I was reading a UK-set fanfic
Dec. 27th, 2022 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulywherein somebody sits on a twin bed, and for some reason the question asked itself: are mattress sizes the same in the UK, and do they have twin beds over there?
And the answer is no, no they don't!
So now I know, and you do too, and that about sums up what I know about the UK, so I'll also tell you something about NYC if you ever write something set here. I'll tell you two things.
First, of course, is that there are (virtually) no alleys in Manhattan. I don't care what you've seen on TV and in movies, you should hold yourself to a higher standard.
Secondly, wind patterns in Lower Manhattan before 9/11 were intense. Like, omg whoa. Those towers had one hell of an effect.
Thirdly, I can't count, and also, cashiers in the city can say "next", but more often ask the following customer to step down, which may be realized upon occasion as "following" or "step down" rather than "following (customer), please step down". This is something I didn't notice at all until somebody happened to mention it once on reddit, and immediately I was beset by the twin feelings of "wait, yeah, they do say that" and "hold on, that's not what they say everywhere!?"
Fourthly, I still can't count, and this may not be accurate to school today, but when I was a kid and when my mother was a kid, public schools in NYC spent time teaching students three chords on the piano - get ready, stand, sit down - so we could all stand and sit in unison at assembly. Mommy didn't realize it was not a universal practice until the first time she and my father went to a school thing in Brooklyn and he was left sitting after the entire audience of adults and students had stood up. And then he was left standing after they'd all sat down, having failed even the second time to recognize the musical cue.
And the answer is no, no they don't!
So now I know, and you do too, and that about sums up what I know about the UK, so I'll also tell you something about NYC if you ever write something set here. I'll tell you two things.
First, of course, is that there are (virtually) no alleys in Manhattan. I don't care what you've seen on TV and in movies, you should hold yourself to a higher standard.
Secondly, wind patterns in Lower Manhattan before 9/11 were intense. Like, omg whoa. Those towers had one hell of an effect.
Thirdly, I can't count, and also, cashiers in the city can say "next", but more often ask the following customer to step down, which may be realized upon occasion as "following" or "step down" rather than "following (customer), please step down". This is something I didn't notice at all until somebody happened to mention it once on reddit, and immediately I was beset by the twin feelings of "wait, yeah, they do say that" and "hold on, that's not what they say everywhere!?"
Fourthly, I still can't count, and this may not be accurate to school today, but when I was a kid and when my mother was a kid, public schools in NYC spent time teaching students three chords on the piano - get ready, stand, sit down - so we could all stand and sit in unison at assembly. Mommy didn't realize it was not a universal practice until the first time she and my father went to a school thing in Brooklyn and he was left sitting after the entire audience of adults and students had stood up. And then he was left standing after they'd all sat down, having failed even the second time to recognize the musical cue.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 01:20 pm (UTC)Places I've seen those kinds of alleys in Australia, it was for the night soil cart to come and empty the outside toilets. Any suburb modern enough to have started with indoor toilets doesn't seem to have them.
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Date: 2023-01-03 04:17 pm (UTC)Which makes sense, but the area I grew up in was built in Edwardian times and didn't have alleys, while my present neighbourhood dates to the 20s and does. I can't think that cars had become so prevalent by then that people needed a garage, but maybe they had.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-06 09:24 am (UTC)I think I'd have to do too much research to work out which bits of my city date to Edwardian times, and then work out which were wealthy areas and which were labours 'cottages' to be able to comment on that aspect. But thinking on two areas that I've lived in that could have been 1920s (California bungalows were common, and my understanding of the popularity puts that in the '20s), only one of those had back alleys that I remember, and at least one of the houses I lived in in the other still had a functioning outhouse. So now I'm wondering about my understanding of the alleys!