Rhubarb grumble - Telegraph Service with a smile is one of those American imports about which many Britons feel uneasy. But those for whom cheery over-enthusiasm grates upon the soul have a sanctuary at hand: the Temporary Measure tea room in Keswick, Cumbria. Fed up with online complaints about the standard of customer service, one of the proprietors, Emma Smalley, has defended her family, who own and run the shop, on the grounds that it is every Northerner's right to be grumpy, and no offence must be taken. "Britain," she says, and the North in particular, "still maintains a healthy respect for a good old-fashioned surly disposition." Indeed. Cranks, curmudgeons and sourpusses - like grumblers, gripers and grousers - help the rest of us feel cheery by comparison, even when low. Turn their frowns upside-down, and you would wipe the smiles off our faces.