Become English (5) follow the denial rule in public

I find that when English step outside the security and privacy of their homes, then began to obey a rule called “denial”: try to avoid acknowledging that a scary crowd of strangers and maintain as much as privacy as possible by pretending that the crowd do not exist and much of the time pretending themselves not exist either. To follow the denial rule requires me to avoid talking to strangers or even making eye contact with them or indeed acknowledging their presence in any way unless absolutely necessary.

At the same time the rule imposes an obligation to avoid drawing attention to oneself and to mind one’s own business.

In fact I would go so far as to say that Englishness is rather more a matter of choice for the ethnic minorities in this country than it is for the rest of English people.
I have the advantage of being able to pick and choose more freely often adopting the more desirable English quirks and habits while carefully steering clearly of the ludicrous ones.