London, you dear one!

Though London is no longer the centre of the world, but it is undeniably still one of the most important business and cultural centres and it is developing at an unbelievable pace. The characteristic red buses and London cabs are still very much like we have first seen them in illustrations in our language textbooks. Fish and chips are still eaten in the streets though it has lost a lot of its appeal in our health-conscious world. Prices are staggering. For example, my cab ride from Heathrow to West London cost me HUF 25 thousand and we have to pay 600 for a litre of fruit juice in a supermarket or 450 for 0,3 litres of mineral water in a snack bar. The English are slowly becoming fed up with Eastern Europeans who are often employed illegally, are good at what they do and threaten to displace local workforce, though they certainly do not have turbans or beards. In any case, we have no idea how many Hungarians work in all sorts of jobs in the UK, from the construction industry to hospitals. Small stores operated by Pakistanis and Indians have been famous for decades. Polish stores have also begun to spread rapidly and a surprising range of Polish products, like Kubu can also be found in the Aside hyper market now. The dominant feeling is still British however. Local chains compete in emphasising their British character and supporting British farmers, like Tesco does, spending GBP 25 million more just to have British milk. In all regions, milk is supplied by local farmers. An abundance of services is available for consumers which is quite unusual for us. Disabled people have special shopping carts at their disposal, merchandise is delivered to our homes if we do not have a car and we get help in loading our cars if we have bought a lot of things. All these services convey the message: “You are important for us, we care about you.” Refrigerated drinks, sandwiches and fruits are sold in all food stores, if we need a fast lunch or snack. Explanatory signs explaining the differences between various product categories and the method of use are very practical and easy t understand. Health consciousness has reached incredible heights. Carbonated drinks, even pure mineral water and the excessive use of salt are evils warned against using huge banners. The message is: “We are responsible for your health”. Unfortunately, our food safety scandals show that we do not seem to have the same attitude in Hungary yet. I have even seen a huge sign declaring that the fish on sale has been caught using a net and not electricity. Who would care here? I found the practice used by Waitrose very clever: all employees are shareholders as well, which gives them a very direct incentive to sell more and save more on expenses, since they are entitled to dividends. Frankly, I have not seen this either yet…