Only the present matters.
Londoners have it figured out. They live wholly in the moment, and don’t let their past define them. The Royal Family, for example, is at the cutting edge of public relations, and represents the political views of not only Londoners but of the entire populace of the United Kingdom. Londoners’ adherence to this philosophy of present day-ism (as I like to call it) has allowed them to become an overall more gleeful society, not afraid to express their feelings. This disregard for what came before has even found its way into their modern vernacular. When asked the time at thirty minutes past the hour of three, a Londoner told me it was “half three”. Despite my initial belief that this meant 1:30, I soon realized that the bloke (look at me getting British again) had simply dropped the word “past” from the phrase “half past three” in a show of respect for his culture’s love of the present.
Non-sequiturs are stylish.
The simple fact of the matter is, you don’t need your thoughts to be connected when living life in the present moment. Nobody actually thinks in logical, step-by-step progression. Looking again to the Royal Family, that bastion of British culture, we find little continuity from monarch to monarch, particularly in religion. Mitt Romney could take notes from Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I and their tug-o-war betwixt Catholicism and Anglicanism. Non-sequitur has also become a hallmark of British marketing. Look to British pubs. Acceptable names for a British pub may consist of either two unrelated nouns (e.g. The Camel and Artichoke (a real place, I assure you, I drank a Guinness there (which, wouldn’t you know, isn’t even a British beer))) or a noun preceded by an adjective seldom associated with the former (see: The Red Lion (the worst meat pies in London)).
The British don’t actually like tea.
How else do you explain the sheer abundance of Starbucks? There is one on practically every corner. With literally 50 storefronts in London proper alone, coffee very much seems to be the drink of choice. While they now “Proudly Serve Teavana,” I might point out that Teavana is an American herbal tea company based in Atlanta, Georgia– not very British after all. Every time I sat down for the supposedly sacred British ritual of “afternoon tea,” I was greeted with tourists and food. This was not afternoon tea– this was a snack! I was quite surprised. It seems that “afternoon tea” is merely a relic of a time gone by– and we know how much the British love the past.
Below you will find some pictures detailing my visit to the motherland of our motherland.