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| Blogs > matt-battler > Captain Caveman finally speaks |
That great Country vs Town debate
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That great Country vs Town debate As I've hinted at in some of my blogs, although my location on my profile is stated as London I actually live just outside. This isn't to willfully confuse or deceive people, the fact is that for many years I worked in London and I met people in London. If I told you where I lived there is a 99.9% chance you'd never have heard of it and most people are sufficiently lazy/stupid not to use Google maps and find out more when you give them an unfamiliar place name. I'm as close as you can be to London but still be in the countryside, on the edge of my village I can see the Canary Wharf Tower light flashing at night - I can see the smoke, I can nearly touch it, but I look down on it from my crow's nest on the North Downs. I'm very comfortable being in the middle of the city, my mum used to be a London Tourist Guide so I really know the place and its landmarks, and when I was a student there I really made the most of it. But . . . I'm a country boy at heart, I'm most comfortable with greenery, peace & quiet - no moody engine revving noises and houses with no front gardens for me thank you!  I'm down with urban<b> chicks </font></b>like Lacey Duvalle, I just don't live in the city I don't really feel out of place anywhere but I had a jolt a few years ago where one of my dates set the record for trying to contradict me the most times ever. As much as I love London and have no problem with Londoners, I've always noticed some of them are up their own arse about the city and struggle to comprehend why people would live near, but not actually in London. I once went for a job interview where the boss couldn't get his head round the idea of me commuting into London from the outside, even though 2 million people do this every working day. I guess if you live outside the M25 you need a different passport or something. The date turned into a protracted argument with one person saying 'London's perfect in every shape or form and gives people every single life experience they could possibly want' and the other saying 'errr it's not as simple as that' . . . So I'm white, middle class, I live out in the sticks and I'm comfortable with it, my date was black, middle class, lived in Haringey and had a major problem with the sticks or what you'd call the 'endz' if you were a rapper or drum & bass MC. By no means did I tear strips off of her home town during our date but the woman I was with really couldn't accept that there were certain advantages to being out in the country and certain experiences you couldn't really replace properly in London. If I want to go on a winter sports holiday, well Parliament Hill doesn't have chairlifts yet . . . I patiently explained how I liked to go running on a field surrounded by landscaping and trees and how that was better than London parks that are smaller and have traffic skirting around them. I even mentioned how much I loved cycling and tootling down a country lane is not the same as riding your bike in London. Ms Contradictor said, 'Oh but you can ride your bike in London' . . . I reply, 'I'm talking about riding it on roads where I won't pass another car for several miles' . . . 'Oh but you can do that in London' . . . 'What, where can you ride your bike for several miles without passing a car???' . . . 'There are trails' . . . 'There are trails? What do you mean?' . . . 'You can go off road on trails near where I live'. Hmmmmm, I didn't want to really antagonise her so I moved on - a trail is not a road and I don't care much for mountain biking and most urban trails take in wastelands where you're slaloming round abandoned sofas, syringes and broken glass.  I feel so empty inside missing out on views like this when I ride my bike down the lanes, not! Maybe it was a race thing I was oblivious to at the time - I know a lot of black people do not feel comfortable in small towns and out in the countryside because they are in such a small minority although country people are not hostile to them - go for a ramble and observe the Country Code (take only photographs, don't drop litter, shut gates behind you) and you'll be as welcome as anyone. Perhaps I'd shown her up and pricked her fear of the unknown but it was the coldest goodbye ever when we parted, she didn't even look at me, let alone shake hands or give me a peck on the cheek as we went our separate ways. Maybe next time I should wear one of those 'I  London' t-shirts 'cause they're really cool aren't they, and carry around a stash of Beefeater Gin with me . . . |
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Hi there Ginger, Don't you just hate other people? I know I do!  I did live in London for a few years as a student, it is possible to find suburban areas that are pretty quiet away from main roads but growing up in a garden suburb village as I do where the roads are a bit detached from the houses I could never really get used to the constant traffic noise of London. At one point I lived on the Finchley Road, the fumes and the noise were so bad I opened my window about three times in six months. Out here I'm a fresh air freak, my windows are open all the time, even in the depths of winter. But there was no fresh air supply to my bedsit  I think it's possible to adjust - I always get a bit taken aback when people say stuff like 'Oh I can't handle London it's so crowded, I find it a bit scary', when it's safer than most small town centres on a Saturday night. I think it is a great place, but it's not perfect and it's completely acceptable to know all about it and decide, on balance to be outside of it 
