As someone new to the 'Big Smoke', my beef this week is about something so often the subject of scathing comments in London, it's become a cliché in itself to complain about.
I'm not talking about bankers' bonuses, protests or eavesdropping hacks. It's the transport system that's got me riled.
Few would've been surprised to hear recently that transport, according to an Evening Standard poll, is the only visible weakness of London's incumbent mayor ahead of next year's election.
As the hardened commuter will tell you, it's expensive, overcrowded and poorly maintained. But unlike the hardened commuter, I'm actually quite impressed by it.
My gripe is rather at the way its operators handle those certain situations when they're needed most. Occasionally, when something has gone wrong and people want answers, Transport for London seem terrible at communicating them.
The worst experience I've had (so far) – the one which inspired this post – was during a recent journey home from work.
Crowds of puzzled people had gathered around the several gated entrances of Piccadilly Circus and, with no staff or notices in sight, an older woman turned to me.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"One second," I said as I gestured at the iPhone in my hand.
Several people heard the exchange and waited patiently for me to provide some sort of answer to their unspoken questions.
What's happened? Will the station reopen in a few minutes? Or will it take hours? Should we walk to a different station? Or find another way home altogether?
But it didn't take me a second. In fact, the TfL website reported a good service on all lines.
Slightly embarrassed that my phone had failed me, I turned to the crowd and broke the news.
I have no idea how long those people waited at the closed gates for some sort of sign. I left to catch a bus after about ten minutes, and I spent my journey back thinking that if a shop or restaurant acted the same way – closed their doors without any sort of explanation – they would soon lose their valuable customers.
A friend later told me tube stations close in this way sometimes, usually due to overcrowding.
I'm sure that's inevitable in a city the size of London, but keeping people informed makes all the difference. Returning to the restaurant analogy, if there are no tables when you turn up, you're given waiting time and you make a decision accordingly.
Technology has made it even easier to communicate with both staff and customers, a Twitter feed for each station, for example, wouldn't have solved the core problem, but it would've made a difference to the scores of people unsure what to do.
With the Olympics around the corner, now is the time for TfL to embrace new ways of keeping people informed. Either that, or we're all in for a sporting season of infuriating uncertainty.
