Setting the record straight - Northern Manners

I've always had it in my head that 'northerners', and by that I generally mean people north of London - aka most of the country - aren't that polite. Being a bit of a snob about it for some reason, I always get the impression that the further north you go, the less polite people get. Turns out, I'm wrong - very wrong.

Whenever I visit Blackpool, which is often once a year for family functions, my first thought of The People of Blackpool are either elderly people, or chavs stuck in the 1990s. Most youngsters don Burberry like it's going out of fashion (ironic, that) and walk around in their chavvyist Adidas or Nike tracksuits. I'm not talking just a hoodie, or the occasional pair of sweats, but the full sh-bang. Air force ones, or something similar to heavy-duty boots looking half-fashionable on the feet, sporty trakky bottoms, a hoody, and a windbreaker on the outside. This may sometimes be accompanied with a cap.

When I've been to Birmingham, the people are pretty similar. 16-year-olds mingle around in groups, giving 'evils' to everyone from babies to pensioners, whilst the elderly rule the streets while the teens are busy buying (or fleecing shopkeepers for) fags and alcohol. A night-out there confirmed by dim view on the citizens there too, when two men attempted to mug me by buying me a drink randomly, paying for it, gaining my trust/attention, whilst another eyed up and made an eventual grab for my pocket. Laughing and walking off seemed the only viable option that wouldn't result in a scene that night.

How times change. I'm not sure if it's because of the places I went, the people I was with, or the fact I've grown up immensely in all manners since I started university, but I viewed the people of Blackpool completely differently. Sure, there were some people (okay, a lot of people) donning tramp stamps and the usual list of dead and alive loved ones scrolled onto upper arms and backs in black ink, but the amount of people going trigger-happy on their Ps and Qs was amazing.

Everyone, everyone, was polite when I spoke to/bumped into them. Some even asked how I was, and they weren't even trying to sell me anything. I felt let down by my own mannerisms - walking into someone on the Tube purposefully for a space seems second nature to me and every commuter in London, yet if a Blackpudlian (this probably isn't the right address, but it's staying) boarded the train they'd be saying sorry more often than they would eat hot dinners.

It's a bit of a shame the difference in manners across the country. Leaving fashion out of it (which Blackpool is still void of) it only takes a second to say the occasional thank-you, sorry, or excuse me, and this is a skill mastered by the 'northerner' - something the average commuter severely lacks.

Final comparison. At a roundabout in Blackpool, we could happily sit patiently in a triangle letting each other go for hours. Meanwhile when someone almost knocked me off my bicycle last week, they shouted profanaties at me and chased me down the road for over-taking them...