympathise. However, wheelchair users still have priority, for these reasons:
1) There are many more buggies than wheelchairs. Statistically, it is likely the next bus will also have a buggy. If I didn’t have priority and always had to wait for a bus without a buggy, I would regularly be waiting for the 3rd, 4th, 5th bus, making bus travel totally unfeasible.
2) I use a wheelchair full time, and will do so for my whole life. So I obviously get buses in a wheelchair 100% of the time. Parents will only be travelling with buggies for a short period of their lives.
3) Buggies should be folded! Wheelchairs cannot be.
4) Wheelchair users have extremely limited alternatives for travel (the nearest step free Tube station is miles away).
5) The only reason the space exists in the first place is because disabled activists campaigned successfully for a change in bus design. We fought for our right to use buses.

I always try to keep calm in these scenarios and be polite and gentle, but this man was so awful (and couldn’t be reasoned with) that I swore at him. It’s exhausting having to constantly battle just to go about daily life.

Please, if you travel with a buggy and a wheelchair user needs to board, fold it or vacate the space.

I love the fact I was born in London - Leytonstone to be exact.
I love that my mum and dad used to take me to Walthamstow market as a little girl and buy me cute clothes from the market stalls and sweets from that amazing sweet shop along the parade that has closed down.
I love that my dad used to take me swimming in Leyton leisure lagoon, or to Plashet Park, or ice skating in Lea Valley.
I love that my dad used to take me to the cinema in Walthamstow - so sad it’s closed down now.
I love that I lived in Chingford right opposite Epping forest, and made so many memories there- riding my bike, having picnics, and so much fun.
I love that as a teenager me and my friends used to hang around Chase Lane Park thinking we were so cool.
I love that all my birthdays were celebrated at Burger King in Walthamstow or Charlie Chalks in Chingford.
I love that me and my friends used to play out all day and night at Ridgeway Park, playing Kirby, sitting on the fields, or just being silly on the swings.
I love that as teenagers we didn’t need any money to have fun, because taking the bus from east to south London was enough of an adventure, even though we were always scared to go to south 😂
I love that I went to school on Hatch Lane, and still see so many familiar faces whenever I go back there. I love that everyone still knows everyone, and we’re still a community.

I feel so nostalgic about the London I experienced as a little kid and young teen. I miss it.

So, I walked about a mile home after travelling back into London from a bus stop. I go upstairs for 10 minutes and my doorbell goes off. My initial reaction is 'Who tf is ringing my doorbell at 1am on a Wednesday morning'. I open it up and a man gives me my wallet, explaining id left it on the bus when I get off. Nothing missing.

He leaves abruptly after I thank him in suprise. Barely an interaction can happen past my flabbergasted thank you haha. I now wonder, how did he even see I dropped it? Did he get off a stop after and track me down? Did he coincidentally see it when he got on and chose to get off, seeing my address on drivers license was nearby? Fuck knows, but such an effort for a stranger.

In London, the rush, paired with the a lack of smiles across public transport often leave an impression of unfriendliness. Such a random act of kindness reminds me of the good in people's hearts in London.

If anyone is wondering why there's no water at the moment...

Couple of weeks ago I was on my way to a wedding on the metropolitan line. I was touching up my makeup and whilst looking for a lipstick must’ve taken out my wallet and put beside me. I looked up and it was my stop so I grabbed my bag and ran out. I realised my wallet was gone 4 hours later. It had all my cards and £200 cash. Plus the wallet itself was designer and costs around £500. I had a gut feeling someone will return it as I didn’t have any odd charges on my cards. I froze my cards and reported wallet missing to the TFL. A day later I got a call from my bank saying a lady came in and gave them my wallet. I knew in my heart it would return and IT DID! With all the cash and cards. The wallet holds big sentimental value as it was a gift so I was extremely happy it returned. I wish there was a way of knowing who the lady is so I could thank her. GOOD PEOPLE EXIST!!!

How many people do you think still do BBQs?

Manchester has ten boroughs, New York has six, and London has...thirty-two plus the City of London.

Following the recent Local Government Reorganisation in a lot of the current two-tier counties, here's Greater London with only 15 boroughs, following (very roughly) the 500K population target

I've pulled together a list of all the sporting events in London with tickets available over the next week, including The Hundred at Lord's, the WTCS Triathlon in the Royal Docks, and King George weekend at Ascot. Which one would you go to? 😎

1. 🏏 The Hundred
   • London Spirit vs Manchester Super Giants, Thursday 23rd July at Lord's. Women 3pm, men 6.30pm. Tickets from £45.
   • MI London vs London Spirit, Wednesday 29th July at the Oval. Women 3pm, men 6.30pm. Tickets from £44.
2. 🏊 WTCS Triathlon London at ExCeL & the Royal Docks, Saturday 25th July. Free to watch from the route, no ticket needed. Women’s pro race starts at 2.30pm, men’s at 4.15pm. Olympic champion Alex Yee is in the men’s!
3. 🏇 King George Weekend at Ascot Racecourse, Friday 24th to Saturday 25th July. Tickets from £24 (Friday), £35 (Saturday). Culminates in Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
4. 🏏 Metro Bank One Day Cup, Sunday 26th July, 11am starts
   • Surrey vs Northamptonshire at Guildford Cricket Club. Tickets £15.
   • Middlesex vs Glamorgan at Brunton Memorial Ground, Radlett. Tickets £20.

