In a prior post I slagged off the US. I thought it would be timely to put together a post listing some of the things I like about the US to balance it out.
Things I like about the US:
Incredible diversity in scenery and climate Incredible diversity in people. Speaking to people in different states can be very entertaining and enlightening. American pride. Although it can be very annoying to other countries, there is no argument it helps in uniting a country. Customer service. Although I find customer service in Canada to be second to none, the US companies do appreciate their customers. Seinfeld North Beaches of Oahu For the most part, the people are very friendly Continually striving to improve products. Although I critiqued the capitalist/materialistic society before, it does bring us some pretty neat products. The American tourists spend their money in Canada A country of conveniences. You can pretty much get an product you want at almost any time of the day you want.
I like the people. I may question some of the politics, but if you don’t discuss politics or religion you’ll likely never have any problems when dealing with the average American, so I never do, except on this forum. Based upon my personal experience I don’t have anything bad to say about Americans.
I’ve been to about forty of the US states during my life. Always found Americans to be friendly and helpful. The further south you go the less they seem to know about Canada, but I can live with that.
**That’s a scary thought. I live in Idaho and have been here for 3 years and have yet to meet someone who knows the capital of Canada and our border touches Canada:)) **
Well, Idaho is…Idaho. But at least their cows are sane! (hee-hee). Seriously, they’ve had a hard-core white supremacist faction up there for years. Hell, one of their former Congresspeople (Helen Chenowith, I think) was about as hard right-wing as you could be in our country and not be classified as a Nazi or something
“I live in Idaho and have been here for 3 years and have yet to meet someone who knows the capital of Canada and our border touches Canada”
That’s one criticism I do have about Americans - many of them don’t seem to know very much about the rest of the world, even basic geography. Europeans are much more sophisticated in this way.
Pretty sure Idaho is the state that didn’t even bother to field a Democratic candidate to run against the incumbent Republican senator, Michael Crapo.
What a great name! I would vote for the name alone. I think he still only got 99 percent of the vote.
The thing I love most about America is that ANYONE can become an American (except for French guys with a Phd. ;-)). Of course by that I mean you may not be a natural born American, but you can come here, earn a living, raise a family, pledge alligiance, gain citizenship and be a full-fledged, honest-to-goodness American. We’re not about pure blood, pure-bred anything. I LOVE THAT about this country.
The thing I love most about America is that ANYONE can become an American (except for French guys with a Phd. ;-)). Of course by that I mean you may not be a natural born American, but you can come here, earn a living, raise a family, pledge alligiance, gain citizenship and be a full-fledged, honest-to-goodness American. We’re not about pure blood, pure-bred anything. I LOVE THAT about this country.
Except if I what to become President.
I consider myslef lucky in that I have been to 49 states(alaska being the one that I have missed) and have found that America is as diverse in culture and geography as europe. We just don’t know it.
I live in Cincinnati and here there are people that are very, very proud to be in their 40’s and still hang out with the friends they went to high school with. They don’t want to know about the rest of thw world. As long as their world is safe and unchanging they are happy.
I’m a Canadian who lived in the US for 4 years, and go back 5-6 times every year. I’ll disagree with this point.
I find Canadian customer service to be appalling, and shopping at US retail operations is a breath of fresh air. The difference lies in the mentality between our two countries; in the US, “retail” is a viable career option that one can do for a lifetime, and make a decent wage at. In Canada, “retail” is a four letter word, a stop-gap job to do between “real” employment.
There are some notable exceptions, usually specialized shops (they generally employ people who are passionate about the products, hence want to make it work). But walk into a shoe store in a mall here on a Saturday, and then do the same in, say, Boston. Note the difference.
Simple, I believe in the ideas that shape the country … that being able to make choices, limited only by the equal rights of others, is the way God intended for us to live. That even though some of us will make poor choices, the ability to choose is not removed from the rest.
Of course, that’s how it’s suppossed to work … it doesn’t actually play out like that.
I could be happy anywhere. I could live in a police state, a king-queen society, etc … as long as one is free to practice their religion. I don’t do things that are illegal in most countries. But, I prefer to live in a country that is based on freedom … even if that country needs reminded of its own principles once in a while.
I wished more Americans believed in REAL freedom, and didn’t just support the US because it’s “their team” or a “kick-ass place to live”.
"Some don’t even know that Canadians are American, too… "
I guess when you have a North, South and Central America full of so different many countries it does seem a bit presumptuous to call yourself “America”.
But to tell the truth I’ve heard more Brits and Euros referring to the United States as “America” as a regular expression than I’ve ever heard Americans using the term. More often it’s “the states”, “stateside”, US or US of A.
