I was thinking about this post while out today. It's the start of a three-day weekend in the UK, and there are a fair number of people on the road. I didn't notice any obnoxious driving, but we do live in South Wales, and the population density isn't that high here.
We stopped at a fairly busy motorway service area for fuel, sandwiches, and a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. While the cashiers clearly weren't being stretched, they were being kept busy. So, three cashiers, and all of them smiled and were perfectly courteous and friendly. (Lots of "thank yous" - we Brits can be a bit daft when it comes to tossing "thank you" and "sorry!" around for no real reason.)
And their friendliness didn't come across as the classic, totally fake, "Have a nice day!" American service industry courtesy. I'm not saying the cashiers would have invited me home to meet the family and have dinner if I suggested it, but they looked me in the eye, smiled and added a little bit of verbal social lubrication to the interaction.
I do make a habit of looking cashiers in the eye, smiling, and saying hello when I come up to their till, so maybe that makes some difference.
I've been to Wales in the UK, some of the nicest laid back attitudes I've ever seen. I stayed at a bed and breakfast there, and they really went above and beyond, made me feel like I was one of the family. Good breakfast too.
But what I've been talking about is here in America, people can be very rude here now, very superficial attitudes a lot of the time and many people will judge you unless you're with them for more than a few minutes, they just don't have time not to judge you otherwise. It's the ol "I'm only seeing them for a couple of minutes so fuck them" mentality. It's that way in London too. Wales folks probably still are a little more old fashioned where they actually view people as someone who matters, even if they don't know them.
Wales and the Welsh aren't perfect. Like anywhere, there's a certain percentage of arseholes, but people are generally decent.
I avoid London as much as possible. It's about three hours away from us by car and we often drive around it, but I haven't visited in more than a decade.
Is politeness and courtesy almost dead?
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All valid points.
I was thinking about this post while out today. It's the start of a three-day weekend in the UK, and there are a fair number of people on the road. I didn't notice any obnoxious driving, but we do live in South Wales, and the population density isn't that high here.
We stopped at a fairly busy motorway service area for fuel, sandwiches, and a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. While the cashiers clearly weren't being stretched, they were being kept busy. So, three cashiers, and all of them smiled and were perfectly courteous and friendly. (Lots of "thank yous" - we Brits can be a bit daft when it comes to tossing "thank you" and "sorry!" around for no real reason.)
And their friendliness didn't come across as the classic, totally fake, "Have a nice day!" American service industry courtesy. I'm not saying the cashiers would have invited me home to meet the family and have dinner if I suggested it, but they looked me in the eye, smiled and added a little bit of verbal social lubrication to the interaction.
I do make a habit of looking cashiers in the eye, smiling, and saying hello when I come up to their till, so maybe that makes some difference.
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Anonymous Post Author
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I've been to Wales in the UK, some of the nicest laid back attitudes I've ever seen. I stayed at a bed and breakfast there, and they really went above and beyond, made me feel like I was one of the family. Good breakfast too.
But what I've been talking about is here in America, people can be very rude here now, very superficial attitudes a lot of the time and many people will judge you unless you're with them for more than a few minutes, they just don't have time not to judge you otherwise. It's the ol "I'm only seeing them for a couple of minutes so fuck them" mentality. It's that way in London too. Wales folks probably still are a little more old fashioned where they actually view people as someone who matters, even if they don't know them.
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Boojum
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Good to know you have positive memories of Wales.
Wales and the Welsh aren't perfect. Like anywhere, there's a certain percentage of arseholes, but people are generally decent.
I avoid London as much as possible. It's about three hours away from us by car and we often drive around it, but I haven't visited in more than a decade.