Britain

Have a bit of fun. Deliberately bump into someone in the street in England and watch how they’ll say sorry even though it was your fault. The English are taught to apologize shortly after they learn to say their own names.

“I don’t suppose you could possibly tell me the time, could you?” Would be a very English way of asking. Excessive use of please and thank you confers a good upbringing and education in England and they look down on anyone who lacks the proper etiquette.

Class is still a huge, unspoken issue. Officially it doesn’t exist any more – at least few have the gall to use the words ‘working class’. Actually, though, it’s all still painfully evident from the accent what kind of family and area someone comes from. Basic values like honesty and decency are still quite prevalent but are expressed completely differently according to the person’s background.

There are a lot of ‘wide boys’ around, lads who are out for a loud, possibly violent time. They drink too much, read the trashy tabloids and get into fights over football results.

You’ve also got the classic upper class toff, refined and subtle in manner, perhaps a lttle superior and condescending in attitude.

The rest of the English conform loosely to the shy, upright and rather stiff stereotype. No one knows how to dance or sing and live most of their lives terrified of finding themselves in an embarrassing situation. John Cleese once claimed that every Englishman’s nightmare was to meet an acquaintance in the street and ask:

“Hello, how are you?” And receive the response:

“Well, my mother just died actually.”

Most people read a great deal and the English are still a race of thinkers and innovators. The island has always been a melting pot for world cultures in the to way street of running an empire. The favorite national dish is now said to be curry.

Lastly, England is home to the eccentric. Around 10% of the race are a little weird and wonderful and live their lives as they damn well please. The Monty Python team are a prime example and this characteristic is one of the reasons that the English have one of the best senses of humor in the world.

The humor is almost always ironic, sometimes so subtle that few foreigners get it. In the best example it’s like with a very sharp razor blade, you’re only aware of being cut once the blood starts to flow. In the worst the humor is a thin disguise for a cynical, embittered view of life where all the joy of being alive has long since died.

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