Thursday, August 17, 2006

The Lost Art of Manners (Part Two)

My little rant at Part One reminded me of a book I read a few months ago, by Kate Fox. Entitled Watching the English, Fox analyses various social trends and patterns which are unique to the English. Discussing the weather and the rules which we always follow, queuing,buying drinks (although interesting BBC article about that today) class systems, etc. So far, so predictable. I found it interesting enough, but felt she almost wrote what she wanted to believe, rather than what necessarily actually happens. Or else she hasn't really been in London. Where people don't form orderly queues at bus stops (or not all the time), where people don't instinctively know when it is their turn at the bar, where people don't follow the 'rules' of being English. Does this say more about the so-called 'rules' or the people that don't follow them?

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