Bits of Britain

Tomorrow I leave Sussex bright and early, and I probably won’t be coming back any time soon. I’ve had a lot of fun here, and learned a few things along the way. These are two of the things I’ve learned.

They drive on the left side of the road because the roads are very old. Back when cars were horses and people were savage idiots, it made sense to ride with your best swordhand facing oncoming traffic. Overall, that’s as good a reason as any to drive strangely.

There is a hand gesture meaning, for lack of a better term, a mild “fuck you.” It’s the index and middle fingers held up in a V, like “peace.” This is because in days gone by, armies actually paid people to shoot arrows from a bow. When an archer was captured, their drawing fingers would be cut off to make sure they couldn’t fire a bow anymore. Holding up the two fingers is a really modern version of “See? I can still stick arrows in your back!”