Right-o. There's a vision of the average British person being terribly polite and super posh and going by the book on absolutely everything, because that's the way the British Empire has been running for years, isn't it, chaps? And that, of course, is utter poppycock, because... well, wait a minute. It kind of isn't poppycock at all, because British people tend to be highly respectable of the "rules." Which means that, wherever we are, our brains are always tuned to abide by the rules of any given place. Why, you wonder? Social embarrassment. There is nothing more terrifying for a British person that to find themselves in a situation where other British people are staring at them and thinking, "Oh, my: that person just went against the rules of this fine establishment. What the deuce?" Or something marginally along those lines, probably without the word "deuce," because it's 2014.
1. We Love Talking About The Weather
"Well, the weather's been mental lately, hasn't it?" Whether or not this happens elsewhere on Planet Earth, well who knows? Here in Britain, though, our weather changes so frequently and at such unexpected intervals that this topic of conversation never fails to impress or make sense. Nobody in Britain is ever annoyed if you bring up this subject, of course, because everybody has been pre-programmed by birth to find it at least "marginally interesting." And so the general rule with Brits and the weather is that the older you get, the more interesting this subject becomes, for some reason, as you spend more time staring out of the window. Elsewhere around the world, the weather tends to be a little more predictable and standardised than it does in the UK - or, at least, that's what we're told. The fact that it can be super sunny one minute and raining with apocalyptic intent the very next just makes for awesome conversation (?). Your parents, your grandparents, your girlfriend's parents, that new co-worker you feel like you should probably say something to because it's been three months now THE WEATHER IS YOUR ALLY. TALK ABOUT IT. Like this article? Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
