Could we stop pointing fingers? Blame doesn't make anything better, an unless people are terminally stupid, they'll figure out they could have done better. I usually do, but there's less of a chance I'll be inspired to push back if someone doesn't push me in the first place. Sometimes, a PM from a friend works better than any amount of public complaining.

The worst fundamental problem is that people pay attention to stuff that bothers them, and let what they love slide by, seemingly unnoticed.

Yes, the UK and US have some huge differences in what we consider acceptable. It gets really bad when we expect other people see things OUR way, but it's also bad when you try to explain things to them, and they insist they're right and you're wrong. OK, so they don't agree--are they at least capable of understanding? Of trying to? It's Babylon 5, and the rules are those of Mudcat, and of Max, the Straczynski of this particular diplomatic outpost. They aren't your (a generic "you") rules, no matter how right you think you are, and they aren't my rules, no matter how right I actually am.

It does get frustrating, but about what I said when I first started this: when someone feels like they're being pushed, they will push back. They'll assume the default position they're being manipulated into taking, because most of us can't realize we're being pushed while it's happening.