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

I see. If you ( or any other intrepid american traveller) should find you have any Plymouth / Mayflower steps connections, I live in the area

The united states IS almost as varied as Europe, culture wise. I know in Alabama, cajun area, crawfish is a staple.
In NY, we think cajun is a french fry flavor.

I visited Wyoming, and it was like a different planet. People even DRESSED differently. And go ahead and try to understand the way they talk. I'd be better off in Germany. Their food was different. Serious.

Most people I know have visited either canada, Mexico, or both, for the simple reason that they are most local. Many have also visited the Carribean as well. Transatlantic flights cost around 1000 bucks a pop, and if you have family, who's spending 4000 on a weeks vacation? (**and not everyone has the flexibility to travel at off peak times, leave at inconveneient hours, and sleep in crummy hotels**)
In fact, the only people who could travel that far reasonably are unmarried people, and most of those are busy paying off student loans.

I personally found a trip to Canada a bit of a streatch on the budget, and while I'd really love to see Scotland, (I like to think its in my genes, since our last name is Gordon) but cant afford it.

Remember, there's more of a price tag to a trip then the airline ticket. besides, as soon as you let on that you are American, everyone abroad tries to cheat you.

>> In NY, we think cajun is a french fry flavor. <<

Oh dear. Insularity even *in* America?

RF

Yup! Cant help it, we are all the *ultimate* snobs.

Actually, not really. We like to pass around emails with titles like: "You Know your from Alabama if..." and then the list that follows says things like: Your yard is piled with crayfish.
You shop at BJs.

Then everyone adds notes like, "Gee, isn't BJs EVERYWHERE?" and "Whats a crayfish?" and its all very educational in a totally trivial way.

It just highlights our regional/cultural differences. If I knew about every subculture in America, I'd probably have to know about 1000 of them. (a projection based on how many I discover each new year.) Everyone knows about what effects them. The Amish in Pennsylvania know the Amish in Illinois, despite the distance, but dont ask them about anything in between.

I'm sure its not just Americans. (and hey, the Amish are practically German! They dont really speak English, you know.)

In nevada we dont know what cajun is!....(we can even spell it!)
cheers
ford

in nevada we also apparently cant spell 'cant'

NOPE!!!
cheers
ford

Ford: what time did you get on the 'net this morning, and how many hours have you been on since?

And do you have a yahoo acount?

RE: Midas World & Fred Pohl

I read a short story with a similar premise. Everybody had to consume products so that the economy wouldn't go under. Citizens were required to use each item in their house at least once a day - so that if you owned golf pants and a set of clubs, you had to find a place to swing the club and put some wear on those pants. The more use, the higher status you'll have in the community. Our hero has a bright idea, and puts his menial robot to work wearing out products. He can lounge about after work and enjoy leisure time, while his robot swings the golf clubs and manages to put a hole in the knee of his pants.

I'm an American, and I've been out of the country twice - once on a cruise to the Caribbean, and once to Canada (three hours.) It's a fact that air travel to Europe - or anywhere else that can't be reached by boat or car - is exorbitantly expensive. If it weren't, I'd already have visited Scotland twice.

um.... in nevada time it was like.... 10? and i have been on and off and on.... and a yahoo account? for email? ya bbut i never use it!
cheers
ford

Well, you are cordially invited to review the first part of my essay which is comfortably residing in my journal section.

Disclaimer: this is not an invitation to kick around Americans.
It is an invitation to help a fellow human being who hasn't got time to really polish it up alone finish off an essay.

What I'm looking for is advice on grammatical, structural, etc things, as well as general suggestions on accuracy,
and to be told if anything comes across as too overbearing, pushy, or superior, which I would like to avoid.

Also, do I need to be PC and say "he or she" or can I slip by with a 'he'?

And any other random advice.

Thanks for your help.
(and I'm not submitting this for peer review bec. its not for the guide and I figured all those ranting people who helped me gather the info could help me shape it.)

i already checked it to the best of my knowledge.... but i cant spel worth taffy so you have to get someone else to chec that
cheers
ford

Don't worry, I'll do it.

you do that!... Takes a load off me!
thanx!
cheers
ford

apologies for not reading the backlog... that sort of thing can get dangerous - you end up responding to 20 different opinions!

Just wanted to say that I spend 2 weeks in the US last year, travelling through Nevada, Arizona, Utah and California. It's the only country I've been to where every single person I've met was friendly. The people that didn't know about Britain wanted to know - chatting to one guy from Alabama (sounded just like Forrest Gump) cuz he started with "I hear there's.. a tunnel? That goes from England to France?" and we told him all about it!
It was a bit odd and sad when I got back to my local train station, sat on a bench next to someone and they didn't strike up a conversation!

My perspective is that they're just similar to us but so different. America is HUGE! And living where everything is bigger moulds the inhabitants into a different national character than somewhere very small like Britain.
Similarly with travel - Britian is beautiful but you could get from one end to the other in a day. It's all pretty green and hilly. America is so vast the landscape is completely different when travelling from one end to the other. Not wonder Americans don't travel abroad as much as us - you could spend 20 years sight-seeing your own country!

To compare - it'd take 18 hours to travel the length of GB, it'd take 48 to travel USA.

all my life i have lived here... and i stll haven seen the grandcanyon... how sad!
cheers
ford

I've seen it
Mox UK

I've been there. It's no big deal. I mean it ~is~ big, but every other canyon on the planet is made in exactly the same way and really all equally impressive when you think about it.

You know, I've never thought of the U.S. as very big. Oh well.

Now, Goblin Valley, ~that's~ cool!

Quote "I've been there. It's no big deal."

The Grand Canyon? No big Deal? You sir, truly have no soul. May I ask in your opinion, what on Earth WOULD be a big deal?