automatic_jon
Guest
America is a fascinating country. They showed so much promise 50 years ago but seem to have squandered it since then.
The American dream, that anyone can rise to the top regardless of class or social status is admirable. When the boss drives past American workers they look at him and say "if I work hard one day I'll be like him", when he drives past British workers they look at him and say "Lucky bugger, I bet he was born in to money and privilege". And I love the ideas that freedom of speech and such like is enshrined in law but I'm not sure they really mean it any longer.
When I went to LA a few years ago for work I expected it to be just like London (where I was living at the time) but with a funny accent, having seen American programmes on television all my life. But it really wasn't, everyone was so eager to please and seemed to be acting like someone was about to check up on them all the time.
I parked my hire car on the ultra-quiet suburban road outside the house in which I was staying, facing the wrong way on the street so I could just jump in it and go when I'd got changed. Something which is illegal in the UK but I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it. In the time it took me to wriggle into some leather trousers everyone in the house had gathered at the front window and was looking worried, they told me that although they had never seen a policeman down their road before I shouldn't park on the street like that, just in case. To use that as an isolated example.
I know the UK is a surveillance society, more so now that it was then, but people in the states seemed to me to be genuinely scared of being caught doing something they shouldn't. Like a child is.
I met some great people out there, some of whom I wish I'd kept in touch but over all it was a very strange experience.
The American dream, that anyone can rise to the top regardless of class or social status is admirable. When the boss drives past American workers they look at him and say "if I work hard one day I'll be like him", when he drives past British workers they look at him and say "Lucky bugger, I bet he was born in to money and privilege". And I love the ideas that freedom of speech and such like is enshrined in law but I'm not sure they really mean it any longer.
When I went to LA a few years ago for work I expected it to be just like London (where I was living at the time) but with a funny accent, having seen American programmes on television all my life. But it really wasn't, everyone was so eager to please and seemed to be acting like someone was about to check up on them all the time.
I parked my hire car on the ultra-quiet suburban road outside the house in which I was staying, facing the wrong way on the street so I could just jump in it and go when I'd got changed. Something which is illegal in the UK but I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it. In the time it took me to wriggle into some leather trousers everyone in the house had gathered at the front window and was looking worried, they told me that although they had never seen a policeman down their road before I shouldn't park on the street like that, just in case. To use that as an isolated example.
I know the UK is a surveillance society, more so now that it was then, but people in the states seemed to me to be genuinely scared of being caught doing something they shouldn't. Like a child is.
I met some great people out there, some of whom I wish I'd kept in touch but over all it was a very strange experience.