An American living in the UK revealed the British cultural habit of being ‘over-polite’ is sometimes confusing for visitors.
Kobie Jordan, who is from the US but now living in London, took to his TikTok @kjordyyy to reveal one culture difference he’s noticed since moving across the pond.
The TikToker admitted he’s still adapting to the famously apologetic and overly polite nature of British culture.
In the clip, which racked up more than 45,000 views, he revealed one train journey in particular left him completely stumped.
He said: ‘As much as I love living in the UK, there’s just one thing I have to talk about.
‘Their over politeness almost to a fault. It’s no secret they have a huge apologising culture. Always saying sorry, sorry all the time. But boy, do I have a story for y’all.’
Kobie explained he was on a ‘super packed train’ from Birmingham to London when an older gentleman boarded the train and began eyeing the seat beside him, but wouldn’t take it.
He said: ‘Every single seat was taken except for one. Right next to me, there’s an older gentleman that just got on the train.
Kobie Jordan, who is from the US but now living in London, revealed the British cultural habit of being ‘over-polite’ is sometimes confusing
‘He kept looking at me. Cause it’s not my job to tell you to come sit if he wants to sit. He’s a grown man, he can come sit.
‘He would even look, look at me and look away. His wife had found a seat, but he was kind of looking at me like I was doing something wrong.’
The American admitted he was tempted to offer the free seat to the man but he hesitated as he claimed the man could just grab the seat if he wanted it.
He said: ‘Part of me wanted me to offer my seat next to me to him, but I was like, wait a minute, it’s an open seat, he can just come grab it if he wants to sit there.
‘And me being from the US, it’s hard for me to judge these type of situations here because, one, I don’t know if he’s actually just being too polite, maybe he’s not too fond of me, or it just doesn’t make sense.’
He concluded: ‘If y’all know me, y’all know I love the UK. And this is just my opinion and I Gotta see how it is.
‘As much as I love it, that’s one thing that I just can’t really get my head around.’
Many British commenters quickly weighed in, offering their own interpretations of what the elderly gentleman may have been thinking.
In the clip, which racked up over 45,000 views, he revealed one train journey in particular left him completely stumped
Many British commenters quickly weighed in, offering their own interpretations of what the elderly gentleman may have been thinking
One person said: ‘I think he wanted you to give up your seat so him and his wife could sit together.’
To which Kobie responded: ‘Very true, why didn’t he ask?’
Another added: ‘It polite to offer the seat… especially to pregnant or older people. He may not have wanted to have assumed he should squeeze past you.’
Kobie added: ‘Again that’s so British. If you want to sit. Sit.’
Someone else added: ‘We’re just polite to a fault. There’s an unwritten rule about sitting next to people, although in PACKED situations usually doesn’t apply.
‘The ‘look’ would typically be inferred as a request to sit there and then the other party obliges.’
A fourth added: ‘I’m English. if he wanted the seat he would have either taken it or asked’
Another added: ‘As a old English lady who loves good manners, you acted in the correct manner. the choice was his to stand.’
It comes after Kobie made another video highlighting the three things he finds ‘weird’ in Britain.
Firstly, he discusses the commonly used greeting of ‘You alright?’ – which he admits he initially mistook for passive aggression.
He said: ‘When I first moved here, I thought it was just British people being passive-aggressive, being like: ‘Are you alright’ after I just had a bad day. Of course I’m not alright.’
Secondly, Kobie also claimed that Brits walk more than their trans-Atlantic cousins.
According to the content creator, American drive or take public transportation for any distances that exceed ten minutes.
He explained: ‘We’ll be done filming and I’ll be like, “Let’s get some food somewhere,” and they’re like: “Oh, it’s only 35 minutes away.” 35 minutes away? Back home, if it’s more than 10 minutes, you’re whipping [driving].’
However, the most bewildering revelation to the American came regarding university culture.
Kobie pointed out how surprising it was to find bars or pubs on many British university campuses.
He said: ‘They have bars and clubs on their campus. And, even weirder than that, the teacher will literally be like, “Are y’all [you all] ready for a pint after class?”
Kobie concludes his observations by claiming that drinking is normalised among British students due to the legal drinking age being 18 – with many drinking even before then – compared to 21 in the U.S.
He claimed that Brits have been ‘drinking since they’re 15years-old, so by the time they get to college, it’s nothing to them’ while Americans ‘go buck wild and start acting crazy’ in college due to the national drinking age being 21.
A number of Brits hilariously confirmed Jordan’s observations in the comments, with one writing, ‘As a Brit that has moved abroad, I miss walking everywhere,’ while another said, ‘Drinking for 15? What part of the UK in? We start from birth haha.’
Meanwhile, one individual pointed out: ‘Don’t you guys say ‘what’s up’ as a greeting? Isn’t that pretty much the same as ‘you alright?”
