in which part of the UK are people most polite?

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and where are the rudest people?

― MarkH (MarkH), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Rudest people - Central London, surely?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I was thinking that may well be the case. There are so many facets to politeness which make it a difficult thing to gauge. I have lived in three cities - London, Oxford and Bristol and if you use the rather silly example of whether people thank the driver when they get off the bus:

London - nobody

Oxford - about half of them

Bristol - pretty much everyone

..suggesting that people get more polite the further west you go!

― MarkH (MarkH), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Belfast contains the rudest people. I have never received more racist shit anywhere else in the UK.

Polite? Everyone I have met from the Yorkshire area seems lovely.

― Lydia, Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Everyone says hello to you down in Cornwall - its really disconcerting.

I generally found the people of Exeter quite rude when I was living there, but that may have been because I was a scumbag student at the time.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

The Campaign for Courtesy do surveys on this thing from time to time, I think. Perth came out the most polite town in Scotland. Generally, I think the smaller the town the more polite the people.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

if Matt DC's assertion about central London is correct, then I think that the London attitude does tend to reach quite far out into the Home Counties and tends to overwrite the smaller town -> more polite people idea that N. mentions. so places like St. Alban's and Stevenage may well have less polite ppl than towns in Devon or Cornwall with similar populations.

― MarkH (MarkH), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yeah - if a town's in a commuter belt it doesn't really count as a small town for this purpose. It has to be pretty rural.

I do find people in Yorkshire incredibly chatty, though I guess that's not quite the same thing.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I sometimes thanked the bus driver on the buses round my old way (London suburbs) but this isn't feasible as you are getting off at the back doors and not the front - I assume Oxford and Bristol use two door buses too though so...

Lately though bus drivers are REALLY PISSING ME OFF - either forgetting to pick you up or to let you off and looking at the mirror when you flash your pass but then agitatedly calling you back cos they didn't see it properly so they get no love from me

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I meant to say it's not so feasible to say thanks when using buses in London because they almost always have back exit doors

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

London. its only a cliche cos its true.

― scottjames23 (worrysome-man), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

London sux, for politeness go to Newcastle/ Cardiff or Glasgow.

― C-Man (C-Man), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Do you mean that they're the least polite, Scott, cause I can't imagine how that's a cliché otherwise?

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:54 (twenty-two years ago)

London has a LOT of people in it and so many stress-inducing factors. It's not as if the people there are just inherently nastier/more impolite. It's difficult to give a balanced view if you live here but it's just as difficult to give a balanced view if you miles from the place, have only visited a few times or spent only a short while here in the very centre and are somehow resentful of the city's hype. There are still lots of very friendly people here of course (just as much a cliche though e.g. Cockneys).

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 18 January 2004 14:58 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not as if the people there are just inherently nastier/more impolite

I would have thought that was understood, steve. I doubt anyone here is going to make some kind of case for genetic surpremacy of any town's residents.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

but their eyes are closer together N!

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

All Scousers do have the humour/theft gene though.

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Londoners are only rude if they are in the grips of road rage or are underpaid workers in a pretentious shop. Otherwise small-town rules apply, especially in 'regular' grocers and small shops.

One exception is the newsagents in Back Hill which is owned by a surly couple who have signs up everywhere saying IF YOU CAN TOUCH, YOU CAN BUY and COLLEGE IS FOR TALKING, SHOPS ARE FOR SHOPPING - all the usual crap although my spelling is an improvement. Officious jobsworth shit like that drives me nuts, and I'm sure I'm not the only person around here who has resolved never to buy a periodical from that shop. I want to go in with my own sign for these folks which says IF YOU CAN'T SPELL YOU SHOULDN'T SELL.

― suzy (suzy), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Otherwise small-town rules apply, especially in 'regular' grocers and small shops.

This is just not true. You might get the odd really nice chatty shopkeeper but your average one just rings up the price and asks for the money. When I was in Yorkshire, they'd start chatting to you about something half the time, even if you'd never been in there before.

