All big cities have their character. London is still a very polite place. The mood has changed, it is getting harder, but slowly, thank god, slowly. Heading into London – a capital city, arguably the capital of Europe today – in rush hour, in the morning, people are still more polite than on the commuter trains in the south of Sweden. Much, much more polite, and there is a feeling of respect in the air.
Sometimes you have these small moments of intense compassion and humanity in the midst of crowds. Someone on the bus is obviously genuinely sorry for bumping in to you, or having their bag overspill even a little into your space; a stranger might flash you a brief smile and let you go first through a door, a cab-driver lets you cross on a busy street. There is warmth, here, in these small diamonds of humanity. They´re not there all the time, there are hard ones too, but the blessings are surprisingly many.
People in London are much more polite than even in general in Sweden. This troubles me. We have lost something. I am afraid we will never get it back.
