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Rude, Racist or Right?

132 replies

tarmactreacle · 29/10/2024 07:44

I rarely travel by bus but yesterday I was queuing behind a man for a bus to town.

When he got on he said "name of destination". The driver replied "no, it's "single to name of destination PLEASE". Have some manners, We're in England"

The man then politely repeated what the bus driver had asked him to say, took his ticket and sat down.

The man was black and the "we are in England" felt unnecessary and made me feel uncomfortable.

What are your thoughts?

OP posts:
RosaMoline · 29/10/2024 11:21

Thank you for reporting OP!

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 29/10/2024 11:21

Racist.

NaiceAmberMember · 29/10/2024 11:19

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 29/10/2024 11:17

Rude and racist. A single is the default, so it doesn't normally need stating. The driver just wanted to make a nasty racist point.

Pomegranatecarnage · 29/10/2024 11:10

Definitely racist. The passenger could have lived all his life in the U.K. in which case just saying the destination would come across as slightly rude, (but not worthy of comment) or he could’ve been brought up in Spain or Eastern Europe where just saying the destination would be normal practice. Or he could speak little English and was only able to say the destination !

DwightDFlysenhower · 29/10/2024 11:07

Isitreallythough · 29/10/2024 09:08

Racist. Would he have presumed to remind a white customer to say please I wonder…

Some do. One said "what's the magic word?" to the person in front of me the other day, who was definitely white and local. I assumed the driver had small children at home and it was reflexive. Grin

I do think in general people are getting worse at saying please and thank you though. You shouldn't order people about, and you should thank them when they've done something for you.

The bit about being in England was definitely rude and racist though, and I think OP was right to say something to the company.

MinaHarker1897 · 29/10/2024 11:06

tarmactreacle · 29/10/2024 10:51

Thank you everyone. I live in a very predominantly white area so don't often see examples of racism. It made me feel very uncomfortable though which is why I thought it probably was racist.

Thank you for confirming for me. I have now reported the driver.

Well done.

wiesowarum · 29/10/2024 10:56

Of course the part about England was racist. It also suggest that manners only exist in England, which is clearly untrue.

Far too many people don't say please or thank you though.

Hoppinggreen · 29/10/2024 10:53

People should say please but that driver was a racist arsehole and should be reported

TheNicelyDone · 29/10/2024 10:53

Thepeopleversuswork · 29/10/2024 08:18

@MsMarch

This is the type of racism where black people are treated like children. Whether or not an adult says please or thank you, ans whether or not others think it's rude, adults do not usually correct other adults in this way. The "this is england" was just another layer of racism.

Exactly. If the guy had been white there’s no way he would even have challenged him on it.

Its like the way some people will speak to foreigners with this very slow, patronising and loud voice as if they are intellectually challenged because they are not British. The fact someone has bothered to learn enough if your language to be able to communicate (unlike the average Brit who can’t assemble a sentence in any other language) tells you that they are not stupid. So don’t treat them as if they are: they’re probably more educated than you.

I loathe people like this.

See, this is pure hypocrisy. How are you here decrying the ignorance of others on the same post that you're lumping the majority of Brits under your own negative stereotype? I mean, what on earth makes you assume that someone would automatically be more educated than a Brit?

Your "average Brit" will learn other languages at school and despite the fact that I'm from a deprived council estate, I've managed to retain that knowledge. I might not be able to hold a conversation on some niche subject but I'd be able to communicate if I ever went to Germany again. In fact I also took it upon myself to begin learning some Spanish before my first visit there. It's not beyond the reach of average people, in fact it's pretty accessible in this day and age.
The attitude you mention also isn't unique to British people. I have had plenty of people be patronising, passive aggressive and also downright rude to me because my Spanish was patchy. But I've also had people do the slow and louder thing too and it's actually pretty helpful when people take the time to enunciate properly for you. When it's your native tongue you often don't realise how fast you're speaking and how lazily you pronounce certain words.

Your opinion is very insular, you'd be surprised how similar people's attitudes are (despite vast cultural differences) in various countries and demographics. So I think your comments about British people are pretty ignorant.

Sunkisst · 29/10/2024 10:53

tarmactreacle · 29/10/2024 10:51

Thank you everyone. I live in a very predominantly white area so don't often see examples of racism. It made me feel very uncomfortable though which is why I thought it probably was racist.

Thank you for confirming for me. I have now reported the driver.

Well done, thank you 🙏

tarmactreacle · 29/10/2024 10:51

Thank you everyone. I live in a very predominantly white area so don't often see examples of racism. It made me feel very uncomfortable though which is why I thought it probably was racist.

Thank you for confirming for me. I have now reported the driver.

OP posts:
MsMarch · 29/10/2024 10:49

DoTheDinosaurStomp · 29/10/2024 10:01

Adults are allowed to do lots of things. It doesn't make all of those things right. If I hold a door open for someone and they arrogantly swan through without a thank you, you bet I'm going to say a loud thank you after them.

And you say adults are allowed to be rude but they're not allowed to "school" other adults. Why not? If rudeness is allowed in your opinion then other behaviours should also be allowed.

I specifically referenced being rude back, very similar to your example of the loud, sarcastic "thank you". That's my point. THAT is how people tend to respond to rudeness. Attempting to "Educate" someone is patronising and, in this case, racist. When that person doesn't say thank you when you hold the door, you don't assume they don't know better. You assume they are being rude. This bus driver is being paternalistic and patronising by assuming this black man doesn't know better and that he has the right to "educate" him.

