I lived in Scotland for about thirty years. Something I noticed is a large part of many Scots' self-definition is that they're "not English". The cultural attitudes are different in some ways, but the Scots and English are far more similar than different. Yet many Scots take huge pleasure in highlighting every little difference. Many are convinced that your average Scot is, in some vague way, better than your average English person.
It's the result of the imbalance between the two countries in economic, cultural, and population terms. The Scots and Welsh cling to their national identities, and that makes many emphasise or even manufacture differences between them and the English.
The Republic of Ireland is obviously no longer part of the UK, but the history of the country is entangled with that of England, and the same applies.
As for them being pleasant to you, that's not surprising. People very often cling to stereotypes of other nationalities, cultures, or religions because that makes life simple for them. When they interact with someone belonging to one of those groups on an individual level, they understand they don't fit the stereotype. They could deal with that by reconsidering their stereotype, but that would result in a large shift of their whole world-view and it could challenge their self-identity. So most people take the easy route and make the person an exception to the rule.
Was this a bit inappropriate, or am I being too sensitive about it?
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I lived in Scotland for about thirty years. Something I noticed is a large part of many Scots' self-definition is that they're "not English". The cultural attitudes are different in some ways, but the Scots and English are far more similar than different. Yet many Scots take huge pleasure in highlighting every little difference. Many are convinced that your average Scot is, in some vague way, better than your average English person.
It's the result of the imbalance between the two countries in economic, cultural, and population terms. The Scots and Welsh cling to their national identities, and that makes many emphasise or even manufacture differences between them and the English.
The Republic of Ireland is obviously no longer part of the UK, but the history of the country is entangled with that of England, and the same applies.
As for them being pleasant to you, that's not surprising. People very often cling to stereotypes of other nationalities, cultures, or religions because that makes life simple for them. When they interact with someone belonging to one of those groups on an individual level, they understand they don't fit the stereotype. They could deal with that by reconsidering their stereotype, but that would result in a large shift of their whole world-view and it could challenge their self-identity. So most people take the easy route and make the person an exception to the rule.
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JellyBeanBandit
4 years ago
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Thanks for the reply, I think you're probably right there, that makes perfect sense.