People (in particular the Brtitish) spend great lengths of time expressing a dislike for Americans and the USA. These views bewilder me because I have never found the yanks to be anything less than totally delightful. I admit I have only been to Florida and that the type of people in different states will probably vary, but I can only talk from my own experience. The Americans I have met on the four visits I have made to the country have been courteous, generous, honest, patriotic and welcoming. The typical American shopkeeper's phrase "have a nice day!" is ridiculed in the UK as being a false wish, but this is coming from a nation of people who rarely have a nice day. People in Florida seem to genuinely want other people to have a nice day. They want visitors to their country to enjoy their time there. And why? Because they are proud of the place.
We Brits are not proud of our country. Those of us who make it the dump it is don't care about it, and those of us who do care are ashamed of it. The British have not held their heads high in years. We used to pretty much rule the world. While we did the right thing in giving most of it back, the result was that we became very apologetic - hence the shame in ourselves.
But we are all connected by a common reluctance to do anything about it. And what happens when the odd person does try to do anything about it? They usually step on the toes of one of the leeches who don't care, who then complain about it. And the leech gets their way because the normal people are too ashamed to stand up to them. As I said - the Americans are proud of their country, but it's not the actual country, the physical land, that they are proud of. They are proud of themsleves and each other. They are proud of who they are, not as individuals, but as a group.
We Brits need a big war. No I'm not saying that's what I want! It just seems that the only time we ever come together is when we are all threatened. World War 2 was probably the last time we were a truly United Kingdom, although there was a slight surge of patriotism when the London Bombings happened a few years back. Is that really what it takes to bring this country together? I'm sure one day there will be a big war on home soil and we will care so little about the country that we will just lay back and accept an invasion. Either that or it will be a civil war.
Wow that turned into a bigger rant than I expected! I'll try and lighten the tone by mentioning that Lego Batman was released in the US while I was there. Look...there it is!
We don't get it here until October 10th though. So all you wonderful yanks, go out and buy a copy now! And all you crappy Brits? Ignore the fact that I hate you all and go and buy a copy next month! Of course I don't really hate you all....if I did I probably wouldn't care so much about what's happening in this country.
