Do Brits moan too much? Sometimes I think we really do. Take the Olympics, for example. Sure, now everyone remembers the gold medal wins, the sense of patriotism and the wonderfully outrageous feats of sporting prowess. But cast your mind back to a month or so before. Back then Twitter was alight with cynicism, directed at the influx of foreign visitors, the resulting travel chaos this would cause and the media giving too much air time to sports.
But part of me thinks that this is just what we do naturally, and this is why I like a new campaign by Incahoot called 'Stop Moaning.' The name is self-explanatory - Incahoot want people to stop complaining (in this case about their finances in particular) and instead motivate themselves to do something about it.
They ran some research with the Joe Public and discovered that despite more than half of them (57%) being worried about the contents of their wallet, they still hesitate to do something useful about it - such as switching utility suppliers or properly revising their monthly outgoings. Part of this is down to the fact that choosing the right tariff has become a bit of an art, but I think it also points to a fundamental flaw in the genetic makeup of Brits. We hate asking for what we want. We dislike any kind of confrontation. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but on the whole rocking the boat is our idea of a nightmare. Moaning is one way we can let off negative steam without actually having to do anything about the problem.
So I'm interested to see how people will react to Incahoot's 'Stop Moaning' encouragement. Their solution to money worries is to sort household bills out for people for free with their Concierge Service. You simply send them your bills and they work all the details out for you. No awkward phone calls necessary. Although this is one way of addressing our inability to haggle for what we want (and I imagine it's got to be kind of nice to have someone else take care of it all for you), I do wonder if Brits will ever be truly comfortable doing it themselves. After all, it was Napoleon who once said, 'When people cease to complain, they cease to think.'
Image via Incahoot.com.