5 ms·

I think one of the big points that this article misses (I love these kinds of posts, though) is that the United States are crazy diverse. The post talks about

• stephengillie 13y ago
  I wish the weather were so nice, and the people so friendly in Seattle. And only beer snobs are concerned about the head on their beers, as most people are drinking domestics and cheap microbrews directly from can or bottle. I used to think it rude of baristas or burger clerks to check their phone while prepping my order, but instead now I check my phone at the same time. I think the key to it not being rude is to synchronize, so we all pop in and out of the conversation at the same time.
  • cesarbs 13y ago
    I've been living on the Eastside for almost half a year now, and I find people in the area extremely friendly. Also in Seattle. I guess it's a matter of what we're comparing to. Compared to most southern Brazilian people, Seattleites are very, very friendly.
• dfc 13y ago
  "Given that the author said he had spent time in a great number of states" After reading some of the items I could not help but think that "spent time in a lot of states" was an exaggeration. That being said the problem with making generalizations about the US is one of my favorite things about the US; remarkable diversity of environment/culture/weather/architecture/etc. > Everybody talks to everybody, people are very friendly to each other... Dont get me wrong I like NYC but you cant spend much time in Manhattan and continue to hold this belief. > It is almost always sunny. You don't need any forecast, it will be sunny and between 20-25 degrees Celsius. Every day. Great! I live in Syracuse, NY, we compete with Seattle for least amount of sunny days in the continental US. The big difference from Seattle is that instead of rain we usually get 100+ inches of snow in winter. I want to move because of the weather in Syracuse. > Can somebody explain to me why most of the houses are almost glued together so that I can reach my neighbour's wall? Never visited the suburbs or any city in the midwest. > Even local side roads look like our highways. All other roads are in great condition. Traffic is fluent, drivers are more respectful and chilled out. Road condition: Never drove/rode on a highway in Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Traffic: Never drove in Boston or Manhattan or inside the beltway.
  • snogglethorpe 13y ago
    >> Everybody talks to everybody, people are very friendly to each other... > Dont get me wrong I like NYC but you cant spend much time in Manhattan and continue to hold this belief. Eh?! I think people in Manhattan are very friendly, probably more so than any other American city I've been to. They're also often extremely blunt, of course, and won't hesitate to tell you if they think you're full of it, and if they're busy, well, they'll tell you that too, but in general New Yorkers seem quite outgoing and social. I've never talked to so many strangers in so many settings in such a short time as I have when visiting Manhattan. This was true everywhere, on the street, in cafes, in restaurants, on the phone (receptionist offers her opinion), waiting for the subway, on the subway, ... I found the combination of bluntness and sociability pretty refreshing, especially compared to the constant "plastic smile" one finds in many other cities. [A favorite incident: walking down the street in Manhattan on a hot summer's night, talking with my GF about a book I read. She reacts strongly (it was a scary scene)... two girls walking the other way jump in out of the blue: "Yo, what's up, what's wrong?!" ... "It's this book I read, she got scared" ... "What happened in it?" ... <describe scene> ... [girl 1:] "is that it?" [girl 2:] "No, no, actually that was kinda scary... what was that author's name? Have you read <other book>??" <etc etc>]
    • vacri 13y ago
      Maybe NYC has changed? My only visit was in 2009, but I found them to not be particularly unfriendly. I think you might be right about the bluntness, and as you say bluntness and friendliness aren't in opposition. I was eager to get there since "at last, I can talk to someone at normal speed!"... but they still didn't talk fast enough. They could understand me at normal pace though, so that was enough :)
      • snogglethorpe 13y ago
        > Maybe NYC has changed? I dunno; the first time I visited NYC was in 1989, the last time a few years ago. Details always vary of course, but the general vibe always seemed pretty much the same to me. [By reputation, the 1970s were sort of a low point for NYC in general, but I don't know how that was reflected in peoples' behavior...]
• baby 13y ago
  That's pretty true, a lot of his points are specific to some cities only. The only good point he makes, while not really making it, is that Americans are very religious, anywhere you go, even in the most civilized cities. Which is the thing I understand the less.
