In the film Back to the Future Marty McFly is blasted back to 1955 running the risk that whatever he does will affect his future. And of course this being Hollywood all works out in the end. So much so that 2 more films were made in the series. Its one of the most enjoyable trilogies I’ve watched.
In the film you can see linkages between the future and the past but a definite change between the two. The future is definitely ahead of the past. Which to be honest isn’t the way I’ve found coming back to the UK. The country seems to have got stuck.
I should probably provide some support for my conjecture. Well firstly the transport system really hasn’t changed that much at all. The trains are overcrowded and still have no air-conditioning. And people don’t talk to each other (indeed go out of their way not to talk to anyone at all) so the whole process is one of the least enjoyable features of being back in the UK.
Now lets talk about 4G. The mobile phone network of choice for most countries around the world. In the UK the phone network is simply bad. And I have heard many different excuses. Apparently London has too many high buildings which is actually doesn’t. And in any event I give you Hong Kong. A country and a city that has nothing other than tall buildings and a 4G network that works – works so well in fact that almost everyone is watching video on their phone, continuously. It also has its own Tardis
So if it isn’t about the size of the buildings the second excuse is that the network is simply too busy. Which implies that the people who build the networks simply have no idea how many people want to use their phones. I can’t quite believe that as the people who run the networks seem perfectly able to produce adverts to sign up new users. Thus presumably slowing down their networks even further.
Well at least the UK now has a number of Polish builders so hiring a builder must have got better. Well I am sure it has got better if your landlord uses a Polish builder. If they don’t well believe me nothing has changed in the 7 years I’ve been out of the UK. Appointment times are randomly adhered to, work is fudged, covered over or simply not done. So nothing changes there.
And despite all the excuses I can only assume that the leaders of businesses big and small simply don’t care to much. And being British we don’t complain or do anything about it.Which is what being British is all about. Don’t take too much care, and don’t complain.
I always knew it would take time to settle in and I am pretty sure there are things that have moved forward. The internet for example, if you don’t want to use your phone too much, is quick and works well. The council services in Greenwich have been excellent, and I mean excellent, which I wouldn’t have thought possible and food is definitely a better proposition here than in the US and Hong Kong.
I’ll get past the angst about the UK at some point. Probably the sooner the better…
The Burble 