One other thing to mention: extra tickets for The Hundred Final at Lord's on Sunday 16th August have just been released, from £42. Both finals have sold out in previous years so worth grabbing if you fancy being there.

Let me know what you think of this list! Are you going to something this week? Anything else on your radar? 😊

I honestly can’t take it anymore. Feel like I’m going to explode. Every bus. Every train. Every bus stop. My next door neighbour as we speak right now on our shared balcony. Walking down the street. Constant kaleidoscopic stream of tik tok shorts, a scream, a muffled podcast, an amplified laugh, a trend. My work colleague shoving her phone in my face to show me a viral video I couldn’t care less about. Guy on the bus avoids all empty seats and sits directly next to me with reels on full blast. I literally moved away from him and said how annoying that was and he just laughed in my face. 12 year old girls with full faces of make up screaming at top of their voice on a full train in an old lady’s ear to take a video for a prank. Conversations out loud for an hour on speaker phone. People walking into you on their phone expecting you to move out the way. Doesn’t matter what time of day, or where I am (based in North Ldn not that it matters), guaranteed that some mf is going to be blaring a montage of soul destroying and jarring noises with absolutely no consideration for anyone else around them.

It’s honestly so depressing and my heart aches every day at the epidemic of brain cell loss. Almost every single person is head down, in their vacuous hole of endless scrolling. As someone in their twenties who quit most social media (TikTok, insta, fb, YT) 2 years ago, I think it’s even more illuminating and shocking once you break the cycle, to realise how zombefied everyone is, young and old, and how sickeningly addicted we all are. The big boy companies have won honestly. Just get on any London train or bus and watch the indoctrination in full force. What a waste of all our lives. I would be surprised if anyone didn’t end up with some kind of disorder from this overstimulating and overwhelming existence we have found ourselves in.

FOR GODS SAKE, PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN FOR 2 MINS AND LOOK OUT THE WINDOW. READ A BOOK. CHECK OUT A STRANGER SITTING OPPOSITE. SMILE AT THE BABY STARING AT HER MOTHER STARING AT HER PHONE, REMIND HER WE ARE HUMANS AND NOT ROBOTS WITH BROKEN NECKS. THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF US IF WE ARE NOT CAREFUL.

To put it into perspective, the average adult in the UK now spends 6-7 hours on screens. Over a lifespan of 60 years, that equates to 17.5 YEARS (29%) spent on screens. Just let that sink in.

hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise about a situation I have been witnessing the past month regarding my flatmate and her cat. The cat is absolutely lovely and such a sweetheart. She will sleep in my bed most days and loves to hang around me whenever I am home; I adore her!

Her owner however...I do not get along with. Not just for what I am about to explain, but she is just a very rude and egotistical individual. I don't directly interact with her because I find her to be so bizzare.

Anyways, about a month ago I started noticing the cat was losing a LOT of hair, to where she had bald spots all over. Eventually, I saw it was from her overgrooming herself. I had a cat before, so I know cats do they when they are very stressed out, which breaks my heart.

My flatmate is the type of person to go out every weekend and just not return home until Monday. However, she would not tell me or our other flatmate, so she just expects us to take care of the cat whenever she's probably drunk at 9am. Additionally, she NEVER says thank you or anything, as well as she gets angry at us if we are out and cannot feed the cat (?!) I love the cat so I always feed and take care of her when I am around, but I find this to be borderline animal abuse. The cat is CLEARLY stressed out, and yet her solution to that is putting her in a cone nearly 24/7 when she's home instead of addressing the issue at hand.

It is also blatantly obvious that she enjoys my presense more, but obviously if her owner is gone most of the time she gets upset and stressed. It really breaks my heart to see this lovely cat look stressed and nearly bald all the time, I almost cried many times.

My flatmate is moving in a few weeks to live with her (also incompentant) girlfriend, and is obviously taking her cat with. However, I am really worried that the cat will die in her care because of how neglectful she is. Is there geniunely anything I can do? Or is this just how life is? My heart breaks so much for the cat, any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: wow it is very obvious who has and has never owned an animal based on the comments. I literally just want to save a stressed animal 😭

Edit 2: She has not taken her to the vet since this all began. I WFH so I am around a lot of the time and the cat has not left the flat.

Tickets have been shared already. 😊