As I near the end of my investigations into Americans and the life here I wonder if I have done them justice! I have restricted myself to Mexicans in Houston and Cubans in Florida! Is that representative of America as a whole? I didn't after-all extend my investigations and subsequent revelations into life up North, the Vietnamese immigrants in New York, the black gangs in downtown Detroit, the Chinese Triads in San Francisco, the Italians in Washington DC or the illegal immigrants throughout the whole country!
And on that subject I didn't manage to swap view with any home-grown Americans!
But never mind!
The weather is nice in Houston just now! Hurricane Ike certainly ravaged the area, more-so down south where rooftops still lie in the roads, where expensive yachts are piled up any-which-way-but-loose like old cars at the scrap yard and where certain shops and houses are still boarded up to keep them from falling down! I felt sorry for a taxi-driver I had today! He started to give me a sob story about his damaged house and how he had to sleep in his large four-by-four for a few days! I came straight out and told him that the problem is cheap and nasty houses built on flood planes! He didn't talk to me after that but I'm sure I had a point! I think my unasked for comment that went along the lines of "eat less – spend less - save more - live better" might not have improved his already fragile mood!
Anyway! As I prepare to leave America to travel back to civilisation I can feel my mood lifting, my energy returning and my negative attitudes diminishing! I feel that America has a long way to go, there is allot wrong within society here and the prevalent culture is rotten and I feel that not many Americans can see that the life they live is so sad! Maybe next time I will try to go north, to the big Cities of New York and San Francisco just to see if life is better, if the people are thinner and the cars are smaller!
In the meantime I will return home to my smaller portions, to public transport and to conversations that don't revolve around 'self'! I will return home to healthier food, to common sense and to a more select group of people called the population of the United Kingdom!
Sorry America! You may feel slighted after my ten days here! If you only listened sometimes to what other people say you might just realise that expertise comes from learning not simply through talking the loudest and longest and without pause for breath!
Hi Ieuan, I just now noticed your articles about your time in Houston... I wish you had time left to sit down for a cup of Joe with Jean & me, we'd love to hear your stories and perspectives and perhaps we might even be able to raise your view of Americans a little. Maybe next time you're in town....
Next time I'm that aways I would love to do that! And one day also I will write about the good Americans that I have known and worked with over the years - and there have been plenty! I know that what I write could be considered harsh and often without sound justification but ......
Anyways; as one Dutch seafarer wrote an email to me one day!
"why you write about the sea, I live like a dog, I am dirty and filthy and I spend months away from home living a horrible life, Then I read about it all on your website. It is horrible that I have read about it at home as well"!
So now I write about America! Maybe I will have to turn my attention to Zimbabwe or some other lesser known country that perhaps has no access to the Internet?
Sounds good, Ieuan. We have enjoyed your writings over the years. We
have tried hard for a long time to get people from outside the U.S. to
post to SearchWarp 'day in the life' type articles, to give us a better
perspective on how things appear to the rest of the world. It really
should be no surprise that Americans tend toward myopic views given
that we are so much more geographically isolated than many countries.
But that's no excuse.... I know a lot of people who haven't traveled
outside of their neighborhoods in years.
Take care... and I look forward to the next time you are in Houston. Respond to this comment
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