Our Queen đź‘‘ RIP

It's covering the neighbour's window, how inconsiderate. Maybe they had an agreement with them. We'll never know, but chances are they didn't.
 
There is a whole lot of dragging US people in here just to say you surrendered in Yorktown. Maybe that's on TikTok or Instagram, or perhaps our VP told us that.
 
I have no idea.

A lot of the whole thing is stupid. Cancelling all the football matches as if that is out of respect. Would she have wanted that?

The chances are the football matches were cancelled to prevent embarrassment to the clubs and FA from certain elements of the 'fans' who would disrespect the passing of the Queen.
Rugby and Cricket matches haven't been cancelled, but then again their fans know how to conduct themselves.
 
Rugby and Cricket matches haven't been cancelled, but then again their fans know how to conduct themselves.
But I think they also cancelled the kiddies football, so was it the soccer mums also likely to disrespect. Or just better for the kids to stay at home on Sunday being miserable and mourning?
 
Where football was concerned it was across the board.

Seriously, when you see the fans boo'ing the National Anthem, albeit only a minority, they don't do themselves any favours and the FA and clubs would be first in the firing line.
 
A lot of the whole thing is stupid. Cancelling all the football matches as if that is out of respect. Would she have wanted that?
I think it's pretty outrageous people who have been waiting for years for hip and knee replacements are having their surgery cancelled. I'm sure the Queen would not have wanted that.

It all started to get out of hand when Princess Diana died. While I'm sure a large proportion of people currently queuing in London are genuinely there to pay their respects, I'm also equally sure there's a sizable number turning out because it's a once in a lifetime event.

I'm not a royalist but regardless it feels like the end of an era to me so R.I.P. Queen Elizabeth II.
 
Most of them can't name the countries which make it up and many have no clue what Europe is.
Only the important locales.... Ireland and Scotland.... where wonderful nectar flows from. ;)

1663907895107.png
1663908232935.png
 
I had seen a small experiment in the streets of a big American city where a journalist presented an upside down map of the USA to passers-by and most of them were not able to recognize their own country ! The only ones who passed the test were young schoolchildren... For most Americans Europe is a vast concept where France is a region and Rome a country...
What you saw was nonsense clickbait where they cherry pick what they show you. I could interview people on the street and present results that make everyone look like Albert Einstein.
 
@MySiteGuy It's true and I don't take this kind of little happening at face value. The same result could be obtained in all the countries of the world.
Despite everything, Americans are not necessarily recognized for their openness to the world around them (without generalizing, a people is by definition multiple). There was an international high school near my high school and our conversations with the American students were quite surreal: they were surprised most of the time that everything didn't work in the world the way it worked in the USA. They obviously adapted but their astonishment was incredible. We didn't feel that with other nationalities.
 
@MySiteGuy It's true and I don't take this kind of little happening at face value. The same result could be obtained in all the countries of the world.
Despite everything, Americans are not necessarily recognized for their openness to the world around them (without generalizing, a people is by definition multiple). There was an international high school near my high school and our conversations with the American students were quite surreal: they were surprised most of the time that everything didn't work in the world the way it worked in the USA. They obviously adapted but their astonishment was incredible. We didn't feel that with other nationalities.

The USA is huge, and equivalent to dozens of smaller countries geographically, economically and social influence. While someone in Europe is likely to have visited several countries, someone in the USA is likely to have visited several states. Even Mexico, Canada and Caribbean countries aren't close to portions of the USA due it spanning an entire continent. While there are differences in each state, there are things we encounter that are consistent no matter where in the USA we visit.

A frank truth is much of the world is not as important here for valid reasons to many, but not all, people. Most individual countries' social and economic influence are fraction of the influence the USA exerts through its sheer economic might. For instance, a major event in the USA is far more likely to have economic repercussions in Italy than the other way around.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but it is a by-product of the economics. China is the same in many ways, with outsized influence.
 
For what it's worth, I don't lump myself in with people who are limited to mostly the USA. I have family all over the world, many who originated in the UK and France. Even my primary news is BBC.

For me, I often enjoy differences and feel comfortable visiting most places. Though if I have an opportunity to visit Australia, I hope the people are nothing like my pompous Australian uncle was when he visited here - there was hardly a thing he didn't complain was better back in Australia.
 
At the age of 9 I spent 4 months on a ranch in the state of Montana, I have wonderful memories of this stay.
We landed in Denver Colorado and we did the rest of the trip with my sister in the back of a pick-up in a sleeping bag to see the landscapes like the Yellowstone pass by. And I still remember so many things (in a mess) : the cougars, the coyotes, the rodeos, the rocking chair in the living room, the barber, the cinnamon candies, the Indian guarding the ranch, the ruby river, the cows, the cowboys, the old Ford pick-up, the Colt in the glove compartment, the raising of the flag at school, the glass of milk in the morning, the school bus, etc... I am French but if I had to choose another nationality I think I would choose the American nationality.
The USA are big and powerful, maybe they got too powerful too fast and I don't necessarily agree with their foreign policy but that's another story.

I don't put all Americans in the same basket, I've met some great ones in my life that I will always remember!
 
Top Bottom