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"Out here I'm a fresh air freak, my windows are open all the time, even in the depths of winter." That's me too!! Twins  I've never understood people like your date. It's almost like arguing just for the sake of it. Maybe it's indicative of their entire outlook on life. They're right about everything and don't you dare suggest otherwise  Boring!I think I've told you before I don't live in Glasgow. I don't work there, either. But I do live and work nearby. I have friends who live in Glasgow and others who live in Edinburgh. Both claim their city is the best, but mostly in jest. Since my big move I'm happy to report I'm now living in the sticks and I love it No more scuzzy neighbours, no more noise. Just peace and quiet and not a house in sight. Of course, the downside is that no one will hear me scream if a serial killer is on the loose  But, hey, you can't have everything. As Phil & Kirsty would say, "It's all about compromise." I've heard of people who move into the sticks or even just a quiet street and complain that "it's too quiet"...umm, say what, now  I wouldn't waste my time trying to convince anyone where to live or where I think is the best place to live. We all know what we like and what we don't. Like you I think it's possible to adjust, and anyone who can't doesn't actually deserve to live in the peace and quiet  I've done the shared walls; shared floors and ceilings, and I could not go back to that. Maybe I'm getting old  I enjoy my own company, I enjoy the peace and quiet. I also enjoy going into the city to dance my ass off until the wee small hours. It's all about balance.I visit NYC every year. I love it. If I were really, really rich I'd probably live there. I adjusted to the noise very quickly the first time I viisted a long, long time ago. I found it really easy to block out and I still do. But there are always people who will say to me "OMG I couldn't stand the noise and the crowds." To them I simply say...it sucks to be you That, and try thinking outside of your own little world sometimes Have a wonderful fresh air-filled week, Matt! "I'm always disappointed when a liar's pants don't actually catch on fire..."
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Hi there Holly my crofting friend!!! Funnily enough when I read your response this morning I was aching all over from dancing my arse off over the weekend too. I guess it's payback for having such a high embarrassment threshold When I started travelling into London in the early-80s it was quite frankly a dump - all the major buildings were covered in soot. Now you can actually see what the cathedrals and houses of parliament are supposed to look like. I guess I was extremely lucky as both my Mum and Dad really knew what sort of places to take my sister - the historical landmarks and the Computer shops where you could play games for free all day. Being in massive crowds became kinda normal, so I do think 'what kind of life have you led?' if someone in the Home Counties tells me they can't handle London's atmosphere. I remember discussing this with my co-workers once, one said that humans are adapted to a tribal environment where for thousands of years the size of tribes rarely exceeded 150 people. So people's inner caveman (or woman) starts to get twitchy if you're confronted by a lot more than that. I think if you're well-rounded you'll adapt and you'll be comfortable in urban or rural settings, but you shouldn't judge people if they're happy enough in an environment that's totally different from your own. I always remember an anecdote about Donald Dewar campaigning in the Hebrides in the late-90s talking to a woman in her 70s who'd been cutting peat for decades, he said 'Don't you feel really remote out here?', she replied 'Remote from where?'
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Hahaha @ the idea of me crofting Oooh, you were getting your groove on, good for you, Matt People need to embrace what's different to them. Be it the quiet of the countryside or the hustle and bustle of city life. It's not like they've been kidnapped and forced to live there. They're just visiting for God sake, suck it up, adapt, embrace the little bit of change  Oh wait, was I judging there Haha, I like the reply from the lady in the Hebrides. Have a wonderful weekend, Matt, and dance that ass off "I'm always disappointed when a liar's pants don't actually catch on fire..."
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Just picking this up on a sunny morning where I can hear lots of birdsong outside, no engine noise and no petrol fumes outside. I know I'm lucky that I have the option of being in both worlds - I can jump on a train and 30 mins later I'm at Victoria, but I can also take a walk from my front door and within 15 mins I'm deep into countryside. That's why I am where I am up here in the Kent hills - just far enough away from Essex that I can't really see it or smell it Not sure if I'll be out dancing tonight but I'm sure I'll be getting sweaty and embarrassing myself in front of loads of people (dancing that is, not at an orgy) sooner or later
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