NoButBut · 29/10/2024 10:35

Definitely an EDL bus driver. I won't be convinced otherwise.

So what if he didn't think 'please' was necessary while softly saying [name of destination] and if given the chance (which he wasn't by the rude racist bus driver), he would have said 'thank you' after he got his ticket?! Forcing people to say please isn't polite either. I'd rather someone said it and meant it than the typical British "polite" autopilot 'please and thank you' but sarcastic and nasty behind the person's back.

"Have some manners!"? "We're in England"?
Who do you think you are? That the poor man corrected himself and politely repeated what the driver basically ordered him to say shows that he's a gentleman and didn't "bark" his destination at the driver or say it other than in a gentle polite way. Saying "Please" is not the only way to show politeness, tone matters too. The driver was the rude one and racist too.

Bucketsof · 29/10/2024 10:13

I speak accented English in UK. I get the “tut tut” and I” can tell you aren’t ENGLISH” Or “I don’t like the sound of your English” from older people on occasion. For minor “transgressions” like … parking too close to their car bumper in Sainsbury’s and daring to disagree. “It’s close, but I didn’t hit your car”.

I do wonder if anyone overhearing these comments writes into MN about this racism.??

Fluufer · 29/10/2024 10:02

DoTheDinosaurStomp · 29/10/2024 10:01

Adults are allowed to do lots of things. It doesn't make all of those things right. If I hold a door open for someone and they arrogantly swan through without a thank you, you bet I'm going to say a loud thank you after them.

And you say adults are allowed to be rude but they're not allowed to "school" other adults. Why not? If rudeness is allowed in your opinion then other behaviours should also be allowed.

He can do what he likes in his own time. But I'm assuming he isn't being paid to piss off passengers and dish out lessons in manners?

Fluufer · 29/10/2024 10:01

Yes it's racist. It's also just plain unprofessional - no need to police other peoples manners.

DoTheDinosaurStomp · 29/10/2024 10:01

MsMarch · 29/10/2024 09:10

It absolutely is rude. I mean, sometimes if someone else is being very rude another adult roll their eyes or make a sarcastic comment, which is also rude but I guess that's purposefully rude in response to original rudeness. This sort of "schooling" and telling off is NOT a cultural norm for a white British person to another white British person who does not say thank you.

Adults are allowed to be rude. we can all judge them for tyat rudeness. Choose not to spend time with them because they are rude. Even be a bit rude back if we want to. But we don't try to educate them on how not to be rude becuase... they are ADULTS and it's not other adult's jobs to do that.

As for the example about bags in other shops etc. It's possible there's some xenophobia, driven especially by irritation towards tourists. But in my experience, it's often just locals trying to help people navigate what is normal in their country.

Adults are allowed to do lots of things. It doesn't make all of those things right. If I hold a door open for someone and they arrogantly swan through without a thank you, you bet I'm going to say a loud thank you after them.

And you say adults are allowed to be rude but they're not allowed to "school" other adults. Why not? If rudeness is allowed in your opinion then other behaviours should also be allowed.

Delatron · 29/10/2024 09:43

It’s rude and racist yes. And as an aside in other languages (such as Spanish) they say please and thank you a lot less - not rude just the way they are.

NowImNotDoingIt · 29/10/2024 09:42

@TempestTost I'm foreign born, been here 16 years, and still have an accent. I know I'm in bloody England! I don't need a reminder or a lesson in manners . Neither did that man. Especially since please and thank you do not belong to the English exclusively AND not every single English person uses them. In fact, there's a considerable decline in usage.

Combattingthemoaners · 29/10/2024 09:41

Was the irony of his sentence not lost on him? Have some manners whilst being very very rude and patronising. Definitely racist undertones.

Edited to say - no undertones. It is just racism. Plain as day.

TempestTost · 29/10/2024 09:40

SeaBaseAlpha · 29/10/2024 09:32

Where have you got from the OP that this man was foreign?

The OP didn't say one way or another. Where have you got that he wasn't?

She seemed focused on his skin colour and didn't mention whether or not he had a local accent.

Which seems a common thing now. Look at the examples above of people assuming a bus driver wouldn't have said the same thing to a Polish person. There has been plenty of anti-Polish sentiment, especially in some areas, and yes, people sometimes say quite rude things to Eastern Europeans.

Race isn't the only reason some people can be rude.

Moonmelodies · 29/10/2024 09:36

Was the bus driver also black?

TempestTost · 29/10/2024 09:35

Sunkisst · 29/10/2024 08:43

A lot of people on this thread are making points around saying this to non-British white tourists or foreigners..,making the exact same assumptions of the bus driver that because this man was not white, he wasn’t English. Nowhere does OP say he spoke with an accent or had any indication of not being from England.

I don't think we can necessarily assume that. The OP didn't say if there were other reasons to think he was not English by birth - He might have spoken with an accent which would be a pretty clear indicator that he wasn't born locally. In which case I think any of us would have come to the same conclusion.

It wouldn't have meant it wasn't rude but it would not have been the assumption you are thinking.

And while you'd think the OP would have mentioned that, I would not assume so., in my experience it's likely she wouldn't have,

bryceQ · 29/10/2024 09:35

Rude and racist. Trying to put the man down by being so condescending