Being British…..

By Team Einhorn

30.08.2013

Being British…..

This link was sent to me and it really made me laugh!

We started talking in the office/workshop/shop about how very British we all are. Most of these examples applied to one or all of us, ESPECIALLY the haircut one! Oh my god the supermarket one? We’ve all done that….It goes along with our terrible reticence to actually say what we want, and to admit that we are paying for a service that we may not be receiving. Why are we like this? Why do we say sorry when someone bumps into us? It’s a bit pathological really. Listen to a pair of Brits playing tennis, all you can hear is Sorry! No Sorry, Sorry….damn Sorry! Sooorrrreeeee etc.

I do find it quite strange, are other nations as bad at complaining and actually asking for what they want as we are? My own personal opinion on this matter, which was formed while I was taking my turn at the workshop tea round is this.

I think the reason why British people are so polite and so reticent about complaining or pointing out when something is wrong is that basically we have all joined the middle classes and we feel guilty about it. We feel guilty about telling the cleaner she’s not working hard enough, and would it be alright if she didn’t knock off an hour early every week because she IS being paid for it, because we feel guilty that we are able to employ him or her and they can’t afford to employ us! We feel guilty about sending food back in a restaurant because we are a short hop skip and a jump away from being that waitress in the same position. We ally ourselves with all the people we deal with on a day to day basis. The so called ‘middle class of humanity’ is enormous and a lot of people consider themselves to be within this group (bloody stupid class system) which is a supposid step up from those who serve us, so therefore we do feel a bit guilty about it and I believe this makes us very polite (a good thing, and also total pussies (a bad thing). I truly think, what people don’t understand is, it’s not necessary to be rude in order to a.) get what you want and b.) complain. It is possible to be polite AND get what you want.

As a foot note I would like to add that I love politeness, I think it is one of the best atributes anyone can have or teach, and when you meet someone with impecable manners it makes you warm to them instantly, and by the way, thank you so much for reading my blog I really appreciate it.

I know this is all very simplistic and I’m sure most unlearn-ed but its a thought isn’t it? If anyone has any other ideas why we never complain I’d love to hear them!

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