Relax - Don’t Do It - Tube Delays Can Just Screw It

M@
By M@ Last edited 216 months ago
Relax - Don’t Do It - Tube Delays Can Just Screw It
Worlds stoopidest hitchhiker.jpg

Woah!, We said, Woah! Stop skim-reading, go and make yourself a nice cup of tea, come back here and absorb this post in a more leisurely attitude, perhaps reclined in your favourite beanbag.

Slowlondon took its time to reach our radar, which, when you think about it, is kind of appropriate. This terrific site is devoted to coaxing Londoners into rushing less and ambling more.

Name aside, their ethos is not about being slow, in the traditional sense of the word. The message is to take the natural amount of time to do things. Rather than hurtling pell mell down Pall Mall, we should do things at a more tempered pace. It seems almost heresy in London, where the need for speed can be overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

The irony is that in a way it is lazy to live a fast life. Everyone else is doing it so why should I be any different? Laziness is inactivity. Slowness is activity. A positive activity with a quality of balance and measuredness.

The site holds a treasure-trove of slowness. Our favourite is their attempt to claim ‘every tube station sign in the name of slow’. This involves encouraging readers to send in photos of themselves holding up ‘Slow’ signs on Tube platforms. Go contribute here, in your own good time, of course.

Inspired? Why not get involved with the next ‘Slow in the city’ day on March 15? Cut out and keep your very own 11-step plan to make life more pleasant.

There’s also a Dictionary of Slow, a ‘Slow Coach’ agony-aunt figure and a commuter blog. We suggest you take a leisurely perusal of the many other features. The one thing that is missing is an interview with that kindred spirit off the Grolsch adverts. ‘Shtop, you cannot rush these things’.

Next time you find yourself cussing at an unhurried tourist just remember: maybe they’ve got it right and you’ve got it all wrong.

Last Updated 09 March 2006