"Needless to say, all of us back home were appalled by this apparently fearful and paranoid US cultural trait." The US is a big place, about 100 times the size

"Needless to say, all of us back home were appalled by this apparently fearful and paranoid US cultural trait." The US is a big place, about 100 times the size of Ireland. Neighborhoods differ. Please don't judge an entire population because of what happened in one suburb. In other places in the US you'd have people waving hello to you. I'm sure I could walk through parts of Derry and have a dismal experience, but that shouldn't be used to judge all of the Irish.