On Wed, 21 Feb 2001, Neil Faulkner wrote:
If you think reserve, dignity and showing respect are all part of being British, then you can't have spent much time over here. Being British means: *glassing some bloke in the pub because he looked like he was eyeing up your bird. *beating the crap out of foreign football fans because they're foreign. *hating the French for being French. *hating the Germans out of principle. *hating the Americans whilst trying to be as American as possible. *driving an innocent woman out of her home because you don't know the difference between a paedophile and a paediatrician. *getting a breast enlargement for your 16th birthday because you'll be on the scrapheap for the rest of your life if you don't. *making a religion out of football.
Have to correct you here, Neil. You've told us what it is to be English, not British. By way of contrast, being Scottish means
Glassing some guy in the pub, because.
Regarding Temazepam as a light aperitif.
Hating the English for being English.
Hating the Edinburgh middle class, for being English.
Deep-frying everything.
Getting so drunk you beat up the cat and piss on the dog, because it would be impolite not to.
Being secure in the knowledge that, although you yourself have done nothing but get steaming in Partick, your fellow countrymen have travelled the entire globe and invented absolutely everything. Including frogs.
Carrying on a centuries-old sectarian conflict under a flimsy disguise of football.
(ObB7: I trust these give some additional insights into Jarriere's character.)
Iain