London - It’s a lesson that should be learned early in life – behave well even when no one is watching.
But author Bill Bryson says well-educated, middle-class Britons have bad manners when they think they won’t be noticed.
The popular travel and comic writer is mourning the loss of social niceties after he spotted a woman leaving just 10p (about R2.12) in a café tip jar.
Decked out in designer walking gear, the well-heeled pensioner had spent around £20 (about R420) in a Lake District café but left the smallest of tips for the staff.
Bryson, the best-selling writer of Notes From A Small Island said the episode showed how the middle classes have let social niceties slide.
He described the “quietly disgraceful” act as just one example of middle-class Britons behaving badly when they think they can get away with it.
He wrote: “I am guessing she assumed that it was full of coins already and that hers would disappear among many others, but when I stepped up I could see that the bowl had a solitary 10p coin in it.
“Am I wrong or is this becoming a feature of British life – behaving in quietly disgraceful ways when you think no one is watching?
“I am not saying that this is exclusive to the British or that it is universal among them by any means. It barely used to exist at all and now you see it pretty regularly.”
Bryson described the social faux pas in his new book, The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island. He bemoaned the widespread loss of proper social etiquette in the UK.
“The Britain I came to was predicated on the idea of doing the right thing most of the time whether anyone knew you were doing it or not,” he wrote.
“So you didn’t drop litter or empty your paint can at the kerb or let your dog sh** on footpaths or wilfully take two parking spaces and all that sort of thing.”
The 63-year-old argued it was preferable not to leave a tip than give such a paltry sum.
“Now, lots of people are governed not so much by whether something is right or wrong as by whether they think anyone’s watching. Conscience only operates when there are witnesses. You might not leave a tip – you were British after all – but you wouldn’t pretend to leave a decent tip and then stick in a small coin.”
The American-born travel writer moved to Britain in 1973, has lived there for most of his adult life and has recently passed the residency test.
He told how he had put off taking it for years because he was “too scared” he would fail.
He rose to public prominence with his humorous 1995 celebration of Britain, Notes From a Small Island, published in 1995.
The book documented his observations of British life and went on to sell over two million copies. His new book was published this week.
Daily Mail