Bye Bye London 2012; We’ll Miss You – Or Will We?
So; 29 Golds, 17 Silvers, 19 Bronzes later we (as in Great Britain) have managed to put on a “Games to be proud of” without too much disruption to daily life throughout the country (London excepted I think) save everyone talking about it in a “Did You See” fashion.
But what will we miss and not miss when it comes to everyday life during the Games?
Here are some ideas (but feel free to comment with others if you so wish to):
WHAT WE WON’T MISS
- The Olympic Lanes*
- People in London moaning about the Olympic Lanes*
- Articles of doom in the newspapers about how bad the traffic is going to be in London during the Games
- The continual and seemingly never-ending pullouts in the newspapers
- Sponsors bleating on about how much they support British Sport – for 2 weeks this year only!
- The roadworks that will have to take place post-Olympics to remove all signage and road markings so that we can get back to normal
- Taxi drivers moaning about not being able to do U-Turns
- Taxi drivers charging what they like because hey can’t do U-turns
- Taxi drivers per se
- Lord Sebastian Coe
- Parking restrictions in East London
- The words “amazing”, “fantastic” “brilliant” as used 200 times a day by the BBC
- (Personally) Writing stuff about the Olympics connected to Motoring (including moans, doom-laden prophesies and corporate claims)
WHAT WE WILL MISS
- Being able to shop in peace in Central London
- Those little Minis that were using in the stadium to bring back the javelins and discus
- The Daily Mail praising a Somalian-born athlete for winning the 10,000 and 5,000 metres Gold for Great Britain without once using the word ‘immigrant’
- Not having to queue for tourist attractions (London Eye 10 minutes instead of 1½ – 2 hours)
- Some of the pullouts in the papers
- National pride without prejudice
- That BMW building – it’s actually pretty impressive
- Everyone suddenly becoming an expert on volleyball, handball, sailing, cycling and female beach volleyball
- Looking at the medal table
- Looking at the medal table for Australia (only joking)
- Parking availability (except east London)
- The extra trains that were put on
- Boris Johnson (never ever thought I’d say this to be honest!)
- Transport staff being nice and helpful – obviously NOT in the hope of getting a tip
London 2012; it’s been fun. Hurry back!
*For those of you that did decide to take a chance and travel in the Olympic Lanes, check your postbox over the next few weeks. For the first six days only warnings were issued for using the 30 miles (48km) of lanes, used to transport athletes, officials and the media while drivers became used to the system. But, since then, 2,400 fines, totalling £312,000, have been issued. If you do get one, according to Garrett Emmerson, Transport for London’s chief operating officer for surface transport, it’s not a money-making exercise. “We are now issuing PCNs (penalty charge notices) to drivers who contravene the ORN (Olympic Route Network), but will continue to be proportionate and sensible; we’re seeking compliance from drivers, not income from fines.”