julie

Just returned from yet another trip accross the 'pond'. Some curious observations this time: 1) Why do Britains worry escessively about GMF (genetically modified food) when no one cares much about the smoke pollution (lots of smokers everywhere, restaurants, terminals, etc),2) just learned from visiting Cornwall that they do not consider themselves "british" and there is quite a separatist movement going on, 3) Didn't see many vegetables (fresh or otherwise) offered in the restaurants, a thing I always miss when we travel abroad, 4)Trains and planes seemed to generally be on schedule, and folks very helpful with problems, 5) "petrol" costs are high and very much resented, but nothing changes; 6) I never fail to observe the general orderliness of the English, their willingness to 'cope', the jolly attitude of most. <BR>A curious observation in Paddington station; two men got into a fight, one being a Pakistani (I think). The other drove this young man's face in with his boot, bleeding profusely, but the security guards at the stations failed to arrest anybody. Can anyone explain this...a little too laid back, if you ask me??

Judy

Hello Julie, that Paddington incident must have been rather scary...I hope you were lucky enough to be far away from it, and I am somewhat puzzled by the lack of reaction from?? Bobbies? or people??? Smoking anywhere really gets me too, (I am a reformed smoker from way back, we are the worst IMO). Nevertheless, I am still going to go back across the "pond:" to visit, regardless of smoke, strikes, weather etc...

elaine

julie <BR>I would hesitate to say that all Britons worry excessively about GMF and that no one cares much about the smoke; all we know for sure is that some individuals have one opinion and others have another, even if one group or the other is a majority. Ditto Cornish people, and US voters.

Steven

The Brits DO worry excessively about GM foods. I guess they haven't realized that things like nectarines are GM.

frank

Julie, <BR> There are no "security guards" in railway stations, only the transport police,who wear police uniforms and who would have acted.Possibly those you saw were uniformed porters. <BR>Also, Cornish separatists are very much a fringe group.They regard themselves as celtic, which means not English, but doesn't mean not British. <BR> <BR>Fuel is expensive, but the majority of people never buy petrol - car use is less than in the US.Any "resentment" is from a vocal minority.Personally I would increase fuel prices planet wide. <BR> <BR>GMF - the worry is not so much about health but the destruction of 3rd world agriculture & heavy pollution.(you cant use your own seed, you must buy it every time together with the crazy weedkillers made by the same company.) <BR>

Litsa

Hi, Julie <BR> <BR>I'm glad you see us Brits as orderly, willing to cope and jolly! <BR> <BR>Some people worry about GM foods, very many don't. It gets heavy media reporting, probably because of the BSE problem ('they told us beef was safe to eat, but 30 people have died - are they also wrong about GM foods'). Personally, I don't worry. <BR> <BR>I do dislike smoking, though, and actually, there is quite a backlash against this, compared with a few years ago. Almost all restaurants, trains etc have separate sections for smokers, and most major employers forbid staff to smoke at their desks. <BR> <BR>It's a shame about the fresh vegetables - you should have come to the restaurant where I work as a waitress, we serve fresh vegetables! But perhaps you never made it to Yorkshire. Interestingly, a friend of mine has just come back from 3 weeks in America (New England) and she said just the same thing about US restaurants - no fresh vegetables!

mike

The British courts are so lenient toward criminals it's a wonder the police arrest anyone.

Tony Hughes

Elaine hits the nail firmly on the head and bangs it in real deep. <BR> <BR>Some people think this, some people think that. You cant possible know what EVERYONE thinks, right? <BR> <BR>

Angela

Frank <BR> <BR>"the majority of people don't buy petrol" I don't think we must live in the same Britain ;-) The roads are always chock a block. IMHO People use their car in preference to other forms of transport as local buses (particularly in smaller towns and villages) are expensive and not regular enough. There needs to be considerable investment in public transport (which has not been apparent) to justify the rises in petrol prices. While public transport remains underfunded and expensive then people have little option but to use their car despite the high petrol prices (imho). The recent petrol protests seemed to have great public support (at least initially) <BR>I don't smoke but I never have much of a problem with this in the UK. In Germany (a country I really enjoying being in) it seems a much greater problem, there rarely seems to be a seperate area for smokers to go.

