Ethelred_the_Unready

You know, the OP may be harmless and may not have meant to do so, but he or she hit a nerve...

I am sick and tired of people bashing the UK. Perhaps our self-depreciation has gone too far, but it seems that many expats seem happy to disrespect their roots, while making their new country of residence to be quite literally paradise and a land of milk and honey. Perhaps us Brits need to start being more outwardly patriotic, but not in the jingoistic "we're better than you" sense that certain other nationalities are famous for worldwide. I suggest you go to the UK Yankee forum where you'll find many Americans who love the UK, but who aren't posting negative stuff about the USA.

So by all means, be happy in your new home, but don't disrespect the UK. Take off the rose tinted spectacles and see it for what it is.

Ethelred_the_Unready

Partly being the operative word; greed and poorly regulated capitalism being the main causes.

Sally Redux

Yes, I don't get it either.

frrussre

Well said, I second that.

Reg. Frank R.

washsaint

My, my, my......there are some folks out there who I feel for. You are obviously very unhappy over in the US and sound like you're trapped.

Each and everyone to their own................if you had read my post more carefully you will have seen that it is not a slag fest of the UK: in fact far from it.

As for rose tinted specs, I sure don't think there is that. Living in the US is different from the UK: some aspects far better, some far worse. But on balance, the life and lifestyle we have is far better over here (for now).

At the end of the day, the only thing important to me is that my family are happy.....and they are.

I really hope some of you find the happiness you appear to be missing right now. Life is way too short.............................I really want to ensure that I end up having no regrets or "wish I had done this" when I am old and frail.

Uncle Ebenezer

I'm sick and tired of being told, by you lovers of all things British, that I'm not entitled to my own opinion - I'm British, hate what has happened to the country I grew up in and will exercise my right to express it. I won't object to you telling us it's still that green and pleasant land, peopled by quirky, loveable folk and certainly won't apologise for balancing it, by telling it as I see it.

I loved growing up in England, in the 60's and 70's - a land of (comparative) freedom, where good old fashioned family values were the norm. That changed, certainly in my part of East Sussex, to a place ruled by gangs of disaffected youths, to such an extent that my parents, who had lived in the same village for all of their 80 plus years, were afraid to go out. In fact, most people are afraid to go out at night, young and old.

So, how about you take off your rose-tinted spectacles for a while and admit that Britain isn't the paradise of village pubs and eccentrics you portray. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be happy where we've landed are just as entitled to voice our opinions as those of you who are miserable and disenfranchised.

Orangepants

You may soon eat your words! I was in House of Fraser in Oxford Street on Saturday and I overhead the cashier saying to someone "Did you find everything you were looking for today?" "What a beautiful shirt, really suits your colouring" and "Please do come back and see us soon!"
Of course my cashier just grabbed the items, grunted and pointed at the card machine to instruct me to pay!

Ethelred_the_Unready

For someone who claims to be so happy, you sure come across as bitter and angry.

I never claimed that the UK was a paradise as you describe it. Like any other country (including the US), it has problems, along with pros and cons.

I'm sorry but I'm also not old enough to remember the Britain of olde that you describe, but the Britain I grew up in was just fine. I think you'll find that "family values" have deteriorated across the world, not just in the UK.

As for the "ruled by gangs" comment, East Sussex is hardly south central LA, or Little Haiti in Miami, which I lived just few blocks away from and was truly dangerous. The difference is, the poor are generally out of sight and out of mind in America, confined to inner city ghettos, while those of sheltered existences never have to experience the America they live in (count yourself lucky).

With your "I'm alright Jack" mentality, I think it'd also be a safe bet to assume that the policies of governments you voted for helped create or worsen many of the UK's problems in the first place.

So while people like you will continue to knock the UK and their own roots (a country that gave you an education and free healthcare), I'll continue to be one of the few who defends it. You know, having lived in Miami among Latinos for 8 years, I learned a lot from them. They may have come from places far poorer and more dangerous than East Sussex, yet they stay true to their roots and don't disrespect where they came from.

Ethelred_the_Unready

I wasn't asking for, nor do I need your sympathies, but thanks all the same. I don't hate the US, nor do I regret coming here. It hasn't worked out, but it's been a learning experience. As soon as I am able, I will be returning home, but in the meantime, that doesn't stop me from appreciating the good things, i.e. the amazing natural beauty and great cities. So to accuse myself and others who simply disagreed with some of your comments about the UK as being "miserable" is a tad baffling.

Not all of us came here chasing bling, bigger houses and dreams. Some of us are just married to US citizens or have children here, while having a rather more realistic and non-rose tinted view of both the US and the UK. If you weren't so well off or had health issues, you just might think differently. As I don't wish that on anyone, all the best to you.

Uncle Ebenezer

If you bother to read and take in what I posted, you'll see that, contrary to knocking my roots, I celebrate them and mourn the passing of the place I grew up in. As for being bitter and angry, yes, it does anger me when somebody tells me my viewpoint is not valid, simply because it doesn't coincide with theirs.

You describe South Central LA and Miami as being more violent than East Sussex, Einstein - if you want to compare those places to places in Britain, use Toxteth, or Croydon. I'm talking about semi-rural East Sussex, where gangs of "chavs" roam about, "happy slapping" and generally intimidating the defenceless. I suppose that, because elderly, respectable people who are being slapped and bullied are not being threatened with knives, it makes their position less valid.

In closing, the country that gave me education and healthcare, also took thousands in taxes, over the 25 years I was employed there. You'd be better off pushing that example at the spongers, who got the same as for me, but paid nothing into the system. The lower taxes I pay here, more than pay for the cost of health insurance.

Uncle Ebenezer

Thereby, hangs a tale.

robin1234

"Did you find everything you were looking for today?"
Oh dear that innocent question is one of the banes of my life.. my wife keeps threatening to give the next cashier an honest and fully-featured response to that question. So far, I've managed to keep her in check..

frrussre

We just ate American Kit Kat bar, made by Hershey. Ughhhhhh
That's enough to make me leave and go back to Blighty.

Gross, can't get rid if the disgusting taste.

Hershey should be prosecuted. Should be illegal.

USC wife said that's disgusting, nothing like real thing

Reg. Frank R.

Ethelred_the_Unready

Sorry; I wasn't around during the Victorian era, when your Britain existed. Times change, the UK and the US have changed over the years, only your sheltered existence keeps you from experiencing the "other" America, which is made clearly apparent by the high levels of ignorance displayed in your posts, comparing anywhere in the UK to the levels of violence in US inner cities. Trust me when I say that nowhere in the UK compares to Liberty City or Little Haiti in terms of crime, depravation and violence.

You seem to demand that others respect your very narrow-minded and debatable viewpoints, yet you won't do the same in return, even though while I'm nowhere near as old as you, I have experienced poverty both sides of the pond and see things a little more objectively, which includes knowing full well that the UK is not a charming land of pubs, villages and infinite politeness.

Uncle Ebenezer

Well, the "Victorian" jibe, with its startling originality, stung me badly.

You solve nothing, by building a straw man out of your happy stamping grounds in the US (which, I must say, impressed me immensely - I imagine you were held in the greatest respect by the noble gang members in Little Haiti). I really don't care about inner-city violence anywhere in the world, when I'm talking about semi-rural England. All you are doing, is proving you have no understanding of the issue. You compound this, by admitting you know nothing of the era I'm talking about. If you didn't experience the era, you therefore know nothing of the change and your views (or non-views, in your case) have absolutely no relevance. Added to that, it was you who made the initial comparison between the UK and US, you cretin.

Now, run along sonny and see if there is anything you actually can make a success of, as adapting to the US was too much for you.