Posted by Visualize on Fri 17 Jul 09, 2:57 AM to Visualize's blog.
As in...are we?
I just had the opportunity, care of work, to go on a jolly trip to Germany and Italy.
Very nice. A bit hot, but I can live with that 
The bit that has got me really thinking, though, is how we must be perceived as a nation.
It started before I even left the country. The German plane sitting, waiting at Birmingham, to finally leave 40 minutes late because of the ten mile long queue for the only two xray machines being manned, compounded by hundreds of people who are too fekkin STUPID to read the instructions to remove significant chunks of metal from their persons....
When I got to the plane, the German pilot sounded weary but polite. He has been to Brum before I think. He apologised for the delay which wasnt his fault and then apologised again for the fact that we now had to sit around even longer to get a slot to take off.
On arrival in Germany, there was a minibus waiting for every connecting flight - 5 or 6 planes were running late at Munich waiting for connected passengers, the Germans were doing everything they could to make up for the latest failure at Birmingham without ANY hint of blame for the passengers - there walk better people than me, for sure - If the <insert country of choice> passengers always caused the problems, then it would be very tempting to feel umbridge towards them.
After that everything went pretty smoothly - everything happened as it should - taxis appeared on time, flights happened on time, all transport arrived within 5 minutes of when it should, and all the way through almost everyone, staff everywhere and strangers in the street, were enormously helpful, friendly, guileless, liberal with good advice, patient with people who can only talk English, ready to be...sociable.
Apart from the odd pockets of trouble here and there - who are those people running and screaming in the pretty fountain?...ahhh, they are british. Jeez, did he really just drop that rubbish?, ahh, he is british, Who is that loud mouthed boor we can hear a block away, ahhh, he is American (LOL).
and then the flight back.....
Munich to Birmingham.
Complete with the most obnoxious bunch of English "businessmen" you could ever meet. How difficult is it to understand simple instructions like "please sit in your allocated seat","fasten your seatbelt", "please turn off your phone", "please remain in your seat as we are experiencing turbulance and you might fall down. Oh you, appear to have fallen down...please sit in your seat..."...
Every other nation, it seems, can manage to follow clear sensible directions.......
Followed by the "charge of the sales brigade" as it will forever be in my memory, AKA snatch all your excess hand luggage from the lockers you over stuffed and race to the door as the plane is still taxiing, race to the bus, wait in the bus for everyone else and then charge, charge, charge to the Iris scanner, Blackberry in hand, Burberry luggage hitched like a trailer to your dumb arse british behind to discover that there are...no taxis waiting for you.
Are we really so crap as a nation?
Do we have anything to be proud of anymore?
Do "we" take time to really make sure we send a stranger in the right direction with good advice?
Do "we" acknowledge that often if we just follow the rules it might make our own lives easier/safer and save someone else some hassle?
Are we just the scourge of europe?
I am embarrassed tonight. Shamed by my betters. Still, tomorrow is another day.
The past is history, tomorrow a mystery, the present, a gift.
| 17 Jul 09, 3:48 AM Elven_Eyes UK, 5 yrs  |
I am sometimes embarrassed by my countrymen when I see them abroad. No wonder we have such a rubbish international reputation. It gives me the incentive to be that bit more patient when in similarly circumstances, to counter that image. "The chaperon is there to make sure no one else has any fun, but nobody chaperons the chaperon. That's why I'm so right for this job." -Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" | |
| 17 Jul 09, 8:36 AM rubberroy UK(TN), 6 yrs  |
I tend to agree. I often go to Europe and feel ashamed of being British because of the behaviour of what seems the majority of Brits abroad. Quite why it is that the Brits abroad have to behave with such arrogance is beyond me. The foul language that seems to interject every other word in some conversations annoys me. It's only the Brits that do it. don't the perpetrators realise that a majotity of people in europe CAN speak English or at least understand English and know what is being said! I speak German and am learning French but rarely hear and "bad language" in conversations in those languages, but English, well, every other word seems to be Fuck or something similar. Then maybe it's just that I happen to notice the lager lout mentality because they stand out in the crowd. One habit the Brits seem to have is when they are not being understood is to speak LOUDER and LOUDER rather than try to explain patiently in another form of words what they want. The goddam mother-fuckin Yanks tend to be rude. One instance I saw at Hamburg Hbf many years ago was a yank in front of me at a kiosk just pointing and saying I want one of THOSE; no response from the guy at the counter. then louder, I WANT ONE OF THOSE. Still no response. I thouth maybe the counter guy doesn't understand English. I asked him for something in German. He gace me the price in English and said if that bloody yank had said please I would have served him! Sezitall really. Rubber Roy | |
| 17 Jul 09, 8:37 AM subrugbylad UK(M), 6 yrs |
