Many people are expected to travel to the UK as soon as we are off the red list
06 September 2021 - 15:33
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The Shard skyscraper, center, and the City of London skyline on Wednesday, September 1 2021. Picture: BLOOMBERG/HOLLIE ADAMS
People in the travel business say as soon as we’re off the red list a lot of folk are up and out. The UK seems to be a favourite destination.
When last in London I stayed in a well-appointed cupboard (aka a studio apartment) not far from Harrods in Knightsbridge. I became acquainted with one of the doormen near its handbag department. He prided himself in being able to say: “Welcome to Harrods, ladies” in a number of languages, his most profitable being Arabic.
The doorman told me recently that he was expecting a new influx of customers from Afghanistan judging by the latest headlines, so he was brushing up with his phrase book. I reminded him that many of these shoppers arrive wearing a full black burka, so how he would know who’s who? “Don’t worry,” he said, “Afghan burkas are blue.” So his clients are already colour coded.
I scratched my head and thought what a wonderful world we live in. London, like many European cities, takes pride in being multicultural, though I suspect this is a euphemism for immigrants who have little in common with their new neighbours.
The languages spoken in London are instructive. At the posh end of my street the lingua franca is Arabic and Russian, since potentates and oligarchs have been buying chunks of the capital for decades. Down the other end at the street market it’s Nigerian cockney, with everything else thrown in for good measure.
I did a survey on public transport, where everyone talks to themselves as if demented but are actually on their phones, and found that English was spoken one time in four. As I said, it’s a wonderful world, even if you have no idea what’s going on.
Bernard Benson Parklands
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Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: London melting pot
Many people are expected to travel to the UK as soon as we are off the red list
People in the travel business say as soon as we’re off the red list a lot of folk are up and out. The UK seems to be a favourite destination.
When last in London I stayed in a well-appointed cupboard (aka a studio apartment) not far from Harrods in Knightsbridge. I became acquainted with one of the doormen near its handbag department. He prided himself in being able to say: “Welcome to Harrods, ladies” in a number of languages, his most profitable being Arabic.
The doorman told me recently that he was expecting a new influx of customers from Afghanistan judging by the latest headlines, so he was brushing up with his phrase book. I reminded him that many of these shoppers arrive wearing a full black burka, so how he would know who’s who? “Don’t worry,” he said, “Afghan burkas are blue.” So his clients are already colour coded.
I scratched my head and thought what a wonderful world we live in. London, like many European cities, takes pride in being multicultural, though I suspect this is a euphemism for immigrants who have little in common with their new neighbours.
The languages spoken in London are instructive. At the posh end of my street the lingua franca is Arabic and Russian, since potentates and oligarchs have been buying chunks of the capital for decades. Down the other end at the street market it’s Nigerian cockney, with everything else thrown in for good measure.
I did a survey on public transport, where everyone talks to themselves as if demented but are actually on their phones, and found that English was spoken one time in four. As I said, it’s a wonderful world, even if you have no idea what’s going on.
Bernard Benson
Parklands
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by email to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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