London in glorious spring sunshine

Well I said it when I started and I said it when winter arrived, I suspected there would be more smiles, thank yous and posts in the spring and summer with the sunshine than there are in the gloom of winter and I was right.

Spring arrived in London in glorious fashion; the blossoms seem more abundant and perfect that ever.

Now you may or may not have heard of the London Book Fair, and if you haven't it's a trade fair for people in publishing which for the last few years has been at Earls Court in West London, (it's moving next year to Olympia), anyway, all you need to know is it's an enormous trade fair that descends on Earls Court in April.  

If you can find half an hour or an hour to get out of the Fair at lunchtime, everywhere in the Earls Court Road is packed and used to dealing with one time customers; either people attending an event at Earls Court or tourists passing through so it's not known for it's service.  That is until I discovered Gusto this Fair.

Gusto on the Earls Court Road, (corner of Kenway Road), was such a pleasant surprise.  It looks like any other sandwich bar from the outside but when you step in, you're greeted with smiles and excellent service.

We were in a serious rush and Milo and Sonni got us in, served, and out again in the time we had while not only not feeling rushed, but feeling cared for and looked after.

Milo didn't want a picture so here's two lovely smiling ones of Sonni.  Thanks and thumbs up to you both

(p.s. we liked it so much we went back the next day too!)

Day two of the Fair and my route to Earls Court on day one was a disaster so I decided to get the Overground from West Hampstead to West Brompton.  Good decision.  Not least for the journey time and comfort but because I started my day with a lovely smile from Alan at West Hampstead station and a nice chat.

One of the downsides of people wearing headphones is that they can't hear you when you say "excuse me".  I could hear my train pulling in so I went to run down the stairs at the station but the woman in front of me wasn't catching that train and because of her headset was totally oblivious to us behind trying to get past her to catch it.

Fair to say unfortunately, due to her obliviousness, I missed the first train but Alan, who was on the platform and who saw what happened came to chat.  

The sun was shining, picked up lots of good gossip about rumoured tunnels to link the three stations at West Hampstead, (currently the tube, the Thameslink and the Overground all go from separate West Hampstead stations which can be very confusing if you don't know where you want to be), and I was still an forty minutes earlier arriving than the day before so all in all, a great start to the day.  

Thank you Alan and a thumbs up to you too.

Don't forget, if you want to say thank you to anyone, just send us your post and we'll get it up in the future.

p.s. If you're trying to follow the blog, apologies, Google is having an issue with all blogger sites and the follow button.  We hope they'll resolve the issue shortly but if you want to complain, write to Google,  thanks.

Another London thumbs up or two

My first thumbs up this week goes to to Barnet Council recycling bin men; not people usually associated with "pleasant service" but Keith and Paul give a lie to this reputation.

For those unfamiliar with Barnet's (current) recycling policy (it is changing on 14th October in some ways), they give you a blue box and a black box.  The black box if for paper and glass while the blue box is for cans, some plastics and cardboard. Yes, you have to separate your paper and cardboard and woe betide you if you get this wrong as you get this "note from the headmaster" stuck on your boxes telling you off and that you must redo it.

Not yesterday.

I had been having a clear up of some old personal files and had been shredding like mad so I had two big bin bags just full of shreeded paper, way too much for the boxes.  I had left the boxes on top of the bags with hopes that even though there are strict instructions not to use bags, they would see that it was all paper and they would make an exception.

As it happened I was home when the truck came down the road so I came out in to the street to explain what the bags were.  I was greeted by Paul (on the right of the picture)  who just smiled and said no problem.  However, as I turned back to my boxes I saw another man, Keith (on the left of the picture) going for my stuff, so I explained to him what I had been explaining to Paul, and again, a lovely smile, a "no problem" and a couple of thanks from the two of them.  So, Keith and Paul, a thumbs up from us for service with a smile, thank you.

Later in the day, I was down in the West End and coming back on the bus with my mother, she thought she had lost her pass getting off the number 19 earlier, (pleased to say she has subsequently found it), so we got on a bus at Piccadilly Circus with some trepidation since often the drivers are so grumpy in the traffic and tourists of the West End that if you don't have the right ticket there and then, they'll just tell you to get off.

Not so yesterday.

We got Andy.  (He didn't want his picture here for company policy reasons).  Andy not only gave my mother a right to travel pass but he looked up the bus company that runs the 19 so she could call the right depot. 

We then watched Andy deal with the many tourist requests all the way along Regent Street and Oxford Street not just with patience and a smile, but with genuine assistance.  All those requests for "go to seldridge?" (Selfridges) "go to ford square" (Oxford Circus) and on and on were deciphered and answered with the same courtesy we had received.

So Andy on the 139, a big thumbs up from us and since I haven't got a picture of you, here is a nice picture of a 139 at Piccadilly Circus from Timitrius 

http://www.geolocation.wsv/W/File%3ALondon%20139%20bus,%2028%20March%202011.jpg/-/en

I'm afraid I also have to give one thumbs down this week, not to a member a staff, but to a member of the public dealing with a member of staff.

To the man being rude to the young woman on the bread counter in Waitrose, Finchley Road, at around 10:15am on Thursday, 19th September, .   Unnecessary.   You know who you are.

So, to end, as I always do, if you want to say thank you to someone or just tell us about a nice smile that made your day, this is your pin-board and we're happy to put up guest posts.  Just follow the contact details below.   Thanks.

an idea for a blog

So my idea is to start a blog bigging up those people we come in to contact that help make our days nicer and, also, to possibly shame those that are rude and discourteous.

The question will be, will I have the nerve to ask the nice guys if I can take their picture and get their name and whether, those rotten ones, if it'll mean anything without their names and pictures?  Time will tell.

To start, I would like to give a shout out to Theo in Vodafone Baker Street who yesterday not only helped me in the way a good sales person should, but was fun and a good laugh.  Thank you.

On the other hand, the driver of the 82 this morning heading towards St. John's Wood from Swiss Cottage at about 09:50 who drove straight past the woman running and waving for him to stop at Queen's Grove, shame on you.

Also a quick mention for the nice security guard at St. John & St. Elizabeth Hospital in Grove End Road who always has a smile and a nice word for folk, thank you.  I'll try to get his name and a picture for a future post.

Ooh, that's an idea, we can have kiddie emoticons for the good and the bad, so, Theo at Vodafone you get a (y) and number 82 driver this morning, you get a (n)

Okay, that's not working, I have to speak to a blogger to find out how to give Theo his "thumbs up" but rather than chicken out of this idea, I'll publish now and work on design and content of this blog as we go along, together.

Okay, another idea, if you come across someone who has been really good in their job or who has made you smile, let me know and let's mention them here.  

Comments, suggestions and guest posts welcome.


P.S. from a fellow nice blogger, some tips on emoticons, let's see if it works....    - yay!  so for Theo and the as yet unnamed guard, a
   each and to the bus driver this morning, .

And of course to my helpful blogger acquaintance, you know who you are - (although I might have to source different artwork than you!)