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Majority of Scots want to remain in the UK


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Or even better, try being suddenly made a single parent of a 4 and 1 year old in a foreign, sub-Arctic part of the world with a different language and a socially reticent population.

 

Do I moan about the people around me? Well, funnily enough, I'm too busy running three lives single-handedly to have that luxury.

 

I sympathise with your position but not sure the point of your post.

 

Maybe it comes from a bit of a knee jerk reaction to mine, where you diverged from the thrust of the point I was trying to make: that in my experience, the cultures of Scotland and England are somewhat noticeably diverse (or at least used to be). I wasn't moaning, it was just personal observation (plus agreement from others) - a bit like your's about the "socially reticent population" which is probably more negative in absolute terms than "less friendly", which is relative...

 

As you say, you don't have much time for social analysis, whereas I don't have kids and have always spent much of my time being a bit of a socialite, and always meeting new people. :)

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I sympathise with your position but not sure the point of your post.

 

Maybe it comes from a bit of a knee jerk reaction to mine, where you diverged from the thrust of the point I was trying to make: that in my experience, the cultures of Scotland and England are somewhat noticeably diverse (or at least used to be). I wasn't moaning, it was just personal observation (plus agreement from others) - a bit like your's about the "socially reticent population" which is probably more negative in absolute terms than "less friendly", which is relative...

 

As you say, you don't have much time for social analysis, whereas I don't have kids and have always spent much of my time being a bit of a socialite, and always meeting new people. :)

 

Perhaps I wasn't clear. As a Scot, if you struggle with English people, you'll struggle with life.

 

Again, I've been around the block. The English are very much our brothers in life. In my experience they are sage observers of life and big fans of Scotland and the Scots.

 

To repeat my earlier point, if you walked into a bar in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, etc. and saw an English guy, would you treat him like the natives, as a foreigner? No chance, you'd be straight up to him asking where he's from and what brought him to said part of the world.

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Perhaps I wasn't clear. As a Scot, if you struggle with English people, you'll struggle with life.

 

As I said, you knee jerk reacted instead of listening to what I said - I've explained it several times since, but you are still not listening and continue to get personal, and I'm not sure why. As I said you have observed your locals to be socially reticent, so maybe you are judging me because you struggle with this, but to me it's just observations.

 

If you want some wisdom, observations like this actually make life easier, as you see the differences in your environment and adapt to them - just like the HSBC adverts. However, I must admit that an English friend thinks I'm still naive about offering people a drink, I just feel uncomfortable going to the bar without offering to buy a round - it's conditioned in me.

 

So I shouldn't have to explain this but - I don't "struggle" with the English or any culture. I have many English friends and had plenty of English girlfriends including one I was with for 14 years. I've lived 23 years in England, I can cope, it's just not always as pleasant and friendly as I find it, or used to find it, in Scotland.

 

No matter well you get on with the English it does not suddenly make them on average as openly friendly or as generous etc as how I experienced the average Scot. I think Scots were in general, exceptional and we are well known for these traits. I don't think this a natural trait, I think it is nurtured by a different culture.

 

Again, I've been around the block.

 

You say that, but you don't seem to have even stumbled into the well known meme of Scots being exceptionally friendly, whether it's true or not.

 

The English are very much our brothers in life. In my experience they are sage observers of life and big fans of Scotland and the Scots.

 

Now you are generalising. Some are sage, others not so much, some big fans, some have a bit of antipathy, many are just indifferent, most find us interesting in one way or another. As I said, one said to me that he really likes Scotland as it has some of the best scenery in England...

 

To repeat my earlier point, if you walked into a bar in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, etc. and saw an English guy, would you treat him like the natives, as a foreigner? No chance, you'd be straight up to him asking where he's from and what brought him to said part of the world.

 

Again, I have no idea what you mean by this. I would very possibly do that as he's an English speaker in a land where I don't speak the lingo, and I'm probably more likely to speak conversationally to tourists if I am one, but it depends on many situational factors. The same goes if he were a Scot. I live in England, I speak to English people every day so yeah, it would probably be quite natural. But I don't think there would be much difference if he were Aussie, Kiwi, American, South African or Dutch.

 

Actually, I seem to meet a lot of Aussies and Kiwis on holiday...

 

Also, at the risk more ire on this thread, I have to say, in my own personal experience, and that of many foreigners I've spoken to, there is another trait that is more prevalent among the English (I haven't seen it in Scots), especially from the south-east, and that is for a significant minority to talk down to the native population as if they are inferior - if the guy did that, I probably wouldn't talk to him if I could avoid it.

 

The worst examples were in a hotel in Turkey who kept clicking their fingers and being rude to the waiters, and so I didn't talk to them much. However, I did make friends with some local Turkish people who had a stall in the market, and went out with them for drinks and food. One of them was kind enough to lend me his motorbike for the day when I asked him to recommend a moped place - although he then watched me ride up an down the street first.

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