England - why they should turn it into a museum

I get homesick - I admit it. I was raised in England and I still feel some affection for the place. I love the music, the edgy fashion and when I see programs with England on the telly I still feel that it's my home and I should feel proud to come from there. Truth is I don't - that pride has long gone. As you all know I go back for the people - not the country. Take hiring a car for example. C has a membership with one of the big car hire companies - begins with H and I have experienced how seamlessly this works. You get off the plane in say Seattle and there is a big board with your name and bay number you go to the bay and there is the car you ordered ready to drive away. But get to England after a mind-wiping 8 hour flight and it goes a little differently.

First when you arrive in the North Terminal you find that all the car hire places are closed and you have to get a bus that goes to the South Terminal cos the monorail's on the blink. So you get to the South Terminal and queue up - no board - no walking straight to the car you ordered. C finally gets to the front - "we don't have a car for you." says the really helpful (no he wasn't) salesman. So C leans over the counter and points at the envelope with his last name on it and a key sticking out suggesting that that could possibly for him. "Oh no" says matey without missing a beat, "that's not your car." We ordered a F*** Mondeo so that we could ferry Mum and Dad around but they didn't have any FMs what they did have was an Alfa Romeo estate car which they tried to charge us extra for because we upgraded to it (downgraded would've been a better term). I don't wish to sound like Jeremy Clarkson but it was a truly terrible car. For a start it was all boot and not a lot else - the passengers would've had to be stacked one on top of the other in said boot. It had bugger-all rear view and a rev limiter that nearly killed us as we tried to pull into fast moving traffic with all the aplomb of a athsmatic tortoise. After two hours sleep C went back up to the airport and returned several hours later with a Focus - half the size twice the leg room and three pounds cheaper for the week. More later.