I do feel this country is slowing losing a lot of what it is all about, the "English Gentleman" is slowing making way to the type of behaviour you described on the plane home. Will always be proud to be British but am slightly concerned with the way we are viewed abroad - Working in the travel industry i do know we arent viewed as badly as the French or Germans, but think its only a matter of time. To be honest I think its a worldwide problem and what you saw could have been any nationality! It seems the world is losing its manners! "insert witty comment here, i cant think of one" | |
| 17 Jul 09, 8:47 AM MarcusStrapp UK(CB), 7 yrs |
It amazes me that we still have tourist willing to visit England when there seems to be such a commonly held practice of treating tourists like they are a nuisance rather than our (paying) guests. Abroad I have suffered that shame of seeing fellow Brit tourists behaving so abominably without a care or consideration for local culture and custom. And what is it with (a certain type of) the Brits' attitude to alcohol? Years ago in Barbados I was in a place where there was an open bar. You could tell the tables where the Brits were seated, loud, rude, Union Jack shorts showing bum crack and pools of sick. Fortunately it's not every Brit, fortunately some Yanks are capable of this too. I travel by the cheap carriers a fair bit, the stampede for first on and first off always leaves me feeling bemused. The plane's not leaving until we are all on! And why would you pay for speedy booking if that means you have to sit in a cramped seat for 5 minutes longer than the others? Baggage carousels: If every one took two steps back, there would be room for everyone to see their bag arrive. Babies on board. No one takes a babe in arms or toddler on a flight for fun. They have to take them because they are trying to get somewhere. So when the baby on board is crying, it simply is not going to help matters by being rude and abusive towards the kid and parent, Equally, if you are travelling with younguns, prepare, have bottles, passifiers, toys. It's a courtesy to the other passengers There is no excuse for good looking air-hostesses to wear trousers. Short skirts and stockings cost no more and far more entertaining than in-flight movies. I do not know what if mobile 'phones interfere with aeroplane equipment, but if they say turn them off, turn them off. American Immigration. Just one word: "smile". Taxi drivers all over Europe Smart cars, bilingual drivers, GPS navigation and smart fast credit card facilities. Edinburgh a few weeks ago, and after dismissing two cabs that refused to take credit cards, the one that did was still using one of those 30 year old mechanical paper slider machines and was really unsure how to use it. England a third world country without the benefit of the climate! Oooh you've got me on a rant... oh dear
The Fetish Photo Album A free and private flickr group for IC members to share dirty pictures! | |
| 17 Jul 09, 9:02 AM Anarchtea UK(RM), 8 yrs |
When I was in France and Germany in the past year, nothing made me cringe more than hearing an English voice over the general hubbub. I think this is at least part of the problem - we're influenced far too much by America. We have its products, its TV programmes, its god-awful excuses for films and music. Our special relationship is more of a big brother-little brother one, and we're always trying to imitate our bigger sibling, praying for attention. Perhaps that's taking it a bit far, but I can't help feeling that the 'Britishness' we're losing is down to the slew of American consumerism, merchandise and mindless media that is imported over here.
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| 17 Jul 09, 10:07 AM dementia_von_gurth UK(DA), 4 yrs |
you might want to remove the rose tinted specs ... while i will admit that the behaviour of some english people abroad may leave a lot to be desired we aren't the only ones ..... selazy mediteranean men who think every british girl is up for a good time, towels by the pool, arrogant french, bolshy germans and if you ever have the misfortune of queuing for anything you'll find that nobody obeys the rules of queuing like the brits, disneyland paris was a nightmare ... can't find anythig bad to say about the dutch though, apart they all seemed a bit mad, in a good way. all for one and fuck the rest | |
| 17 Jul 09, 10:22 AM Visualize 4 yrs £ |
True, true, but we are often the obvious ones! Maybe I tune in more readily to the English speakers because I recognise the language, and yes, I did meet a few unpleasant people who weren't british, including one restaurant where the waiter was so breathtakingly rude that we got up and walked away without even ordering, but overall if someone was being a public embarrasment they were either british or American The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, the present ia a gift. | |
| 17 Jul 09, 10:30 AM Visualize 4 yrs £ |
Quite. The majority of Europeans seem to have mastered at least the rudiments of a second language, usually English or German, but the basic manners of at least **attempting** to start off in their language usually works wonders - learning numbers one to ten and please, thank you, excuse me and hello, together with a best guess at bus, taxi, water and so on is so much more polite even if you then have to revert to English. The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, the present ia a gift. | |
| 17 Jul 09, 10:32 AM Visualize 4 yrs £ |
That made me smile. Very very true. The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, the present ia a gift. | |
| 17 Jul 09, 10:36 AM Visualize 4 yrs £ |
Yes, that is certainly something I have learned from my trip - I have been a bit too impatient in the past when someone with very little english stops me in the street to ask for directions, etc. From now on I am going to be a lot more helpful. Good lesson learned. The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, the present ia a gift. |
