Re London, I was waiting with a bunch of people to board the Jubilee line at London Bridge yesterday. Commuters getting off and then, just as they were done and the way to board clear, a woman just goes straight through the middle of us and onto the train first. I think she must have been laser guided, she somehow managed to do without knocking anyone. I didn't know whether to be annoyed or impressed.
I was running happy though, arrived at LB to see a massive backup and closed tube gates, so assumed I'd be late. Then as I waited, I saw one of the closed gates at the end randomly flip to open. Zoom. No idea why they were holding people, the minion was too bored to explain, but the platforms weren't even busy.
On the way back some middle-aged bloke in suit just pushed through as we tried to get off the tube. He's now nailed to the platform wall at Victoria as a salutary message to others. Some people are a bit mental. Others a lot so.
I don't think London is rude, it's just what it takes to make a large city work. I was amused a while back at beer thing with the blokes from Northern Monk, who were determined to shake every attendee's hand and do a proper meet and greet. There were about 400 people...