After arriving in London earlier this week, I noticed it did not have the feel of an olympic city.
There was London 2012 advertising everywhere, but no rowdy olympic crowds to go with them.
Plus, I was expecting it to be a little more organized.
Not that I support Mitt Romney, but some of the things going on over here in preparation for the games have been a little "disconcerting."
However, organization can be a little hard with a city as enormous as London and when, according to The Daily Mail, union leaders are trying to "bring chaos to our boarders and transportation networks."
Peachy.
One thing I do feel, though, is safe. Everyone I have approached for help has been nice whether they could help me or not. The police force, or bobbies as they are called here, are extremely polite and do not carry handguns. Then there are military men who carry huge automatic weapons. People are searched at every turn at every event and I have not seen one "fishy" thing yet.
But when I toured Olympic Park with my media team, Cronkite News Service, I was overwhelmed.
Upon exiting the Tube, London's subway system, signs for Olympic park pointed both left and right. After following the tube crowd to the left, we realized the Park was to the right and we all did a 180 degree turn.
No one knew what "excuse me" meant or where their children were running off to.
Add in the lack of air conditioning in the public transport vessels, along with the lack of personal space, and you've got a big problem.
Moreover, when I visited the University of East London to see where the USA men's basketball team practices, I ran into the same problem. No direction from the busy tube stations and no one else knew where to go, either.
This mystifies me because plenty of people were dressed in purple London 2012 olympic volunteer polos with the khaki ADIDAS pants, but they were just as confused as the next person.
Hopefully they will get the hang of it soon. Surely I can't be the only one who feels this way.
Granted in a city so big, its hard to take care of everything. Also, I'm not stupid. I knew the trip was not going to be a cakewalk in terms of transportation around London. Perhaps they are focusing their efforts on cleaning up the security mess.
So, what about when the real crowd gets here? And what will happen to all the men who will refuse to ask for directions?
I guess we'll find out soon. All I can say is give yourself plenty of time to go anywhere. Let the games begin.