Why do the British eat pizza with a knife and fork?

Today, a light-hearted post about cultural differences.

Why do the British eat pizza with a knife and fork? It has always baffled me, I see most Brits do this and have never seen any other nationality do so. It is one of the things that baffles me about the UK.

I may have been born in Scotland and lived in Scotland (and England for a while, hence my somewhat cultivated neutral English accent), but I lived almost all my adult life in the Cayman Islands, growing and learning in my adult years with and from over 100 nationalities, but predominantly Caymanians, other Caribbean folks, as well as Americans and Canadians (and I did most of my business with people from those countries.

In 2017 I moved to London and found it (and still do find it) somewhat challenging and frustrating to both understand and work with the lack of directness and overt friendliness of Brits. In fact, yes, I am one of those people who will often talk to strangers on the street, on the tube, or on the train. It is something I picked up from the warmth of Caribbean people, that everybody is interesting if you choose to be interested, so hey, talk to them!

So, recently I found a blog by Derek Sivers pulling out several of the points from the book “Watching the English” by Kate Fox and found myself both smiling and nodding at almost every line. If you plan to spend much time in the UK, I recommend taking a look at the blog and then perhaps the book, it may help you decode the Brits a bit more! I could give many examples, but here is one that resonated for me. Do read the linked blog for more:

Negative politeness is concerned with other people’s need not to be intruded or imposed upon – as opposed to ‘positive politeness’, which is concerned with their need for inclusion. What looks like unfriendliness is really a kind of consideration: we assume that everyone shares our obsessive need for privacy – so we mind our own business and politely ignore them. Visitors from ‘positive-politeness’ cultures are more likely to misunderstand and be offended by the ‘polite’ aloofness.

Note: I LOVE directness and I love friendliness and people who are open, so just thought to make that very open, direct and obvious! Talk to me and share as much as you like when we meet 🙂