My daughter and I were chatting in Canada about British people. We calculated the time and it is around 5:30 pm there now, so I suggested that maybe people are having afternoon tea.

While this social activity involves more than just tea, we were wondering if there is a significant number of people in the UK who do not drink tea?

Also, if someone is not a tea drinker, are they being judged there? Do people wonder if something is wrong with them?

Thank you for your insight.

I live in London. I’ve been dealing with the NHS quite a lot recently because I have a rare genetic condition that requires lifelong surveillance, and I’m reaching the point where the administrative side of getting healthcare feels almost harder than the healthcare itself.

The actual doctors and nurses I’ve dealt with have generally been good. My frustration is everything around them.

I seem to spend an absurd amount of time trying to get basic things organized. Calling hospital numbers where nobody answers. Being transferred to extensions that are unavailable. Secretaries being away with seemingly nobody covering for them. Leaving messages and not knowing whether anyone will ever see them. Getting different dates from letters and online portals. Being called while I’m asleep or busy, receiving an unusable voicemail, and then having no straightforward way of getting back to whoever called.

I can spend days just trying to reach the right person to find out what is happening.

They just bounce me from one person to another and give me a new extension every time. I’m just accumulating extensions at this point. They barely even work. If I send an email instead, it either bounces back or they never reply.

Secretaries tell me things like “call me on Monday”, then you call them on Monday and you discover through someone else that they’re on holiday. If they tell me “we’ll call you back on this date”, they never do unless I chase them multiple times.

It often seems like everything depends on successfully reaching one particular secretary or administrator, and if that person is unavailable, the whole process just stops.

Is this broadly what dealing with NHS hospitals is like now?

Ironically, I’m writing this while I’ve already been on hold for over 28 minutes, and who knows whether anyone who can actually help me is going to pick up this time. I’ve been trying to speak to someone for the past two weeks and have already called them almost 50 times.

Update: after 30 minutes on hold, the call dropped.

Which careers would you not recommend to someone and what would the reason be for these. It could be due to long hours, lack of progression, poor remuneration etc.

It annoys me when people say British food is rubbish. While it's true that some Brits have a terrible diet I think the options in the UK are perhaps second to none.

As far as I'm concerned a proper Sunday roast with Yorkshires, roast potatoes, stuffing and the works is the best dish on the planet.

In terms of breakfast, a full English done with right with the best ingredients and without the grease is as good as it gets in the morning.

Fish and chips might not be the healthiest but it tastes fantastic. I am also a big fan of Sausage and Mash, Bubble and Squeak, Steak and Ale Pie, Toad in the Hole, Lancashire Hotpot and Sherpherd's Pie.

Then there's the Yorkshire tea and Tunnock's biscuits and the myriad of local delicacies from the Highlands to Cornwall.

We also embrace the best of other cultures. You can find a great Indian, Italian, Chinese and Thai in most towns and cities.

While the US is also good for world cuisine, we actually have proper food safety standards.

Thoughts?

My friend and I are visiting the UK next month, and we plan to visit London (of course), Bristol, Liverpool, Chester, Bath, and Birmingham. However, many Brits have strongly advised us to avoid Birmingham, and we're wondering why?

It looks like quite a nice city, and although it does apparently higher crime rates, we're from Johannesburg, so everywhere in the UK is pretty much a safe haven for us. Is the main issue that it's just dull, dangerous, or something else? If other people here suggest we give it a skip, then we will, but we just want to get some more opinions beforehand.

If there's somewhere else worth visiting that we've missed, or if there's a place you suggest we could spend longer, please let me know! Thanks

Edit because many people are asking: It's my first time in the UK, so we're looking for 'Englishy' things to do. My ancestry is English, so I'm curious to explore. We'd like to see the things we don't get back home like the old architecture, art galleries/museums and street culture, rather than shopping centers or beaches for example, as we got a lot back home. I know many people have said to try going away from cities, which we are doing as we are staying in each place for 5-7 days at least and just using them as bases while travelling slightly outside of the city when worth it.

Also, many people have suggested visiting Scotland, we would have loved to but my friend Kalkidan has many allergies, so unfortunately, it's not practical, and she is not interested in going to Wales or Northern Ireland. We mainly want to stick to England in that case.

