Friends who Think They are Know-it-Alls

Blargh.

I'm really starting to get annoyed with a friend of mine.  She's traveling to the UK in the spring for the first time ever and she mentioned taking a train into London.  I asked her if she would be okay because most of the Tube stations involved lots of steps, and I know it was bothering my knee (and she's got worse problems than me) when Tim and I were just there. She responds by telling me she won't be using the Underground, she's taking a train from x town and it will take them directly into the "main station" in London.  So, I point out to her that there are several train stations that could be considered "main station"...and she seems to think she just knows everything about London, despite never being there (granted, I've only been there about 4-5 times, but one of those times was only last weekend and I'm staying with someone who knows quite a bit about London) and keeps telling me that the train station is magically right next to where she wants to be.  (I looked it up, it's not.)

This is the same friend who wanted to know how to get from the "airport" to Northampton, and when I had Tim write a response to her explaining how to do it, she ignored his advice and is doing something completely different and more difficult. Which involves the Tube that she thinks she won't use at all....


Add to this another friend of mine who seems to think that a week long vacation to the UK in the mid-90s makes him an "expert" on all things British and keeps trying to tell me I'm doing something wrong (because *gasp* the full English Breakfast I made Tim didn't have hash browns or mushrooms) or trying to be the expert about something he knows nothing about (a friend asked on facebook about the Ham flavoured crisps and before I could look up what the packet said this guy jumped in with an "answer").  He also took great pains to explain to me that "Marks and Sparks" was a nickname for Marks and Spencers.

So who else has a know-it-all friend who thinks they should be the ones telling you about life in the UK when they aren't from the UK and have either never visited or visited once a long time ago?

My sympathies, that sounds sooo annoying.  Although, I have to say, I'd find myself unbelievably amused at their expense - they're ridiculous.

My friends in the US are mostly openly ignorant about the UK.  The only exception is my grandfather, who visited me last spring, and before that had last visited in the 1960s!  He didn't try and tell me how things were at the moment, but it was on the other hand interesting to hear about a UK I've never been to. 

I HAVE experienced a similar thing on archaeological digs I've been on, where 16-year old volunteer whippersnappers tried to tell me how things REALLY were, and was I sure I knew what I was doing?   

I'd just chalk it up to general pigheadedness and enjoy the funny side of it. 

oh dear!
My mum is a bit like that, she watches TV a lot then decides she knows much better than me at everything. Like what I should wear to work, despite her never having an office job and I work in a specific industry, every time it's my birthday or xmas I get "work" clothes (suits, waistcoats, smart shirts, pinstripe trousers, sensible shoes) , even though my job is ultra casual/kinda hip and if you wear shoes rather than trainers everyone goes "ooooh got a job interview today?" and her asking me if I'm "networking" properly because she saw some documentary on office politics, in fact it was probably the movie "office space"!

She also just comes out with very old fashioned ridiculous views on things or just focuses on one aspect of something, like when I went to Japan she was convinced I'd end up murdered, even though it's really safe there, yes some western women have been killed in Japan, but more are killed in London! Right now it's that I should buy a car, even though I can't drive. She think it would be more efficient, and quicker than the tube (it wont) and I'd save money.
Her "You should buy a car blah blah:
Me "I can't afford it, it's too expensive to run and I'd have to pay if something went wrong"
Her " You can afford it! I was talking to this woman at Tesco and her daughter..."
Me (in my head) SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP
Me (out loud) Alright mum, I'll think about it, but i don't think i can afford it.

It may be difficult, but you might want to talk to your friend about the tube, some have really steep access but if you look on the map there are several with disabled access icons and there's step free access at those stations But of course I'm sure she already knows that!
also, Hash browns?!

 

I do that sometimes. Give advice on things I know next-to-nothing about. It usually turns out about as well as you'd think.

But on the plus side, when people do that to me, or ignore advice on things they ought not, it doesn't bother me. I just get the popcorn.

It may be difficult, but you might want to talk to your friend about the tube, some have really steep access but if you look on the map there are several with disabled access icons and there's step free access at those stations But of course I'm sure she already knows that!
also, Hash browns?!

*nods* At one point during Tim and my short trip to London the other week, Tim was searching out the handicapped accessible stations for *me*, so I know my friend will be feeling the pain if I was.  


Yeah, the only time I've seen potatoes served with breakfast here was on the Vegetarian menu as a substitute for the meat.

My sympathies, that sounds sooo annoying.� Although, I have to say, I'd find myself unbelievably amused at their expense - they're ridiculous.
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I'd just chalk it up to general pigheadedness and enjoy the funny side of it.�

*nods* I mean, I hate laughing at my friends, but when they act ridiculous you just have to!  I just looked a a Tube map, and not only is the station she's coming in at no where near where she wants to be, she'll actually need two (or three, depending on her route) different tube lines to get to her destination!

