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Re: The US
It is quite an interesting place in many ways, but often scary in others. Houston is a mixture of hi tech space research and low rise acres & acres of dull industrial and commercial estates.
New York & New Jersey were vibrant. Had 2 visits there to a centre that specialised in working with autistic children (I have 2) and spend sometime with a lovely family we met at the centre. Their extended family remided me of the Sopranos a bit, but with the Italian grandmother firmly charge. Supermarkets are strange - fish counter, meat counter, gun counter but no booze! - had to go to a liquor store & keep purchase well out of sight in a brown bag in the trunk - sound familiar? :) |
Re: The US
Originally Posted by Elmer Fudd
(Post 9451438)
:rofl::rofl: You have obviously been to Newport then :eek:
Still we can't expect much after several generations of being told to have no pride, no national unity and certainly no traditions (beyond moaning of course...they'll never take that from us :p). N. |
Re: The US
But you never go anywhere other than Arte Souk and Newcastle.
Originally Posted by Blue Cat
(Post 9451458)
I have never been to the USA and have no inclination to go either :o
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Re: The US
Originally Posted by Elmer Fudd
(Post 9451482)
Supermarkets are strange - fish counter, meat counter, gun counter but no booze! - had to go to a liquor store & keep purchase well out of sight in a brown bag in the trunk - sound familiar? :)
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Re: The US
Originally Posted by Ethos83
(Post 9451595)
US liquor laws are dictated by the local authorities. One suburb will allow the sale of alcohol in supermarkets whereas the suburb next door bans it. By the standards of Europe America is a very decentralised nation with a great deal of land use and sin laws left to local authorities.
Anyone for a 'Cross Burning' this weekend? |
Re: The US
A typical town can't ban the sale of porn outright due to freedom of speech laws, but they can still prohibit adult bookshops within X feet of a school or church, and given that there's either a school or church on every other block in the US, it's no brainer how the porn issue is settled.
All the adult shops tend to be congreted in one strip with a few strip clubs. Your typical Brit corner shop has a much larger selection of porn than an American market will have. American teenage boys are always shocked at the ability to buy porn in the UK versus the US.
Originally Posted by captainflack
(Post 9451346)
I - Every street has an adult bookstore and the locals like their porn. My hotel in central Phoenix looked out over a big car park, which had an adult bookstore of its own detached and right in the middle. I thought it was a drive thru restaurant at first, that's what it looked like and it was busy people coming and going from at least 7.30am when I first peered out. They really do like their porn, but a bit of tit-slip during the superbowl and the producers that let it happen will be put on death row to await a lethal injection.
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Re: The US
There are still entire counties in the midwest and southern states that are "dry" (except for the local country club, of course).
But - while counties can ban the sale of alcohol, they can't prohibit you from drinking it.
Originally Posted by jackthehat
(Post 9451605)
Sounds like a 'Really Awesome' version of Sharjah!
Anyone for a 'Cross Burning' this weekend? |
Re: The US
Originally Posted by Ethos83
(Post 9451610)
There are still entire counties in the midwest and southern states that are "dry" (except for the local country club, of course).
But - while counties can ban the sale of alcohol, they can't prohibit you from drinking it. |
Re: The US
My only experiences of the USA were a few months in Minneapolis (1998) and a few days in New York (2008). The ID thing was weird but everywhere was fine with my passport, although the Brits Pub never asked for ID (they did the best scotch eggs I've ever tasted there).
The humour thing is spot on. They don't get irony or sarcasm and take everything literally. Combined with the constant worries over sexual harassment allegations (we got warned about this a lot by our company), it got to a point where I felt I couldn't speak to a woman in the office at all. Went to a baseball game and enjoyed the giant hotdog and bucket of beer. My time in NY was great. I felt like I was on a film set seeing the Empire State Building and Central Park for real. Had some great food, almost everyone was really friendly. I'd go back at the drop of a hat, and would love to do a cross-country drive one day. |
Re: The US
Originally Posted by Ethos83
(Post 9451595)
US liquor laws are dictated by the local authorities. One suburb will allow the sale of alcohol in supermarkets whereas the suburb next door bans it. By the standards of Europe America is a very decentralised nation with a great deal of land use and sin laws left to local authorities.
