the troubadour

Beg to differ in places as if anything i find both Brits and Australians a little too accepting.
Sounds to me a little the group mentality thing.Alone the person more than likely would have said not a dicky boo.
If Australians were so complaining and the like, one begs to ask the question, how come so many sub standard resturants together with poorly trained staff
are able to continue to ply their business in this country?

merleoberon

In perth it may be owing to the (relative) lack of choice. If we go out from work and wish to all have a drink and get home without paying an arm and a leg for a taxi, we are very limited to the places we can go to. thus we continue to go back even though the place is a bit shabby. My point was not really about poor service as such - ok the meat was off but overall we've had good service there. personally if i was treated really badly then i would rather sit in the house than go back to a place. but i do put up with stuff that is poor service eg very slow service, frequent mistakes in the order, dirty glasses etc because often there is no better alternative.

the troubadour

Giving consideration to the land of your birth i was falsely under the assumption that the answer to that question would be within your forte?

kporte

I'm a landlubber!

the troubadour

Office/Work politics is by and large a whole new ball game out here and often none too pleasent.
Although the impact is minimal on myself these days i know of quite a number,generally women, who have endured bullying and mobbing and where possible moved on to other positions,often shattered by the experience of the treatment at the hands of some cretin(often female)

the troubadour

And to think there was a time one could shout down to the engine room of a British merchant freighter,Are you there Mac? And the reply would come back.Which Mac are you looking for?

Officer Dibble

Ive witnessed the same thing. The problem was the boss didnt think it was of importance to show leadership and resolve it. A case of too many chiefs and not enough indians but no point getting involved, the women end up best buddies by the next week and its someone elses turn to be given grief.

the troubadour

I know very well about what you refer to. Living in inner city Perth,it is indeed limited in every way.Not limited in what they charge naturally,which is getting over the top.
Guess you know of a certain pizza place here in Leederville? Everyone seems to be aware of it as it is cheap as it goes and sort of laid back i suppose.
I still wonder a little if some folk somehow confuse indifference with being laid back?

willamos

Despite the fact that the Daily Mail and all the other similar papers promote the notion of a Britain with no standards whatsoever anymore, I have found in my work (sorry to keep using that example, but I think it's a good one) that Brits are almost always very polite and generally very easy to work with in general. They complain only when ABSOLUTELY necessary and even then they generally strive to make it polite and calm.

I do feel that in Australia being rather aggressive and demanding has almost been turned into a virtue; it's quite obvious that they do not think they are doing anything wrong when they complain rudely.

The ''laid-back'' thing has been one of the very biggest myths of all for me in the few years I've been living in Australia. I really believed in it prior to coming to live here and my father-in-law (who is Aussie) is convinced it's real. But far from being more ''laid-back'' than the Brits they are actually, I think, way more uptight. It's almost as if they have a sense of ''entitlement'', like they believe they have a right to everything being perfect for them.

I just find Australia rougher and harsher and more in your face in general than the UK. It's amazing.

I want to know where these strange and clearly unfounded myths come from. What's the origin of the ''laid-back'' thing? Was it the case once but no longer? If so, when did it disappear?

ABCDiamond

It isn't a myth, but things are changing.

You know, it is funny, some people complain that Australia is 'x' years behind Europe.

Then, when the country becomes more 'updated', they complain that it isn't as laid back as it was

Pearl&Wal

In our experience the 'laid back Ozzie' is certainly a myth, but it's one of many. Not that that's a bad thing mind.

Most of the celebrated Austrlianisms (copyright John Howard) are complete rubbish in our experience. Either just general human nature that you'll find anywhere in the word and have been somehow hijacked as 'Australianisms' or just the opposite of the behaviour you really encounter.

See also 'Aussie Straight talking', 'Aussies work harder' (copyright Hugh Jackman), 'Aussie mental toughness' (copyright Steve Waugh) and 'unique Aussie sense of humour' (copyright David Koch) for further examples of general bunkum.

willamos

I'm not complaining about it not being as ''laid-back'' as it was (supposedly).

I am simply saying that my experience of Australia has by no means matched the big myths that everyone craps on about.

The more like Europe it gets, the better, as far as I am concerned. I would have hated this place 20 or 30 years ago. Thank God for the internet etc.

ABCDiamond

It was a lot better some years ago, much more laid back

I'd hate it to become more like Europe, that would defeat the purpose of moving here...

Regarding the meaning of "Myth". Maybe I have it wrong, but I always thought a Myth was something that was just a story but never really true.

Which means, in my interpretation, that Australians being more laid back wasn't a myth. It is just something that is changing with time.

the troubadour

Do understand where you are coming from but a lot of points made i can say from my experience of growing up here it has always been the case.
Australians are mellower in ways which wouldn't have thought possible years ago.
It is a very conservative society,and that is unlikely to change,but Australians have learnt tolerance by and large in that they are no where close to being as aggressively verbal as times past.
This was the last country that one would have imagined PC to get a hold.
Believe me when i say difference not being accepted well in years past.
People of another ethnic origin,gays,hippies, could well anticipate a rough ride.
Not much laid backness in evidence in those days in that sense.
But no probs getting sloshed to the extreme,speaking crudely to women while attempting to pick them up in your shagging wagon nor putting a fist in the face of anybody that peed you off.
Meanwhile in Queensland the beach inspectors would measure the bikini size on young women to ensure public decency was not compromised,if found to be too revealing would be ordered from the beach. Laid back days indeed.

the troubadour

Rest easy as there is very chance Australia having any resemblance to Europe in any shape or form.