Quip of my one British friend.

My one British friend always makes up lame excuses about why he never wants to meet for things downtown, but rather only makes plans for the neighborhood around the university.

Then, one day, I told him that that was lame, and that downtown wasn't the other side of the world, but just a 20-25 bus ride away.

"I know," he was like, "And I would love to, but you see, I haven't gotten the permit yet!"

From that point on, he now always talks like he's waiting to get a permit so he can leave the neighborhood.