All I said was that a new survey indicates that the British now have the angriest culture in Europe. “Mon Dieu,” said the Frenchman, “that’s supposed to be our specialty!”
The survey showed that the British gnash their teeth over queue jumpers, traffic snarls, S.U.V.s and people eating in public. The French smoulder over bad restaurant food, sloppy service, traffic jams and telemarketing.
Actually the French ended up in the No. 3 position in this survey, trailing the Italians, whose main complaint is erratic driving. Perhaps they should all look in the mirror.
Boiling over is less evident in Asian cultures, where people have generally learned to seek resolution of a conflict without losing their temper. In Japan, the concept of “wa,” or harmony, is “very high on the scale of values
in China it’s all about “mianzi,” or saving face by maintaining surface tranquility
At the bottom of the survey findings (or is it the top?) are the Scandinavians
They traditionally suppress their emotions
clipped from: www.nytimes.com