Huge incidence of drink driving, lots of strip clubs, most people I knew were cannabis smokers old or young, and plenty of gang and street violence. I saw in some places like Carolina poverty that would almost equal some of the worst I have seen in any country, which really surprised me. |
Re: The US
That's because Boston is a college town and there's, what, 100,000 students among the various universities. I went to university up there and I did get carded, but not necessarily all the time. Never got carded in DC or Denver. Ditto for New York.
Your post generally says more about you and the people you associate with than Americans as a whole.
Originally Posted by weasel central
(Post 9451661)
Living in Boston I had to show ID in every bar, except the very local ones. No open bottles on the street (which is a good rule) Show ID buying cigarettes in a local store. No gambling or bookies of any sort in most of New England, except the illegal ones Tony Soprano style. Then on the other hand..
Huge incidence of drink driving, lots of strip clubs, most people I knew were cannabis smokers old or young, and plenty of gang and street violence. I saw in some places like Carolina poverty that would almost equal some of the worst I have seen in any country, which really surprised me. |
Re: The US
Originally Posted by Ethos83
(Post 9451703)
That's because Boston is a college town and there's, what, 100,000 students among the various universities. I went to university up there and I did get carded, but not necessarily all the time. Never got carded in DC or Denver. Ditto for New York.
Your post generally says more about you and the people you associate with than Americans as a whole. Anyhow thanks for correcting me on the things I saw with my own eyes |
Re: The US
I spent half my childhood in the US and went to university in the US and spent (so far) half my working career in the US.
Your post implied a few things that aren't true. Most people don't smoke cannabis, old or young. Strip bars aren't on every street corner. Gang fights and warfare do exist but only in very restricted areas in certain US cities. Boston is no more dangerous than any UK city, for example. Most Americans, say 75%, are boring and clean people who live in boring, clean houses and drive boring, clean cars and work at boring jobs and eat at boring restaurants and never get robbed, rarely get drunk, never consume drugs, and in general, are unremarkable people. That's why I find all these posts about the peculiarity of the US rather strange - unless being boring is a peculiarity. I could post about the UK cannabis habit or prostitutes in London (the prossie scene in the UK is much, much bigger than almost anywhere in the US), gang warfare on housing estates, but we all know that it's not representative of life in the UK for the overwhelming majority of Brits, who, like their American counterparts, live quiet, decent and boring lives.
Originally Posted by weasel central
(Post 9451734)
:lol: yes I hung out with scumbags and gang members, it wasn't a criticism I was describing what I encountered. I didnt exactly work for the salvation army when I was there.
Anyhow thanks for correcting me on the things I saw with my own eyes |
Re: The US
Originally Posted by Ethos83
(Post 9451777)
I spent half my childhood in the US and went to university in the US and spent (so far) half my working career in the US.
Your post implied a few things that aren't true. Most people don't smoke cannabis, old or young. Strip bars aren't on every street corner. Gang fights and warfare do exist but only in very restricted areas in certain US cities. Boston is no more dangerous than any UK city, for example. Most Americans, say 75%, are boring and clean people who live in boring, clean houses and drive boring, clean cars and work at boring jobs and eat at boring restaurants and never get robbed, rarely get drunk, never consume drugs, and in general, are unremarkable people. That's why I find all these posts about the peculiarity of the US rather strange - unless being boring is a peculiarity. I could post about the UK cannabis habit or prostitutes in London (the prossie scene in the UK is much, much bigger than almost anywhere in the US), gang warfare on housing estates, but we all know that it's not representative of life in the UK for the overwhelming majority of Brits, who, like their American counterparts, live quiet, decent and boring lives. There were parts of Boston and New York especially where I would not enter, there are very few parts of Dublin like that. And people smoked a lot of weed. I also spent a lot of time working in Houston and except for being asked for ID for cigarettes it was a similar kind of experience. Can't I have my own impression of America? :lol: Bizzarely (or maybe not depending on your view), Nashville was my favourite city, not for the music, but for the atmosphere and general friendliness, closely followed by San Antonio Edit to say just to be pedantic but the most recent productivity figures (not from 2006) the countries are luxembourg, norway, ireland, belgium then USA (http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=LEVEL) |
Re: The US
Originally Posted by weasel central
(Post 9451824)
. . . . Nashville was my favourite city, not for the music. . .
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