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How have you been treated here as a Brit?

How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Old Apr 24th 2014, 7:11 pm
  #196  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by Jonion
Well done on the self-restraint.
Did you ask her where her ancestors were from?

Lol....no I didn't ....mainly because I didn't give a flying f*** ...and I was trying hard to bite my tongue...
Also, to me, all 1812 meant was a rather nice piece of music by Tchaikovsky!!
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 7:17 pm
  #197  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by mamasue
Also, to me, all 1812 meant was a rather nice piece of music by Tchaikovsky!!
I didn't understand why they played that on the 4th of July to start with.
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 7:27 pm
  #198  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by Sally Redux
I didn't understand why they played that on the 4th of July to start with.
Didn't you know that Moscow is actually in Idaho? And a couple of dozen other states, too . . .
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 9:31 pm
  #199  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by Pulaski

The sarcasm thing is only a problem with Mrs P, who now assumes I'm being sarcastic all the time, and thinks I'm being critical when I make a compliment.

Same here. My husband constantly thinks I'm saying something negative when I'm not. Apparently it's my 'tone' Don't know how I'm supposed to change that after 30 years of speaking the way I do.
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 9:44 pm
  #200  
 
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by Holliver
Same here. My husband constantly thinks I'm saying something negative when I'm not. Apparently it's my 'tone' .....
I have attempted to fix that issue too. The result is that I get accused of laughing at her! ...... There are times I feel I just can't win.
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 10:04 pm
  #201  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing
He's got a point. I do just about all our grocery shopping/take out pickups, so I spend a lot of time in lines at stores and any instances where people have to ask for something, or are making a order separate from the checkouts, I rarely hear anyone say 'please' and the request is almost always started with "I need" or perhaps worse, "give me".

It probably happens in the UK now too, but I still find it kind of rude, myself.
No, I've noticed that too. 'I'll get the ....." never with a please or thank you. I always think I may seem a bit overboard with my 'could I have the ...... please?'

Think somebody mentioned on another thread that that was because waiters etc get confused if you use too many words so it was best to order without all the fluff that Brits are used to.

Also annoys me when I get ID'd - invariably it goes like this

Cashier - ID!
Me - *mutters under breath* please. (I still want them to serve me you see)

Always seems like more of a statement than a question.

Ooh, and another thing is when they tell you owe them however much money- '$10.61'. Never a please or thank you. I find it so rude.

Last edited by Holliver; Apr 24th 2014 at 10:08 pm.
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 10:06 pm
  #202  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by Holliver
No, I've noticed that too. 'I'll get the ....." never with a please or thank you. I always think I may seem a bit overboard with my 'could I have the ...... please?'

Think somebody mentioned on another thread that that was because waiters etc get confused if you use too many words so it was best to order without all the fluff that Brits are used to.
You get a hev a pound of potato salad
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 10:31 pm
  #203  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by mamasue
The rudest person I met was a nurse at my AOS medical in 2007 in GA...
"Oh you're from England....I hate the English"
ME...'Why?'
"Because of what they did in 1812"
ME...'Well I wasn't actually there'
"Well..your ancestors were, and I'll never forgive them'
ME..."Actually, I'm only 1st generation British....Everybody before me was from Hungary"
'Well, they're still British'

The only thing that kept me from kicking her in the shins was that she was doing my medical, and I thought she might "find" some disease that might make a difference to my AOS....
Suck it up, Sue, was the hardest advice I ever gave myself!!
Me thinks you made all that up
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Old Apr 24th 2014, 11:35 pm
  #204  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by Ruth16
Me thinks you made all that up
Here? On BE? No one would do such a thing!

as an aside, with regard to basic politeness - on this forum - and a simple "thanks" acknowledgement:

....Why is it that some Brit's here fail to bother saying it when it's clear someone has taken the time to take them seriously, consider their request and try to post the info they're seeking, including relevant links. etc.?
Frankly - it happened to me yesterday. The solipsistic individual only knew their own (understandable) frustration. I'd responded to their posts several times and I had (have) another suggestion...but finally thought **** it.....why bother.
And I didn't. Karma

Not all Brits are polite all the time. And not all Americans are lacking in manners all the time.
And I think maybe it's more a generational thing as far as both nationalities are concerned.

Thank you.
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Old Apr 25th 2014, 2:27 am
  #205  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by MMcD
Here? On BE? No one would do such a thing!

as an aside, with regard to basic politeness - on this forum - and a simple "thanks" acknowledgement:

....Why is it that some Brit's here fail to bother saying it when it's clear someone has taken the time to take them seriously, consider their request and try to post the info they're seeking, including relevant links. etc.?
Frankly - it happened to me yesterday. The solipsistic individual only knew their own (understandable) frustration. I'd responded to their posts several times and I had (have) another suggestion...but finally thought **** it.....why bother.
And I didn't. Karma

Not all Brits are polite all the time. And not all Americans are lacking in manners all the time.
And I think maybe it's more a generational thing as far as both nationalities are concerned.

Thank you.
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Old Apr 25th 2014, 2:55 am
  #206  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?



Oh....and THANK YOU (shouted) loudly, whaddya expect from the rude Yank

Last edited by MMcD; Apr 25th 2014 at 3:00 am. Reason: please, to add a thank you - why else?
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Old Apr 25th 2014, 11:10 am
  #207  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by MMcD
Not all Brits are polite all the time. And not all Americans are lacking in manners all the time.
It's NEVER good to make sweeping generalisations
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Old Apr 25th 2014, 12:26 pm
  #208  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by technolog
It's NEVER good to make sweeping generalisations
Don't tar all generalizers with the same brush, though.
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Old Apr 25th 2014, 3:52 pm
  #209  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

Originally Posted by robin1234
Don't tar all generalizers with the same brush, though.
British generalizers are far superior.
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Old Apr 25th 2014, 4:13 pm
  #210  
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Default Re: How have you been treated here as a Brit?

I've always found, in general, that Americans are quite polite. A lot of people commented on my accent in NYC but I'm Scottish so that piques the interest a bit more. Some think I'm Irish but I don't mind....they've recognised that I'm not English at least. Nothing wrong with being English. Some of my best friends are English etc etc. In San Francisco it's a little less common to be British but there are quite a few foreigners here so I don't stick out too much. Sometimes that's a blessing but other times a curse!

I usually get positive comments about the UK and then the stories about ancestors coming from places that, invariably, I've never heard of. When people ask which place is better, US or UK I always say that they're the same but different. We have more in common than we have that separates us.

However, someone did once ask me what language was spoken in the UK; another, if my native language was English (was incensed) and why the UK doesn't celebrate July 4th and Thanksgiving. Sigh.
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