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France has announced a levy targeting ultra cheap imports from companies such as SHEIN and TEMU.

What do people think? Should the UK do something similar, or would it just make things more expensive for people who are already struggling?

I can see both sides, so I'm interested to hear what people think.

For the past few months, a man who lives on my road has decided his favourite place to have long, loud conversations on the phone with other people or to congregate with other men, is on the corner right outside my flat building, leaning against our wall, putting drinks cans on it etc. For context - this is a residential road, there aren’t any shops or anything like that, a lot of families.

When once in summer, when this was going on for over an hour right under our window with 5 of them, I suggested they move on as we could hear their entire conversation, he said his house was on the street. This is defo true as I’ve seen him around - but his house is a good few doors up.

I just don’t get why most days, he can be found hanging around outside my building rather than in his own garden or outside his own house?! Is it because it’s on a corner?

How would you deter? He defo knows I don’t like him doing it (this post is prompted today by me asking him not to put cans on our wall and him telling me to smile)and that hasn’t helped. It’s just very weird

EDIT 1

Thanks very much to everyone for their ideas! I thought I was going mad in finding it annoying and weird so this has definitely reassured me. I’ll try some of the music recommended out next time and let you know…

I was at work recently and a colleague said she feeling cold. We're both in our early 20s. I offered her my hoodie as I wasn't particularly cold and she accepted, though she seemed a bit confused at first. Other colleagues have said it isn't really normal to do that unless two people are more than just friends, but that's not the case here.

I was trying to be generous and she accepted my offer with happiness. So I don't see the issue. Is this really such a rarity outside of couples?

As a millennial i grew up sharing bath water with my brother, as a parent of 2 children i have never done this or even thought to do this. Does anyone still do this in this day and age? Im not trying to shame anyone i understand the logic.

Tomorrow, my first car is off to scrap and I can't lie, it's quite sad. I'm not sad to the point of crying because it's just a car but at the same time it's just a general feeling of sadness. I've had a lot of memories tied to the car over the past few years and it's just such a shame to see it go to the scrapyard and not get sold on to someone else.

The first time was when I was mistaken for some lads who I knew nothing about. The second time on a Rugby (League) pitch aged 17. I woke up on the sideline with a different top but luckily the same undies.

So I ask the good folk of the UK, have you ever been knocked out, and lived to tell the tale.

So this is something I’ve really been thinking about recently because I find it baffling. Let me explain. I know this doesn’t just apply to entertainment but I’m just curious.

So a bowling place near me has been offering half price slots before a certain time. Those slots have been completely booked all summer. All the full price slots? Nearly all of them are available. I’ve noticed it in other places, too. They reduce the cost, loads of people show up. Goes back to normal and it’ll be a ghost town.

Surely it would be better to charge less but have more people through your doors? Particularly when it’s something child friendly, surely the more people they get in, the more sales they make on other things like drinks/food etc?

Am I being dim and missing something obvious? Surely they’d make more money charging less to encourage more people?

So after a long period of depression and grieving I have had to come to terms with the reality that I will sooner or later have lost most of the vision in the centre of my field and in both eyes. This is already having an impact but I am still able to see well enough to fake it.

I am a 37 year old man living in the rural Lancashire/Yorkshire border. I want to try and make hay while the sun is shining and wonder what jobs people are in when they are not able to see centrally. What training or processes are there out there that can help. I don't really want to be consigned to living on benefits alone as I attach purpose to what I do day to day and enjoy the social aspect of work.

My experience is mainly in education as a TA, children's residential care and mental health support work.

I would really appreciate some input with this.

I'm in London from a Midlands city and so far it seems people here are dressed much more trendily. I'm in a relatively upmarket area (lots of brand new privately-built apartment blocks) but I was fairly impressed in the tube stations too.

Dunno if there's some level of novelty effect visiting other cities, since even Birmingham seemed like a trendier-looking place. But can't say I felt the same in Derby, for example.

I was browsing jobs near me and I saw a job to be a cleaner at David Lloyd (only 10 hours per week) and it included a full membership (must be about £100 per month?).

I therefore wonder what other minimum wage jobs had big financial perks? People who work in hotels maybe?

My mum was unfortunately subject to a case of unfair dismissal at her workplace earlier this year. An agreement was made and she received a payout because of it.

