Rare Spirits

The Warmest Thing in Scotland Was the People

I was in Scotland last week. The first thing that hit me high in the plane was all the greenery around. Big rolling hills and juicy verdure reflected freshness through the windows. I wasn’t sure what the city would be like, but I knew it’d be beautiful.

I didn’t rent a car for this trip. Left side driving spooks me; I wasn’t ready for the stress of feeling every car bump into me. Uber would do.

I had forgotten that taking Ubers 2 to 4 times a day can be a joy. It’s city dependent, though. For example, New York Uber drivers tend to be harried, rushed, and uninterested in conversation. Even there, I’ve had some impactful rides.

Here in this beautiful country, the drivers turned out to be wonderful. Most of them were immigrants, and to each one I posed the same question: what do you love about Scotland? Many came from India, Greece, and other warm countries. I couldn’t imagine trading sunshine for intense wind and rain, even if those conditions brought along the green. Every single one of my drivers said the same thing. The people are friendly here.

The drivers shared stories of their home countries with me. One of them kept us in the car for an extra ten minutes, parked in front of the hotel, enthralled in his adventures with his prostituting, drug-selling, Albania-mafia connected girlfriend from Colombia. Another spoke of his wife; she died many years ago, and he didn’t want to find another woman. I love her, he said. We sat in silence after that.

After every ride, I carried the drivers’ perspective with me. People are friendly here. It made me open and appreciative of the laughter Scottish people shared. I looked at the interactions with this lens of friendliness, and I think it made people act even nicer to me. On a whisky¹ tour at Johnny Walker, I chatted with our theatrical tour guide and found out his wife was from my home state Wisconsin. At the end of the tour, he slipped a tiny bottle of a rare and smokey whisky. They don’t like it too much when I do this, he whispered, looking around, but I like treating nice people I meet on my tours.

The author Paul Graham writes about messages cities share². Boston screams “be smart”, while New York is all about power. If Paul wrote a similar list for countries, I know what mood Scotland would ooze. The intense winds seem to encourage people to supply endless friendly gestures and kind words. Upon arrival at our hotel, we got a room upgrade for no reason other than you’re staying here for six days, you should have a better view. At the Caledonia restaurant, the waitress apologized for a seemingly excessive wait (not more than 20 minutes!) and gave us 2 glasses of juicy champagne to end off our meal.

This type of sharing joy continued all the way to the airport on our way out. The airline agent checked our pool cue stick for free, though it’s considered oversized. You shouldn’t pay 80 pounds for something that’s less than a kilo, she said in a nearly incomprehensible Scottish accent.

I’ve been to many places; Scotland was country 31. Joy and friendliness appeared in every single interaction. From the very first moment in the air to the last on land, someone was taking the time to connect on such a welcoming level. Maybe the immigrants from warm countries lose their sun, but in Scotland they find something even warmer. Plenty of human friendliness to go around.

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1. Fun fact: Whisky (no 'e') is used for products from Scotland, Canada, Japan, and most other producers. Whiskey (with 'e') is used for spirits produced in Ireland and the United States.

2. https://paulgraham.com/cities.html