sallysimmons

So true. And btw, that statement also presumes that we are taking from the country we live in, rather than contributing to it. That's not a premise I accept. I may complain about the US health care system, but I still pay exorbitant amounts of money to use it - money that financially benefits other people. I may dislike the political system here, but I pay every penny of my taxes every year (in a state that financially supports most of the south, I might add). My small business has kept several people employed throughout this horrible recession. In each election, I work for the things I believe in without pay and I vote every time. I volunteer in my spare time and have done for years.

So I have no qualms at all about speaking my mind because I do not feel I am indebted to the US. I have more than paid my way, as I'm sure has everyone else here.

Mallory

Denise/DDL has been a member of this forum since June 2004. She has used the immigration forum, etc. for many years. She has a British husband, MIL, BIL, step-children, and step-grandchildren. She loves the UK, and writes the most interesting posts!

dunroving

Are you planning to set yourself up in business when you return here, also? Interesting article in the Sunday Times Money section today about the current government wanting to promote small businesses and entrepreneurship in order to drive the economic recovery, but that the red tape involved is a real deterrent. What is your business? (sorry if you have said this before, I lose track of more than I remember on this site!)

Mummy in the foothills

I've been here a while too, doesn't mean we have to agree with her or bow to her knowledge. I find some of her posts interesting, I don't however find her jabs (usually at Cheers who has a non American sense of humor) very funny and it usually starts crap and she never wants to drop it or just put Cheers on ignore.

Mallory

I think Denise has a funny rapport with Cheers! He enjoys her posts from the UK. I will be looking forward to your posts from Wales!

aviva

I was wondering about that, the apparent implication that longevity on the Forum denotes some extra privileges.

Derrygal

I enjoy Cheers posts - he has a wry sense of humor. I particularly enjoyed the post about depression and the call center in Pakistan and the suicide bomber. I know depression and suicide is not a laughing matter but sometimes we have to lighten up and make fun of ourselves. I am Irish born (British citizen). I worked on St Patrick's Day this year (almost always do). I was asked by a co-worker why I was at work and why I wasn't "off getting drunk". I just laughed it off and said that I wasn't much of a drinker (which is true). I didn't take offense - sometimes we have to lighten up and just let things go.

dunroving

You didn't tell him that it was because the Guiness made under license in the States tastes likes gnat's piss?

Derrygal

Actually I don't like Guinness at all (either here or in Ireland) it's too heavy. I did have a Harp beer on St Paddy's Day evening! My eldest (American) son-in-law drinks the Guinness here, younger one will only drink German beer (he's a first generation American - father born in Germany). I'm more of a wine drinker, like a glass of Merlot now and then. Red wine is supposed to be good for your heart - so I drink it for purely medicinal purposes.

aviva

Hopefully the whole thing will drop on the other thread, but I will add my 2 cents here. My comments were straightforward comments, not some rude tirade towards DDL as some have suggested. I didn't make any of the comments that so offended her. I didn't tell her to leave. All written material is up for interpretation but that's just what it is, interpretation.

Probably we wouldn't be on this forum if we were happy campers about being in US.
UK EXpat forum not US expat forum
This is OUR forum UK not US expat forum
Which is
OTH maybe wrong forum for u

If you regularly go to a Chinese restaurant that serves Chinese food, it's self defeating and unrealistic to expect or demand that they serve Italian food. If you get indigestion every time you eat there, why would you be masochistic and keep going there. Be kind to yourself, lighten up!

windsong

And so do lots of others. Time here has nothing to do with it.

windsong

Well said, Aviva. You didn't say anything wrong. You were merely straightforward, as you said.

bluenose123

Hope you have licences for all these bazukas being fired. I am in my bunker.

Menschlein

I remember the Land of Green Ginger, it's down Whitefriar Gate. Used to walk past it on the way to the indoor market. Along the same road is also Britains smallest window.

Mallory

I can see why you want to leave New York State. It's going downhill fast. Thousands of New York and NJ residents are flooding into the south.

http://www.newsmax.com/HerbertLondon...7/02/id/363709