British Consul General sips tea on the T to connect with Bostonians
BOSTON - The United Kingdom is famous for its tea drinking, but now you can catch one of their diplomats sharing a bit of tea on the T. His name is Peter Abbott, and he is the British Consul General in Boston.
Abbott has been in the city for a few years now and he decided to get to know the townsfolk better. He thought the best way to do that would be to ride the MBTA.
"This would be a challenge in London"
Abbott took WBZ on a ride with him as he hopped on the Red Line to talk with strangers. WBZ's Mike Sullivan asked if people typically talk like this on the train in the U.K.
"No, not really. This would be a challenge in London," laughed Abbott. "That's a challenge to the American embassy in London. See if you can do this on the Underground."
He documents his adventures on social media and posts the interactions he has with people. The conversation often leads to discussions about what they know about the U.K., or if they are offended by Abbott's allegiance to the soccer club Manchester United. One Bostonian jokingly got up from the conversation when he discovered the Consul General's favorite team.
"You guys in Boston have a bit of bad history with British tea," Abbott said to a commuter. "Very much so," the man replied.
But does the bad blood bother Brits?
"Is it tough that we won? Does the losing hurt?" Sullivan asked.
"No," Abbott responded. "You can get over a lot in 250 years, I promise you. And you know, you're all speaking English. So really who won?"
