A Few Random Observations

Today has been designated homework day. So naturally I've decided to write another post instead. One thing I've noticed about England is they don't mess around. Now, I may have some of these facts incorrect, I've collected them throughout the semester so far, and they may not be exact.

If you vomit in public, it's a 100 pound fine. If the police find out it's from alcohol, it's more. And yet you can drink basically anywhere: on the street, on the tube, on the bus...

You have to have a license to watch tv in your home, that's how the BBC is funded.

If you have a radio in your place of business that two or more people are listening to, you have to have a license for it.

If you don't pay your car tax, it is within the government's jurisdiction to compact your car and crush it beyond recognition.

Commercials here are intense.  Describing it isn't the same is seeing it, but I'll do my best.

The public service announcement for drinking involved a bachelorette party losing a balloon, and a guy volunteering to retrieve it. He climbs up a fire escape, reaches for the balloon, and falls smack on the pavement. Then the commercial says something about "too much alcohol can make you feel invincible."

There's PSA about smoke detectors where a woman is sitting in her kitchen, and the camera pans to her left to show the rest of her house burnt and charred. She asks who will be the next caught in a fire: "Your mother? Your brother? You?"

There's a commercial where a woman is on the phone with her husband. She's at home saying something about dinner, and he's driving and talking on his cell phone. He then gets in an accident, and you see him unconscious and bleeding, while the wife is still on the phone saying "James? James? Can you hear me? James?" Disturbing.

I think it's also an automatic night in jail if you're caught on your cell phone while driving.

England doesn't mess around.

Also, the best cookies I've had are from Ben's Cookies. Amazing. The US needs to discover it.

Oh! And you know why London doesn't have any of that classic fog anymore? People died. The fog was a result of industry, and it got so bad that people were actually choking to death on the fumes. So there is now a ban on smoke producing fuel like coal in London.