Book #13: Watching the English by Kate Fox
Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Anyone who knows the English realises that we can be really peculiar at times, and Kate Fox's book provides an in-depth guide to all our typically British quirks.
This took a few chapters to get into, mostly because the introduction felt quite exhaustive, but after that, for the most of it, I found this was enjoyable. There were a couple of exceptions; chapters on subcultures like "race talk" and "squaddie talk" felt too niche, and not something that I could identify with.
The rest of the book was great; full of wry, usually deadpan, humour.
Inevitably, there was a chapter about queuing, and the British obsession with it, noting how while we take queuing more seriously than most other countries, we are usually reluctant to challenge queue jumpers, preferring to grumble, or make passive-aggressive attempts to make sure we protect our places in the queue.
The one thing I would disagree with is her comments about how Brits never form a traditional queue in a pub; while this is often the case, I have occasionally seen queues for the bar in a pub, and not only when I have arrived with a large group.
I'd have probably gone further with the section about queuing, with some of my own observations, such as one time when I witnessed a queue that had formed behind someone who had ignored the marked queuing area. Also, the occasionally dilemma I have faced in the post office when they sent me away to complete a form, but invited me to skip the queue when returning to the counter, something I promptly declined to do.
Kate Fox (herself British) did however also finish her book with an amusing anecdote about something she witnessed in a cafe while waiting for a train, with two strangers showing their solidarity against someone who appeared to be jumping a queue.
The other chapters were enjoyable too, and I noticed that there was a lot of emphasis on class, and how people with different social statuses are stereotypically expected to behave, including how they dress, conduct weddings, and even drink tea. I wasn't too surprised when she mentioned that working class people are more likely to wear lots of expensive-looking bling, and have over-the-top, lavish nuptials.
The book concludes that the British are very "Eeyoreish", in that we love to grumble (if you don't get that reference, you need to read the Winnie the Pooh books), that we pride ourselves on our sense of manners and fairness, and that we like to defuse awkward situations with humour, which all seem true. The reason why: She can't figure that one out, it is just something that we do.
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