h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i feel usa folk are loud.ungrateful.brash and many other thingsi generally love the wide open spaces
alas i do feel they also betray themselves at there elections they are nohing more than a farce
brian

Some years ago I read a useful book called "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance".

What I learnt from that book and from my subsequent travels in the great US of A is that the country is a state of mind and NOT an actual place (for most people).

Hence you come across pockets of Germans who are clearly inhabiting the Bavaria of their mind even though they occupy a piece of USA (at least in 3 physical dimensions and part of the time continuum.)
Ditto other races: Brits, French, Hispanics, etc.

I rarely meet real Americans in these travels - I mean people who are naturalised and living in the belief that America is the country of their dreams.

I suppose this is one of those mysteries in life (such as the famous mystery about why so many people spend so long chasing small pieces of green paper)!

I saw irony, somewhere in texas, north of Austin. Whilst there some folks drove us to some pool for an hour whilst constantly drinking beer in cooler jackets, when they passed some police they just turned the cooler round on the can - which was advertising IBC root beer - okay not mega ironic, if at all but there was other stuff, I was just too pissed or stoned to remember...oh yes they drove in the direction of some Gulf of Mexico hurricane in order to catch the surf it created. More irony was met in San Francisco where this very friendly guy selling papers on a street corner, consolled me about getting a bad deal buying weed in Haight & Astbury, told me to watch out for that stuff then said, " Hey, I can take you down to see some mexicans who've got some real nice and cheap crack for $10." I say, " Isn't that just worse than dope?" knowing myself to be right and he says, "No, dope makes you sleepy and you stop concentrating." He didn't expand on what the crack did, I didn't take him up on the offer either.
Actually, this is making me think I need to refine my understanding of irony...

Green is a cool color, that's true, but my favorite color is blue. Most of all, the lovely sparkle and glow of diamonds and gems are a blondes best friend! And, this also was said during one of my "blonde moments"!

America just has to be the luckiest place on Earth. I'm surprised the Guide doesn't have a reference to Blondie in it already. I mean.... the rest of the Universe knows about Blondie -- how come the Guide missed it?

Elvis is one of the most ironic icons America has claimed! The great pretender was nothing but a charlatan - simply seek out some very rare and almost unknown recordings of 1950's black singer-songwriter Otis Blackwell. Notice a) the similarity of vocal style b) the remarkable similarity of Otis' original songs and Elvis' hits c) the remarkable ability for a sham, fat, white boy to become so famous that even dying on the toilet while trying to defaecate could not tarnish his name! America has much irony - it just doesn't know it...

Have you noticed that however outrageous a story/claim is that if someone preceeds it with two little words "In America" it instantly becomes at 25% more believeable ?

I live in "Small Town" America. The people I see are generally pleasant, humorous, hard-working, and considerate. It makes me feel sad that some people from other countries speak of Americans with such negative terms. I would never think of writing insulting comments about all the inhabitants of another country on a public forum. Many Americans are the first to offer a hand, not to mention money, to others in need.

I wish the politicians didn't see the US as the parent of the world- that it is our responsibility to right all wrongs and to help the world's needy- um- well ...on the other hand.....it does seem like the right thing to do- only the US ends up being treated with derision.

In my experience small town Americans make it a point of honour to be courtious and welcoming to travelers. I am an English-born Canadian with more than a vestige of English reserve. At first, I found Americans a little overwhelming. They are often forthrite to a degree that is intimidating to a foreigner. But their candor stems from an honest pride in who they are; and their frankness a genuine love of showing who they are to strangers. America is a vast collage of diverse regions bound together by a national identity conjured from a collective imagination. Americans are not the stereotype NewYork urban cockroach or the L.A. nouveau-riche boor. They are the most fascinating assortment of disparate characters a traveler is likely to find anywhere.

I would like to thank you, John, for your kind words. I have been sitting here
reading through all the comments on the subject of America. I have to admit
that I was almost in tears. It isn't pleasant to think that so many people from
other countries have such a stereotypical view of us. I guess it's something
that can't be avoided though. You can only form opinions based on the things
that you see in the various media, television, movies and the like. When all
you see is the negative things that are shown on the news, that's all you have
to base your opinions on. It's really rather sad.

Don't forget the site you are posting from. Ford Prefect is watching. His finger is on the button. We don't take America seeirously.
World's away it is really a little insignificant.

You seem like a resonable person.

I am curious. How do you think most americans would react upon reading this thread of negative thoughts of their home country?
Would they just ignore it? Would thay partly agree? Would they be angry and hurt?

I am really curious.

Researcher 36907 was hurt by some of the unkind postings. What should one expect? No one would enjoy reading such slanderous nonsenseabout their home.

This is getting very tiresome.

I happen to live in California. North Long Beach, to be exact. I've been known to take walks. Alone. At 10 at night. And I'm female and have never been intimidated here.

^-.-^

Thank you John the Gardener for your kind words.

Yes, it is extremely depressing to see how poorly you lot think of us. It's discouraging in the extreme, and I think definitely not in the spirit of this site at all.

The idea is to bring people together so that we may get to know one another, and exchange points of view. But that's no excuse to be brutish and vicious in your treatment of others.

^-.-^

See "Pittsburgh".

Actually, I have SEEN Pittsburgh, both recently and in its heyday as "Steel City." Cities like Pittsburgh and Buffalo provide a rehabilitating promise to us all: once the fires are doused and the mills are closed, the cities return in a greener and less oppressive form. As a Yank of the worst variety (an unrepentant one), I see the jibes from across the puddle in the same light. A century ago, British red was the color of most of the globe. Global policemen? Back then, YOU were truly "the Umpire upon whom the sun never set." And I'm sure that a lot of the same kind of things were said with equal relish about you. True peace betwixt us global cousins will never exist, at least not until we have some other Alpha Dog to insult together... Maybe the Chinese will step in to fill the breach, if we don't keep bombing their embassies...

I think it a little extreme to say only America gets treated that way. Australians take the "p" out of the English and other people joke about Ireland, so it's not such a lonely boat that you're in !

Once, a female pop star was touring the UK. She was interviewed on MTV:


MTV: How do you like Britain?
POP: It's great.
MTV: Any bad points?
Pop: You know, the trouble with the British is that they have no sense of irony...


It wasn't until I'd been screaming for five minutes that I realised the brilliance of that remark. I've been wary ever since...

Where in the states is it illegal NOT to carry a gun??! I know I live in this country, but I've visited some places that not only seem to be another country, i'd swear it was another planet...