Another story. I was in Arundel. We had come to see the castle, but this happened on a high street. We were hungry, so we popped into a bakery and bought a few doughnuts and other sweet pastries. Immediately as I left the bakery, I began eating one of them. This was probably not a good place to do that—the sidewalk (pavement) was so narrow it was awkward for people to pass without jostling.

An older man approached, wearing, if I remember correctly, a flat cap, tweed jacket, and vest (waistcoat). He was probably a tourist, but certainly English. As he passed, he gave me a big smile, patted me on the elbow, and said "Lovely! Lovely!" and passed on.

I suppose he couldn't avoid touching me, or at least had to pass so close to me that he figured it would be rude to ignore me, so he turned the encounter into a very brief but pleasant social occasion! By saying "lovely" he was telling me that he approved my eating that doughnut, and got some vicarious enjoyment himself.

My mouth was full, so I could do nothing more than smile and nod, but I think it was adequate under the circumstances.

That would never happen in America. We mostly ignore strangers. If forced to pass close by a stranger on the street, we would probably say, in a bland voice, "Excuse me," and move on, without even making eye contact.

Do I need to say, I like encounters like this?

So far, all of my stories are from my first visit to England in 1985. I've been there several times since then, but it's harder to think of examples from my later visits. I guess everything was so new to me in 1985 that small things made a bigger impression then.