Lord PercyPercy

If you really are happy and really are friendly, there is no need for any kind of 'act'.

It's the act that annoys us. We enjoy a grumble...we know full well that no one can be that happy all the time. Can they?

Bluegrass Lass

No wonder I can't integrate here in the UK either. I don't know how to play at being subtle. I say what I mean, and mean what I say. There is no hidden meaning or agenda. No game, no ulterior motive, no subtle context. I call a spade a spade. I understand that not all appreciate that, but I believe life is too damn short to speak in hidden meanings that others are expected to decipher and "just know" what the other person means. I have no time in my life for what I consider to be games/riddles. I'm not psychic and never will be, and I'm thick when it comes to picking up on hints - just come out and say it FFS!

Thank God I'm leaving to go back home in 38 days!

WriterChick

Hahahahaha... Bluegrass Lass... xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

MMcD

Takes guts to speak up when one's the odd "odd man (woman) out".
So good for you BgL

Sally Redux

I suppose that's true. I like subtle meanings and cryptic crosswords.

I don't find Americans totally straightforward as a rule though. Lots of behind-the-back stuff. Maybe just LA again.

MMcD

Pulaski

That's childs play compared to the Voynich Manuscript!

Sally Redux

WriterChick

Los Angeles is Los Angeles... It is very, very different, in personality, from what most people would consider as 'American' in general - It is exacerbated by the whole Hollywood thing.

Yes, it is in America, but it is, like NYC, its own sort of planet, in a big way.

I love LA and NYC, but they are extremely culturally distinct from classic 'America'.

Using LA as a guideline for what is or is not 'America' is like using Belfast as a guideline for what is or is not the UK.

Sally Redux

Take them out and it only leaves about 50,000 people though.

MMcD

True.....
...and as starkly different as they are from the rest of America - they're, in turn, very different from each other.

LA is extremely ghetto-ized...by that I mean one either remains confined to one's immediate neighborhood - or hermetically sealed driving to/from work.

Because it's a car culture - there's not the natural intermingling that occurs - in NY where you walk, take subways and buses and don't remain cloistered in a cocoon.

Sally Redux

I was at the Getty recently and saw a group of people faffing around, I said to my companion, "They look like New Yorkers." Sure enough, when we got in the lift one started barking out questions about why it was so busy, were we all local, put your hands up if you're not etc in a strong (thick) Noo York accent.

MMcD

Are there lifts at either Getty? Can't remember ever seeing or taking one.
Maybe that's cause I always head straight for the stairs.

Sally Redux

From the car park.

I think they do have them in the buildings as well.

Getty Villa is on one level I think?

Anyway I think the two cities are very different, although as you said there are huge differences within them as well.

WriterChick

I don't think Americans are especially 'happy', or especially fake.
They have more possibilities, culturally, and more opportunities, generally, based on the luck of their location of birth - and this makes people more hopeful than those who live their lives without as much access to possibility and opportunity.

I think Americans have an attitude of 'Abundance' because they live in an abundant society. I think they generally have a 'can do' attitude because there are some genuine possibilities to change your life in America, and because in America, it is not about who you were when you were born, it is about who you are now - There is a possibility for growth.

I think culturally it is socially acceptable to express enthusiasm and happiness in the USA, and doing so does not symbolise naiveté, as it might in other countries where those possibilities for growth and improvement did not actually exist...

And, I think that in the UK, partly because people rarely see a blue sky, and tend to be rather grumpy, moody, and depressed, and it is culturally unacceptable to express happiness.

I think in the UK they experience genuine enthusiasm as stupidity.

I think they do this because they are not coming from an 'Abundance' mindset.

I think they are thinking, 'You think things will get better? You must be a moron.'

They have a very strict classism in place in the UK (compared to the one in the USA), and hardcore cultural expectations that everyone is expected to adhere to at all times - There is less freedom and possibility. People are born in one class, and pretty much stay in that class, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they become. There are exceptions, but not many.

The British are also coming from a society that simply feels it does not have enough... not enough space... not enough clarity... not enough class equality... not enough influence... not enough money for the NHS... not enough green land... not enough housing... not enough jobs... not enough nurses... not enough snow ploughs... not enough cod... it is a total national mindset of constant deprivation.

All I hear about in the UK is how they 'don't have enough'.

Americans see abundance and possibilities, culturally, and the British see deprivation and restrictions, culturally.

Therefore, enthusiasm and happiness seems fake to the British, because they don't live in an environment conducive to that way of thinking and feeling.

Fish don't see the water they are swimming in. The British will tell you they are living in the worlds greatest country, and then complain about not having what they need to be great.

I'm not saying that America IS abundant, and that Britain IS deprived... I'm saying they see themselves this way!

I'm just saying I see that as their respective National Mindsets, and I think it effects their cultural attitudes, and shows up in individual personalities through lifelong indoctrination.

In the USA, it is 'Pull yourself up by your bootstraps' which means, 'Improve your situation by your own efforts'. The indoctrination tells Americans that they can always Better Themselves if they try - it offers hope and optimism, and calls for a personal action to IMPROVE things.

So, Americans are optimistic. They are spoon fed that optimism from day one.

Optimism is a key necessity for genuine happiness. That is a fact. It is documented.

In the UK, it is 'Keep Calm and Carry On' which implies stifled tolerance, obedience, and going with the status quo, rather than a positive action, or an improvement.

So, are Americans 'Happy' or are others... unhappy?

If people have a positive attitude and believe they can improve their lives... if people are optimistic... even if they are deluded... is that the same as being fake?

Even if they are incorrect, and they can't do anything about anything, if they REALLY believe they can... Aren't they then being... Authentic?!