Things I'm Looking Forward To Doing Now That I'm British: Number Eight

[nanila]

8. Enjoying emotional constipation. I have British friends. No honestly, I do. They'd probably die of embarrassment if I named them, though. I might speak of them as my friends if I were certain I was with people who would likely never meet them. And I would never be so callous as to tell them how I felt about them or how much they mean to me. Not unless we were all really drunk, because we'd all understand that as I was in my cups, it was never to be spoken of again.

So if you consider me a friend, I beg you not tell me about it lest I be forced to make some flippant remark to deflect my discomfort and spend the rest of the day blushing.

Comments

[soliano]

That is so sad :(

[cosmolinguist]

This is another one where "Minnesotan" is a close enough analogue for "British." :)

[liseuse]

I occasionally find myself thinking about the very guarded tipping point where you stop thinking someone privately as a friend and publicly referring to them as an acquaintance or "that person I've known for years" and start to actually be able to refer to them as a friend. It's easier with people you've known since childhood because other people refer to you as friends, and then you're just using the common terminology, but it's taken me years to be able to publicly refer to some people who are, in fact, my closest friends as such. I also suspect that this is where some of the British fondness for words like 'mate' and 'chum' and 'pal' comes from. It's a way of saying "yes! them! they're my friend! I have some!" but without having to, you know, say it.

[cxcvi]

This post makes me kinda glad I don't properly identify as British, any more...

[weaverbird]

This series continues to delight. Thanks for the giggle!

[chickenfeet]

This is where rugby comes in handy. It is understood that one has a special relationship with teammates or former teammates. He that shed his blood with me etc

[nadriel]

I must confess to loving thi series :-).

[marahmarie]

This so reminds me of my mom. Her father's family was from England/the UK and the natural emotional reserve her genes apparently endowed her with was in effect right up until the end. Not that she wasn't friendly or nice or fun, just that those aspects of her personality were always tempered by that steely reserve the British seem to have. Even I, knowing what it was, where it came from, and that it (probably) wasn't at all personal (though it seemed to come in super-handy for times it was), was always a bit stymied by and in actual awe of it.

I'm actually known for being quite reserved and can seem sort of chilly myself, which is probably just a byproduct of being raised by her, since once you get to know me (admittedly few people ever do) I'm (almost) the furthest thing from being reserved imaginable.