George Holt

Can't speak for the rest of the nation but ... <BR> <BR>1) As a non smoker I do care about smoke pollution but I'm realistic enough to know that since smoking is not illegal smokers have to be allowed to smoke in some places (equally non smokers are entitled to areas free of smoke). Compared to places like Greece and Turkey where smoking in public places seems largely uncontrolled the British are quite strict about non smoking areas in pubs, eateries, shops and public transport. In Britain the longer a practice has been around the harder it is to control. When they banned smoking on trains people, I can't think of the PC word, 'disobeyed' for a while but presumably public opinion and enforcement prevailed. The stategy would seem to be to make smoking unhip for the younger generation so the 'problem' gradually disappears. In contrast GM foods are a young phenomenon so the opportunity is there to introduce control early. I'm not sure what was referred to with nectarines but in my mind there is a great difference between interbreeding and selective breeding and artificial genetic modification. <BR> <BR>4) You'd take back the trains part if you'd done any amount of commuting in the southeast these past few weeks

Fwhiteside

George, <BR> <BR>RE Trains. My Wife & I recently had a two week holiday in Japan. For this we bought the Japan Rail Pass & used these to travel all over the country. Believe me the Japanese rail service hammers the CRAP out of any other we have ever used - some of those trains surpass first class air travel ( & they're not even 'first class' trains ). <BR> <BR>After we'd returned my Wife was talking to one of her colleagues who had been sent for a training course in London. She had to go north from Bolton to Wigan to catch a train south to London. She had to stand the WHOLE time from Wigan to London, there was no buffet car & the train broke down three times ! <BR> <BR>It beggars belief that there are still people out there who accuse those who prefer their cars to British public transport of being "Selfish", "Environmentally unfreindly" & other such nonsense.

Lisa

The smoking issue is a big deal to me, and I'm concerned about our upcoming trip in December. My 7-year-old son is asthmatic, and we have been so fortunate to live in California where smoking is banned in ALL public places (indoors), and only 16% of the population in our state smokes. This will be our first trip to Europe with our son, and I'm just hoping that I can protect him from the smoke enough to keep him from getting sick. It's really quite sad to have to worry about this sort of thing.

sandi

The trouble is, England is a ' tight little Island' and everything is little, including their restaurants where tables are set inches from each other, and there is no such thing as a smoking or no smoking section. The air is fetid and drifts from one section to the other with little respect for the "no smoking" sign. And everyone who isn't smoking as they walk, has their ear attached to a 'cell phone'. Do you every wonder who needs to talk to who every minute of the day. The only way to enjoy England is to have lots of money, and escape from the closeness of the "great unwashed."

Gina

Gosh, Sandi, then how is it that I've managed to enjoy five or six visits to Britain (London and elsewhere)? I definitely don't have lots of money. Hmm.

Angela

Sandi <BR>I have rarely come across these "great unwashed" that you talk about, and have always been able to sit in a non smoking section in a restaurant in all my 32 years, so I wonder when you were last here, or what restaurant you were in? People IMHO respect the "no smoking" signs and if they do not, someone will usually remind them of the sign. Ive rarely experienced the problems you have apparently encountered. England does not have as nearly as high a mobile usage as other countries in Europe and perhaps the US. <BR>So we either smoke or have a mobile phone attached to our ear, I'll take the mobile phone slightly less bad for my health. <BR>Angela

Angela

I've just been onto the Action on Smoking and Health website www.ash.org.uk. There is a very intersting article saying that mobile phone usage among teenagers has increased as the rates of teenagers taking up smoking has decreased! <BR>27% of adults in the UK smoke (25% of teenagers) against an average in the European Union of 31%.

Elizabeth White

Lisa, <BR> <BR>Don't worry about bringing your son to England, you should be able to keep him away from cigarette smoke OK. Most restaurants have separate sections for smokers, smoking is usually banned on public transport, the only place where I have a problem with smokers is in the pubs/bars, and I guess you won't be taking him there! <BR> <BR>In England, people generally do respect the no-smoking signs.

norosecoloredglasses

Isn't Julie the same woman who started the rather nasty string on a fat man who wouldn't raise his seat during a long flight? She also posted another negatively-slanted observation recently (I don't remember what it was about, as I saw her name, considered the source, and moved on). Julie, since you overwhelmingly find negative experiences everywhere you go, why do you travel? Are you related to Terry, the visitor to Italy who found more negatives than positives? Or do you hope that you'll stir up enough heat to be able to watch people tear each other and/or a country/culture/personality to shreds?

Anon

I think Sandi @ yahoo is also a close relative as Sandi also mostly posts provocotive and rude "observations".

MyHeadIsFullOfThisStuff

In the 1990's, a survey revealed that the UK had the highest per capita consumption of soap in Europe, just pipping Switzerland. Per capita consumption in these countries was well over three times that of France! <BR> <BR>The news item I heard about this had a footnote from a correspondent in Paris, who said that junior doctors in Paris heartily concurred with this finding, claiming that RTA casualties were often brought in in haute couture, only for an alarmingly lax level of personal hygiene to be revealed when the several thousand francs worth of clothing was removed. I have to admit that I did not check whether it was April 1st when I heard this.