27th February 2014 - Understanding Colonials

This morning the saga of the Lute Guitar is improving. Finally had a response from the Traders via Facebook and it looks as though they may be arranging collection and refund...  Interestingly I note that the emails and responses are all at 4.56am !!!

Now - I know that I am a late bird - but the delivery from Pakistan, the failure of the UK phone number to work and the delivery failure / redirection of the email all gives me cause to consider the time differences between Pakistan and UK !!   This and the occasional misuse of the English language leads me to surmise that I may be dealing with people directly in Pakistan - with a mailing address in this country.. Well as long as the money is refunded I shall be happy!  They have a 98.8% satisfaction on Ebay, one of the reasons I purchased from them...   But there may be some differences caused by living on different continents...

Which brings me back to our American cousins. While I have a sister who is now more American than British, a great brother-in law who is part Blackfoot Native American, and a LARP colleague who gets very irate with people who generalise regarding American traits...  I saw a meme today entitled "american-obsessions-that-british-people-just-dont-get" ....   now I don't know if these are American obsessions, but I am a man of the world and fairly intelligent, and watch enough US based television ... but some of these, not only I did not get - but also I had no idea what they were talking about!!

1. Disney princes and princesses.

In the U.S., the stuff of endless Tumblr tributes and Reddit memes.

Over here: just some cartoon films you watched as a kid and dimly remember.

Fair enough  ...

2. Extreme snacking.

 

Yup - that is a bit excessive !!

 

3. “Bros.”

Just as a concept. We have “ladz” and geezers similar, but it’s not quite the same thing.

In fact there is a whole culture of trousers round the knees and hoodies...

4. Red cups.

For us, the point of a party is to get drunk as quickly as possible. The colour of the drinking vessel is not important.

I am not sure that I know about red cups - but have seen them on television ..

5. NASCAR.

I don't even watch Formula 1 !!!  And I live near a race track!

6. Tailgate parties.

Come get wasted in a car park? Sure. It’s just… Sounds a little bleak, that’s all.

Never heard of these !!  Sort of a Carboot sale with alcohol??

7. High school yearbooks.

Are you sure you want to remember all of these people for the rest of your life?

Nope!!  This is like the importation of Halloween, Trick or Treat and School Prom Balls !!  An unhealthy trend which will no doubt get here in the end!! 

8. Lawyers, everywhere.

According to a recent study , there are 1.2 million practicing lawyers in the U.S. That’s one lawyer for every 257 Americans.

And we are clearly going down the same line of litigation as the first response ... Sad to say 

9. Electoral campaigns that go on forever.

What is a caucus, please? And when does this thing start getting interesting?

I get bored easily these days - the Scottish Referendum is bad enough...  Caucus was in Alice in Wonderland if I recall correctly...
(Vollsanger endorses this message!)

10. Putting foodstuffs inside other foodstuffs.

A pretty unhealthy trend ...  and it is coming here 

11. Pie.

Apple, pumpkin, etc. Yes, pie is nice but calm down, chaps.

Can't beat a decent Pork Pie - but it is not something to get excited by.. Now scones and the subject of cream or jam first !!! That is another matter!   And don't start me on Peanut Butter and Jam !!!  Peanut Butter is a savoury and should be eaten with crisps and cheese - not custard!!

12. Light beer.

We’re getting drunk here. Who’s counting calories?

I agree here - I know I will fall back upon a lager when I do not know if the pipes have been properly cleaned on a decent real ale - but advertising a light beer is like having dehydrated water....

13. Cronuts.

Okay - you got me !!   I have no idea what we are talking about !!!
And Americans obsess on this ??   I admit I had to google it  - it is apparently a New York croissant - doughnut (note the spelling) pastry ....   Ho Hum !!!!

14. Kale.

Ummm - I suppose it must be some sort of Veg ???   Back to Google - Oh - apparently some sort of healthy greens that are purple - sounds like sprouting broccoli  - but I got in trouble over that before !!!   (http://vollsanger.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/25th-january-2014-they-werent-brussel.html)
Move over Popeye apparently  - well this one certainly passed me by....

15. Moaning about kale.

And swearing !!   Hate that too !!!
Not sure I understand Twitter yet either !!!!

16. Molly.

We have that over here. Except we call it MDMA, and we don’t go on about it.

I had never heard of Molly - must have been retired too long!!!

17. The notion of this as an acceptable Halloween costume somehow.

Well actually - having said what I said about Halloween in general - the costume looks fairly sporting if a little too demure...  just a personal view really ..

18. Tipping. Endless tipping.

Never liked tipping  - pay a decent wage and do the job you are paid to do  - don't just add 10 or 15 percent onto the prices without mentioning it....   Personally I see tipping as an insult - I am never comfortable with it. I am not happy with deciding how much the courtesy and service is worth on a sliding scale - and stating that everyone should have the same amount is simply another tax...

I don't like Fly-tipping either - but that is another story....

19. Unburdening oneself emotionally.

Nuff Said!!

So, in summary, there are things here that I dislike and some things I do not understand. Perhaps I should get my American friends to explain it - but to be honest I really don't care that much...

Let us just say that there are cultural differences - and vive la difference !!

I wonder if I can get a lute guitar from Germany ???