American tourist shares seven things that 'make no sense' about London

Daily Mirror

7 hours ago

American tourist Nick Watts shared his biggest culture shocks after visiting the UK for the first time, including having to pay to use the loo and birds being 'worse' than in New York City
London remains a hotspot for international tourists, drawing in 20.3 million visitors in 2023 alone and generating £27.3billion for the local economy. However, while tourism undoubtedly has its benefits, there's no denying that it can be frustrating for locals when their favourite haunts become overrun with visitors.
That being said, it can be intriguing to hear the thoughts of someone experiencing the city for the first time. American tourist Nick Watts took to TikTok to share the seven biggest cultural shocks he encountered on his maiden visit to London in May.
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"Instant reactions to London as an American," he captioned a photo of himself posing in front of Buckingham Palace.
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He went on to share his list of things that had surprised him during his recent visit to London
1. Emergency pull cords in bathrooms
For the first thing on Nick's list, he shared his shock after learning about the red emergency cord that often hangs inside public bathrooms.
Not knowing what it was, Nick revealed he'd pulled on it multiple times, not knowing the serious meaning it had,
"Pulled this thing like six times but apparently it's British life alert, a heads up would be nice," he said.
2. Paying to use the bathrooms
In the UK, using public toilets is normally free of charge, particularly in places like train stations and shopping centres.
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However there are some bathrooms, especially those under private management, where a fee, typically around 50p, might be levied to help maintain their facilities.
Though most find this practice annoying and 'unfair', Nick embraced the concept, suggesting the charge was worth it for added cleanliness and security.
"Hot take, but I'm a fan of paying for the bathroom. Super clean and safe. US should have them," he wrote on his post.
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3. Food is better than expected - usually
"British foods get more hate than it deserves, this was all good stuff," he said while sharing an image of his full English breakfast, joking about American tendencies to merge meals into something else. "In America we'd just combine it all into an omelette or a sandwich lol."
His enthusiasm swayed slightly with traditional beans on toast though, commenting that while it's acceptable, his preference veers towards the American version.
"Beans on toast is fine. I prefer American baked beans though," he commented.
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4. Using the imperial system
Nick highlighted a paradox concerning Britain's measurement preferences, saying, "They give us so much grief about the imperial system but use it all the time."
Despite a general shift towards the metric system, Brits often revert to imperial units, notably in measuring personal heights and road distances.
This notion struck him during a visit to Greggs where he noticed sausage rolls being sized by inches instead of centimetres.
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5. Reverse order elevators
In a rather peculiar discovery, Nick stumbled upon an elevator at Paddington station where the buttons were arranged in a 'reverse' order. The sequence started from floor 2, then descended to 2B and 3.
"Reverse order elevator? Absolutely not. I don't think this is common, but still," he commented.
The reason behind this unusual arrangement was that the lifts were heading underground towards the Bakerloo line. Typically, when elevators go below ground level, they display a minus sign before the numbers to indicate their subterranean position.
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6. The prices
Nick then turned his attention to the pricing of certain items, without providing any specific reasons for his views.
"Raise the price on plastic surgery, please," he suggested in one slide. In the next, he proposed: "Lower the price on everything else."
While the prices of things in London tend to be more expensive than the rest of the country, he did not explain his reasoning for wanting plastic surgery to be more expensive.
7. 'Annoying' birds
If you've ever been to London, you will be aware that the more touristy areas and parks will be filled with birds, particularly doves and seagulls, hoping to get some of your food.
However, Nick went on to argue that London birds were 'worse' than the birds that he had come across in New York City, which is also known for having pigeons trying to steal your food."
"Not sure how you've done it, but the birds here are worse than NYC. Absurdly annoying," he complained.