Things you like about the Yanks

[Lower West Stander]

Whilst I'm not disputing this it is actually quite time consuming and also limited to travel outside of the country. I work with many Americans and a guy who lives in North Carolina told me it would take him at least 4 hours to just cross the border and leave the US. If memory serves me correctly this is either a flight to Canada or the Carribean via Florida. If you want to go elsewhere you're looking at long haul. And when there's so much wonderful country and cities in the states I can understand why few leave the US for vacation.

Hmm - I see your point but I still think there's an element of jingoism in the American psyche you don't see in other countries.

A huge chunk of Americans don't travel abroad because they are incapable of believing there is a life beyond their own borders. America is the centre of democracy, land of the free and home of the brave and could not learn anything from anyone.

Agree on food though. NYC has the best steak restaurants in the world!


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[Baldseagull]

I like the way they remake any decent British tv shows, rather than just showing the British tv show.
I like that they can create a competition contested only by teams in America and call it the World Series.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I like that they can create a competition contested only by teams in America and call it the World Series.

Maybe England should adopt this approach with football; we might then see them win the World Cup in our life time.

 

[rocker959]

Patriotism in abundance . Respect for their flag . Sadly lacking in this country .

 

[Insel affe]

A huge chunk of Americans don't travel abroad because they are incapable of believing there is a life beyond their own borders. America is the centre of democracy, land of the free and home of the brave and could not learn anything from anyone.

Unfortunately they are force fed this view from a young age and it continues everyday on the media. I think incapable is harsh and an unfair criticism to be honest, most Americans when you speak to them one on one are extremely interested in the rest of the world and fascinated, most state the cost and time off as a major factor to why they can't travel until the kids have left home and they have savings or retired. This may sound clap trap to you as we have 21 days off payed leave, your damn lucky if you get 10 days paid holiday in America, that is a big factor if you have children and costs, also the summer holidays for children out there can be 10 weeks !!! that is why summer camps are popular there is so much to factor into it and not as simple as you made it sound.

 

[The Birdman]

They live the other side of the Alantic

 

[Shuggie]

Speaking as someone who has visited all 50 US States (indeed!) ...

On the one hand ...
You will continually be astounded by genuinely warm people who can't do enough for you (it's just a far smaller percentage than we are led to expect). Incredibly well-funded health care, universities and local services, particularly schools. An engaged population which cares about local issues. Countryside to die for. Cheap air travel. Fantastic restaurants, vineyards and the whole place is open all the time. National Parks. Small town America (at least 100 miles from a big city and population < 5,000). Baseball, beer and barbecue on a sultry Summer evening.


On the other hand ...
The customer service thing is definitely a myth. If you take people at face value then it can appear impressive. But just stop and look more closely for a minute and more often than not you will see the glazed-eye phoniness of "have a nice day". It is at its most irritating when they absolutely refuse to admit they could possibly be wrong whilst everybody in the conversation knows they are at fault. It is no coincidence that disingenuous ends with "US".

Every day I see the US disappearing up its own Orwellian fundament of newspeak, double think and thought police ...

- the poster in the barber's the other day in the middle of a wall covered in pictures of military hardware/propoganda
The soldier not the poet gave us freedom of speech
The soldier not the demonstrator gave us the right to protest
The soldier not the reporter gave us freedom of press

- a police state that locks up people to the extent that prisons are warehouses for the poor

- a business culture run by cruel self-serving plutocrats and supported by legions of insincere bullies trying to make their way up the greasy pole and ready to shaft employees and customers alike

- it is almost impossible to get a simple question answered in a straightforward way when doing anything more complicated than ordering food. And, God forbid if you want an indicative price for anything ... just won't happen.

- you will see a thousand or so flags each day and hear the constant refrain of greatest country on earth

- homelessness on a staggering scale

- millions of people deprived of basic health care

- a country that deceives itself into believing that the armed forces are "protecting our freedom" on a daily basis ... it requires a spectacularly credulous population to believe that they need x million soldiers and y trillion dollars to keep the peace

- Just listen to any congressional hearing or news interview with a former soldier - the questions always starts with "we thank you for your service ..."

- God bless America ... and screw the planet

- guns, guns and more guns

- drugs, drugs and more drugs

- miles and miles of fast food outlets

- an impenetrable health care system (wife kept in overnight, a few tests ... total cost $30,000 ... demands for our share, debt collectors appointed within 6 weeks ... we're still waiting to see the invoices 5 months later ... too weird for words)

- too much law (proposal to raise water charges in SoCal in order to pay for increased infrastructure was shot down by rich people citing State Law xx which rules that utilities can only cover their costs ... so sensible long-term investment stopped by individuals on the principle that they were being taxed outrageously by commie socialist hippy jerks)

- the way they continue to treat the people who were there thousands of years before Europeans

- partisan news channels wheeling out a panel of bigots to venerate/vilify Trump every night

- Silicon valley hubris

- employment contracts where you are employed "at will"

- Trump

- Creationists

- Manifest destiny

Apart from that they're OK I suppose

 

[Buzzer]

MLS

MLS isn't a football federation, it's a league...in the USA. And that's the country that calls football 'soccer' but otherwise good point well made.

