jvmorris
I Am The Man Who Was Not There.
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-03
Reston, VA
| reply to PC Doc 54
Re: Why England Sucks
Well, I told you it was deliberate, but Cockney Rhyming Slang -- haven't heard that mentioned in years!
Now - even though I realize the futility of taking on a mind like Nemo's, ... Recommend you edit the above phrase; possibly replace "taking on" with "contending with", just for starters. Otherwise, I'll have nightmares tonight. 
I feel I must point out some of your obvious misunderstandings: Americans in general are far from stupid, a LOT of Brits do NOT hate American tv or American humor, (and I still catch British tv so please don't try to tell me Office, Extras, Mile High, Emmerdale Farm, Crossroads or Coronation Street are your idea of better quality tv), and most of us know how to drive what we call a stick shift vehicle. I've personally owned 3 since I got here, and my (US born) girlfriend still has 2 and won't drive anything else. Indeed, I've owned seven cars in the US, only two had automatic transmissions. After trying three different rental cars with automatic transmissions on English country roads, it was a no-brainer to buy a manual transmission car for use over there, also.
On the other hand, in response to the original post: Mayonnaise? I've never heard of using mayo on food in England, I've always associated that with US deli sandwiches. And please, stop with the generalization that English food sucks, that is so 1960's! Mayo? Nor have I. (Maybe Tzale eats exclusively at motorway rest stops, MacDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Hut?) Or maybe he's thinking of Kraft salad cream? (Something I don't particularly care for myself.) And, like you, I have no problem with standard English fare. It's a pity, however, how difficult it can be to find good Szechuan Chinese over there.
Yes a lot of stuff is closed on Sunday, what a wonderful concept ... a day when there's no pressure to run out shopping, spending money you don't have, being dragged through clothing stores by the wife ... ahhh, bliss! As an American, that was a bit unusual at first, but I've become accustomed to it. And, like you, I've come to the conclusion, it's got it's good points. (The real problem is when Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a weekend! )
And, having grown up there, I can say I was never taught to equate American with stupid. In fact if anything I always had the greatest respect for the US, and now that I visit England with an American accent, I am almost always treated with respect. Quite frankly, with the damage our current president has done to the image of America, that amazes me! And, going the other direction (from US to UK), my experiences are more like yours than Tzale's. I think it's fairly obvious that I'm an American (but oddly a lot of Englishman assume I'm Canadian).
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris |
