In message .com, Ken
wrote:

On 27 Feb, 19:22, Christopher A.Lee wrote:

And there are the AMerican tourists used to dropping "Street", "Road"
etc.

When they ask for "Baker" it's obvious, but "Oxford"? Even "Edgware"?


I once spent ages as a new booking clerk explaining to an American
lady how to change stations in London to Paddington, change again at
Swindon, and then, after several hours, you'll get to Gloucester. I
printed off her itinerary, showed her on the map, and told her the
fare was about GBP50. And then she said "That's near the Kensington
High Street, right?". "Aaagh! You want Gloucester ROAD!".

And of course when CT ran through to Liverpool (Lime St) you got,
every day, "this the Liverpool train?". "No, do you want the City of
Liverpool, or London Liverpool Street?" "Liverpool, Liverpool. I want
go Liverpool station". And so it went on.

And I had to convice a booking clerk once that I a wanted a ticket to
Beeston, rather than Leeds.

Not to mention Ely vs. Ealing, or, my favourite, a Nigerian lady plus
2 kids who asked me for a ticket (in London) to "Te'fo'd". So I sold
her SVRs to Telford and sent her off to Euston, telling her "Change at
Wolverhampton". Two hours later she came back. "I wanted a ticket to
"TEHT-ford, T-H-E-T-F-O-R-D". Oops.

Last week I resorted to pointing on a map to get over to a booking clerk at
Brusells Central that it was Braine-l'Alleud I wanted a ticket to. I wonder
how many tourists go to Waterloo looking for the battlefield, or mix it up
with another Waterloo.


Ken

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