On the English

You can learn a lot about a nation's people from the way they drive. Italians are famous for their driving and most big cities in Europe have their fair share of nuttiness. But even compared to Brussels and Naples, Cairo was amazing.

But I noted that the use of horns was entirely covered by the instructions in the British highway code. The horn was used whenever there was a risk that another driver may not have noticed them. So, if a car was undertaking or cutting someone up they very dutifully used their horn first, during and after.

So I asked myself, why don't British drivers do that? Why are British drivers so calm in comparison and why is the use of the horn so rare? When the horn is used, why is it always agressive?

And then I heard a comment about the salvage going on in Devon. The commenter noticed that the people stealing other people's things were politely queueing for access to the containers that were opened! How very English! But why would they do that?

So my suggestion is this: The English are polite, the English queue and the English do not drive overly aggressively or undertake because of latent violence. If you beep an English driver, push in in a queue or shout in the street, you are likely to be punched on the nose. The animated argument between two Italians would descend into violence were the two English.

So an underlying violent mentality has created the most ordered and polite society outside of East Asia. Fantastic!

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