She’s now been unemployed for over 3 months and despite receiving many interviews she has been unable to land a job. She’s unfortunately not the most skilled person in the world on paper having worked in mostly admin roles throughout her career. She’s beginning to struggle financially and I really feel for her and would love to be able to offer some help and advice. Unfortunately I am not financially able to support her so anything else I could do would be great.

I worry part of the reason she is struggling to find work is because of her age. She’s been trying so hard to find a job and is applying to new roles every day. She can’t afford to retire either. She’s never struggled to find a job previously but the last time she was applying was 5 years ago and a lot has changed since then.

Any advice would be massively appreciated

I’m a millennial who spent my teens primarily at pop-punk gigs and the bit at the front was ‘the barrier’. Getting barrier was always the goal! These days I keep seeing people saying ‘barricade’. When did this happen?! Genuinely curious as to when (or If) the terminology shifted.

Did everyone else in the 90’s/2000’s call it barrier?

Youthful redditors - have you always known it as the barricade?

I need to know if this is genuine linguistic evolution or if I’ve been living under a very specific rock 😂

I'm born Scottish, but have lived in the South East of England since 1987. I still occasionally baffle people by using a term that I am surprised to learn is not actually "English"! Last night, it was "swithering" that drew blank looks from my English friends.

Are there regional words from your upbringing that you think should just be accepted English the length of the country?

*"Swithering" means to be indecisive or in a state of uncertainty.

The title speaks for itself.

You can stay aslong or as little as you like and you can’t be harmed. You don’t need to know the exact date or time, you can choose an event and you’ll be able to experience it in realtime. You can only observe while you’re there.

When my wife asked me this today I was torn. My first instinct was Cretacious period to see T Rex with my own eyes. Then I decided I’d go back to the resurrection of Jesus, reason being If I saw a dude walk out of the tomb I’d accept that as there actually being a God.

My wife’s response though. Left me fucking stunned. She would go back to the 90s. A mere 30 years ago. The decade she was born in.

The opportunity to see a civilisation that is unimaginably different to our own, pissed up the wall for CD players, dial up internet, britpop and fucking woolworths.

So tell me yours, maybe I’m the odd one out.

EDIT: You also can’t manipulate the opportunity for financial gain, no going back a week for lottery numbers or anything.

Haven’t done this for ages but I’m currently sat in a nice foody sorta pub alone waiting for a meeting I have to do once a month, having a nice lil cold pint chilling in reflective bliss.
A far cry from the normal chaos of a night out, it’s lovely.
Wondering if other people enjoy it or not because I don’t see many people on their own.

I need to prep some games for my pals baby shower but the exact brief is that is can’t be lame or shit. Thought it might be fun to play Name the Baby and include some famous babies. But not just ordinary baby photos.

Ideas so far….

Simba

Blanket (photo of Michael Jackson dangling him on balcony)

What other famous baby moments are there???

Thank you

Driving in France is so pleasurable with reasonable roads, the drive I made today was awful, it was uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. Why have our road conditions deteriorated in such a way over recent years. How does France keep their roads in a reasonable condition and we can't. It wasn't always like this only the last 10 years or so.

Edit: It may be better investing in a rally car, the ride would be as rough but at least it would be more controllable.

Hey, I have new upstairs neighbours. She has 2 young kids, under 7 years old (I think) and they have been BANGING on the floor, like running around 12 hours a day, everyday. It's so loud it makes our flat shake and our lights flicker. I've been upstairs and asked her to please be a bit quieter, it was a pleasant conversation and she apologised but it has continued since. She said "it's hard to keep the little ones from stomping around" and me being me agreed and said it's fine and to just be a bit mindful. It's REALLY getting under my and my partners skin now as it's going on from 7am - 7pm daily. What can I do to get them to actually stop being so loud without coming across like a dick?? I don't really want to go up there again and complain as I feel like I'll just come across naggy or something.

She's a very nice lady and genuinely seems to mean well and it'd be nice to have some sort of connection with a new neighbour but ooohhh my god this is getting on our nerves. Any advice is heavily appreciated.

(For context we are renting with the council)

From high end to something mid range too? Throw me your duvets/ couches/ pillows suggestions. Anything!

Can someone summarise the new legislation and explain why he is allowed to or not? He has frequently mentioned “increased risk for landlords”.