Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
December 4, 2011 at 1:46pm
Here's something I just adore: Time means exactly what people say it does. If someone says, "I'll be with you in five minutes," they mean "I'll be with you in five minutes." No guesswork. If the sign on the restaurant says, "Open at 6:00 a.m.," the restaurant opens at 6:00 a.m. No excuses. If someone says, "I'll call you at noon," they call you at noon. There are sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day, every day.
The other day, a Turkish friend described America as a country that "does what the manufacturer says it does on the box." That's one of the best descriptions of America I've heard.
- Comment (50)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments:
May '10
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
I appreciate the roads here!
I've driven, or been a passenger on a tour bus, in several countries now, and their roads are always way too narrow! For example, I never even knew there were single-track roads until I went to Scotland.
In some places, lane markers, speed limit signs,and other traffic rules are just ignored and the roads are a free-for-all.
Dec '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
Time= money.
Dec '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
Or Austria!
Oct '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
I love the trust. I run an at-home business and take orders over the phone, with the customer supplying me with their credit card number.
They have never met me, yet trust I will ship what I have promised to. And also trust that I will not go on a shopping spree with the info they have provided.
In 15 years I have only been ripped off three times, in all cases it was a stolen credit card. One of the three was unforgivable, as I delivered the items ($2,000 worth). The thief looked me right in the eye, knowing he was ripping me off.
But he was the exception from a group of thousands of customers. There's no way my business, and thousands like mine, would be able to stay in business without the honesty of buyers and sellers.
Apr '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
Food! No country on earth does food as well as America. Many places have good food, but America was build for eating. You can eat fast, slow, messy, neat, spicy, sweet, fried, steamed or baked. We have everything any one could want. There is simply not one kind of food that can not be found in America. I can not say that for other countries. We have the most kinds of food, and most American's enjoy a greater variety not only of ingredients, but also styles. I love that. When I travel abroad the thing that gets me is I always get bored of eating the local flavor after a week. That is not a problem in America.
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
I love the respect for quiet. No one is running a jackhammer next door, no one is playing loud music, and if I put the "Do not disturb: sign on the door, I feel confident that I won't be disturbed. It's so relaxing.
Sep '10
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
Just don't smoke in a restaurant.
Apr '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
The inadequacy of my answers to why I loved America was what persuaded me to propose to my wife, whose loveliness was also beyond my capacity for words.
I do agree with the food, respect for drivers, kindness to strangers, politeness, quality of and respect for rednecks, and diversity points, though. The best point I found here was that America does what it says on the box.
The reason I became a California attorney rather than a UK lawyer (although I'll be dual certified in a few months, with luck), was because America really believes in its Constitution, in a way that no other country does. The freedom of speech (including campaign spending), respect for the law, and diversity of lifestyle all seem to flow from that, along with the deep seated democracy, which empowers people like nowhere on earth.
Apr '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
Matthew Bartle:
In some places, lane markers, speed limit signs,and other traffic rules are just ignored and the roads are a free-for-all.
Like the N-1 heading north from Madrid. What a [goat-rope]. OTOH, rush hour in Tulsa can be pretty wild.
Without endorsing Trevanian, I find his observation, that only older North Americans, accustomed to long distances on good roads, are good drivers, to be generally accurate.
Aug '11
Re: Sunday Morning Contest: Things We Love About America
There is a paradox here, that wasn't obvious to me, when I was a young jerk, with a Canadian flag patch on my backpack, (which seemed like something clever and ironic at the time, but I now realize was foolishness.)
It's a lesson I wish I'd learned earlier; which is that people like you better when you like yourself. Consequently, when you like your country, and are even proud of where you're from, it doesn't make people hate you, at least not the ones that matter. It actually makes it easier for people to like you and respect you.
Also, it seems the Spaniards that make the best friends and cow-orkers, are the ones who feel the same about their country and flag, and perhaps even feel a little antagonistic about using English in their own country, despite being able to. They also are the ones that like Americans, without envy, and wish it would remain different from the rest of the world. (Where else are they going to go, if it all falls apart? - I joke.) (So why aren't you fat? - they joke.)