Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The middle of the road can be a dangerous place to stand. You are likely to get run over
from both directions. It can also be an illusion. What is the middle way between racism
and anti-racism, or tickling someone as opposed to torturing them? Even so, middle-of-the-
roadism, which in Britain is almost as much an object of veneration as Manchester United,
is probably less perilous than the sharper kinds of polarity one finds in the United States.
Good guys and bad guys, for example. There are, in fact, no entirely good guys, which is
not to say that there are no saints. It is just that saints are by no means entirely good guys.
The Catholic Church allows that even they can have bouts of wrath and twinges of lust.
Perhaps there are no completely bad guys either. Even monstrous despots weep over their
sick children. The British believe that life is mixed and muddled, a view of the world that
is exemplified by their weather. It is a supreme example of the pied and dappled nature of
things, their chanciness and unpredictability, the way you can never really trust life when
it is running smoothly because sunshine turns so often to showers. It is a metaphor for the
nation's mentality.
The British are fond of sayings like “It takes all kinds to make a world,” “There's a bit of
good and bad in everybody,” and “It would be a funny world if we all thought the same.”
Fist fights can sometimes be avoided by telling your opponent that he has a right to his
opinion and you have a right to yours. It is surprising how often this piece of threadbare
liberal wisdom can prevent a punch in the face. It works partly by implying that people
should leave each other alone, which the British are usually delighted to do. The British
“muddle through,” meaning that they achieve their goals but don't quite know how, and
might just as easily not have done. The role of accident and approximation in human affairs
is ruefully acknowledged. Things in the States are more conscious and clear-cut, rather like
the layout of some of its cities. The aim is less compromise than achievement, so that you
hatch your plan and put it efficiently into operation. The only problem with this is even if
you do not mess it up, reality will probably do so for you. Such, at least, is the view of life
across the Atlantic.
Grumbling and Grousing
The fact that the British are always grousing might suggest that they are gripped by a dream
of perfection. But this is not so. They grouse largely because they enjoy doing so, and
would be at a loss if their complaints were all to be satisfied. One reason why they talk
about the weather so much is that it is often pretty bad, a fact from which, as chronic mas-
ochists, they reap a morose kind of pleasure. It also allows them to grumble without getting
too personal in their protests, thus risking a broken rib. Since nobody is likely to take a
bitter harangue about hailstones personally, one can vent one's spleen without fear of be-
ing physically assaulted. The subject also appeals to the deep-seated fatalism of the Brit-
ish people, since there is no way of stopping a thunderstorm. This, too, is a secret source
Search WWH ::
Custom Search