To think British people aren't thought of as rich anymore

[DeliaSmithsEpicGuitarRiff]

I kind of love this, as the child of someone from a colonised country and different race, but the other half very much British.
I am away somewhere that it is possible to spend a lot of money. There once was a time where being British would mean you received excellent service, no one thought you were poor, no one suspected you would steal or have your card declined.
Now I feel the opposite. That being British makes people assume I'm poor or likely to quibble about prices. Where I am now there are so many tourists from much richer countries such as the Middle East, China and India and we simply do not compete. The sales people look at us with contempt and pity, the poor English woman. It feels like some epic karma for the empire.
Are we likely to continue to decline in standard of living until we are Europe's shabby cousins, you know the ones who had lice and lived off tinned ravioli? And will the proud, Brexiteers even recognise that this our fate?

Whilst we're not as rich as the states, as we don't do out and out capitalism in the same way... stats suggest we're really not poor. Also, the states might be 'rich', but increasingly the disparity and poverty out there is shocking. People unable to afford medical bills and ending up homeless. If you've been to san fransico recently you'll know! Tent cities, homeless poo in the street, that DH had to walk around to avoid.

Anyway, stats suggest we're doing just fine.

Globally: The average person lives on about $7.40 per day. In poorer countries, many survive on less than $2.15 a day, which is the extreme poverty line.
In the UK:
The average income works out to about £90 ($110) per day.

The average UK wage puts you in the top 2% of earners globally.

I agree (also from a former colony)

British poverty does suprise me sometimes as it was such a problem thing for so long the whole "dealing with poverty"/how to get rid of poor people in city's like London+

& I think British people have definitely embarrassed themselves over the years heavily promoting - then acting on - the "barter everything in poor country's cause that's how the locals do it" not realising A) locals have a lot less money/financial prices are verbal as opposed to written down & B) it's encouraged people with fuck all money to travel to these places cause you can always get cheap stuff

I definitely do think the wealth divide has gotten worst over the years

What are you on about. Having cachet or social status in another country because you're a Brit?

Your worldview is really skewed. PS it doesn't stop people from wanting to come here does it.

I'm currently in Switzerland, visiting our dd who moved her in the summer. We've visited a few times over the last 6 months.

We've have never been treated negatively in any way, neither has dd in the last 6 months or so.

I don't recognise the contempt, etc that you talk about.

The truth is travelling abroad as a Brit years ago did have social status....

Most people didn't steal/barter/target low wealth areas for cheap holiday packages & most travelers were wealthy, educated or actively looking for work + the accent ect. Helped fuel a stereotype that British people were are certain class of travelers

That's not the case these days most travel with entire family's once a year depending on income it's usually holiday related & theirs more awareness of them being sometimes problematic

What's the point of this post exactly?

Imaging thinking you're the only person on MN who's ever worked in retain. What an ego.

UK standard of living has gone down, that is the reality I live. I could not care less whether other countries think we are poor or rich or whatever. I rather live in the real world, so the services I get here in the country and in the meantime I have a good time if I go for holiday, I pay no attention to any gossip. Waste of time.
But what is this about the Empire? None of the people who built the Empire are alive. So they are not going to be punished, are they?
What is the point of making bad blood with the guys living in the UK TODAY? We are not guilty of the sins of the past. But we can choose to repeat them or to move forward to treat everyone equally and stop gleeing about other people's misfortune. Let's stick to the latter, shall we?

Britain has always been a rich country full of poor people. Bore off with your colonial guilt stuff. So irritating these days that so many people think ethnicity comes with virtue points.
People living in a ‘colonist’ country and enjoying the exact same advantages and privileges as everyone around them but consider themselves purer because of where their ancestors originally lived.
Everyone wants to be one of the oppressed.

I must have missed that era then, how old do you have to be to remember it?

When was this time when Brits abroad had a certain social status? Must have been a very long time ago. I'm thinking perhaps the 1950s and earlier, when only the wealthy could afford to travel. But surely at this time all tourists had a high social status because only the wealthy of all nationalities would travel.
I'm 50 and have been going abroad since the 80s. Even then, there were plenty of badly behaved Brits abroad. I had teenage holidays in Spain in the very early 90s and the Brits had a bad reputation in Spain then for drunken, yobbish behaviour.

