A Good Deed

I saw someone do something nice for someone else for the first time in public today. While we were walking to get on the tube, there is a long hallway to go down when you switch tube lines. There was a young girl with a large suitcase and she looked exhausted. Instead of carrying the suitcase she would kick it a few feet, take a few steps towards it, kick it a few more feet, take a few more steps towards it and so on. Since we were just normally walking, we passed her rather quickly as did the man walking in front of us did. After we passed her, the man in front of us kept looking back. I got a little weirded out, thinking he was looking at us, until I realized he was watching the girl kick her luggage and chug along slowly down the hallway. After a few looks back, he stopped in his tracks and turned around, proceeding to pick up the girl's luggage and carry it for her! I was blown away by how nice this was... most people looked annoying with the girl for slowing up traffic.

Another thing that's been bothering me is this poor homeless man who sleeps in a bunch of boxes down the street from us. I used to think it was just a pile of cardboard boxes on this doorstep until the other day as I was walking by they all started moving and a man emerged from them. I was quite startled and almost yelped. Anyways, I've noticed the past two mornings when I walk by that a tuft of white hair sticks out from an edge of the pile and although the man is probably just sleeping, I'm really worried he's dead or something. I'm surprised no one in the area has asked to have him moved since he's sleeping on the doorstep of all these fancy homes. I hope he's okay.

On a happier note... Lauren and I went shopping in Oxford Circus today. On a not happy note, I spent the money I was saving for Paris this weekend... oops. Everything was actually really well priced, it was just that a lot of little things add up to... well... a lot. I got a black leather purse that is perfect for holding my passport on trips for only 3 pounds, a cute black hat for only 1 pound, a necklace and a black leather jacket (not real leather, of course). I'm really into black right now because everyone here wears black and I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb in my cream and tan coats. I also got another black jacket that was on sale but I think I'm going to return it because it has major shoulder pads going on that just do not look good on me. Anywho, I have more interesting things to talk about than my shopping spree...

One interesting thing I've noticed since being here is that both the dogs and the children are so incredibly well behaved. I guess everything is just more proper in England. Most of the dogs here go running with their owners without leashes! There will be dogs all over the place, walking right by their owners side yet free to wander wherever they wanted if they so pleased. Yet they are so well behaved that they will not move an inch unless their owner commands them to. As I was walking by, one lady told her dog to wait at the corner and she walked a few feet to her car, put something in her car and then walked back to her dog patiently waiting at the corner. So bizarre. Likewise, there are a ton of schools in our area so there are always children walking in lines of two, all holding hands as they go on field trips and such. One young boy dared to ask in an adorable accent "What happens if we step out of line?" The teacher responded "You will get lost and never find your way home again." It was a pretty bleak outlook for the young boy so I doubt he dared step out of line that day.

Time to get ready for class and work on a paper. There is a "white out party" tonight at Archangel... you're supposed to wear white. Another strange thing about the Brits... when they're not wearing all black, they wear white jeans in the winter (what???). I didn't really bring anything white, so I'm going to have to wear a cream dress. Hope that doesn't ruin the white-out effect...