AIBVB - Am I being very British (lighthearted thread)

[Wills]

I want to know situations where you think to yourself "No other culture would do this! I'm sooo British"
So for me we have 4 kids and despite warning them that it's their planet and could they turn off lights as well as energy bills are going up etc they fail consistently. So Dh has lost it and changed the worst offending light switches to ones that react to Alexa so that we can go to bed and basically say "Alexa turn off all lights". The thing is that whenever I give Alexa a command and it does it I always say thank you. I'm responding to a computer with politeness, enough so that my younger kids are doing the same and the older ones just laugh. Anyone else have similar examples of being very British.?

Don't!!! We were queuing up to get on an easyJet flight. We have 4 kids and my dh has a massive obsession with getting on the flight as fast as possible so as to get our hand luggage into the racks above us and not half way down the flight so we can depart rapidly. I suspect this comes from being a frequent flyer, but it does mean we're all herded to board early and always take the priority boarding option. ANYWAY - he went in front of a lady in wheelchair (they board first) and I didn't notice her either. When the kids pointed out I went cold, said sorry and argued with dh all the way down to the plane.

IHaveaSetOfVeryParticularSkills · Today 11:32

As for queuing, people in the former Soviet countries queue properly, too. Not the satellites 😂 animals

My wife is from an Asian former Soviet republic and they all queue properly, at the risk of being torn to pieces by angry women.

Brits think the French are rude because they ignore us when we ask where the nearest Greggs is by shouting slowly in English 😂

European satellite and one would think they were used to queuing from their stories!
In shops, it's ok, but anywhere out, it's survival of the fittest. Especially public transport.
And then everyone inside has to move anyway to allow elderly to sit😂

I now tut at them all

A while ago I took my in-laws to Venice for (his) first ever holiday abroad. We were waiting for a water bus. Just before it pulled in a couple of older women bustled down and muscled their way to the front of the queue to board first. My in-laws were NOT impressed. Much muttering was going on. However when I got on board with a babe in arms everyone under 30 jumped up, including teens and 20 somethings. They did the same as my in-laws got on making room for them as well. 15 years later my in-laws are still talking about it. They just couldn't get their heads around it. So bad and queuing yet so wonderfully respectful (that's their perspective etc).

IHaveaSetOfVeryParticularSkills · Today 12:05

In shops, it's ok, but anywhere out, it's survival of the fittest. Especially public transport.

Ah! Over There, they have a lot of little minibuses, which serve for public transport, loads of people crammed in on top of each other in a "If this hits a really big pothole, how many will die?" scenario... People mostly give up space to old people and pregnant women.

The first time I was on one, she said to me, "Get up and get her bags," on behalf of an old lady, with loads of shopping. Another time, a heavily pregnant woman, toddler in tow got up and all the women started shouting and screaming at a man, who didn't give her his seat. He got the bus to stop and legged it!

I always offer the gardeners and the window cleaners a drink, they have never accepted.

When it was really hot in the summer I handed out drinks to delivery drivers and the bin men.

My nana is probably spinning in her grave that I don't have cake to offer them (with cheese).

@SinnerBoy the idea of the man legging it is making me laugh.
@sashh with cheese?? The mind boggles

@SinnerBoy 😂😂

Wills I used to take groups of American schoolkids to Paris for work, and like to think I helped avert many international incidents by telling them the following before letting them loose in the wild:

Always say "Bonjour" to the shop at large upon entering (not supermarkets 😆)

Always say "Au revoir, bonne journee" upon leaving (if the shop assistant gets her "bonne journee" in first, try "a vous aussi")

Always say please and thank you (as we know, Brits do, Americans don't always).

Before just asking someone something in English, ask if they speak English first! (we've just started binge watching Race Across the World, and I'm a bit shocked that most of the contestants don't do this!)

@Wills

the idea of the man legging it is making me laugh.

You should have heard the jeers, as he made good his escape!

What I don't understand in non-queuing countries is what actually happens. Is it just a free for all and if you're not pushy enough you don't get served or get on the bus or into the event?

There are qeues obviously, but then it just kind of... turns into mess. Not in shops, but elsewhere it's just not as polite and orderly queuing as in here. If any😂 I have to mentally switch if I am visiting and then coming back to uk.

I am still at awe how people behave when I fly with ryanair. I wonder if it's carried over behaviour from when Ryanair wasn't allocating seats😂

Some nationalities don’t. It’s rare to hear them say please, thank you, excuse me, they don’t know what a queue is, & they never smile.

Well, the whole empire thing was quite bad manners, wasn't it? Not sure we said please before taking countries over...

Oh no we're British! We definitely said 'please' and 'thank you' before and after. We also said sorry before and after! Our politeness is unmatched, dontcha know? It doesn't stop us from being c#nts while at it though.

That's the true mark of being British: being polite and a c#nt at the same time.

Love all the “So Very British” books etc.

“10) Apologising

No guide to etiquette would be complete without mentioning the Brits’ love of apologising. Although one would expect to say sorry for stepping on a shopper’s toe or bumping into a passer-by, many will be surprised to find that when two Brits engage in a stand-off, both will offer their apologies for being in the other’s way. They don’t care who is at fault. Apologising is a default reaction to many of life’s little incidents. This is a quirk Brits are famed for!”

Erm…yes. Lol

Deleted for asking a pp if they are a self flagellating Brit MNHQ? In response to someone describing Brits as cunts. Really? Absolutely bizarre. Why on earth would that break the talk guidelines 🤨

I wondered what did i miss

I don't think Brits are anywhere near as polite and good mannered as they used to be.
My pet grievance is younger, fitter people not moving to give a seat up, either on transport or in homes and social gatherings.
I'll probably get flamed for this, "they are just as entitled to a seat as you."
Kind of proves a point if they do defend a child staying put when Grandad is left to stand. I find this kind of parenting a bit disappointing really.

This is true. Sadly.

This is good advice!

Arrocahar2 · Today 14:16

No guide to etiquette would be complete without mentioning the Brits’ love of apologising.

I was in my early 20s, on a mountain bike in a valley. It had been raining and the path had collapsed, which I didn't see until too late, as I slid down a steep slick of mud. A woman was below, with two dogs, I shouted "Move!" a couple of times as she watched, transfixed as I approached and knocked her over.

"Oh sorry!" she said, flat on her back and covered in mud!

Just going back to the main point of the thread...

When I'm out walking the dog and a driver is clearly driving over the 30 speed limit, I give them a really strong scowl, and make sure they see it. I'm sure it makes them think again the next time they feel like speeding!

Sometimes I even wag my finger at them; on a really bad day I might even tut loudly...