I would absolutely hate a salesperson to go full 'razzle dazzle' and try and schmooze me, i can't think of anything worse 😳 it would honestly make me less likely to splash the cash!

In general i don't really enjoy the service culture in some places, some local person being expected to bow and scrape to me and be obsequious, yuck!

Are you actually British yourself OP? I wonder if maybe the Brits where you are aren't receiving worse service necessarily, they are perhaps receiving the service they want?

I think that it possibly the most depressing thing I've hear in a while. Judging people and deciding who to be nicer too in a bid to get a bigger commission/tip. Try being nice and less judgemental about everyone who crosses your path, you might learn a thing or two and you might find your tips,/commission increase because of it.

I’m not British and I live in the EU. I don’t think that Brits are looked down on for being poor where I am but the decline of Britain since Brexit has been well documented here and the vast majority think it was a foolish decision based on some idea of Britain being above the rest of us but has since been doing a lot worse.

Because of this the press enjoy reporting on how much worse Britain is doing financially since leaving. I particularly remember one multi-page article that was written about Jaywick, I think it shocked a lot of people that places like that exist in Western Europe. So yes, things like that has an impact on how Britain is viewed by others but I don’t think it’s as detailed as knowing how much your childcare costs are or the housing situation. Although, the poor quality of British housing has always been a bit of a joke to people here. Along with carpeted bathrooms.

I don't necessarily think British people are not seen as rich per se but definitely agree with you OP that in the travel retail sector, sales assistants make judgements about who has money and where to spend their time.

I work in retail at Heathrow and we make the most money from Chinese, Arab and Nigerian passengers. We make sure we have more staff available when these passengers are flying out and the sales assistants are much more attentive compared to when British passengers are flying to Europe or the US.

Here is an article from a few years back when Heathrow shops actually got in trouble for essentially racially profiling that Chinese customers had more money to spend - www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-43030291.amp

HRTFT but i haven't noticed this. How do these sale people know from afar where you're from? Is it not just as likely, probably more so, your race?

@DeliaSmithsEpicGuitarRiff if you wish to draw a parallel with Britain's wealth during the Empire Days and now, may I please direct you to Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Poverty and Ignorance.

When Britain had an Empire, it also had the Work House.

On a day to day level: high street bank, Boots, Tescos, Kwik Fit, etc, I receive much poorer service standards than I do in Europe.

At a prestige level in the UK and beyond, service standards are not differentiated.

I love Switzerland. I wonder if you're on holiday somewhere where it is quite noticeable the shops are targeting overseas customers from the Middle East, China etc? Some of the shops have sales assistants who would appear to be, themselves from this demographic?
I've never been treated in anything other than a positive way when in Switzerland but regarding shopping....let's face it, I'm out there in my campervan with my dog. I think 1 look at me walking through the door is likely to say I'm NOT about to purchase a new Omega or Rolex!

I’ve worked in luxury retail.

I quickly learnt you don’t judge customers by their looks. Sometimes rich looking arabs would come in and chat to their friends for ages and then all leave. Whereas an unsuspecting middle age white woman witht greasy hair and very non flashy clothes and no make up would regularly drop thousands with me buying all sorts.

You treat all customers nicely and hope for some good sales!!!

How does a random sales person in Switzerland know that someone is a British national without seeing their passport? I know lots of British passport holders with not an English/Scottish/Welsh/NI accent amongst them.

@DeliaSmithsEpicGuitarRiff is sleep deprivation affecting your thinking level?

I’m finding the debate interesting. Aren’t you?

Times are changing OP, many wealthy people don’t consume these products now and some never did. It’s just another way of someone trying to take money from someone else by hoping they care what other people perceive them as.

Caring about what people think about you is the flaw that the whole system is built on. Buy what you like for yourself and of course some do but it doesn’t matter what people think about you. Everyone has a view of you in their mind and there’s nothing you can ever do to change it.

I was interested to hear the OPs motives.

True, but now with the prevalence of football strip, athleisure and tattoos, you can spot a Brit from a great distance. 😅