It’s the simple things that get you while abroad. I was staying by a British family one weekend and thought the polite thing to do would be to ask if they need any help. The wife said no, don’t worry about it, until I asked again and she told me to set the table. Easy enough. I put the utensils in alphabetical order – fork, knife, and spoon – like I have done on plenty of occasions before.
As everyone sat down, I noticed the son, quietly shifting his utensils, moving the spoon to the head of the plate and switching the side of the napkin. Throughout the beginning of the meal, I noticed everyone at the table silently reorganizing their utensils before they began the meal.
I was mortified. Apparently, I placed the dessert spoon in the wrong place. WHO USES A DESSERT SPOON?
The British love their order and propriety. This can not only be seen with their use of more formal serving utensils but their instance in queuing (or standing in a line). I didn’t notice how ingrained it is in their culture until I went to Spain for the weekend.
In Spain, no one stands in a line. If you’re in a line you’re a tourist. Coming back to London, there are signs everywhere trying to enforce their meticulous need for queuing. On almost every escalator on the tube, it tells you which side you should stand on. If that’s not enough, there are announcements that direct you as well as more signs once you are off the escalator and you need to know which side you can walk on. And that’s the British for you…
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