I'Ll Put the Kettle on

I´ll put the kettle on

The thing what people really enjoy during travelling to other countries is watching and experiencing the culture. Many people know the British culture for its tea drinking. But only a few know that the preparation of tea will tell something about your lawyer in society. From the way you prepare your tea and the number of spoons of sugar you put in your tea, the British can trace your status. While in other countries tea drinking is seen as a social gathering and a way of hospitality, the British find it difficult to maintain this tradition for the younger generation.

Tea drinking is an old typical British tradition. Every tourist who visits England wants to try a delicious decent and stylish cuppa of Earl Grey at the Knightsbridge.

The British do have an old tradition of drinking tea. Tea is more than just a drink for the British – it is a way of life. The British are known to drink tea almost five times a day.

When the British feel like awkward or uncomfortable with their guests or in a social situation, they make tea. The British see tea-making as a displacement-activity. Their famous announcement for this activity is: ‘I’ll just put the kettle on’. And it is even told that the British most of the time feel uncomfortable. This fact shows that they have problems with receiving guests in social gatherings. It goes even more far that if people are in a worse situation, they need tea and call for it. It´s like a cure for their problems. This makes the British stubborn.

When you go deeper in the belief of tea by the British it came out that there is a whole system in drinking tea. The British distinguish the social lawyer from a person that is drinking a cup of tea. They can tell you whether a person belongs to the upper class, middle class or working class from the way how people prepare their tea.

The upper-middle and upper classes drink unsweetened Earl Grey tea. It is even recommended to drink it unsweetened, because this could be an indication that you will not be regarded as one of the upper-class. If you rather choose sweetened tea and you take only one spoon of sugar this is an indication for the British that you belong to the lower class. While if you have a sweet tooth and take more than one spoon you will be regarded as one of the working class. Even the way how you put the milk in your cup will bring consequences to your class. If you put the milk before the tea then you are regarded as someone from the lower-class, because this is the habit of the lower-class.

There is an upper class, lower-class and working class and even more. How could the British still continue on making this separation in the year 2011? This changes the way of drinking a cup of tea and removes the joy of drinking tea for some people. If we see the United Kingdom today, there are many immigrants living in Britain. Many people from all over the world ended up in Britain, this made Britain today have many flavors. They all have their own way of eating, drinking and traditions. In some cultures of these immigrants adding sugar to the tea is a normal habit. Those immigrants should be seen as enrichment for the British society and the British Culture. It is unfair for those people who like sugar to be seen as lower or working-class. It is an embarrassment for the society if we class the people in the way they prepare their tea, how much sugar they put in their cup of tea or the way they put the milk. It is also an inconvenience on the long term for this old British tradition. Nowadays the British society is diverse, because of Britain’s immigration history. We can find many different ethnic restaurants with good foreign food, but also mixed-race families. In this tea case some British would still have a judgment about people’s social class. This will separate the society and in the worst case this beautiful old tradition of tea drinking will get an image problem and at the end it might be given up. Like the British gave up cooking a long time ago.

Why should we separate a whole society into classes, during a relaxation moment or a social gathering? Let’s take a good example from the Sahraoui culture that we can find in the Western Sahara in the South of Morocco. Despite of the fact that many time is spend on preparing and drinking tea. It is believed to be a sign of generosity, friendliness and hospitality. They have maintained this old tradition of drinking tea.

This tea culture should have an important value by all lawyers in the British society as for the immigrants. Even though the society has been changed in Britain by the immigrants, this British tradition should be maintained. Remove the social lawyers that stick to tea, and drink tea on the way you want, with or without sugar and put your milk before or after. It should not say anything about your social status. Make a positive progress in the British tea culture. This is a call for the entire British society; Make a development in the British tea culture, rescue this British old tradition, otherwise it will be only the tourist who will practice this British tradition.

Source list

Books

Fox Kate (2004). Watching the English: the hidden rules of English Behavior.

Farell Mark. British life and institutions.

Websites

Ways and Customs in the Sahraoui culture. Retrieved from http://www.sahara-online.net/tabid/721/Default.aspx

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[ 1 ]. British life and institutions, Food and Drink; A nice cup of tea.
[ 2 ]. Watching the English, Breakfast Rules and tea beliefs