Pigeons (Was: NLP followup)

[ti@lemonia.org]

>>   A smart Londoner doesn't feed the pigeons.
>>   A smart Londoner travels by Heathrow Connect.

> No, I think it means that those are both things that smart londoners do.
> Most people don't feed pigeons because in London they're vermin. So
> they're trying to appeal to people's ego by suggesting that travelling
> by Heathrow connect is also an intelligent choice.
>
> Marketing, you gotta love it.

It's slightly subtler than that.

The suggestion is, I think, that ignorant or naive Londoners think "ah,
pigeons, how nice", or, "ah, the Heathrow Express, that's expensive, but
at least I won't spend half an hour traversing The Hounslows at 30 mph on
the Piccadilly Line".

More knowing Londonders know better than to take Heathrow Express
marketing, or Mary Poppins, as accurate guides to the Capital, and
realise, firstly, that pigeons are vermin, and, secondly, that Heathrow
Connect runs almost as fast as the Heathrow Express, but is substantially
cheaper.

Disclaimer: I've never travelled from Paddington to Heathrow, so I can't
say how Connect and the Express actually compare, but the Done Thing in
London seems to be to Fleece Airline Passengers. Certainly, for Gatwick,
you save a few quid by using a train which isn't the Gatwick Express.

ti'