Red light is on....so what :)

Picture this: it’s 3 o’clock in the morning. You want to cross a road. You’re standing before the zebra. The red light is on. Hmmm well you look left, right, left again. It’s a straight road flooded with light from street lamps. You’re assessing the risk…since there are no cars whatsoever you can cross the road safely. Chances of you getting hit by a car are close to an absolute null. Frankly it’s more likely that a meteor will hit Earth than taking part in accident.

It happens that a CCTV captured your trespass. A policeman approaches you ten minutes later. He explains what kind of great danger of road catastrophe you might have caused. He fines you and tell you not to think about committing that sin again.

Compare this to that scene: a busy street, a middle of a day. You are gambling your life by crossing the road. A red light is on and you’re making runs between cars…arm in arm with a policeman who is not even bother to notice you doing that.

What’s the difference: the first scenario is very likely to take place in Polnad, the latter one is a common sight in the UK.

Why is it so that the state/society/ system in the UK believes that you have a mental capacity to choose the best moment for crossing a road? In Poland a simple machine is more trusted than a reasonable human being.

Why am I writing about it? Because I’m loving the fact in the Great Britain I’m trusted I can make my one decisions about how and when I want to cross a road. It’s not that hard, is it? For some reason I can be a master of my own fate only in the UK. In Poland I need a machine to think for me…

So ... I just envy Britons :)

Welcome! So you found yourself reading a blog about all weird things in the United Kingdom. There might be many reasons for your doing so but you also might be wondering why I am spending my time on writing about these thing s filing “me with fantastic terrors never felt before” ;-)

So first thing. A simple task: spot the difference:



( http://www.goodexperience.com/tib/archives/2006/10/two_taps.html )



( http://zdjecia.swistak.pl/03/093/3093854_1_b.jpg )

Yes, the top sink has two taps. It’s quite obvious where it comes form :)

Why do Britons need two taps with every sink?

I did a small research on that and this is what I found on the BBC website:

British bathrooms usually have two taps instead of one because, historically, British plumbing provides hot and cold water at different pressures, meaning mixer taps are more difficult to fit.

( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5186642.stm )

Apparently Great Britain was the first country in the world to introduce running water. And the system is therefore not compatible with present mixing taps. However, I presume that the technological development that has taken place since “dark ages of plumbing” allows to install so-called mixers in modern bathrooms. For some reason single taps are not that common. Is it just because Britons like two taps? Is it because Britons like doing things in they own way differently form the rest of the world? Is it just tradition?

Further research shows that:

“It is not only different pressure problem. Apparently two taps are in use to
avoid contamination. Germs spread quickly in warm temperature and regulation was
that cold water had to be of a drinkable quality. Therefore there was one tap
for cold/ drinkable water and one tap for heated up water.”

( http://forum.gazeta.pl/forum/72,2.html?f=1032&w=76310868&v=2&s=0 )

What is the truth then? It’s hard to say – as people in the UK drink tap water even if it comes from a single tap and still the only place where hot and cold water mix is the tap itself. So the contamination argument is doubtful .

One thing is sure – using two taps is not the most convenient thing in world. Why? Most often hot water is boiling hot , whereas in Europe is just warm and there is no way of iritaitng skin because of temperature. So in Europ we just open hot water and wash hands, in the UK to in ordere to do it properly one should open two taps, let it run to a blocked sink and mix there (to achieve acceptable temp) and then wash hands. What a waste of time if you ask me.

Sticking to two taps might have others reasons. I could have something to with the with the "if it's not broken, don't fix it" attitude, which is deep-rooted in the British psyche.

Money could also play its part. Just imagine how expensive it would be to install new plumbing installation in the Victorian era house. Probably- unless pipes and stuff are in a really bad condition- nobody will ever think about changing them. That’s why I’m sure my children will have a chance to see that marvel.

What about modern flats- well I believe that’s really a matter of tradition, it’s just the way Britons are and how they do things. Part of their national identity.

P.S. For those who live in the UK and are fed up with two taps market offers various solutions to fix the two-taps problem. “Only this and nothing more” will help you ;-)



( http://www.k-s-caravans.co.uk/product-main.php?code=KS3&ID=74 )

P.S. Or just use this tip

“My method for hands while in the UK is: Dampen my hands with cold water (which hopefully starts off not TOO cold) - soap up (with no water running) - then rinse under the hot tap, hopefully before the water reaches scalding.”