That Funny London

I'm walking down the street in the West End. Or on the tube travelling home late at night.

I'm strolling around Covent Garden, or sat outside a crudely-named pub with a pint in hand.

I can be anywhere, doing anything, when something happens. Something a bit strange, or amusing, or a little outrageous. It may be something small, but something notable, something that I might find myself tweeting about immediately, or not-so-subtly calling a mate about.

The fact is, it's funny, that London. On an almost daily basis I will witness something that makes me love living here...... Well either that or it makes me wonder why the hell I left my (now) seemingly quiet and tame existence in Blackpool.

And I never blog about it. Never. So it's time that changed. From now on I promise to share these oddities with you.

Here's a little gem that I did tweet about, but hell, I'm gonna tell you about it anyway.

One afternoon a couple of months ago, I was sat on the tube on my way home. For those who don't know, right now "home" for me is Buckhurst Hill in Essex, at the Eastern end of the Central Line. I was minding my own business reading my book, A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo, which is a memoir of his time serving in Vietnam.

I get as far as Leyton and two men get onto my carriage and sit next to me. To be perfectly honest, I can't work out if they've been at the merry juice or if they're just "high on life", i.e. a little bit nutty. I keep reading, but I notice that they're talking about me, and trying to see what book I'm reading.

I keep reading. In the end one of them asks about the book, so I show them the cover and tell them it's a book about a soldier in the Vietnam War. He says: "Oh! I've been to 'Nam! Dage'Nam!"

I'm polite, and laugh along. I say this, but in actual fact I did think it was hilarious. Old joke, of course, but good on the old boy for trying!

To be honest this wasn't the funniest part of my encounter with these men, who did look a little like someone should go up to them with a flannel and give them a good wash. After that moment of hilarity, the other guy asks if it's a fictional story - I have a feeling that whatever my response, it probably won't make it much clearer for him - and I tell him yes it is, and how this guy really served in Vietnam.

He turns to his mate and says: "Vietnam. That's the Second World War init?"