Next phase of disgruntlement: Brits who don't greet you.
Went to a braai last night. For real, where I even ate boerewors. We got a bit tonked, but this is what happened.
Peas: Aargh. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with people who don't answer me when I say good morning.
Brit: I've told you about this. People in London don't do this.
Saffa mate: Brit, it's gonna take her 6 months to get over it.
Brit: 6 months? Really?
Saffa: Ja bru. Sunny Saffas get seriously miffed when people don't say hello back.
Brit: Oh God.
Peas: It's true! This one dude at work never says 'good morning' back when I go in, and I am taking it very personally.
Brit: I've been hearing about this for 2 months now.
Saffa: You got another four, bru.
Peas: It's not like I greet people in the tube or bus. I'm talking in my workspace. It's just general courtesy and good manners to acknowledge someone when they greet you. For fuck's sake. How hard can it be?
Brit: It's a hard ask Peas. People just don't do that...in big British cities. You need to live in the countryside.
Peas: Well I'm just going to ignore that dude now. I'm just not going to say anything to people who are rude and grumpy. Bloody Brits.
Saffa: No no. You have it all wrong. Let me tell you a little story. You have to push through bru.
Peas: But...how? I'm losing steam here.
Saffa: I had a mate, and for 6 months he said 'good morning!' to everyone everyday. Slowly, but surely, they started turning around. And now some of them even greet him first.
[pause]
Saffa: [Takes gulp of wine] The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.......You need to bloom, china.
And so I will. Bring on the good morning challenge.
5 comments:
Ha ha Peas!
I live in Germany and they look at me as if I am mentally deranged when I try a sunny Saffa greeting.
One guy asked where he knew me from. Said no, I don't know you. But you must, he said, the way you greeted me...
Hmmm. Was just being friendly.
Stopped doing that.
Push on through Peas! Maybe we can change things a teeny bit. I don't have this problem as much because I work in a smaller town and because I work almost entirely with foreigners. Actually my British colleagues usually greet me first. But I remember how in SA we used to greet people we met randomly in the street. That is so not done here, not in the South and Midlands.
If you go oop North they are ridiculously friendly and random strangers will talk your ear off.
When in Rome...
be sure to visit the Colosseum.
I remember that so well! used to FUCK me RIGHT OFF. I'm Team Peas on this one.
Ja, keep greeting.
The Melburnians are the same. Pissed me off till I also decided I'd rather get my nicer culture catching on than accepting their grumpy one.
Even today, the guy at the 7/11, who I see & greet once a week finally just opened up... and now I know where he studied & what he studied & how it all turned out...
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