Stealing an idea from Amigos 4 when he (she?) asked for 3 words that come to mind when we think of America, I'd like to invite people to describe how they see the "Typical Englishman".
I'd start this off with -
polite
private and
tolerant
but then again, I expect I'm a bit biased.
Buggles :roll:
Tolerant? I don't think so. But perhaps I'm thinking in terms of older English gentlemen. During my many trips to Blighty I've found that the typical older English gentleman has an inbred, automatic bias against Americans (or "Colonists," as a few called me). I could give you dozens of examples, but will start with just one:
One of my first trips to London, map in hand, trying to figure out the confusing bus routes (I'm from Detroit, where the buses are few and everyone has a car.) When a bus stopped at my corner, I stepped aboard to ask the driver if this was the bus that went to X, and seconds later an older man sitting nearby started sputtering about how I was holding up the coach and my silly questions were nonsense, etc, etc. I looked him in the eye and said, "I hope, sir, that some day if a loved one of yours is lost in the United States that someone will show more kindness than you have." The bus driver did give me helpful information as to which number bus I needed to catch, all the while the other man was mumbling about "bloody Colonists."
