Making a stand on escalator etiquette
I first visited London when I was 12 years old, traveling down from my native Northeast England on an overnight bus. The trip was a rite of passage in our family, as my mother had taken my older brother to the Big Smoke when he was the same age.
Other than the bustling stores along Oxford Road and the chaos of Piccadilly Circus, what left a lasting impression on me were the huge escalators at London Underground stations - not only because of their extraordinary length, but also for the big, yellow warning that was painted on their grinding mechanical steps. KEEP TO THE RIGHT, it read, leaving no room for argument. This was to allow commuters in a hurry (or those who just don't like standing) to walk up the left-hand side.
As men in pinstripe suits zoomed passed, one eye on their broadsheet newspaper, I remember thinking that I couldn't wait until I was important enough to be in such a rush.
