British People unfriendly ?
Is it me ? Or are British people unfriendly ? I have been back in the UK for a few years now after living in the States for 5 years and I have noticed how cold and unfriendly since Covid Brits seem to have become , I am living near Bracknell and no one ever speaks to each other or is interested in even getting to know their neighbours , I live in a rental flat but apart from my housing manager no one seems to ever talk to each other here and its making me want to move out of the UK again , I am interested to know if its just my area or are you guys and girls having the same issue ?
Not an issue to me. Just the way I like it.
Original post by Veet Voojagig
Not an issue to me. Just the way I like it.
Thats good for you but in my case i like to have a good social circle and go out for drinks and to parties etc , I dont like being isolated , Australia or New Zealand i may go to next as the weather too here in the UK is driving me insane too much rain and we had like 2 weeks of summer lol
Original post by TigerLilly1234
Thats good for you but in my case i like to have a good social circle and go out for drinks and to parties etc , I dont like being isolated , Australia or New Zealand i may go to next as the weather too here in the UK is driving me insane too much rain and we had like 2 weeks of summer lol
Yes. England in the SE is NOT friendly. I've really struggled with finding a relationship or maintaining friendships. And I've lived here my whole life.
(edited 3 months ago)
Original post by TigerLilly1234
Is it me ? Or are British people unfriendly ? I have been back in the UK for a few years now after living in the States for 5 years and I have noticed how cold and unfriendly since Covid Brits seem to have become , I am living near Bracknell and no one ever speaks to each other or is interested in even getting to know their neighbours , I live in a rental flat but apart from my housing manager no one seems to ever talk to each other here and its making me want to move out of the UK again , I am interested to know if its just my area or are you guys and girls having the same issue ?
Yes - I have noticed this too. And people are more selfish and aggressive, certainly on the roads. It is really sad. Community is one of the hallmarks for a happy society. I don't think British people are very happy on the whole.
Original post by TigerLilly1234
Is it me ? Or are British people unfriendly ? I have been back in the UK for a few years now after living in the States for 5 years and I have noticed how cold and unfriendly since Covid Brits seem to have become , I am living near Bracknell and no one ever speaks to each other or is interested in even getting to know their neighbours , I live in a rental flat but apart from my housing manager no one seems to ever talk to each other here and its making me want to move out of the UK again , I am interested to know if its just my area or are you guys and girls having the same issue ?
I think I prefer it this way. Whenever I have to visit the US for work, everyone's personalities are so over the top and inauthentic. Here everyone is rightfully gloomy haha, it's the way it should be. For example, there's nothing better than a tube ride where everyone is silent and nobody is smiling - why would they, it's 7-8am in January on the way to work.... 😅. I think it's related to national identity, and the general dry sense of humor compared to the US.
Still, if you want to make friends then the best way is to pursue hobbies that require other people. Sure everyone's a bit glum in the UK compared to the US, but if you're wanting to talk to people or make friends, it's probably not everyone else's fault if you're unsuccessful.
Original post by BenRyan99
I think I prefer it this way. Whenever I have to visit the US for work, everyone's personalities are so over the top and inauthentic. Here everyone is rightfully gloomy haha, it's the way it should be. For example, there's nothing better than a tube ride where everyone is silent and nobody is smiling - why would they, it's 7-8am in January on the way to work.... 😅. I think it's related to national identity, and the general dry sense of humor compared to the US.
Still, if you want to make friends then the best way is to pursue hobbies that require other people. Sure everyone's a bit glum in the UK compared to the US, but if you're wanting to talk to people or make friends, it's probably not everyone else's fault if you're unsuccessful.
Still, if you want to make friends then the best way is to pursue hobbies that require other people. Sure everyone's a bit glum in the UK compared to the US, but if you're wanting to talk to people or make friends, it's probably not everyone else's fault if you're unsuccessful.
For a lot of people i think it's more the lack of community feeling relative to media perception in other countries.
While its somewhat understandable that travelling does not lead to conversation there is a much more communal feeling on US TV and spoken of in reference to our own UK communities. But as i sit here, i can count on one hand the number of people on my street that i have interacted with.
