It's never easy

One of the things that still bothers me about living in England is the lack of convenience. It has improved in the last 14 years that I've been here. When I first arrived most shops were open from 10-6 Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays. And that included grocery stores though they would often have a 'late' night on Thursdays and be open until 7 or maybe even 8. Woo hoo. TV channels started the day at 6am and finished somewhere around midnight. There were also a lot more individual shops then so if you wanted to buy say a T-shirt, a pair of scissors and a pint of milk you would have to go to three different shops.

Those things have improved but it's still not nearly as convenient living in England as it is in the States. One of the things I really miss are drive-thrus. They are rare, to say the least, in England. First of all because there just isn't the space for them. In urban areas where they would be most useful every meter of land is in use and no one wants to potentially waste a lot of space with a drive-thru when there could be another shop in that space instead. There are days when I would give my left arm for a few drive-thrus. Today was one of them.

Toby had his heart check-up today (it all went well but there's no change in his condition). Of course, we were running late and I hadn't eaten a thing so I thought we would stop by Costa and I would grab a coffee and croissant for the journey to the hospital, which takes about an hour. No drive-thru of course so I had to drive around the village twice looking for a parking space, park on the other side of the village, buy a parking ticket, get both kids out of their carseats which involved Rosie throwing her bottle down the gutter, then get Rosie into the stroller and finally schlep over to the coffee shop. By the time we got back in the car with breakfast half an hour had passed.

After Toby's appointment I needed to feed him before taking him into school. The idea of taking them to a cafe or restaurant was out of the question because time was short. There's a McDonald's near the hospital so I decided to go there. And yes, I am aware of the irony of taking Toby to McDonald's after a heart check-up.

Realised I didn't have any cash. Stopped at one gas station but they didn't have a cash point. Of course, no drive-thru banking and no drive-thru cashpoints. I decide to stop in Chislehurst, get some cash and then go to a Burger King that's on the way back to Blackheath. Get to Chislehurst and it's impossible to get to the cash machine at the HSBC. I drive into the tiny carpark but there isn't a single space. I contemplate just stopping in the driveway, I'm so desperate and irritable by now, but there are cars trying to get in and out. I drive off in frustration.

I try the Barclay's cashpoint next. Nowhere to park. You're supposed to park in the Pay & Display car park and then walk over to the cash machine. The car park is far enough away that I wouldn't feel safe leaving the children in the car so would have to get them both out and back in again. Finally I lose all patience, park in the middle of a Keep Clear zone and jump out with cars honking from both sides and get some cash. As I try to pull out again some daft old bat tries to turn in as I'm pulling out and we both get stuck. Cars are honking, dirty looks all around but no one is shouting yet so I'm not too concerned. Finally manage to set off again by pulling forward and backing up inch by inch (the old bat won't give a single centimeter).

In the end we eat and make it back to Toby's school only half an hour late which isn't too bad considering the morning we've had.

Now if I was in Texas I would've got my coffee at a Starbucks drive-thru, my cash at a drive-thru ATM and gotten the kids something from another drive-thru and had a car picnic. So much less frustration. I have heard the argument that it's the convenience of life in the States that make Americans the fattest nation in the world, and I can see some truth in that, but sometimes it would just make life a lot more pleasant and me a much nicer person to have that convenience.