I remember when I was in Southampton when I was 19 and was confused when the Pizza Hut didn’t have Irn-Bru on tap. Like, haha what is this place?
That said, a few days later I was sitting on the bench in the park and a homeless man started talking to me. He was one of the very few people that actually started a conversation first. Nice guy, actually. I gave him the rest of my half-bottle of Irn-Bru (of a supply that I brought with me!) and he said he could see why the Scots drink. I politely declined his offer of sharing his can of Tennent’s Super.
Big cities tend to think you’re weird if you start talking to them randomly on the train, at the bus stop, in the pub. Not in Scotland. It’s like something written into our DNA. I’ve had conversations with people on the streets and invited up to random flats not knowing anyone and been greeted like I was a long-lost cousin. “Oh, I didn’t actually bring anyth-”
“Nae borra, big yin” he said as he launched a can of Tennent’s into my hand “that’s whit we keep the cooking lager fur.”
What a beautiful country you are, Scotland.