Bad habits, manners and attitudes

One of the grottier habits that I've noticed in London is spitting. People of all ages and backgrounds think nothing of spitting on the footpath, road and even the Tube platform. Personally I think it's vile and unnecessary, yet no one here seems to frown upon it. Another rude trait is carelessly bumping into people. This happens a lot when walking down the street and the perpetrators don't even try to move out of your way (they expect you to move out of their way) and when they bang into you just keep going without a care ... no hint of apology, not even an acknowledgement that they've just run into you. This arrogant sort of attitude really irks me. Courtesy costs nothing yet the bad manners and habits of some leaves me wondering just how civilised a society we are.

Aussie twang

When you work with a lot of English people, you quickly become accustomed to their accents, to the extent that you don't notice English accents anymore. Moreover, you assume that you sound like everyone else and forget you have an Australian accent. I think this comes back to self-perception: No one thinks they have an accent - everyone else has an accent! That all changes when another Australian comes on the scene. One develops a remarkable ability to identify other Australians - even on a packed bus you instantly pick out anyone with an Aussie twang. It's really comforting to find another Australian in this way and I often feel a bizarre sense of affinity as if we have a collective bond.

But the opposite can also be true. Soon after I arrived I was taking a look around Soho early on a Saturday night when I came across a loud (yelling), obnoxious bunch of morons staggering up the street. They were completely smashed (at 6pm) and although in their early twenties, were carrying on like teenagers. Everyone was avoiding them: it was cringeworthy. But then I realised one of them was wrapped in an Australian flag! (This was before I developed instant perception of Aussie accents). They were all Australian! I felt embarrassed and ashamed. A uni friend encountered a similar group on the Tube and was so embarrassed by their behavior that when they asked whether she was also Australian, she told them she was from New Zealand! 

I guess these sorts of encounters help create the image of Australians as beer-swilling louts. It is easy to stereotype in this way when people stand out because of their accent (or appearance). Yet I would argue (from what I have experienced, not just seen and heard) that regular drinking is far more ingrained in English than Australian culture.