Email from one of our visitors. We were surprised by her experiences in London and wonder whether you have experienced the same?
“I had the great pleasure of recently visiting your country and am dumbfounded by a curious custom I noticed while there. I always said ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and I waited my turn. I tried to be very careful when browsing in shops. However, I found that service staff would be quite blunt and I got yelled at on one occasion for looking in a restricted area that was not posted as restricted. This bluntess was quite common. While in England, I was ignored when asking a question, insulted, waws cut in front of while in queues, and otherwise treated in a manner that seemed quite hurtful for me. This is a vast difference than the Southwest US where I am from. People where I am from are very unlikely to yell at a customer even if s/he makes a mistake. Service ‘with a smile’, even when the customer is wrong, is the norm. “
“I think my worst experiences were in Camden and in the Train Stations. ”
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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10 comments:
London, yes. Anywhere else in England, definitely not. I lived in Bristol for 3 months last year and was continually gratified by how nice the majority of people were. Quite like New England, where I’m from. I think it likely that people are just desensitised and jaded in big cities all over.
People in London like in any place in
the world packed with tourists may feel under pressure or tired and lack
patience…
Otherwise British people are very, very nice.
Might you think that a percentage of the people who were offensive, may well, not be British? Plus standards are dropping among the British more than ever.
I have worked and lived in many coutries and I could make many comments. Since first visiting the USA in 1966 I have not had one bad experience. I have never seen a gun fired in anger or anyone robbed, which is not the case in the UK. In small town America I have found nothing but politeness and total generosity. I have just spent one month in the States and only heard one swear word on the streets in all that time. But then, they have more Police and enforce their laws.
I would imagine london is much the same as new york, or paris – capital cities tend to be full of highly stressed people.
certainly in englands ‘deep south’, cornwall, people are much more relaxed and freindly
In London, poor manners in public are the norm rather than the exception. My father worked here in the sixties and said it was so, and a 17th century account records people barging down the pavements and literally pushing others out of the way. I’m afraid this is still the case for the most part today. You will find it particularly when using the tube, which funnels people along through tunnels and up and down escalators. Also, people have not queued for buses for quite some time in London; they stand at the stops arranged in a group and run at the bus when it arrives – first come, first served. It’s a bit sad, but London has ‘big city syndrome’ and has been that way for centuries. All that said, quite often I have had very pleasant things happen to me in London and I have lived here for 15 years. If you are confident on the street here you will feel less intimidated. I’m afraid visitors get a raw deal generally because they are not confident. You must also remember that the Southern US (where you are from) actually has the reputation for the best manners in the world.
I have visited England five times now, and several of my visits have included a week in London. I have never received rude treatment and have found it to be quite a pleasant city – however, it definitely has a more rushed pace than the rest of England and is, after all, a big city as others have noted. As an American originally from the South, I can definitely say that the general treatment in stores, restaurants, etc in London is not going to be as warm and welcoming as say, Charleston, South Carolina. However, I have probably encountered fewer rude salesclerks in London than in my current town of Williamsburg, Virginia. It depends on how tired people are and how many tourists have been funneling through their shop all afternoon.
I must admit that I found people in York to be the friendliest out of all of the cities I have visited in England, which goes along with the stereotype of the North of England being friendlier than the South.
As with anything, once you have one rude experience in a city, you often feel discouraged and look for more. I’d suggest giving London a second chance.
I agree with post where people are pointing out this happens in all big cities around the world, but I’m still surprised by the original post.
Originally British, I now live near New York, and I see the local customs as being different. For instance, people often stand around without making a clear queue. I’m sure they get offended when I locate myself in a big gap, but that’s too bad! I’m dying to hear someone complain, in which case I’ll say “if you were on line, you’d be where I am!”
I’ve had experiences on National Rail where on particularly crowded days because of some trains being cancelled and the like, quite a few people continue to occupy more seats than they require.
For eg a couple would occupy 4 seats, keeping their bags on the seats and blocking the way to those seats so that other polite people dont go near them. Also they would pretend not to see all the people standing in the train for a 1.5 hr journey.
This couple was just an example, there are people single or in groups who simply refuse to acknowledge or think about all the people standing around them and continue keeping their bags or legs on some of the seats near them.
London nowadays is a mass of immegrants many of which work in shops and public transport. They do not really have any idea of ‘britishness’ and bring the traits of the dump/country they have left.
I thought the English people were 'lovely'. To quote a favorite word of theirs. I was treated with upmost kindness. Loved the country & its folks!
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