Pass The Asparagus Please

I was sitting in my office quietly not minding my own business when I overheard the following exchange in the waiting room:-

Elderly Gentleman - "Absolutely; without fail, he stopped what he was doing and had high tea at four in the afternoon. He still does."
Random Woman - "I've heard that. The whole country does it. It's so civilized and yet so peculiar at the same time.

Meanwhile, I'm just grinding my teeth, because this is just one of the many oft-repeated inaccuracies that I try and refute, but no, people absolutely know it's true. I often wonder how people marry this image of England as a land of bowler hats, the Queen and high tea with the Sex Pistols or even the Spice Girls. Please? Hugh Grant has a lot to answer for I tell you. Upon re-reading, it appears I'm saying 'high tea with the Sex Pistols' which is quite a thought. I wish I knew something about grammar.

Anyway, there I was musing about this and other common misconceptions I hear all the time, like; 'it's absolutely impossible to get ice in your drink in London', or 'I was in the UK for six months and it rained every single day', or 'the Brits hate asparagus' WTF? When it occurred to me that I was ruminating on this, whilst nursing my 4 o'clock cup of tea. No joke.

Someone's in denial here apparently.