The Tourist

[JamesSavik]

Out of frying pan at Walt's and into the fire at Roxanne's.

Mr. Vermin was having a really bad day.

[Lugnutz]

The loud ones usually have the most skeletons in the closet.

[Rutabaga]

Can someone explain Lukas's comment about how his card "has my English -- or should I say British -- details on it" ? Is Sheffield not part of England?

R

[Nick Deverill]

England is part of the island, stopping at the boundaries with Wales and Scotland. Britain though includes them. See here for the full explanation:

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2011/08/whats-the-difference-between-uk-britain-and-british-isles/

[Rutabaga]

But how does this apply to the remark in the story? In other words, why was it "or should I say British?" when the address was not in Wales or Scotland? It seems like there must be a political or cultural thing going on as to which I'm clueless.

(Of course the list of things as to which I'm clueless is large and ever growing.)

R

[Nick Deverill]

It's a throwaway remark had it been made by an Englishman. It is more correct to say British details, but it's not wrong as such to say English, as Sheffield is in England. All the countries that make up the UK, along with the Isle of Man and Channel Islands are in postal union and telephonic union so a quoted telephone number is inside the 44 UK country code and it is the same cost to send a letter.

However, Lukas I think is a citizen of the USA, with an office in the UK and would be exactly the mistake made and thing said by somebody in that situation. Likewise, the next bit of the story underlines why it has been put in. Good attention to detail.

Peter was impressed that Lukas acknowledged the difference between England and Britain as a whole.

Peter is an older gentleman, and a better understanding of the issues probably does come with age, and certainly if one had owned property in Wales or Scotland, or lived there for a while as getting this wrong is a good way of upsetting a Welshman or Scotsman.

So Pedro has done a rather better job of storytelling than most readers will understand, I think.

[Pedro]

I was gearing myself up to reply to Rutabaga, but Nick has answered more elequontly than I could have done myself.

Quote:

"... and certainly if one had owned property in Wales or Scotland, or lived there for a while as getting this wrong is a good way of upsetting a Welshman or Scotsman."

Exactly. This was first drafted about the time of the Scottish referendum so this kind of issue was bubbling around in my semiconscience.

Quote:

"So Pedro has done a rather better job...,"

You ascribe a higher motive I think- I was just having a little dig at those who treat British and English as synonyms, or worse that think Scotland is part of England!

P

[Lugnutz]

It's not?!?

[Nick Deverill]

There's parts of Glasgow where if you said that, you'd be doing well to get out alive!

[Rutabaga]

Thanks to both Nick and Pedro for responding. If I follow what seems like the subtext here it throws an entirely different light on things from what I had originally thought. A bit like someone saying "here are my details in Québec -- or should I say Canada," given the political currents of recent decades.

R

[Pedro]

R - good analogy, one that had not crossed my mind. But In that case might be the other way round- " here are my details in Canada - or should I say Quebec." to reflect the sensitivities of the 'minority' position.

Lugnutz - What Nick said!

[Lugnutz]

We need a more open sarcasm filter here. It was a joke.

[Nigel Gordon]

I have enjoyed the Sanitaria Springs series and have thought a couple of times about writing something to contribute but have pulled back as I could no see a way I could get into the story as a Brit with a limited knowledge of the US. Pedro has tackled this problem in a very effective way by making his main character an outsider looking in on events. That works and works well. This is story adds a great deal to the overall feel of the series and is well worth reading.

To expand slightly on the points raised above when I was living in Germany I found that England, as an address was not recognized by the International Postal Union. I had to address my letters either to Great Britain or the United Kingdom. However, the post office would accept letters addressed to Wales or Scotland. Says something about the status of England.

[Pedro]

Nigel

Thank you for your kind comments. As a newbie both here and more generally to the craft of storytelling they are a welcome confidence boost, and hopefully mean that I have got something right!