  • jganetsk 13y ago
    America was settled by people who got kicked out of their countries for being too religious.
    • baby 13y ago
      Wasn't it for having a different religion than others?
• Svip 13y ago
  I also think it is a bit unfair to the Czech Republic to be compared to such a large country. When he talks about the traffic lights being placed across the intersection, he should come visit Denmark; that's how we do it here! And it's not that far from Czech Republic, and we also like good beer (unlike the Americans who just drink flavoured water).
  • dagw 13y ago
    unlike the Americans who just drink flavoured water Or beer that is hopped to up to crazy levels without any consideration for things like flavor balance and finesse.
    • levosmetalo 13y ago
      You can always opt to drink only Mexican beers there. Last time I was in the US, some of these beers were up to the level of European beer quality, some better, some worse, but in the same league.
      • vetinari 13y ago
        Even in Europe, not every beer is good. There is a term "Eurobeer", and it is an insult, usually targeted at Heineken or SABMiller products (or beers from other breweries with similar quality). Having better beer than Eurobeers is no problem then. Good beers, on the other hand, are really good.
        • levosmetalo 13y ago
          Fair point. I considered only good European beers and good Mexican beers, not some products with high marketing and low quality. Unfortunately, when I was in US I didn't have a luck to try good US beer, and moved on to Mexican beers as soon as I discovered them.
    • mitchty 13y ago
      http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/144/96 http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/144/96 Try stuff like that and tell me its hopped up to crazy levels. As with everything in the US, location matters. Where I'm at in Minnesota, and being by Wisconsin, there are a metric ton of local breweries that put out lots of beers that you cannot buy more than a few states away. These breweries also pump out some of the best beers you can have. If you're going to compare like to like, stop using crap like Budweiser and the other commercial stuff.
• danmaz74 13y ago
  "most of my time I had spent in California, therefore I will relate all my conclusions to it."
• davidw 13y ago
  Europe is pretty diverse too: look at how many languages are spoken there, and how many different cultures there are. Thinking about the US, in some ways, it's pretty strange to consider that people across such a large swath of land speak the same language. Even the regional accents are quite a bit less varied than Italy's dialects and languages.
  • jasonjei 13y ago
    I'm Chinese American. My parents are from Taiwan. I was born in Phoenix. Among all the places I've traveled, I've found California and New York's racial diversity unmatched by any other part of the world. There is no other part in the world where you'll find Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Persians, Israelis, French, Mexican, Irish and so forth on the same road. I haven't seen it on the scale as it happens in Cal or NYC.
    • danellis 13y ago
      Have you been to Toronto or London?
      • jganetsk 13y ago
        Toronto is great, but I don't see it as more diverse than other big cities in the US, such as Boston, Chicago, or Washington.
    • davidw 13y ago
      From that point of view, yes, the US is likely more of a 'melting pot' than most of Europe. London is probably close. There's a lot of nuance to it, though - big cities are different than small towns, immigration patterns change over time, and so on. The melting pot, to some degree, eliminates that diversity, though. After a generation or two, lots of people are unable to speak their parents/grandparents native language. Perhaps that's less true today, with cheap travel, the internet, and people placing more value on diversity and knowing more than one language - it'd be interesting to see some research. Anecdotally, a ton of the older Italian-Americans I've met don't speak Italian much - they wanted to blend in and not be 'foreigners', and only later in life realized that not speaking the language was a loss.
• Dewie 13y ago
  > States, regions, and cities have broadly differing cultures and atmospheres, sometimes even to the same extent as going from one country to the other (especially when it comes to climate.) OT: I find it funny that as soon as a foreigner talks about "how the US is", Americans are all too eager to point out how diverse the US is and how it is hard to paint it in broad strokes. Meanwhile, Americans are all too glad to visit two European countries and relay their experiences by refering to the places they were as "Europe" and the people there as "Europeans". Europe, a continent that is in a whole other league then USA the country when it comes to diversity.