Went on vacation in England last February. It was insane culture shock. Like, nobody smiles there. No one was friendly unless they had to be. I tried to strike up a conversation with a waiter after paying one night and by the time i looked up from the machine they had walked away and i was talking to myself...
In my experince the smiling is because: "I have no fucking clue what anyone is saying so I'll just smile unobtrusively."
Now there was this Jamacain bakery in Moss Side that I like to visit in the late 90's. Great bread and lots of smiles but the atmosphere was always a bit tense.
Huh, i started in the south now that you mention it, i worked my way north over time but by the time i got there I had pretty much stopped trying... Damn, I'm sorry to any northern British people reading my comment...
Huh, i started in the south now that you mention it
I could tell.
Damn, I’m sorry to any northern British people reading my comment…
To be fair, some parts of the North can be like the Slaughtered Lamb in American Werewolf in London. Then elsewhere, you have trouble shutting us up and helping - see this. A good rule of thumb is if there was a large Irish immigration into the area, you are probably going to find people are a lot friendlier (even in London).
Anyone remember that 'tier' chapter during covid when suddenly everyone in Cornwall temporarily became massively rude and bigoted? Really brought out the worst in them.