Visions that encapsulate London. #3 - Xmas Ghostown.
One of the weird things that I can never get over is how empty central London always is over the Xmas period. In between Christmas and the New Year, I have the unfortunate pleasure of working in the office. There are only two of us in, so that’s really weird, especially when you don’t have much in common and there’s not much to say.
The tube is unusually empty in the morning, there are about three people on who are quite obviously going shopping in the sales (you can tell by the glint in their eyes). Then there’s a few people with large suitcases who are on their way out, quitting the town for a New Years Eve celebration somewhere different, quite obviously happy that they are leaving a deserted ghost town behind.
Then there are all the small local shops and restaurants which are boarded up for the Xmas period, hand-written signs solemnly declare that they are closed for the holiday season and will re-open on January 2nd. And there’s me wondering around this empty landscape, wishing I could be someplace else, taking a massive lunch break and spending twenty minutes smoking a fag.
One of the weird things that I can never get over is how empty central London always is over the Xmas period. In between Christmas and the New Year, I have the unfortunate pleasure of working in the office. There are only two of us in, so that’s really weird, especially when you don’t have much in common and there’s not much to say.
The tube is unusually empty in the morning, there are about three people on who are quite obviously going shopping in the sales (you can tell by the glint in their eyes). Then there’s a few people with large suitcases who are on their way out, quitting the town for a New Years Eve celebration somewhere different, quite obviously happy that they are leaving a deserted ghost town behind.
Then there are all the small local shops and restaurants which are boarded up for the Xmas period, hand-written signs solemnly declare that they are closed for the holiday season and will re-open on January 2nd. And there’s me wondering around this empty landscape, wishing I could be someplace else, taking a massive lunch break and spending twenty minutes smoking a fag.
London at Xmas - Ghost TownWorking at Xmas – there is no point. I’ve done no work, I’m spending most of the time watching YouTube videos. The only time the phone rings it is the boss to check that we are still physically present in the office. Mentally, I’m far, far away. Still, I’m happy that there are very few of us experiencing London like this – it feels like it is something special that I will be able to tell my grandchildren all about, or something. No, le me rephrase that in a more truthful manner - it feels shit to be working when everyone else is on holiday.
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