I don't think most Londoners are rude as such, or at least not so that it bothers me. They're just in their own little worlds.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)

There are varying standards of "politeness". I'm sure if you walked into a smalltown shop with a mohawk and pink leather trousers you'd get alot less polite treatment than one in London where they don't talk about the weather or whatever.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

By 'they' I also mean 'me', of course, especially when I'm there. I used to find it funny adjusting to the 'not jostling people when getting off and on trains' thing when I went out to Oxfordshire for the weekend.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Well N., I find that when you actually LIVE in Central London, you get a slightly different treatment from local shopkeepers than the people who commute to work here. If they see you more than a few times they do make an effort.

― suzy (suzy), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I found Forest Gate a very friendly place to live, I guess that isn't so central though. The shop/kebab shop/pub were run by really nice people, even the first few times I went there when they noticed I was Irish they were joking about the World Cup and things.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, well I'll have to take your word for that, suzy. My point was that in some other places, you don't need to be a local for them to be nice to you.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

(I never got any friendliness from the corner shop I went to almost every day in Stoke Newington, but maybe I didn't make the effort)

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm glad that someone's standing up for Central London. It's a very different atmosphere when you actually live there, compared to when you're a tourist. I mean, has anyone here pointed out how FREAKING RUDE tourists are a great deal of the time? Most of my neighbours (except for Ricky Gervais, but he's moved now apparently) are incredibly polite and friendly. As are shopkeepers when you see them on a regular basis.

But then again, do you mean polite, or do you mean, polite to strangers? I mean, I vote for Hull if you want polite or friendly to perfect strangers!

― the river fleet, Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

In Dublin in recent years, since the boom and things people have really taken to moaning about how much less friendly it is now, and that it's become like London etc, I kind of think this is silly though, I mean isn't this friendliness kind of a conservative community thing? It does seem really nice when you're in a rural type place but as I say batting an eyelid to be nice to people you don't know works the other way too, nosiness or singling people out who look or dress differently. Sometimes the anonymity of a big city is desirable.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Hrmmm, it's funny because in a Burchill novel (Married Alive, I think) there's a whole passage where she's going on about how she (the character) moved to London for anonymity, and the Bloomsbury shopkeepers went out of their way to recognise locals. Well, not in a polite way, more in a taking the piss way, but only because they were so relieved to see familiar faces among all the tourists.

― the river fleet, Sunday, 18 January 2004 15:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Tourists are either totally fucking rude or so guilty about being a tourist they behave as if there's a giant KICK ME sign taped to their backs. Neither type can communicate meaningfully.

Hmm, maybe I get the small-town treatment because I mind my p's and q's and say hello wherever, not just when I run errands/shop locally/see shopkeepers out of context on street. I think that work commuters only ever see the inside of a small cross-section of shops near their offices, eg. sandwich bar, caff, newsagent, heel bar - all essentially businesses catering to office-bods, who treat the staff in a fairly functional manner (that I'm Wearing A Suit, That Makes You My Serf crap).

― suzy (suzy), Sunday, 18 January 2004 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

People in Manchester seemed much friendlier than London, at least as far as bus drivers, clerks, etc. Everyone thanks the driver when exiting the bus. I was struck by the politeness in general while there; I'm a yank and thus not used to general politeness in my home city. It seemed that Great Britain was somewhat opposite the U.S.--people seemed to get friendlier the further north you went as opposed to here where they get friendlier as you go further south.

― webcrack (music=crack), Sunday, 18 January 2004 20:36 (twenty-two years ago)

London is totally unfriendly. and rightly so, wouldnt have it any other way. Major cities shouldn't be friendly, they should be baffling, aggressive and daunting.

― Stringent (Stringent), Sunday, 18 January 2004 20:39 (twenty-two years ago)

People in Exeter are generally rude to the students there because the students are generally rich, Matt, and we're not!

