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| British | 71% | 416 votes | Total: 587 votes | |
| Americans | 29% | 171 votes |
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Add to FavoritesBRITISH WON, AMERICA ZERO
Everything about the English, except those they keep in basements, is well mannered. I most usually am English goofy myself as are my children. I simply see no reason to be stupidly mean to people who've not asked for it. On a day to day basis, good manners are warming and necessary to good relations for all.
The British tend not to be knee jerk reactionary types. It usually takes a bit to get them ready to duke it out. Once you've got them there, it's bad. The very sky breaks open and lightening strikes as the earth rumbles.
In my lifetime, I've had the jolly good fortune of working with two British women. One was in a job over 20 years ago. The other was more recent. British women are so un-uptight and hilariously funny. They know how to have a good time. There was an almost universal sense to these women. They were smart and compassionate people.
A few years ago, I was acquainted with a young Englishman who was attending college here. He was going through a hog-wild time of it and doing it like a perfect gentleman. He was a very good looking young man who was quite literally running from the women. And their boyfriends. What I noticed about this young man, is what I noticed about the British women I'd known. These people were jumping right into life, rubbing elbows with gators and other dangers and still so well mannered. I got on with them just fine.
This is not to say that the English are angelic beings. Far from it they are. But I've not met one who struck me as ill mannered. I think I should say that the British people I've known were not wealthy. Neither were they poor.
There is a social element to England that America simply does not have. Perhaps it is the island and being surrounded by such a big world of unpredictability.
I once was acquainted with a man in a writer's group who was English and Irish. But he was thoroughly of the English mind and manners. I liked him. His sense of humor was tops and his curiosity about the world around him was huge. I enjoyed reading him.
The English understand "Royal Thinkers". Americans tend to loathe them. I think Americans are more prone to violence and the gang mentality. The British history, like American history is full of good and bad. But British history is much longer and their fights for autonomy were great and many.
Whatever the reasons, the British are better mannered than Americans.
Learn more about this author, G E Barr.
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Americans
I am a European who has lived in Britain all my life, and it seems there are several things the rest of the world has yet to learn about the tea-drinking cricket-loving country.
Chavs. Anyone know what one of those is? You might have similar types of people in your own country, and although I am not one for stereotyping having been stereotyped myself countless times, Chavs definitely do exist. A British chav wears jogging suits and hoodies, smokes underage, sleeps around, drives recklessly fast, basically, cares about no one apart from themselves. They enjoy being hoodlums, setting fire to recycling bins, smashing shop windows etc. But what has this got to do with manners? Obviously, they have none, but their general attitude about caring about no one else can be applied, unfortunately, to many British people. Naturally, there will be some Americans like this, but most that I've met are amazingly generous and caring people.
This is something i saw in a supermarket recently: A woman collapsed in the fruit aisle. She suddenly fell over and the contents of her basket went everywhere. Everyone sort of looked at her then turned around to carry on being ignorant - some people actually laughed. My family and I went to help her, and she was embarrassed more than hurt, especially as she was getting up some moronic youth working for the greedy shop come up and told her to clean up and pay for everything she had dropped and broken. He then went away without offering to help. I get the impression this wouldn't happen in America - please correct me f I am deluded.
A lot of British people are also ridiculously self opinionated, sometimes to the point where it is unbelievable. I was at college yesterday when I told one of my (English) friends about a song I wanted to learn on piano. She interrupted me by just saying "Gay" (oh yes, they're extremely homophobic too). I questioned this, and she just said "Because it's gay." I said I thought it was a whimsical piece of classical music, and she slammed a door in my face! I couldn't believe she did this and it sounds unbelievable now that I've written it, but that actually happened! The point is, she wouldn't accept my opinion because evidently it is worthless (in which case this piece is a waste of time)!
Finally, I would like to end by challenging your British stereotype once more. Do you think Great Britain is a country where everyone says "please" and "thank you" in funny posh accents? Until the age of 8, perhaps, but not often after that. Living here, I know everyone is out for themselves, and if you want to get somewhere here, you need to be British to get there.
Learn more about this author, Ben Davies.
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