 

[pearl]

American ladies unbounding enthusiasm between the sheets.
Screaming away they are, letting you know that it is just right and what to do with it and how great you are even if your not.
God bless the United States of America.
Der de der der der der
Der de der der der der

sounds like The Stepford Wives

 

[The Spanish]

That's quite an interesting fact, not that it contradicts the post you replied to of course.

As an example, only 5% of Americans travelled abroad for either business or pleasure in 2009:

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1920287

It wasn't intended to contradict just change the context. The British narrative that the yanks are poorly travelled somewhat punishes them for their geography as much as highlights their supposed philistinism. unless you want to got to Canada or Mexico most places are a long long way away.

Not being able to take Ryanair mini breaks to Paris or Amsterdam because of sheer logistics doesn't make you dumb.

 

[The Spanish]

Hmm - I see your point but I still think there's an element of jingoism in the American psyche you don't see in other countries.

A huge chunk of Americans don't travel abroad because they are incapable of believing there is a life beyond their own borders. America is the centre of democracy, land of the free and home of the brave and could not learn anything from anyone.

Agree on food though. NYC has the best steak restaurants in the world!


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Don't agree on the travel. This position turns difficult logistics into an apparent choice.

I would say there are a lot better steak restaurants in some Latin American cities but I suppose it depends on your travel experiences. New York is a short hop from London compared to Rio or Buenos Aires and is an easy trip for the less adventurous European traveller.

 

[The Spanish]

Unfortunately they are force fed this view from a young age and it continues everyday on the media. I think incapable is harsh and an unfair criticism to be honest, most Americans when you speak to them one on one are extremely interested in the rest of the world and fascinated, most state the cost and time off as a major factor to why they can't travel until the kids have left home and they have savings or retired. This may sound clap trap to you as we have 21 days off payed leave, your damn lucky if you get 10 days paid holiday in America, that is a big factor if you have children and costs, also the summer holidays for children out there can be 10 weeks !!! that is why summer camps are popular there is so much to factor into it and not as simple as you made it sound.

Spot on. this is absolutely correct, no one else comes close to being right.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Unfortunately they are force fed this view from a young age and it continues everyday on the media. I think incapable is harsh and an unfair criticism to be honest, most Americans when you speak to them one on one are extremely interested in the rest of the world and fascinated, most state the cost and time off as a major factor to why they can't travel until the kids have left home and they have savings or retired. This may sound clap trap to you as we have 21 days off payed leave, your damn lucky if you get 10 days paid holiday in America, that is a big factor if you have children and costs, also the summer holidays for children out there can be 10 weeks !!! that is why summer camps are popular there is so much to factor into it and not as simple as you made it sound.

Most Americans I meet inside and outside of the states are interested in the world and above all have a fascination with a lot of British things especially the music, comedy and the BBC.

 

[Stat Brother]

Brings a tear to the eye:-

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

- God bless America ... and screw the planet

- guns, guns and more guns

- drugs, drugs and more drugs

- miles and miles of fast food outlets:

Come on, no one is saying the US is perfect; 2 out of 4 isn't that bad.

 

[The Spanish]

Come on, no one is saying the US is perfect; 2 out of 4 isn't that bad.

Hahaha.

I like the way you also get local fast food chains, for example Don Pan or Pollo Tropical means little to anyone outside Miami but are go to places there and institutions.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I like that they can create a competition contested only by teams in America and call it the World Series.

Hey, let's organise a "World Series Stoolball" competition ...

 

[Birdie Boy]

I used to work for HP on the Amex account. I was in a call with the yanks and in my list of things to do that year was swapout old kit for new models. One of the places on my list was the Maldives. I cheekily brought this up in the call and said I can cover this! Long story short, nobody in HP USA or Asia had a passport, so we had to do it. Unfortunately a colleague got given it as I had already covered Bahrain and Dubai!

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[turienzo's lovechild]

their contribution to cinema/tv in the past 100 years or so. Some superb dramatic TV shows- sopranos, the wire, breaking bad, boardwalk empire, twin peaks, game of thrones as well as comedy series like Friends, Modern Family, Family Guy, South Park etc. Film wise I'm sure people have said it all on this thread already- they've produced a VERY large % of the greatest films of all time. Music- absolutely superb. Hip Hop, Disco, Blues, Country, Jazz, some great pop and rock music (although we do the latter two superbly- possibly even better).

Finally, I'm a huge wrestling fan- so that

 

[AZ Gull]

They issue the second largest number of passports per year of any country

That's quite an interesting fact, not that it contradicts the post you replied to of course.

As an example, only 5% of Americans travelled abroad for either business or pleasure in 2009:

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1920287

There has been a doubling in the number of passports issued in the States each year over the past 10 years or so - Statistics

A big reason for this is the fact that since 2009, Americans could no longer enter Mexico and Canada with just a driving licence - Record Number Of Americans Now Hold Passports