jackcat
Rather a sweeping statement....and not my experience at CDG, who IMHO are guilty of exactly the same misdemeanours you attribute to UK personnel
Not a sweeping statement, one based on 31 years of empirical observation, typically 100 times per year.
As fo CDG, I have never encountered a similar attitude to the BAA airports in security, in fact I passed through there yesterday evening and the the two ladies on the scanner were charming and we shared a couple of jokes 'have you any money in your pockets sir?', 'no, my wife has all the money', 'with very good reason, sir.'
By the way jackcat, do you give the French scanners the courtesy of speaking to them in their own language?
I do and they can express themselves properly - although they will do their best in English they may not have fluency and thus appear less responsive.
I speak English at London and find there is little excuse for the boorish or generally uncaring behaviour that often prevails. One does sometimes encounter a decent individual, which always comes as a surprise.