the British Community

[Andrew Dinn]

LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU writes:

> Well, could I ask two quick questions of you, which have been
> bugging me of late and might be relevant to this discussion?

> 1. What do you and your Scottish hosts think of the observation in
> TRAINSPOTTING that Scotland is "a nation of losers ruled by a nation
> of wankers"?

I am not sure whether it is more a dig at the English or at the
Scottish. Which is why I found it (still do) immensely funny. The
choice of noun for the respective nationals is suitable to the
relevant besetting sins. But I came to Scotland in part because of my
dislike for England (well specifically London, which I watched go down
the drain over the late 80s). Also, I warmed to the more `communal'
feel one gets from life in Edinburgh, a feel which probably derives
from my origins being in the North of England. Thus my opinion in the
matter is somewhat unrepresentative. (Factor in my spending age 5-10
in Canada, living in both the south and north of England, having
parents (plua aunts, uncles, cousins) brought up in a Liverpool slum
but living in middle class, Oxford educated comfort and you may begin
to understand why I cannot adopt a national or class-oriented stance
on the question).

The comment received mixed reactions from Scots friends. Most were
equally tickled by the double-dealing insult (slight-off-hand?). A few
more tender-minded souls (or is that tender-souled minds) thought it
was unfair to both nations, there being good in everything (not sure
whether I agree there).

If I attempt to muffle my personal reactions to the comment and see it
in terms of general English/Scots history and politics it seems to be
more a statement about the way the English class wars have manifested
in Scotland. The speaker (is it not Renton's mate Tommy?) is no
highland Scot. Many lowlanders were happy to be `civilized' by the
English, freeing themselves from the `feudal' clan system which
favoured the highland lairds and thereby allowing them to gain
position via money like so many English social climbers. A highlander
might still be able to make the comment in earnest without irony.
Coming from a lowlander it is both a statement of betrayal (since the
collaborators who wanted to get one over on the lairds were also happy
to get one over on their next-door neighbours) and an admission of
despair and weakness, acceptable to the speaker and his audience
(well, not all of them) only because of the ironic and cynical form of
its expression. It is also an attempt to distance the speaker from the
failure - laying first claim to a vision of failure raises one to the
status of visionary even as it confirms one's inferiority.

> 2. Is the British talent for queuing as great in practice as in
> legend?  I ask because in Minnesota, no one knows how to form lines.
> Everyone just mills about aimlessly!

Oh yes, we are pretty good at queueing. But then we have nothing on
the Germans and the Swiss who are pure professionals. Sometimes our
bus stop queues get a bit rowdy but even then there is usually a line
right up until when the bus pulls in.


Andrew Dinn
-----------
And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.