― Llahtuos Kcin (Nick Southall), Sunday, 18 January 2004 20:40 (twenty-two years ago)

So let's get this straight. Do people in Bristol and Manchester thank the driver even if it's a bus with exit doors in the middle of the vehicle? Surely not. Otherwise you'll find that drivers get their thanks when it's a single door bus in London too (mostly from just the elderly but still).

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 18 January 2004 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

In sheffield they do, on the few middle door exit busses. I'd say yorkshire was pretty polite. Londoners can be surprisingly cicil to each other though.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 18 January 2004 21:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah but to say thanks to the driver whilst exiting through the middle of the bus surely constitutes rudeness as you would have to raise your voice and this would also distract the driver from taking the fares of the boarding passengers. Oh the madness.

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 18 January 2004 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Obviously if the driver was busy, you'd not yell thanks but otherwise, sure. Bus drivers get thanked in London all the time, but not when:

*they refuse to call cops on the shoplifter (plus 'colleagues' of same) you and a shop clerk have chased onto the bus
*they Charlie Brown you at a stop after the whole world has just seen you sprint for the bus in 4-inch heels
*'Why didn't you stop?'/'It's a request stop'/'So that ringing bell back there was not a request to stop how, exactly?'

― suzy (suzy), Sunday, 18 January 2004 22:10 (twenty-two years ago)

If the world needs an enema then you should stick it in London, and take Essex with you. An utter shit hole of a city populated by arseholes and for Tony Blair to say, "the world's most important capital city" in his Olympics bid last week beggars belief. It's my least favourite city ever and it smells like shit too.

― C-Man (C-Man), Sunday, 18 January 2004 22:15 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a difference between polite and friendly. Cornwall, where I live, is polite but not that friendly.

The friendliest places I've been to in Britain are West Wales, particularly Fishguard and Newport Sands - and South Brent, in Devon.

Also Glasgow, which is sort of "frighteningly" friendly, in that everyone's lovely till you disagree with them about something, and where you can't tell, when they raise their voices at you, if they are being aggressive or just their natural take-no-nonsense selves.

― R bunged V (Jake Proudlock), Monday, 19 January 2004 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't argue with anyone from Glasgow who is starting on their third pint. Inevitably you're asking for a kicking.

― C-Man (C-Man), Monday, 19 January 2004 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

A Scot moaning about London. Extraordinary!

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 19 January 2004 02:35 (twenty-two years ago)

If this is the "polite and friendly" face of Scotland complaining about the "rudeness" of London, my god, it makes me love London more!

― the river fleet, Monday, 19 January 2004 13:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I would love to say Cambridge here, but alas I cannot. I think if it wasn't for Tourists are fuxing students it would be. The students are the rudest lot evah (apart from the tourists, obv)!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 19 January 2004 13:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Students and tourists... Cambridge sounds a lot like Bloomsbury then! ;-)

― the river fleet, Monday, 19 January 2004 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey sweetie! Howya?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 19 January 2004 13:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, Pink! I'm in Vermont! It's pretty here! And you want to talk about friendly people? OK, they have very silly New England accents, but they do say hello when I'm walking the dog.

― the river fleet, Monday, 19 January 2004 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

The correct answer to this thread is not "the internet".

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

cool, having fun?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I like all the ridiculous generalisations on this thread. All Glasgwegians are nice and friendly people but agressive when drunk! All Londoners are rude and stand-offish and too busy to be nice!

Having lived in the Highlands, Glasgow and surrounding areas, and Cambridge, I can safely say that there have been both rude and polite people in all of them. And that generalising sucks.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I meant that Cambridge ppl appear to be polite, but students & tourists do not. Of course you cannot say for every single person in Cambridge. I know alot of ppl in Cambridge that are definitely not polite. I guess it was meant to be an 'on the whole' thread.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't argue with anyone from Glasgow who is starting on their third pint. Inevitably you're asking for a kicking.
-- C-Man (cma...), January 19th, 2004.

for some strange reason i get the impression that c-man was speaking from experience. and that he obviously has never been to other towns and cities such as leeds, manchester, exeter, leighton buzzard, hemel hampsted, gayhurst, etc. where for him the risk of a kicking is equally high!

