If you've visited the UK, what do you think of the standards of service in our restaurants? "Eggs over easy, please" " Fried or scrambled only, dear." - I overheard that conversation between an American visitor and an indifferent waitress. Do Americans complain at the slightest excuse or will Brits put up with any shit rather than raise a fuss?
These days, of course, we've the mid-Atlantic man combining the best, or worst of both cultures. But in what situation would stay-at-home, middle Americans react differently to their small town UK counterparts? How does the US handle multiculturism and integrate its Moslem immigrants? Are expat Americans and Brits motivated by different reasons?
When I first visited the U.S, I couldn't get over the size of the produce. I'd never seen apples so big. Or, I soon found, so completely without taste or flavour. What was called a 'breakfast steak' was big enough for two British dinners and an average dinner stateside would feed a UK family all day. Has that changed? Back when UK visitors were still a West Coast rarity, I recall the disappointment of a Puerto Rican stacking the cues in a pool hall off the Haight when he learnt we're all very poor, drive small cars and live in tiny houses. But he was real impressed we didn't have to pay for medical treatment. Since then, the policy of successive UK governments has tended to ape US, 'free market' fashion, to the extent where we now even have your charming 'contract prisons'. Is it progress?
For a long time, America was the great hope, the beacon of freedom and opportunity for Europe's huddled masses. Now, we feel like a 51st state, natives under a colonial master across the big ocean. Do Americans see us that way and themselves as the rulers of all they survey? Are Americans less inclined to vacation here than they were previously? What's putting them off?
Of course, we're all brothers under the dope here and on the same side in that big, unstated war. May the blue light of liberty shine on you all.