Recent Comments By KarenC / USAI cannot understand why America, where we are egalitarian and respect workers and reject class and caste, has become the tipping capitol of the world. Foreigners find it awkward and bizarre, and surely many of us do, too. I would love simply to pay bills without wondering about how much to add--10% at breakfast? Many people, in other countries, find the idea of tips demeaning. Why don't we? 
(2546 votes)
What are you thinking and hearing in your country about the U.S. financial model? How do you respond to this Wall Street Journal story http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122999122677028455.html about the United States and China? And how about some stories from the months and weeks before the U.S. presidential election? What were your friends and colleagues saying about the choice U.S. citizens faced, and what it would mean for the world and the United States? I, for example, was amazed to hear of Republicans who planned to vote for Obama, including a very conservative, and elderly Republican in Michigan. A Republican colleague in Texas told me that he'd told a neighbor, "I'm not just going to vote for him, I'm going to put up a sign on my lawn! I've had enough of these clowns."
(3295 votes)
Here's a strange thing about the U.S.: all our paper money (notes, bills) is the same color and size. Not very sensible, and I always admire the design--both aesthetic and practical--of other currencies. The size differences are a good idea, generally, but especially good for visually impaired people. For all our inventiveness, we Americans cling to outmoded practices in a way I don't understand: we refuse to accept the one-collar coin, for example. And then there's the Electoral College system, which is about as out of touch with 21st-century realities as you can get. But what will it take to get us to make changes, small or large?
(5603 votes)
I'm back on the subject of driving, after spending five hours on rural American roads. Incidentally, these roads are often in terrible repair. Not as bad, however, as the motorways in California, where suburbanites don't want to pay taxes that might benefit the poor and migrants--the Tragedy of the Commons. American drivers are oblivious that other people share the road with them, and that some cooperation is required. I have followed cars driving below the speed limit for 10, 20, even 30 miles without their noticing, or caring, that a line of cars is building up behind them. (On rural roads it may not be possible to pass/overtake for many miles.) I've driven in the UK, France, and Italy with far greater ease than here. I learned to drive in England, where I was taught to get out of the way of faster drivers--that's courtesy, yes, but also good sense because it keeps everyone happy. And while Americans may be good engineers, they haven't got a clue about the art of effective sign posting. I was just in Virginia where we were told to take "64 East, but it's actually going West." And in Boston, trying to get on the Mass Turnpike, there's a sign for 80 East, but there's no sign for 80 West anywhere. After many wasted miles, I finally decided to take the East road. After a quarter mile, there was a split, and you could then choose East or West. I wonder if Americans' ambivalence about cooperation and community--required on the road--and fear of strangers comes out in these ways.
(5813 votes)
No one does plumbing like Americans. Showers with lots of water pressure, plenty of hot water, and a ridiculous number of bathrooms in every house or flat. But the bathtubs are nonexistent or too small to have a comfortable bath.
(6288 votes)
When I lived in England, people said I was a "gung-ho American." And it was an insult, even if said jokingly. I love America because it's okay to be gung-ho. (And here's a great thing: the term gung-ho comes from the Chinese!!)
(6926 votes)
American drivers range from bad to intolerable. It's individualism run amok: I've spent 45 minutes behind a driver who doesn't seem to know the car has mirrors and couldn't care less that there is anyone else on the road. There's no sense of cooperation, none of the pleasure of smooth maneuvering and synchronizaiton that I experience when driving in Europe.
(10940 votes)
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