"Lovely Day, Isn't It?"

To help its canteen workers understand American patrons, Britain's Navy, Army & Air Force Institutes issued a pamphlet. Interesting by-product was the information it gave U.S. soldiers about what the British think of them after nearly a year in the United Kingdom. Samples: >"Americans are men's men. The American troops are tough, but with a toughness tempered by a strong sense of humor. They think the British nation pretty tough, too, after the way we have stood up to bombings." >"You may think they are inclined to make too much of the skyscrapers of New York, the lights of Manhattan, the extent of the prairies and the beauty of Niagara. If you allow yourself to be irritated by their talk it will mean you cannot find things to equal them in Britain. ... If an American soldier brags about his country, in all probability he is feeling pretty homesick for it and just to talk about it brings his homeland nearer." >"Don't talk about Chicago gangsters as if they represented 90% of the population. The films have fostered this impression, but the vast majority of the American people live much as we do and have the same religions and much the same politics. That is why the United States boys have come thousands of miles to help us win this war." >"Remember that British people have a reputation for being standoffish, and anything you can do to dispel this illusion will help to foster good feeling. . . . The first time an American approaches the counter and asks 'Howya, baby?' you will probably think he is being impudent. By the time several dozen men have said it, you will come to the conclusion that all Americans are 'fresh.' Yet to them it will be merely the normal conversational opening, just as you might say 'Lovely day, isn't it?' "

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