I've never met an American I didn't like.

Zix

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Wed Jun-02-10 03:00 AM
Original message

I've never met an American I didn't like.

Edited on Wed Jun-02-10 03:17 AM by Zix

This is an awkward thing to post, for me, and I hope people don't take too much offense...

I think we can all agree now that the US is a bit of an anomaly and can be, occasionally, not wishing to be too harsh or judgemental, um, a mite artless, as my granny would say.

It's unfair, really, because every country does dumb things. There's no point pretending that they don't. One of the problems with the US is that it's really huge and wealthy so when it knocks over a vase everyone notices and makes much more of it than when anybody else does.

Thing is, I've known many Americans and they have been, without exception, extraordinary and wonderful people.

Kaija, from Washington DC, is hilarious. She likes brains. She studied psychology for a bit. She also likes bats and butterfly knives. Last time she stayed here in Edinburgh she woke me up at like 9:00am on a Sunday morning by bouncing on my bed so we could go and see her pal's band do a gig in a record store. She giggled when she heard that someone held up a post office down the road with a bread knife. Some time ago my (Scottish) friend Ian had a bit of his ear bitten off by an over-enthusiastic opponent in a bar brawl (who then scarpered pronto) and the only person who had any idea what to do was Kaija.

Ximena, from Texas, works in a mill. Its ridiculous because she's a highly qualified linguist and should really be able to get a much better job. She doesn't let it get her down, though. She likes tango and is studying circus skills. She has this incredible way of communicating that I don't think I've seen in anyone else, she subtly keys you up during conversations to give your best possible analysis of a situation and waits with incredible patience for you to finish what you're saying. She then responds with great sensitivity to exactly what you've said. This sounds like it should be easy, but it often isn't when dealing with sensitive political or philosophical subjects, on which she and I have conversed many times. It's very easy to start sitting on moral high grounds or subconsciously taking on roles that aren't really you. She never does this and makes it easy for other people to avoid it.

Darren is the most amazingly focused person I've ever met. He decided he wanted to open up a shop that sells board-games. So he did. He does the most uniquely elegant and personal take on the "punk" look - he's taken elements of it and blended it with 20s stuff and 50s stuff so that he looks kind of timeless and ... just HIM. You can look at a piece of clothing in a shop and say - yeah that's a Darren shirt. He loves Scotland (where I live) and wants to move here. Hurry, Darren!

Eireann is a beautiful man. He's suave and sophisticated and incredibly handsome. He organises treasure hunts and magic shows and performance spaces for artists that are just starting out. He's wise and gives excellent advice, the kind where you know he's put some effort into thinking about your personal situation rather than just spout whatever sounds good. He holds dinner parties at which he sits patiently listening until just one particular moment arrives in the conversation and he inserts an observation into it and the whole table falls over laughing... He's quiet and clever. He's also a really, REALLY bright cryptographer.

Jessica, with whom I work, is just surpassingly patient I've never met anyone so patient She has to put up with one of the most arrogant consultant physicians in the National Health Service. Recently she asked him if he could identify the patients he was dictating about on his tapes on the front of the envelope the tape was in, like everybody else and he refused, snorting "why have a dog and bark yourself?" which would have had anybody else in our office spitting nails about him at any passer-by, but Jess just laughed it off.

That's a theme, actually, with the Americans I know. They laugh off the crap.

And there's Will, who's the most incredibly talented drummer I've ever met. He doesn't do small talk. He's generous to a fault and well into his third philosophy degree. I recently had to lead part of a festival and was SO GLAD he was there helping, he just drips with common sense and capability and competence. He likes hats. He REALLY likes hats...

All my American friends are incredibly courteous, they have such lovely manners. They all give you your personal space, they are all completely truthful, they are all always perfectly punctual and self-deprecating and they are all also very good looking. Also, they are relatively poor in comparison with the popular image of the wealthy American.

In fact they COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE FURTHER from the "Ugly American" image that we are familiar with (although I must say I have met one or two examples of that breed but must observe that Scotland sees a lot of Americans and from what I can see the breed is actually astonishingly rare...).

So, given that I have no counterexamples to my image of the "real" American as a courteous, witty, patient, warm-hearted and reliable type with excellent taste, I have to assume that you're ALL like that. America is obviously NOT populated by Bruce Willises and Tom Cruises, but by an entirely different and culturally almost invisible people with a very unique and very pleasant character.

So how come the US as a political entity isn't just a giant extrapolation of these qualities?

Why doesn't the US political system represent REAL AMERICANS?