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

At the top of the thread, C-Man suggested going to Glasgow for politeness. Is getting your head panned in the new polite?

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think Glaswegians are more aggressive than anyone else, but the accent has an aggressive sound to it which makes the tone difficult for me to assess. I like the place very much; people are very helpful there.

― R bunged V (Jake Proudlock), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Out of all the people I know in Glasgow, Ally C is the only one who is actually from Glasgow. He doesn't have a very Glaswegian accent though and couldn't really be construed as aggressive.

I should get out more. I've lived here since 1991 and I don't know any real Glaswegians.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha... 'Gayhurst'.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 19 January 2004 14:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Ally's from Milgavnie. Proper Glaswegian, my arse.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Milngavie my head.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

OK then, I don't know any proper Glaswegians. Mr ailsa claims he's a Glaswegian as he lived in Bishopbriggs until he was six months old.

(And it's Milngavie. You'll have to practise your pretendy-Glaswegian-ness some more.)

x-post

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I live in glasgow and have lived in glasgow.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)

and I can be rude or polite.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)

but a fanny in either case

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

you cad Chu, don't besmirch RJG

― chris (chris), Monday, 19 January 2004 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

London as rude as Paris, New York the most polite, Mumbai the least

"I’m not a doorman; it’s not my job to hold doors. If someone gets hurt they should be quicker."

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:00 (twenty years ago)

In São Paulo, Brazil, even the criminals are civil; the researchers were attempting to buy sunglasses in an illegal market when the police arrived; the stallholder said “thank you” as he fled.

Haha

― Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:55 (twenty years ago)

Toronto is the third most polite city in the list. Where's my suitcase?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 11:58 (twenty years ago)

I'm afraid I don't know.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:02 (twenty years ago)

I was in Paris recently and was struck yet again by just how polite all the shopkeepers, waiters, bus drivers, ticket sellers, and other tourist industry people were. One shop we went into had sales staff with little badges on that indicated the languages they were good at. They introduced themselves to us by name. It wasn't even an expensive shop. Everyone says hello and goodbye, people don't talk in the cinema, if they bump into you they say 'pardon', they hold doors open, and so on. I don't get where folks are running into the rude people.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:06 (twenty years ago)

Streatham High Road, mostly.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:15 (twenty years ago)

Because I once went to Streatham to visit battling Elvis impersonators, I now think of Streatham as nothing but a string of Greek restaurants with Elvis impersonators in them.

Is this not what it's like, then?

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:29 (twenty years ago)

It's nice up north

― dustbing hoffman (dustbing hoffman), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:35 (twenty years ago)

There are still two adjacent Greek restaurants in Streatham High Road with adjacent Elvis impersonators. One of the many world-famous tourist attractions on this bijou stretch of the A23 which you might glimpse in the coach on the way to Brighton.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:49 (twenty years ago)

I think the survey is probably a little biased due to what they used as "tests" for "politeness"--their tests were acceptable judges of politeness for American society (hence western countries generally doing best). Maybe they just don't do those things in other countries, doesn't mean they're necessarily incredibly rude (by their own standards, at least). Also, New York (polite or not) is definitely not representative of the entire US, and I'm really surprised Tokyo wasn't on the list at all.

― Jessie the Monster (scarymonsterrr), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:00 (twenty years ago)

toronto: not that polite in my experience but a great city nonetheless.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:03 (twenty years ago)

i'd move there in a heartbeat.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:04 (twenty years ago)

So would I, except she wants to move here...

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:12 (twenty years ago)

tell her you'll be nicer to live with in the gentler surroundings of TO.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:22 (twenty years ago)

(then do whatever she wants).

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:22 (twenty years ago)

I'm nice to live with anywhere, where did you get that idea? ;-)

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 13:47 (twenty years ago)

pure projection!

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 16:29 (twenty years ago)

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