A walk in the park
Have you ever wondered where the better off hang out? I’m not talking about the rich and famous, nor even the famous, but the rich. Those for whom money is no object and if it is an object it is one to be admired in a glass case. Or where all the children, who must live in London, are? Or whether any one in this city actually owns a pet?
On my regular journeys (from mine to work, from work to the pub, from the pub to boy’s) I don’t see any children, I certainly don’t see any pets and while work is full of the better off, they have either been there so long that they have become permanant fixtures, or they are just passing through on the way to their place in the country.
None of the above have bothered me considerably since I’ve been here. The quality of my life is much improved by there not being under 12s hanging about the place. Flatmates old and new are probbaly bored of me plotting to be allowed to have a cat but I couldn’t care less about other people’s pets, or lack of. And at work the better off are something to be avoided, circled round if possible, if not treated polited and left to their own devices, well away from mine.
But on Saturday, Boy and I went for a walk in the park and discovered that, well all of the above are to be found in Holland Park, taking a stroll on a Saturday afternoon. Wealthy young families are to be seen pushing posh push chairs and holding the hands of their toddlers. Couples are to be seen walking their immaculatly groomed and pure bred dogs (well in most instances). The old and young are to be found sat on benchs, by sculpted gardens reading and gossiping. Many are to be seen clutching grande size starbucks in their perfectly mannicured hands, accompanying their designer outfits and fashionable footwear.
It was yet another one of those instances in London where you move smoothly and qucikly from an area of relative poverty and deprivation to one of affluence within a matter of minutes. However the wealthy may have their sculptered gardens, orangeries, japanese gardens and wooded pathways but they sure as hell aren’t allowed to have any fun.
Listening to: Razorlight Which way is out
Reading: Kennedy: An unfinished Life, Rovert Dallek
About to watch: Firefly