An English civil servant asked a friend of mine recently how an Arab satellite TV channel portrays life in Britain for Arabs. My friend promised to keep an eye open for relevant programmes and to let him know the next time they meet.
Surely enough, after spotting a programme or two on life for Arabs in Britain, my friend took note and, in due course, relayed the gist of their content to his civil servant acquaintance.
According to my friend, the message of the programmes was not very flattering. In fact, the picture it painted was eerily similar to the one that I have tried to paint in this blog.
However, my friend said, the Englishman was not amused and expressed disappointment that the programmes were generally negative and paid little or no attention to “the positive aspects of life in Britain”.
I am somewhat surprised. Although the story described above took place a few weeks ago, ever since I have been wracking my brain, wondering what could the Englishmen have meant. Despite my own unflattering view of life in the British wilderness, a view that is born out of long, bitter experience, I have always tried to place myself in the native Britons' shoes, to understand how Britain looks and feels to its native inhabitants, in case I stumble upon something endearing that had hitherto escaped my attention.
In fact, I am surprised every time a native Briton says something endearing about, or indicative of an emotional tie to, Britain. For example, one thing that has always bewildered me is when Britons whom I meet while on holiday abroad say, towards the end of their holiday, "I am ready for home know." Other Britons whom I have met either on holiday or in my own country have said some truly perplexing things like "I miss home." Miss what, exactly, I ask myself?
Indeed, on a couple of occasions I plucked up the courage to ask my British interlocutors this very question. The replies did not surprise me. One couple were unable to answer the question, with one of them saying, to the best of my recollection: "I don't really know, that's a good question. I suppose I don't." On another occasion my British interlocutor hesitated while he thought of an answer and, after several minutes, said: "I miss going to the pub for a pint."
That just about sums it up. There is in fact very little to say about the British wilderness that can be described as positive. This is not a comment about the British people at an individual level but about the habitat, the country or physical entity known as Britain. However, as we all know, the physical habitat and its climate play a fundamental part in moulding attitudes, temperaments, behaviours and interactions of people at a societal level. Thus, while it would be fair to say that, on the whole, the native Britons are polite, reserved and respectful of privacy, the other side of this is their asocialness, coldness and perfidy.
So, all things considered, it's hard to know what the English civil servant had in mind when he regretted that an Arab satellite TV channel had omitted to mention anything positive about what Britain had to offer to Arabs. Perhaps if he comes across this blog he might care to enlighten me.
