the english attitude towards the world:
We are benevolent in our authority, but we have authority.. righteousness.. almost anything we do is justified for a greater good...within reason of course..
we are just, so put up with it... we are doing you a favor since we are better than hitler and all the rest... we won't allow a lack of authority, it's in our nature to say no and enjoy it and to feel like we give the bitter pill of truth at any cost as the queen would appreciate it... compassion is not what we are after.. it's weakness.. you need to take care of you, although the queen and government will make it easy to be your cog in the wheel, have no fear about that.. you are the cogs i the machine of the empire.. we are one, but your part is right over here and clearly defined... so do it..
I would imagine that few people go to England for the English.. they can be melancholic or imperial, and like so many places that are kind of peaking, the best people are often to be found on the periphery.. the ones with the time to engage and teach and learn, not chasing after the mad ambition of the zeitgeist of the place... people come here to engage a history and an idea.. the home of the English language that now sweeps the world with the only challenge of the Chinese to it's global ubiquity and cultural importance, with american culture shoehornes in almost on purpose.. but it's not the English you come for really.. despite the occasional refreshing helpfulness of the ex soldier type who seems to have thea nswer you like on a street corner, or the London taxi driver who seems to have a phd in local history... most English lead a kind of dainty and scared existence... obligated but never driven.. pleasures passive more than active.. the charm seems almost accidental, or a product of a bygone day, or if you inquire, it's about keeping up appearances, and the true beneficiaries are the interlopers of tourists and billionaires come to find something refreshing and dependable from whatever lucrative chaos they come from.. they all have an ahh moment when they first arrive dreaming their country could be like this then that feeling fades with time as you realize that the majority of them are afraid to use the great benefits of their land and opportunity.. now this could be said for almost any underclass.. but none have such leverage as this one, but so long has been the elephants subjugation that it is less than a string but works better than almost any place I have been..
the Welsh attitude..
we are here.. we do what we do
the Scottish attitude..
I guess I have to do it, but fuck you for making me.. 1000 years ago I would have cut you in two..
the Irish attitude..
i might get it done, but i'll mock you and undermine you at every step of the way because deep dosn in my soul of souls I know a world exists where I don't have to put up with this shit..
London
the attitude of the locals
we are so important everyone wants to be here.. i mean look at us.. we have perfected cosmopolitan life... the whole world wishes they had dashing royals and a smart army and taxi drivers and pretty buildings and a great history like us. ordered yet permissive (not free mind you, just permissive) we do it mindful of others, but we have a right to be as self indulgent as we want to be.. with the younger and poorer ones there is a desire to show how they don't fall for con, that they are tough and that no deal could be better than the one they have.. it's almost beaten into them..
the atitude of poor immigrants..
this place is pretty nice, but these people are soft.. they are too trusting and don't know shit about real suffering, but the place works pretty well so I won't put up a fuss, becuase it is relaxing and nice, but if push comes to shove I would bury these people..
the attitude of rich immigrants..
I will take all the self indulgence without the noblis oblige.. London is my secret playground.. I don't give a fuck about anyone else.. their endless and deference is weakness..
what I find myself saying in England over and over again:
Wow.. she's hot... shit.. she's polish..
the best things about the UK.
it's easy to get around and to see what you want to see.. both in language and in rail connections and in just if not a helpfulness than at least a British insistence that you might not get frills but what must work does..
Georgian Planned towns up in Scotland
The Welsh
The Irish if you want to be amused..
the endless feeling of character and history and occasionally intrigue
the straightforward attitude of most of the men and the generation before ours that may be robotic but kind of puts it's head down and makes things work.. most of the men say 40-70 feel like an uncle you take for granted but kind of appreciate having, especially when you need help.. like morgan freeman typecast old wise black guys in the states...
only the upper crust give you shit for being american.. the rest wish they were american..
the predictability can be reassuring..
the public buses that go way out into the country to places that you actualy want to visit..
you really don't need a car..
the endless history crowned by the unique battle of Waterloo through industrial revelotion maybe to ww1 period of English supremacy and wealth that lead to so many satisfying Sherlock holmes and boats from all over the world intricacies..
The Viking blood in many of the women.. if you are white, the women look attractive even when the shouldn't, and aren't by american standards, at least they do to me..
the standard level of trust that exists among normal people in just walking about.. there is less alienation although it creeps in
.. you don't feel like the police are out to get you, meet quotas and participate in a culture war.
there is no culture war (well, it was won, but now the appreciate counter culture to liven things up a bit, from the queen on down..)
They might not have any wilderness left, but they allow nature to flourish in the cracks just about anywhere.. it's not a roundup kind of place.
Rugby
what Sucks about the UK
food
fear of simple things..
Soccer
imperial attitude of Londoners and some English towards others..
customer service
the authority obsession, and the fair play obsession if it
the fear of complaining, left over from the war... it's seen as disloyal and unpatriotic so they suffer endless idiocy from others because complaining is bad.. they expect their leaders to complain, but they are afraid to voice their own opinion on any indignity they might experience.. unless they are Scottish.. or a Londoner outside of London..
what sucks about Heathrow Airport
terminal one was created as a shopping mall, and it can take up to 20 minutes to get to your gate on foot after you are herded through this 75 yard disgusting shopping bazaar.. who the fuck designed it should be shot.. and once you get there and even if you are on time for the time on your card, they will have shut the door 5 minutes early... it's evil.. and the British could give two shits because they are the queens little boys and girls, and you should know better, again, a nation with only official compassion..
it's way out of town, the signs and layout are confusing, but despite being so far away, the landing path is right over kew gardens and half of West London, so that from about zone 2 your teeth rattle every time a plane goes by..
from now on Gatwick..