Perhaps it's also a lack of direction. There was no tree ceremony for example for christmas, the council just popped up. A lot of local businesses don't organise community events. Perhaps these things just are/were more normal elsewhere today.
Original post by Rakas21
For a lot of people i think it's more the lack of community feeling relative to media perception in other countries.
While its somewhat understandable that travelling does not lead to conversation there is a much more communal feeling on US TV and spoken of in reference to our own UK communities. But as i sit here, i can count on one hand the number of people on my street that i have interacted with.
Perhaps it's also a lack of direction. There was no tree ceremony for example for christmas, the council just popped up. A lot of local businesses don't organise community events. Perhaps these things just are/were more normal elsewhere today.
While its somewhat understandable that travelling does not lead to conversation there is a much more communal feeling on US TV and spoken of in reference to our own UK communities. But as i sit here, i can count on one hand the number of people on my street that i have interacted with.
Perhaps it's also a lack of direction. There was no tree ceremony for example for christmas, the council just popped up. A lot of local businesses don't organise community events. Perhaps these things just are/were more normal elsewhere today.
I certainly don't disagree with that. Though I think that's probably more of a symptom than the actual cause. The real cause is that the UK has been stagnating as a country for well over a decade now, and relative to similar countries we're in decline. Real wages are the same as in 2008, housing is much more expensive, disposable income growth is just being crushed. Over a decade of that along with public sector expenditure cuts in real terms are starting to show up more clearly in degraded public services which impact people's day-to-day lives.
The UK is just less influential, poorer and more divided than in the past. This just all weighs on community spirit and individual households. A society which is going to be poorer than their parents generally isn't a super upbeat society. In comparison, the US economy has massively outperformed the UK and Europe since 2008. While they have their own problems, and it's a bit of a reductive viewpoint, people simply tend to be more upbeat if they know they're getting richer and can more easily tick off major milestones in life such as buying a home, having a family, progressing in careers and hobbies, etc.
(edited 4 weeks ago)
It varies a lot between the different regions of Britain and resident age groups.
There are plenty of regional areas and small villages that have very friendly locals.
With a quiet but close knit community culture where all compatible new arrivals on long term tenancies are warmly welcomed into the local area.
Helped to assimilate into the local social scene by members of the residents association or members of parish council members households.
I've had quite a few retired neighbours coming round within 3hrs of moving in with gifts of wine & picnic boxes and offering to collect parcels delivered when I'm at work.
All of them in the habit of keeping their eyes out for potential troublemakers from outside the local area lurking around properties where women live alone and dodgy locals with a reputation for "borrowing" cars parked on the street/owners driveways at night then returning them the next day before 4am.
In my experience within much of Scotland, Southern England and Wales people keeping an appropriate distance from people living nearby they don't know is more about reserve & wanting to preserve the tradition of automatically according privacy to neighbours than anything else.
Southern England's big cities usually have a lot of curtain twitching nosy parkers and overbearing busybodies that breathe more gossip than oxygen, most ordinary people don't want to give the impression of behaving like that.
Within Northern England, there tends to be a more relaxed attitude about greeting new neighbours and much greater enthusiasm for casual chat over the garden wall & in public places.
There are plenty of regional areas and small villages that have very friendly locals.
With a quiet but close knit community culture where all compatible new arrivals on long term tenancies are warmly welcomed into the local area.
Helped to assimilate into the local social scene by members of the residents association or members of parish council members households.
I've had quite a few retired neighbours coming round within 3hrs of moving in with gifts of wine & picnic boxes and offering to collect parcels delivered when I'm at work.
All of them in the habit of keeping their eyes out for potential troublemakers from outside the local area lurking around properties where women live alone and dodgy locals with a reputation for "borrowing" cars parked on the street/owners driveways at night then returning them the next day before 4am.
In my experience within much of Scotland, Southern England and Wales people keeping an appropriate distance from people living nearby they don't know is more about reserve & wanting to preserve the tradition of automatically according privacy to neighbours than anything else.
Southern England's big cities usually have a lot of curtain twitching nosy parkers and overbearing busybodies that breathe more gossip than oxygen, most ordinary people don't want to give the impression of behaving like that.
Within Northern England, there tends to be a more relaxed attitude about greeting new neighbours and much greater enthusiasm for casual chat over the garden wall & in public places.
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