Polite Britons died on the titanic

More British passengers died on the Titanic because they queued politely for lifeboats, researchers believe.

A behavioural economist says data suggests Britons in that era were more inclined to be "gentlemanly" while Americans were more "individualist".

They then "went to the back of the boat to have a cigar, to stand around and be chummy, while basically the boat went down".

The "unsinkable" ocean liner went down in freezing Atlantic waters during its voyage from Southampton to New York. As it sank, the captain, Edward John Smith, shouted: "Be British, boys, be British," according to witnesses.

news.bbc.co.uk...

I thought i would post this to show everyone how society used to be, unlike these days where society has been overun by corrupt politicians and gangs.

There are still quite a lot of people with British pride i am one of them so it's not something that's vanished from society.

There is just a more diverse British society these day's if you know what i mean.

Take care.

Regards
Lee

Very interesting post.

I've heard of this one before, and i can believe it is true.

Basic manners are a thing of the past for most people, and whilst i admit it sounds extreme to stick to a moral code when your life is at risk, it still shows something about people of days gone by.

That said, it's not totaly gone these days, it's just a lot less common.

I've recently been flicking through an e-book about manners and social ettiquette from days gone by. It's called "Our Deportment: Or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society".

Our deportment

A fascinating read, and whilst a lot of it is typical of days gone by and not suitable for todays world (womens roles etc), if we adopted today, some of the manners set out in the book, the world would be a lot better place.

CX.

Good on them, British till the end , lest we forget

Lol I can really imagine this too, Im terrible lol I could be holding a door open for days for people, I open it to let one person like an old lady through... the door to a shop may be a little heavy ... Then a crowd appears and im blimming standing there holding it open for everyone, To polite to just say "hey hang on a moment!! let me through"

It does make me laugh as i have seen many do the same,




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[edit on 24-6-2009 by asala]

Originally posted by asala
Lol I can really imagine this too, I terrible lol I could be holding a door open for days for people,

Lol i do this

After the 10th person i usualy get someone saying, "Are you getting paid for this?". At which point i realise i'm not a doorman.....and then after letting a few more through i quickly slip away so as not to seem rude lol.

CX.

i don't think manners are dead, i think they are totally misunderstood.

the problem is, manners and etiquette are often confused. etiquette is the rules we use to govern our interactions in a social environment, manners is knowing the rules and being able to apply, bend or break them in order to make the people around you feel at ease.

offering to buy someone a full drink because you spilled the last two mouth fulls of their pint by accidentally nudging their arm is etiquette. it's the expected polite response.
manners is to refuse to allow a person buy you a drink saying "it could happen to anyone, no harm done" or similar, the refusal will make the person who spilled it feel better about it and your company feel at ease.

nowadays, perfect formal etiquette (queuing for a life boat) could probably be considered bad manners.

To polite to just say "hey hang on a moment!! let me through"

try slightly tilting your head and shoulders in the direction you want to go, i bet within two people someone will stop and use their arm to create a passage to allow you to pass in that direction.

[edit on 24/6/09 by pieman]