There are a lot of stereotypes surrounding British people: the food is bad, the weather is worse, and the people are even colder than the dark, wet winters. While I personally haven't found the food to be much different than it is in America (though there is perhaps less variety in grocery stores than I'm used to), and the weather is generally tolerable, rumors about the people being unfriendly have been pretty spot-on. Rather than smiling at one another, people tend to keep their heads down as they walk down the sidewalk. Other shoppers in stores will avoid speaking to you at all costs. Making eye contact on the tube is a crime worthy of capital punishment. Even when I've said hello to the occasional passer-by while walking through the park, I've typically been ignored or stared at as if I had just threatened to eat their children. Coming from the land of Southern Hospitality and the Bible Belt, this has been hard to get used to. I'll still smile and say hello to people when I have the chance, but now it's mostly because I just get a twisted sense of enjoyment from seeing the fear and panic in their eyes for those few seconds of unanticipated social interaction.
What surprises me the most is that they know they aren't friendly. It isn't some sort of secret or surprise. The people here are very aware of their reputation, and some of them are even unhappy with it. They just have no motivation to do anything about it. A month or so ago, a friend and I were in Oxford Circus when we passed a guy standing over the stairway leading to the tube entrance with a large sign reading "you are beautiful". We asked him what he was doing, and he proceeded to tell us about how he thinks people here need to smile more often, so he does little things like this to try and cheer people up. It was nice to know that there are at least a few people in this city who actually enjoy the company of other humans.
What surprises me the most is that they know they aren't friendly. It isn't some sort of secret or surprise. The people here are very aware of their reputation, and some of them are even unhappy with it. They just have no motivation to do anything about it. A month or so ago, a friend and I were in Oxford Circus when we passed a guy standing over the stairway leading to the tube entrance with a large sign reading "you are beautiful". We asked him what he was doing, and he proceeded to tell us about how he thinks people here need to smile more often, so he does little things like this to try and cheer people up. It was nice to know that there are at least a few people in this city who actually enjoy the company of other humans.
So, with this awful reputation of being rude and unfriendly, which these people are very much aware of, combined with a desire in at least a few individuals to change things around, why does this general culture of isolation prevail? Why don't people just start working on being nicer? Why are the British so angry? Well, after 5 months, I've made a lot of observations, and I think I've figured out a few of the underlying causes.
They Don't Have Tater Tots
I know. It's difficult to imagine a world where tots don't exist. Heck, Glee even did an episode featuring a scene around what a dark and tragic world this would be without tater tots. One of the most famous lines from the hit movie Napoleon Dynamite was about tater tots. It's scientific fact that tots are the best, tastiest form a potato can take. To be denied the right to eat tater tots is to be denied a basic form of freedom of potato expression.
TfL is a Lie
TfL (Transport for London) runs all of London's public transportation. And everything that they say is a lie. All of it. Your bus is coming in 7 minutes? Nonsense. Your bus will either be here in half an hour or it's coming RIGHT NOW SO YOU BETTER SPRINT TO THE BUS STOP. There's a strike? No, there's not a strike. Not really. Everything is still running, just less frequently. Which really isn't that noticeable anyway considering nothing ever comes when you need it to begin with. Your journey will take 20 minutes? Better leave at least an hour early, because there's absolutely no way you're getting anywhere in under 30 minutes. Journey times under 30 minutes don't exist in this country.
Weather Forecasts are a Lie
Here's what you need to know about the weather: it changes every 2 hours. It will be sunny at times, it will be cloudy at times, it will rain at least once, it will generally be cold, and the wind never stops. Any weather predictions beyond that are nothing but some sort of delusional fantasy that we as a species have an idea of how the world works.
They Have No Holidays
Ok, maybe they don't have zero holidays, but they have very few. Halloween is barely celebrated. Valentine's Day is reserved only for couples; giving cards to your friends or passing out candy at school doesn't exist. There is no Thanksgiving or Independence Day, for obvious reasons. Summer vacation is only 6 weeks long, opposed to the 2-3 months American students enjoy. Other than Christmas, these people have nothing to look forward to. Bonfire Night has some potential to be a pretty cool holiday, but it lacks official backing for one set day (November 5th), so people tend to celebrate it whenever it's convenient.
Their Netflix is Terrible
It's a widely known fact among UK Netflix users that their version is far inferior to the US version. Buzzfeed has written an entire article about different TV shows and films the UK market is missing out on, and Google Chrome even has an extension that you can download to trick Netflix into thinking you're in the States. If I lived my whole life in a country where I couldn't stream Friends whenever I wanted, I'd be pretty upset too.
So, why are the British angry? Could you be happy in a world with few holidays, bad internet TV, and no tater tots? I didn't think so. Still, I'm almost 100% sure that smiling once in a while never killed anyone. I'm still working on convincing the Brits of this.
They Don't Have Tater Tots
I know. It's difficult to imagine a world where tots don't exist. Heck, Glee even did an episode featuring a scene around what a dark and tragic world this would be without tater tots. One of the most famous lines from the hit movie Napoleon Dynamite was about tater tots. It's scientific fact that tots are the best, tastiest form a potato can take. To be denied the right to eat tater tots is to be denied a basic form of freedom of potato expression.
TfL is a Lie
TfL (Transport for London) runs all of London's public transportation. And everything that they say is a lie. All of it. Your bus is coming in 7 minutes? Nonsense. Your bus will either be here in half an hour or it's coming RIGHT NOW SO YOU BETTER SPRINT TO THE BUS STOP. There's a strike? No, there's not a strike. Not really. Everything is still running, just less frequently. Which really isn't that noticeable anyway considering nothing ever comes when you need it to begin with. Your journey will take 20 minutes? Better leave at least an hour early, because there's absolutely no way you're getting anywhere in under 30 minutes. Journey times under 30 minutes don't exist in this country.
Weather Forecasts are a Lie
Here's what you need to know about the weather: it changes every 2 hours. It will be sunny at times, it will be cloudy at times, it will rain at least once, it will generally be cold, and the wind never stops. Any weather predictions beyond that are nothing but some sort of delusional fantasy that we as a species have an idea of how the world works.
They Have No Holidays
Ok, maybe they don't have zero holidays, but they have very few. Halloween is barely celebrated. Valentine's Day is reserved only for couples; giving cards to your friends or passing out candy at school doesn't exist. There is no Thanksgiving or Independence Day, for obvious reasons. Summer vacation is only 6 weeks long, opposed to the 2-3 months American students enjoy. Other than Christmas, these people have nothing to look forward to. Bonfire Night has some potential to be a pretty cool holiday, but it lacks official backing for one set day (November 5th), so people tend to celebrate it whenever it's convenient.
Their Netflix is Terrible
It's a widely known fact among UK Netflix users that their version is far inferior to the US version. Buzzfeed has written an entire article about different TV shows and films the UK market is missing out on, and Google Chrome even has an extension that you can download to trick Netflix into thinking you're in the States. If I lived my whole life in a country where I couldn't stream Friends whenever I wanted, I'd be pretty upset too.
So, why are the British angry? Could you be happy in a world with few holidays, bad internet TV, and no tater tots? I didn't think so. Still, I'm almost 100% sure that smiling once in a while never killed anyone. I'm still working on convincing the Brits of this.