Tuesday 4 May 2010

Highly visible

Yesterday I spent the day working for one of London's major tourist attractions. The job involved standing around in the cold asking people whether they wanted to visit the exhibition. Most importantly, it also involved my first ever high-visibility jacket. The jacket makes you look official. Unfortunately, the employer's logo is very small, so it just makes you look generally official, which means you get asked a lot of questions that do not in any way pertain to the job you're supposed to be doing. These range from the logical to the completely inane.
'Where is the nearest tube station/toilet/McDonalds?'
'Is there a height restriction to go over the bridge?'
'Why did they build a castle right in the busiest part of London?'
And my personal favourite. 'You know the Union Jack?' I nod to acknowledge I have heard of such a beast. 'Which of the stripy bits represents which country?'

It was bitingly cold by the river. It actually hailed at one point. I was wearing afore-mentioned flourescent yellow jacket with two fleeces, a cardigan, a long-sleeved top, a short-sleeved top and a thermal vest. For the record, this little lot is not enough to keep you warm. It is also not enough to stop men attempting to stare at your tits. Seriously mister, what can you possibly hope to see through that lot? The high-vis jacket may not protect you from perves, but it does make you highly visible to cyclists. Unfortunately, they being Evil London Cyclists, this just means they have something clear to aim for.

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