1. English people are SO hostile on trains. The fight for a seat completely on your own is a stealthy but determined one. Literally people will walk through the whole train just to not have to face someone you don't know on the journey home. I faced the unprecedented today; a sweet, harmless looking man sat opposite me in a last minute dash for a seat as the train was just about to leave, and smiled at me apologetically as if he had been seriously intruding my space. I get the train every Saturday morning now for work, and I'm used to the fact that the same train is always rather packed by the time I get on, so sometimes I have to share a six seater with someone, you get used to the polite but shocked glance as I dare to invade someone's else's large space!
 |
| only in a dream world. source |
2. Shoppers hate over - helpful shop assistants. This isn't to sound bitter or resentful, I feel the same about being asked if I need help! Working in a shop I know how flustered some customers can get, it's not nice feeling pestered by an assistant. In this way, I always try and make sure I pester people as little as possible, shopping should be stress-free! Personally I don't like feeling like an idiot in a shop out all of places, it can be embarrassing, so it's no surprise that many people tend to give me a funny look if I do ask, or scurry away just in case I'll chase them! I think this stems back to a fear of confrontation even in a non threatening manner, our natural state is very reserved and most of the time not very open.
you hit the nail on the head with the train seats. People are SO possessive of their space, or even just the space that they deem to be theirs. I have seen people throw themselves across carriages to get a seat, sometimes two seats- one for them and one for their bag. I've also seen pushers, people who push past ANYONE to get at that one seat next to the window. I've accepted it as thoroughly British behaviour but when I take a step back it is madness, train madness, commuter madness, British madness. Loved this post :) xx
ReplyDeleteAngelica [One Little Vice]