Eurostar - London I

The best thing about being unemployed is the ultimate freedom to manage one’s own time. So I just picked up my bags and went to London for the weekend, two hours and thirty minutes from central Paris to central London, thanks to this great thing called Eurostar.

So convenient that I almost forgot that it was actually international travel and custom’s check was required. Luckily I had all the papers with me, stepping through French border control, 3 meters behind, there was the British border control.

Officer: What are you going to do in the UK?
Ana: Visiting friends
Officer: How long will you stay?
Ana: three days
Officer: Where are you staying?
Ana: With a friend
Officer: Where exactly?
Ana: ah….where !?(I hadn’t got the faintest idea, I just got one text msg from my girl friend in the morning saying it was okay to stay with her)

Ana: Well somewhere between Chelsea, South Kensington and Notting Hill. Somewhere there is tons of shopping, restaurants and very close to the city center.

The officer looked at me with great suspicion.

Ana: Well it would have to be SW –one digit…

Officer: I mean the address! (He stared me again)
Ana: Yes of course…but you see my friend hasn’t told me… Would you like me to call her? But she will not respond because she is busy, she is always busy and never responds to her phone like everybody else in London

I pulled out my phone, it says “LOW BATTERY”… and I just realized I did not bring the phone charger either.

Officer: What do you do in France?
Ana: (Nothing and collecting unemployment!!! Could I actually say the truth?) I work for XXX- huge French company, specialized cosmetics…

Five minutes later, I found my seat on Eurostar sipping on a Cappuccino and reading The Economist trying to understand the world. By that time, I already sent two emergency text messages to my friend “No Battery! Tell me where to go Please!” Of course there was no response at all!

If only working people could understand the stress of non-working people!