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by kaimi0achava @ 2008-04-03 - 20:55:15

I saw this Email on a school site. I hope they do not mind me using it. It is from an American about manners in London. In the past Britain has always been known for good manners and politeness. It is a shame that we are so ANGRY and rude today.

"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. "

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tylluanpenrytylluanpenry pro
2008-04-03 @ 22:37

London is nothing like the rest of the UK and certainly nothing like Wales. I don't say that all the Welsh are polite, but we are normally very friendly and certainly talk a lot!

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kaimi0achavakaimi0achava [Member]
2008-04-03 @ 23:22

Does that include to talking to the English? :))

Are you North or South Walian?

I agree about London though. I know a few Frech people who say that Parisians are rude to all, especially non parisian French. The same for londoners I think.

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tylluanpenrytylluanpenry pro
2008-04-03 @ 23:44

I live in the Valleys of S E Wales. We'll basically talk to anyone and everyone.... apart from Cardiffians, of course ;)

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jenrayjenray pro
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
2008-04-03 @ 23:47

oooh, not so, not so...we paid one and one only visit to Wales out of season to Snowdon...turned out we were a week too early for the holiday season to start...and we found the Welsh incredibly rude and cold and couldn't wait to go home...even the sheep were trying to escape while we waited for the bus to get to the station...a flock walked past us down the middle of the road then walked back and went into a housing estate...clearly looking for a way out...:) sorry...but this is a true story...big hugs...

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tylluanpenrytylluanpenry pro
2008-04-03 @ 23:52

I'm sorry to hear that - but you visited North Wales which is a whole different world. North Walians tend not to talk to the South Walians, and the Crachach (the posh people) don't want to bother with people in the Valleys. In North Wales they speak mostly Welsh, but it's a different Welsh to South Wales.... and in the Rhondda Valley we tend to speak Wenglish, an unholy mix of Welsh and English. Next time do come to the Rhondda, Jen, someone would almost certainly have offered you tea and a welsh cake!

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jenrayjenray pro
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
2008-04-04 @ 10:48

LOL...no wonder you're so miserable, you can't even speak to each other...thanks for the invite to the Rhondda...just very wary now of stepping foot in Wales again after that experience...it was our 25th Wedding Anniversary as well...the journey though there and back was beautiful, we saw some wonderful countryside and traveled on the edge of the sea for several miles...beautiful! We just prefer to forget Snowdon and its people...:) Big hugs...

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kaimi0achavakaimi0achava [Member]
2008-04-04 @ 12:06

Do not go to Norfolk then. They speak to you, but only to distract you while they steal your wheels. :)

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jenrayjenray pro
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
2008-04-04 @ 13:19

Oh, HLOL...I lived there for a short while in a convent would you believe it!! Hated the life in there, but quite liked Bury-St-Edmunds, didn't have much to do with the locals, except the gardener who told us to pack our bags and leave before the nuns destroyed us...eventually gave up, took his advice, and left and returned to Surrey...even bigger damned mistake...the capital of snobbery...one thing I would have changed in my life...should have gone south or back to London...still that's life...we live and learn the hard way...big hugs....

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tylluanpenrytylluanpenry pro
2008-04-04 @ 15:37

I quite understand, Jen. One bad experience can put you off a place for life, which is a pity because mostly Wales is a very friendly place, certainly in my part of the world.

What is the difference between the Italian Mafia and the Welsh Taffia?
Answer: The italian mafia makes you an offer you can't refuse, the Taffia makes you an offer you can't understand! :)

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jenrayjenray pro
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
2008-04-04 @ 16:07

Thanks for that...tylluanpenry..HLOL...

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jenrayjenray pro
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
2008-04-03 @ 23:50

Also, trouble with central London now is that most of the people in it aren't Brits so the poor American probably got the rough end of the people who now serve in most big stores and coffee shops and where ever...most, when we visited last time, could barely speak English so we found it most disconcerting and I'm a Londoner...

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kaimi0achavakaimi0achava [Member]
2008-04-04 @ 12:01

Oh sorry to hear you a Londoner, it must be difficult for you. :)) Only joking. My firm has it's HO in London, typically american they think London is England and that everyone wants to work there, which means I often have to stay in London. I have noticed over the years that the nationality of those in the service industry has changed. It used be mostly people from Asia but they appear to have been replaced by those from Eastern Europe. I would hasten to add that I am not saying they are the reason for the American couple receiveing a 'rude' experience. It was just an observation.

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jenrayjenray pro
http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
2008-04-04 @ 13:09

Cheeky manx! HLOL...I love London, I just resent bloody losing it that's all...it's now full of ghettos instead of being a city in its own right, and by that I mean no ghettos...believe me, it's changed beyond recognition, and I don't feel at home in it any more...went into a cafe in Oxford Street and ordered something from a foreign waitress and didn't get anything like I ordered...gave up trying to explain what I actually asked for...she couldn't understand a bloody word...sweet smile, but frigging well couldn't speak English...if you were born in London, you might appreciate what I'm talking about but doubt whether you were by the sound of things...and don't forget I'm in my sixties now, so I remember it from a long time ago now...my home was in Pimlico, and you couldn't get much more central than that...big hugs...

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workandbooksworkandbooks [Member]
2008-04-19 @ 11:26

I find the younger and the better 'educated' people are then the more rude, ignorant and self centered they are, no matter where they're from. My daughter was recently made redundant from a large travel company. A few stragglers including herself were still left in the building working out their redundancy notice when the new tennants moved in. These were all studenty type graduate geeks (her words, not mine) and the company an ISP. She said they acted as if they owned the place, pushed and shoved their way around and in the canteen one lad just walked straight past the queue to the front where his mate was and got served.

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