T. writes,”I was on a bus with about 15 other people and it broke down. Everyone politely got off the bus and onto the replacement and then sat in EXACTLY THE SAME SEATS as they were in before. I’ve never felt so English. The thing is, as we were walking between the buses I knew it was going to happen, and that I would play my own part in it. There is some peer pressure you simply cannot escape.”
So what I said about it being futile to sum up a culture? Wrong again, apparently. But joyously so. Thanks, T.
Irrelevant photo: You can look at almost any tree around here and see which way the prevailing winds blow.
Notes from the U.K. 
Just try sitting in a different seat and you will see another side to these gentle folk. Just conform, it’s easier!
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Belladonna Took, are you listening? You’d be taking your life in your hands, apparently.
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I originate from (a now non-existant) ex-colonial country, which means we had a strong British influence in the formation of our cultural norms. That is exactly who we were. Thank you for sharing your observations. They taste like home.
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Interesting comment. I’d love to know what the country is–or was–if you’re comfortable saying.
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I was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Most of our TV, radio and music was British, for a very long time.
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Growing up in the U.S., I saw and heard American radio and TV, but somehow the sense of England as a familiar culture was communicated to me anyway.
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I laughed so hard reading this because I’ve done exactly the same thing. I too knew it was weird at the time and yet I too conformed. Maybe broken down buses are a social experiment.
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They are. We’re all just rats in a maze.
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Yep. That sums it up pretty well. Have trouble seeing that happen here in the U.S. ☺ Van
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I can’t remember ever being in that situation in the U.S. I have no idea what would happen.
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They wouldn’t be so polite when the first one broke down…that’s a given !
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I expect you’re right about that.
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Trees look so interesting when blown into shape like that. I think it’s great that the people assume the same seats they were in previously, how it should be.
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The trees here amaze me. It’s only in the valleys, or inland, that we can find any straight trees.
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Loved this post, and the trees.. they made me think of The Wizard of Oz…
Take care and happy blogging to ya, from Laura ~
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…and to you.
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What a wonderful example of people being good and decent to each other. I would imagine that, if this situation happened in the US, all those who felt they had inferior seats on the first bus would have taken advantage of the situation and elbowed their way to the front so they could choose better seats on the new bus.
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We’ll have to set up an experiment and see.
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The temptation to sit in someone else’s seat would be irresistible.
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To you and me, yes. To T., it would be impossible.
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That this has a very strong appeal scares me just a bit, but then maybe that is just American culture shaming me for my lack of ambition when it comes to climbing over others to get something better. This exact thing happened to me once here in California and I did the English thing without a thought–yes, the exact same seat. My English genes, away nearly 400 years, long to go home.
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Have you noticed that everyone who’s commented assumes some seats are better than others? We don’t know that. They may just be different.
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I often wonder what Brits or folks from other cultures think of us Americans when I encounter them at the tourist spots. It can’t be good.
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I should put that on the list of questions I’m not qualified to answer but will–or may–anyway.
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Those trees look a bit spooky …especially at night I think…
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I never thought of them that way, but if you do, then yes, I guess they could.
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Hm, this sounds ridiculous, but also so right and logical. I must be becoming British.
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It sneaks up on a person, doesn’t it?
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Absolutely. Time to become a citizen I guess.
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Might as well at that point.
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Seems like it.
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Lol….I would have done the exact same thing. Like I have an assigned seat.
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Like you had one?? Didn’t you get the message with your seat assignment?
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This is excellent, Ellen! England has many, many faults but I am English to my core and despite now living on the other side of the world I can’t see this changing. Other typically English traits you may have encountered… apologising for EVERYTHING whether you are at fault or not “sorry!”; a cup of tea being the solution to anything in life (I personally feel highly uncomfortable setting foot in a home that does not contain a kettle and teabags); waxing lyrical with some of the best colloquial slang on the planet (surely?!). I used to live in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for many years – there’s so much Geordie slang it’s like another language. I absolutely loved it!
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I’ve come to believe that tea does solve everything. About an hour ago, we got home from having had a tire blow out on the road to Truro and what did I do? Make a cup of tea. I feel better, although I can’t quite put the day back the way it was supposed to run.
And England may have many faults, but what country doesn’t?
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