One of the most underrated things about this country, particularly vs the US (European countries are often similar to us in this respect) is the lack of panic, angst and fretting. I’ve spent a lot of time in the US and hosted some colleagues here in the UK and I get very, very VERY irritated by them. They’re lovely people, on the whole, but they cannot relax, they’re constantly worrying about fuck all and not only that but they vocalise EVERYTHING constantly so not only can you feel them fizzing with worry but they’ll also tell you everything at a volume that can curdle milk. I spent a memorable for the wrong reasons evening in Munich with a bunch of American colleagues and all I can say is thank the lord for strong German beer. “Like, where’s the waitress? I can’t read German, what am I supposed to order? How do I get another drink if the waitress doesn’t like check in? Oh my god that woman is breastfeeding.. that wouldn’t happen where I live, is that like ok here?! I’ve not seen any police while we’ve been out, where are they? What happens if like there’s an emergency? Are there police here? Is it ok to go home in the dark? Are the trains still running? Or do we need to get an uber? Can we use uber? How do we get the bill? Are we ok to sit here if we’ve finished eating? Why do they take so long to get the bill? Where are we going next? Is it safe in this area? Surely you can’t cross the road here?” Etc etc etc etc etc all bastard night. I was as pissed as a weasel by the end of it just to drown out the constant fucking noise. I tried to talk about normal stuff but they were sat there like a load of meerkats constantly looking round and round and up and down and constantly fretting. these pricks genuinely thought that if there aren’t police strutting round with their cocks out and guns pointed at us that they weren’t safe. **this was a constant, constant refrain. They’re so used to being chased out of restaurants they can’t get into their heads that not only CAN you stay somewhere but that people actually WANT to and will, shock horror surprise, order more drinks and sit and chat. They also can’t get into their skulls that you call someone over IF YOU NEED THEM, you don’t have a waiter perched on girl shoulder like a fucking parrot. related to the parrot point, there was no rush to get the bill as all of the Europeans and Brits had drinks and wanted to stay at the same place as it had a bar and dance floor, and if we DID want to get the bill we would just call someone over. It’s fucking exhausting. They’re constantly in a state of high anxiety about anything and everything.