If there is one thing London has been good at over the last few years, it's been moaning about the Olympics.
I've done it, you've done it, as a nation - we've all done it. And really, who could blame us? The ticketing situation was a joke. Our public transport system breaks down on a regular basis, so we don't really have faith that that tube can withstand thousands (millions) more people cramming into our city.
Added on top of that, a lot of us don't have jobs. We have high bills and low pay. There's a recession and our banking system is corrupt. Our government is full of twats. G4S are embarrassing. Andy Murray lost Wimbledon. We can't get flags right. The Jubilee line is (probably) suspended. And then Jeremy Hunt tried to kill some woman with a bell.
Did I mention that it rained for three months, but we had a drought?
We've not had a lot to celebrate. Well, other than the Queen being very old, which gave us a few days off and a reason to drink. Wahey.
But slowly and surely, something has started to happen in London. The cranes have been taken down. All the scaffolding and the construction and the roads being re-paved have stopped. We have (some) tube trains with air-con, and even Wi-Fi in a lot of underground stations. The Shard is is even done!
Walking over Waterloo bridge after sundown has revealed a glimmering, shining, vast city. I stopped and looked at our capital with new eyes this week, and each time my breath caught in my throat. We have a beautiful, thriving, booming city. We have Shoreditch and Dalston. We have Forest Hill and Chelsea. We have Centre Point and St Paul's, and Westminster Abbey and The Royal Albert Hall. We have culture of so many different flavours and food of so many different cuisines - London - the entire United Kingdom - is, quite frankly, the shit.
With Wiggins' win in Paris and the sudden sunshine across London this week, things have well and truly started to look up. The torch burned past many of our houses and workplaces, and people were excited. Excited! They lined the streets in droves, tweeted heavily filtered photo after heavily filtered photo. Maybe it was sunstroke or maybe it as the Pimms, but bleedin' 'eck, it would appear as though we're excited! Us! London feeling positive and cheery about something? NEVER.
The thing is, our city, the city we all know the nooks and crannies and secret pubs of is playing host to the world. And, despite it making our city crowded and busy and heaving with people, we should be good hosts. Yes, really.
It's not too much to ask that we all be tolerant of and polite to tourists when they ask you a question. If every person who is asked for help by a tourist is polite and helpful, it means that collectively as a city, we're setting a good example. These people don't know our city, and if every local they ask for help is rude or says they "don't know", what are they going to go home and say? "Well, the games were fun but the people there are so rude!"
We're not really rude. We're not actually grumpy. We just like a bit of a moan. We like to be a bit critical about stuff when it's being shoved down our throats by advertisers and the media. But when the big day comes, whether it's a Royal Wedding or standing out in the rain while we watch a bunch of boats go by for our Queen - we're amazing.
Tonight, London is going to be amazing. As one excited volunteer told BBC News, "London, we're gonna do you proud!"
Let's do us proud, London. And go team GB!
Photo via Andy Wilke's Flickr