Are you talkin' tae me, pal?

Although a lot of the things about the US seem quite alien, there's actually one aspect of USian culture I enjoy a lot because it makes me feel like I'm back in Glasgow. And no, I'm not talking about a growing obesity epidemic due a penchant for sugary, fatty foods (although that is also the case). In America, it is completely acceptable to talk to strangers, which is a stark contrast with the south east of England.

As Kate Fox notes in her excellent book, Watching the English, talking to strangers in England is an interaction that has to follow a very complex, predictable script, otherwise you run rough-shod over  social conventions and cause enough trauma to make the English person need to have lie-down and a cup of tea. Acceptable interactions involve asking the time, complaining about the weather or crappy public transport system, or sharing a disapproving look if someone else breaks social norms and does something as appalling as skipping the queue.

(Note to Americans: a queue is something you wait in; a cue is stick that you use to hit small balls. Sort it out folks, it's not hard!!!)

In the US, no such conventions exist. To pick one example from many, Dom and I went for a walk in the park on Sunday as I wanted to take blurry and badly-framed pictures of birds with my posh new SLR camera. Their was a lovely woman walking her child and dog and we ended up chatting to her for about 20 minutes. Of course, because it's America, we also ended up with her business card, but that happens a lot here.

Occassionally, the talking-to-strangers thing does come with a risk of people massively over-sharing, and it's possible that you'll end up with a person's entire life, medical and personal history when all you wanted was a coffee and to quietly read your book in a public place, but you can learn to avoid these hotspots of self-obsession (e.g. don't drink coffee in Bethesda).

In the interests of fairness, I must point out that talking to strangers DOES happen in England. Generally, this only happens after drinking about 8 pints of social lubrication. In Glasgow, talking to strangers is fair game all the time, although some less kind people would suggest that is because Glasweigans are likely to have indulged in social lubrication at any time of the day. But these unkind people are generally found in Edinburgh, where the social norms are somewhere between the south east of England and Glasgow (sort of like Manchester, but less fun).

A positive one today. Perhaps it's because another good thing about America is the four-day weekend that they give us at the end of November, although I'd recommend staying away from free blankets. So, happy Thanksgiving, folks!

Mick

p.s. The day after I wrote my last blog post, some arsehole of a woman ran a stop sign and very nearly killed me on my bike when I was cycling home from work. I need say no more.