Why do people think Londoners are rude?

[beejeez]

I'm obviously biased as I'm originally from London, but why do people think Londoners are rude?

I was there a few days ago and it was so great to be back. I find true Londoners so friendly (OK, maybe not when commuting in and out of work, but definitely the rest of the time).

If you talk to them then they are really friendly back!

I must say that the waitress who served me on the last occasion that I had a sit-down lunch there was great. Evidently Parisian commuters are doing their best to uphold a dying tradition.

@TeaAndToastest 😂 it does crack me up, these small minded folk who have been to 1% of London and assume it's all the same. Bless

Why do people think Londoners are rude? Because they haven't been to Bristol yet.

Loads of people in those jobs are from abroad and you can hear it in their accents.

Though due to a couple of events more and more staff are young and home grown, and are absolutely useless at their jobs. For example not giving customers cutlery and giving a pint glass to a 3 year old.

😂

My DP thinks that people from Bristol are the rudess people in the UK. There as I think folks from villages in Norfolk are.

Yes they pay VED but does the VED paid in your city/ Town get specifically ring fenced and spent outside your town and city to help maintain its roads. No it doesn't. Meaning money to maintain roads in London is funded through increasing local council taxes.

As for our new shiny Elizabeth line. Outside of London has been given significant funding too: www.gov.uk/government/news/cheaper-and-better-buses-in-7-billion-package-to-level-up-transport-outside-london

And the Elizabeth Line goes beyond London, as far as Berkshire and Reading so its benefited towns outside of London too.

I lived in London for 10 years & can’t say I found people living there particularly rude. I encountered nice people and not so nice people.
Yes, people don’t generally speak to one another on the tube, but I didn’t want to either, so it worked out fine.
I found living in Manchester similar to London actually.

Having said that, I have found Liverpool to be the most friendly, followed by Edinburgh & Newcastle. Strangers smiling at one another, lots of people offering to help me with the stroller, retail staff and people working in hospitality, generally better at customer service and seemed friendlier and happier.

I think all capital cities are like this to some degree: Paris, Berlin, New York all certainly have some of this as well.

Commuting and being in the City is so stressful and impersonal you can't afford to get too involved with people. It doesn't mean your rude or stand-offish but you just wouldn't get anything done if you stopped to smile at people.

Londoners as individuals in one-to-one settings are as friendly as anyone else but what they don't generally do is invest a great deal in one-off, serendipitous encounters because they are never likely to happen again. It's totally rational behaviour.

Obviously it's easy to say hello to everyone you pass and have a little chat when you only walk past 5 a day!
Londoners are not unfriendly. Its polite to give people head space on public transport instead of jabbering away at them where they cant easily escape. Sometimes I travel into work with a neighbour (yes i do know my neighbours!) and we will chat on the walk but both read a book on the tube if we're lucky enough to get a seat.
I have lived here my whole life and never once had to ask for a seat while pregnant (I wore a badge before it was obvious) I was always offered one. I have never had to ask for help.with a buggy on the steps, it's always been forthcoming. People will offer me their seat so my DC can sit next to me, even though he can sit on my knee (I don't accept because no need).
I once collapsed on the train while pregnant, my legs just went very strange - and 3 people got off the train with me even though it wasn't their station just to check I was OK.
I often stop in central London to see if people are lost if they look like they are, and have seen loads of others doing the same.
I even once got stuck on a train on the way home from.work, probably about 8pm, we were in zone 3 and a lorry had hit the bridge ahead so the trains all terminated. We were stuck on the train for ages before they moved to a station where we could all get out. Everyone was stuck together for so long we all got chatting and having a laugh and eventually when we were allowed out we all went to the pub together before booking an Uber home each. We're not bloody unfriendly!
It's mostly people who don't know London and have this condescending view of "city life" who claim we are.

Also to.the PP who was saying how friendly the Yorkshire Dale's is compared to London - I assume you're white? You might not find everyone so friendly otherwise

I have also seen blind and disabled people being shouted at for taking too long on the escalators, etc.

Have lived in London my whole life. Until wfh became the norm I commuted in the rush hour every weekday and frequently used the Tube at weekends.

I have never once seen this happen.

Ha yes I missed that post about blind or disabled people being shouted at. That sounds like bollocks to me. Unless they were maybe being shouted at by the sort of nutter who randomly shouts incoherently at anyone?

So because YOU didnt see it happen with your own eyes, you say people are lying?

Talk about self absorbed.

Well maybe theyre not lying but it can't happen often because I've never seen it or heard of such behaviour (other than here) so I'd suggest maybe it was a complete random one off that would have been just as likely to happen in Bournemouth or Bradford or anywhere

Even if it did happen you would have to be a colossal dimwit to use it as a representative example of how typical Londoners behave rather then the actions of a solo fuckwit.

And not really any more self absorbed than suggesting that's what Londoners "do"

Or maybe it was some twat on a stag do from another city?

I once just missed my bus because I couldn't get across the street to the bus stop because of the traffic. By the time I did the bus had moved up the road and was waiting in traffic itself - the bus driver must have seen me because the next thing I knew he was off the bus waving and shouting for me to come and get on before it set off again; I've also slipped on the stairs on the underground before and was immediately helped up by people asking if I was OK. The passers by who jumped in to help and risked serious injury when somebody was mugged for his phone Liverpool St station a couple of month ago also spring to mind.

I live and work in the City but grew up in the north of England, and every time I go back to visit I'm struck by how unfriendly, insular and downright rude people are, at least to anybody who's in any way different to them. The inverted snobbery (especially if I say where I live when asked) is particularly nauseating.

I find London very friendly (I am Scottish). I think there are certain places that have accurate reputations, however this isn/ one of them. I love London and it's people.

That's great to hear @Frazzledmummy123 I can actually say I've been to Scotland a few times and the first time was worried I might be hated on because I'm from England and London being the very worst part of England - I think maybe I had this idea from.Braveheart or something! - but actually everyone I've personally come across in Scotland (various parts) has also been friendly and welcoming.

What earthly paradise do you live in? do tell.

I agree, people are the unfriendliest in home counties. Very closed, and not bothered about neighbours. Quite a shock after living in other parts of UK.

Im northern and live in a tourist area, I also work in a customer facing role, the rudest most entitled tourists/customers have a tendency to be from London. On the flip side my MIL is from London originally and she is lovely, also the last time I went to London everyone seemed nice enough so 🤷‍♀️

This isn't my experience of (my part of) the home counties at all!

So many prejudices!

I grew up in a tiny rural village in a northern county famed for its friendliness. As non-locals, we were pretty much ostracised and the "real locals" were rude to and about tourists and visitors. Things have changed a bit since then, but as much as I'd like. I don't go back very often.

I now live in a London suburb and work in central London. In my suburb, people say hello, I will often bump into people I know and there's a real community spirit.

Where I work, there are hordes of tourists and I probably look unfriendly as I stride to/from the station with my headphones on. I have to weave among the tourists at my brisk pace. If I ambled along behind the tourists, I'd have to catch an earlier train to get to the office on time. But if someone asks for directions then I'll stop and help them. And I always offer to help parents on their own with pushchairs.

I have had conversations with random strangers on public transport and other places in London. But not every day.

Personally, I'm very wary of beautiful but tiny rural villages because I had a miserable time growing up in one. And my experience has been that cities are more diverse and more welcoming to a variety of people as a result.

Anywhere unfamiliar, especially if it's big and crowded, can feel overwhelming. There are friendly and unfriendly people everywhere. Like PP have said, a lot of people want to believe London is unfriendly so they look for the evidence of that.