I HAVE experienced a similar thing on archaeological digs I've been on, where 16-year old volunteer whippersnappers tried to tell me how things REALLY were, and was I sure I knew what I was doing?�  

I'm assuming your job or schooling has something to do with archaeology?  I was going to say I can't believe a kid would do that....but then I think about how arrogant some teens can be and find it believable.

But on the plus side, when people do that to me, or ignore advice on things they ought not, it doesn't bother me. I just get the popcorn.

LOL!  I'm no where near saying I'm an "expert" on traveling in London, but given I was just there recently and went to the same places she's planning on going, I know she'll have problems and isn't looking at things correctly.  Plus, Tim sort of works for the railway, so any questions about trains I can get the answer to...and she knows that (and is even friends with Tim!)

*nods* At one point during Tim and my short trip to London the other week, Tim was searching out the handicapped accessible stations for *me*, so I know my friend will be feeling the pain if I was.  


Yeah, the only time I've seen potatoes served with breakfast here was on the Vegetarian menu as a substitute for the meat.

*nods* I mean, I hate laughing at my friends, but when they act ridiculous you just have to!  I just looked a a Tube map, and not only is the station she's coming in at no where near where she wants to be, she'll actually need two (or three, depending on her route) different tube lines to get to her destination!


I'm assuming your job or schooling has something to do with archaeology?  I was going to say I can't believe a kid would do that....but then I think about how arrogant some teens can be and find it believable.

LOL!  I'm no where near saying I'm an "expert" on traveling in London, but given I was just there recently and went to the same places she's planning on going, I know she'll have problems and isn't looking at things correctly.  Plus, Tim sort of works for the railway, so any questions about trains I can get the answer to...and she knows that (and is even friends with Tim!)

I've had fried potatoes with a full English, but they're strictly optional, I though.  But not hashbrowns!!

Yeah, I've got a degree in archaeology (magna cum laude, I worked hard for that!) and was a professional field archaeologist until I got made redundant a month ago.  Now I'm home on maternity leave and living vicariously through my husband (also an archy). 

All you can do is smile quietly now, and graciously offer sympathy when she calls you complaining about how much her knees hurt!! 

I've actually been to a restaurant in the UK that serves the full English all day long. In the morning they serve two triangular hash browns, but in the afternoon they replace them with beans.

I just ignore the know-it-alls. It's hard, but it makes it a lot easier.

I think for people like this, you can tell them once but then they just need to figure it out for themselves.

Sometimes I know that know-it-all friends choose not to listen because they feel insecure about not knowing everything.  And sometimes, not always, it can be a bit of jealousy or needing attention.  Like the hashbrowns guy, you are in the UK on a new adventure and he wants to feel relevant -- get attention for it as well.  So he will be adamant about hashbrowns.  You can only let it go and realise it comes from insecurity.  And if you are secure with yourself, it isn't a battle worth fighting.

Sara, you're probably right....some of my friends seem to be showing their jealousy in some really strange ways over me being here, while others are just plain happy for me.

Doesn't stop me from wanting to smack the stupid ones, though.

I had a mate in the US that was 100% against me moving to the UK, said he was never going to visit me, the USA was the greatest country in the world, my marriage was never going to last and used to claim that ''no one with an ounce of dignity would fly coach''
This same person has never been on a vacation that lasted more than a weekend away, much less been on a vacation outside the US and has never been on a plane. He is 33. And has never had a girlfriend.
And we (DH and I) have been happliy married for nearly 7 years.
So go figure, people that think they know it all make me chuckle.

I don't have know-it-all problems with Americans talking about the UK. But oh dear god the 'expert' opinions people have here about the US!

I've had multiple kids (19-22 year olds) tell me everything I need to know about New York. When I contradict them, they argue even more. Nevermind the fact that I lived there for almost 8 years... They went there for A WHOLE WEEK!!! No topping that!

keeps trying to tell me I'm doing something wrong (because *gasp* the full English Breakfast I made Tim didn't have hash browns or mushrooms)

I've had fried potatoes with a full English, but they're strictly optional, I though.

I'd go as far as to say that until relatively recent times many Brits probably had little idea what hash browns actually are, beyond being "American."  In fact a friend of mine (in his 60s) recently asked me what they consist of, as he'd vaguely heard of them but really had no clue beyond being "something to do with potato." 

The full English breakfast is traditionally served with fried bread rather than potato.

The full English breakfast is traditionally served with fried bread rather than potato.

Bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomartoos, black pudin and fried bread.
Re. The potatoes. The shredded ones. I end up in the bathroom shortly after eating them because they are not fully cooked and I guess the acid in the raw potatoes due a battle in the intestines. Thank you Dennys.

I always thought a full English was bangers, rashers, eggs, beans, fried bread, tomato, mushrooms, black pudding, or any combination thereof?

I always thought a full English was bangers, rashers, eggs, beans, fried bread, tomato, mushrooms, black pudding, or any combination thereof?

Yes I goofed................bangers (pork sausage).