The GirlAlive Blog

Things the British Do Better

October 21, 2008 on 6:36 pm | In Scotland | 4 Comments

Okay, so I keep getting whiny emails from British people complaining that I’m too negative about this country. So this post is to address some of the things that the British do better than Americans. (I could easily come up with a list going the other direction, but I’ll save that for another day.)

Cash

The British have much better money than Americans. It took some getting used to at first when I moved here, but it is very well-designed currency. With the bills, the smaller denominations are printed on smaller paper than the larger denominations. So the blind and elderly can easily figure out what money they’ve got. The coins have two things above American coins. First, they have the amount printed on them. Look at your American coinage. None of them tell you in plain numerals how much they’re worth. The dime says “one dime” instead of “10 cents”. It is unfriendly and illogical. The second thing the British have done with their coins is the one pound coin. Seriously, Americans, ditch the one dollar bill. Dump them all in a giant shredder and switch to dollar coins. It makes bus fare and vending machines and everything so much easier. Plus, coins last longer in circulation, so in the long run they cost the government less to produce.

Dates

Why, America, are you the only country that writes your dates in the format of MM/DD/YY? The rest of the world uses the DD/MM/YY format, which is more logical. The day is the most specific part of the date, then the month is slightly less specific and the year is the most general part. So putting the day, then the month, then the year is the most logical format. Throwing the day in between the month and the year is just confusing.

Healthcare

The National Health Service in the UK is incompetent and slow. But it is available to everyone. On the other hand, health insurance companies in the US are both incompetent and malicious. I have worked for the NHS and US insurance companies, and after experiencing both, the main reason I won’t live in the US is the health care system. Profiting from the sick and injured just seems barbaric to me.

Potato Chips

The British insist on calling them “crisps”, but if you ignore that irritating terminology, they do them right. They come in a million flavors and they are always sold in little single-serving packets, so you don’t end up pigging out and eating an entire family size bag by yourself.

Chocolate

British chocolate is just better. It’s creamier and much nicer than most American chocolate. If I ever moved back to the US, I’d be ordering Galaxy chocolate from an importer.

Political Campaigns

They tell you what the candidate stands for, without insulting the opposition or generally being obnoxious. I’ve been through several elections in the UK, and never felt as manipulated and dirty as I did visiting the US during election season for two weeks.

Working Conditions

Fair amounts of sick leave, shorter hours, more vacation time and a full year (with partial pay) maternity leave. It leads to a less stressed and healthier and happier workforce. By comparison, some of the places I worked in the US seem like slavery.

Mass Transit

In some larger cities there is good transit, but in most of the US, you can’t get anywhere without a car. I lived just outside Duluth back in the states, and there was one bus an hour. I live much further outside Edinburgh, in what is termed as “rural Midlothian”, and there are four buses an hour outside my house, and if I walk 10 minutes to the main road there are more like 12 an hour.

So there. I’m not all against the British. They do some stuff right. But don’t get me started on their inability to celebrate a holiday, or their complete ignorance regarding cinnamon…

Alana