i know, i know, I'm an embarrassment.
OKAY so the british don't really do formalities like we do. Isn't that strange? We think of Brits as formal but - well, I'm confusing my words here, I did say formalities, and what I meant was - hello, how are you, thanks, I'm sorry, you're welcome, a smile and a nod of appreciation - and it feels rather cold and awkward at times, and rude, because why would you ignore me like that,
so it's funny to read a British perspective on the idea of forced friendliness from servers (which I miss, I truly do!)
"All of it - the whole highly-trained, slightly clammy and cultish-feeling "hi-I'm-Danny-and-I'll-be-your-server" business seems cynical, false and utterly un-British. That level of intimacy with a complete stranger makes me feel profoundly uncomfortable anyway, but the idea that it may have been taught, drilled and rehearsed by professionals in "the art of conversation" makes me feel exploited."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/oct/15/flirt-waiter-waitress
And now I have to run off to class - i know, shamefully short and shallow,
I apologize! Sorry about that, a smile and a nod, and I'll say hello when I see you again because I'm American, punks.
(I did meet an extremely friendly waitress the other day - she smiled at me and EVEN asked how my evening was going. It warmed me to the soul)
Perhaps when you wrote "formalities" you really meant "pleasantries" and adding a perhaps to a perhaps and thus venturing into extremely hypothetical territory, perhaps the British engaged in pleasantries in prior times but the loss of the empire did something to the cultural psyche-- My memory may be faulty but I think Dickens seemed to write of a time that was filled with pleasantries of the "hello" and "well met" variety. It also might be a problem of tringsxtx.
ReplyDeletepleasantries sounds like a good word there. tringsxtx, however, has me confused...
ReplyDeleteSome people might think tringsxtx is a an affliction caused by too little sunshine but I think it merely proves I am not a software program on thenete.
ReplyDelete