We've always had a "special relationship", or so says that cornucopia of wise, Wikipedia. My question to you, as citizens of the UK, would it be alright if we were to officially "Go out on a date"? lol This question is born out of an interest of how Americans are actually perceived by the UK. I know of our reputation as fat and stupid Americans; but do you view us as a problem at this stage or do you still see us as an ally? I personally see the UK in terms of my own Nation. The UK was our father, in terms of history. I see the UK, sadly, as our ally in terms of war. But I also see the UK as our example of what a nation should aspire towards. How do you see us? -BlkBks
Honestly, it's a chicken coop over here. Working days in the life of the average person are long and in return a ridiculous portion of your wages is taken just for the privilege of being on this piece of land in a small house which is surrounded by a lot of other small houses full of resentful people who are stuck in the same situation. The absolutely fantastic things about the UK, like the NHS and social services, are gradually being eroded by our government. I've never been to the US, so my knowledge is limited to what I've seen on a screen. It seems like there may be a better standard of living for the average person in terms of housing and income, and that all will be well assuming you don't become too ill or get shot. Warmest regards, Jonty
I'll bring the medicine, you bring the ice cream. And please don't shoot me. Warmest regards, Gertrude
Yes, well, well-done. One of our dividing differences is our attitude towards guns and our attitude towards capitol punishment. In that respect, we(US) tend towards more extremism. I wish I could say that, as Americans, we have made our way beyond guns and firearms; but really we still have metaphorical nightmares(portrayed by our history of civil war) of governmental disputes. We tend to trust our military as less as possible, mostly because we have such a huge military. There was the ideal that our government should be just as afraid of us as we should be afraid of our government. This distrust probably isn't a healthy obsession and we've paid for it ala Columbine and Virginia Tech...et al. As a person living in Kentucky, I have to admit that I also own a gun. But we promise not to shoot you, of all nations. As for standards of living, just wait. We'll be equal in that area soon enough. So, as a "now-officially-dating-present" I present every single Britisher and citizen of the UK, with a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon. (not really, but...) Cheers anyway, -BlkBks
It's much the same here, except maybe our houses are larger and if built in the last 20 years not made as well....
A visit to the US is one of the things on my list of things to do before i'm 40 (It was also on my list of things to do before i'm 30 but when we had kids that went out of the window!). There is a rather weird perception of us British on US TV shows that present us as upper class, toffee nosed Royalist types with perfect British accents. It would be nice to see a TV programme that shows the other 99% of British society. I Think 'Frasier' is the only show that has a British person from somewhere other than London. My advice to any American that really wants to understand true British ideals is to watch 'Brassed off' and the speech at the end by Pete Postlethwaite. Of course you could always come over here for a date. Go somewhere other than West London and i'm sure you'll enjoy it. You will see there is more to Britain than Newcy Brown Ale, Cricket, Teenage Pregnancy and Happy Slapping. The political spectrum over here is getting thinner and thinner and will soon mirror the US. Right-wing vs very right-wing. The only thing I think that is very different in our political arena is the influence of the church - the Republican party are seen as religious nutjobs over here. We have policies passed here which piss the church off that would never get passed in the U.S.
I hate your government and law enforcment, i hate mines too though. In general i quite like you guys....i've always kinda had a thing for America lol so hell yeh i'll pick you up at 8 :love:
I really don't think either of us are dating material. I see us more as fuck-buddies. I think anything more complex than us each getting our immediate gratification is much more than we can organise, let alone comprehend. Politically speaking, on our side of the pond the expense incurred on any date would have to claimable on expenses, otherwise nobody would be the least bit interested in attending. On your side, I'm not sure any such date would be considered patriotic enough for the population, especially if there were an upcomming election planned and any one candidate might seize upon the opportunity to gain votes. Such a date might send off the wrong 'message'. No doubt, any date would have to be privately funded, lest it be considered a move by Socialist Europe to turn the US into a Communist state. I'm sure you can imagine the headlines on Fox. We would also have to first decide if our vastly different lifestyles were compatible. The location of the date would be important, not just to make sure it sent off the right political message, but also to make sure it didn't completely bankrupt either country. Your petrol is cheaper, but our cars are more economical. We could drive, if you pay the petrol. God forbid an accident should happen with a firearm when we are on our date, and the Brit should caught without medical insurance, or worse, the ability to claim back the expenses later! If such an accident were to happen, there would have to be some sort of prior agreement that the Brit would not face the death penalty, or risk being sued for millions of dollars. We would also want George Zimmermans, or OJ's lawyers, because being outside of British justice, we would want to get off with it too. For religious reasons, it would have to be between a man and a woman. This would stop the 'Moral Majority' in your country being offended by any perceived homosexuality. Also, by the time this date gets arranged, which would probably take 8 years over here, Mitt Romney might be president, and we would have to be careful about sending a woman, just incase he fancied another wife. These are just a couple of the things that would have to be considered before any actual relationship could even be considered. The transient nature of the both of us would not be suitable for a stable or lasting relationship, let alone a deep and meaningful one that looked beyond next week. As you can see, perhaps we best just keep to fucking.
