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I only know London people and they all seem to hate Americans and Jews. I know people outside of London are different: I just never seem to get to meet them. What really bothers me is that due to business concerns, I keep having to give my dollars to the London economy...

London people

Who might they be?

I only know London people and they all seem to hate Americans and Jews. I know people outside of London are different: I just never seem to get to meet them. What really bothers me is that due to business concerns, I keep having to give my dollars to the London economy...

Fortunately, we have different friends. I spend part of the year in London and don't find antipathy towards Americans universal. I find ignorance about the country and people rather abundant. To most, it seems that America largely consists of New York, Florida, and California.

I've a handful of friends and very cordial neighbors but my family has owned the same flat in Kensington for approximately twenty years. I make no bones about my unabashed American-ism and feel very comfortable in the pub down the street (the Churchill Arms).

What absolutely burns me is having to pay the television license!! The BBC is wholly imbalanced and has dreadful news programs. I keep vowing to get a Sky-Plus box but then realize that its not really worth it as I won't watch it anyway. My own anectdotal experience is that many Brits have a bit of a fascination with many American television shows the same as we do with theirs. 24 is a very popular program as are many comedies that have gone to syndication.

Other sources of frustration include: congestion tax and knowing that Red Ken (Livingstone) is in a position of power.

I only know London people and they all seem to hate Americans and Jews.

As a long time resident of London, I ask you respectfully to take that back.

What you actually mean is that you have met a very small section of the population of the capital and that it is convenient for you to generalise from that because their opinions have confirmed your own prejudices.

If you want to meet people outside London, has it occurred to you to go to a different part of the UK? There are many beautiful towns and cities across England if you want to be a tourist. Of course, if you are in London and the UK purely for business reasons this may not be possible.

If that is the case, you really need to cultivate an understanding of the concepts of irony and self-depreciation - in other words, get over it.