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America is over for irish/europeans?

24

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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,212 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    mammajamma wrote: »
    Imagine the idea of rearing children there, eeesh! Anyone else have the same inkling, especially from younger people? Or completely different point of view?

    I crossed the pond a few years back, and while I often miss Eire, I would not say that America is uniformly trashed by past and present politics or "issues." Just like any nation, it has its Troubles that on occasion come to the surface and must be endured, along with a grand laugh at the latest appearance of the Baby Balloon.

    There are bright spots too that also endure in America year-after-year that herald the coming of millions of Irish immigrants to its shores, they in turn becoming a vital resource to build that nation. And there is fun shared too on a national scale. Where will you be on 17 March 2019, when a whole nation celebrates the Irish on a national holiday, and may do so by tipping many a glass in salute, or just fun, of Guinness or Harp or Jameson or Bushmills (or whatever is your choice of Irish brew)? Of the 195 nations in the world today, aside from Eire itself, how many nations celebrate the Irish every year on St Paddy's Day? It would be grand to be at St James Gate, but also you could have a good time across the pond on Rush and Division at the appointed hour not far from a river dyed green and an earlier Miracle Mile parade.

    Just my 2 euros (or bucks for now).


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,230 ✭✭✭sdanseo


    Been 3 times in 10 years, most recently this month to CA and NV. Vegas is probably the most extreme example of American excess and lack of restraint.

    The US is nice in small doses and the service / hospitality culture is certainly better, staff are friendlier albeit for the tips.

    Society though is absolutely broken. Specifically I witnessed it in LA and San Diego but I'm sure in all the major cities there were homeless people everywhere some with very obvious mental health issues. No bar below which no one can fall as in Europe (not that lately, we've been much better).

    I don't think I could ever live there permanently.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,204 ✭✭✭Kitty6277


    I've not been to America yet, but as things stand, I'd go there for a holiday but have no desire to ever live there. I will definitely move out of Ireland at some point, but it won't be to America. Not sure exactly of my reasons for that, I just don't feel like it's somewhere I'd like to live


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 23 mikhail gorbachev2


    Black Swan wrote: »
    I crossed the pond a few years back, and while I often miss Eire, I would not say that America is uniformly trashed by past and present politics or "issues." Just like any nation, it has its Troubles that on occasion come to the surface and must be endured, along with a grand laugh at the latest appearance of the Baby Balloon.

    There are bright spots too that also endure in America year-after-year that herald the coming of millions of Irish immigrants to its shores, they in turn becoming a vital resource to build that nation. And there is fun shared too on a national scale. Where will you be on 17 March 2019, when a whole nation celebrates the Irish on a national holiday, and may do so by tipping many a glass in salute, or just fun, of Guinness or Harp or Jameson or Bushmills (or whatever is your choice of Irish brew)? Of the 195 nations in the world today, aside from Eire itself, how many nations celebrate the Irish every year on St Paddy's Day? It would be grand to be at St James Gate, but also you could have a good time across the pond on Rush and Division at the appointed hour not far from a river dyed green and an earlier Miracle Mile parade.

    Just my 2 euros (or bucks for now).

    i believe ya mate
    i would love to go over even for a month


  • Registered Users Posts: 32,876 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    No interest in going, not even for a holiday.

    Seems to be a much more aggressive place than it used to be (and not just since Trump guy in, but he hasn't helped) and not as free add they'd have you believe if you were to live there.

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,165 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manic Moran


      topper75 wrote: »
      Why oh why oh why do Irish go to one of the eastern cities and think they have seen America?

      They are ludicrously unrepresentative of the rural interior. If you want to see America - go south or west, or ideally both. There is nowhere like it on earth. Mindblowing.

      This. Or San Fancisco.

      San Francisco has a very serious image problem which nobody wants to talk about. https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-tourist-industry-struggles-to-explain-street-12534954.php or https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/SF-s-appalling-street-life-repels-residents-13038748.php

      Yet despite that, folks doing the tourist thing go to the big cities. I guess it’s understandable, they are centers of culture and it’s where the airports are. How many folks have actually explored the rest of the US?

      I just finished a road trip this week, going San Francisco to Vegas to San Antonio. Discovered a delightful spot for dinner in Flagstaff, AZ. Which itself is a very pretty town, and it doesn’t seem to have much of a homeless problem, doesn’t have potholes, and has friendly people. My accent bemused the guys in the wheel repair shop in Clovis, New Mexico, I may well have been the first Irishman to ever set foot in the place when I drove in three days ago, but they checked out my wheel for me cheerfully and without cost when I swung by, whilst having a conversation. Who has been to Cheyenne, WY? It’s easy to get to, it’s on I-80. I learned to fly in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a nice friendly quiet part of the US, and about as far in style from New York as possible. As of next week, I will no longer be living in Dublin, California, but though it’s only 35 miles from San Francisco, it is an entirely different way of life, and I though I doubt I could ever live in SF, Dublin is great. I drive transcontinental again (my 6th time doing it) week, places like Phoenix and El Paso are on my route. And even at that, those are the cities, it’s sometimes worth just pulling off into small towns off the motorway. Dinner three nights ago was in Brownwood, TX. I had never heard of the place, would never try to visit it, but it’s still a nice part of the US.

      But it’s “I went to New York City and didn’t like it”. That’s fair. I hate NYC as well. But I love living in the US. Just in partof the 99% of the country which is not high density urban area.

      Perhaps the greatest irony is that the least pleasant parts of the US tend to be the parts with which folks on Boards tend to be the most supportive. (High taxes, heavily Democrat, etc).


    • Registered Users Posts: 4,246 ✭✭✭ardinn


      riclad wrote: »
      ireland is Booming ,why go to america to get an average job.
      IF you get sick and you don,t have good health insurance ,
      it,ll cost a fortune, to get medical care .
      At least in ireland , there are not mass shootings every month .
      There seems to be floods , hurricanes , every month in america.
      We have fast internet, cable tv , the only thing america has over ireland is good weather ,sunshine .
      American infrastructure ,roads ,bridges are neglected ,
      so they can give more tax cuts to the rich, and buy more nuclear weapons.
      America is more corrupt under trumps government,
      the laws are written for the rich and large corporations.
      one example, they passed a law so isps can sell anyones browsing history to advertisers .
      so f u to consumers privacey.
      it.s the land of the free , where people go to jail cos they cant pay for bail, or for just smoking hash .

      In the 70,s and the 80s, america looked great ,compared
      with ireland where we had 3 tv stations ,
      3 or 4 radio stations .
      Now we have fast internet, 100,s of tv stations and music streaming
      on phones .
      we have caught up with america in regard to tech and media.
      So why go there .
      Why support an extreme conservative with your dollars ?
      The average person is more free in ireland than someone in the us .
      I,m not saying its a bad country to live in, IF you have a good job and are earning a high salary .
      I,M not sure if the social structure or the economy or the environment in america can survive on another 5 years of trump government.
      There,s a limit of how much even the american government can borrow .



      Sorry - But is this supposed to be a poem?


    • Registered Users Posts: 6,700 ✭✭✭Mountainsandh



        This. Or San Fancisco.

        San Francisco has a very serious image problem which nobody wants to talk about. https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-tourist-industry-struggles-to-explain-street-12534954.php or https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/SF-s-appalling-street-life-repels-residents-13038748.php

        Yet despite that, folks doing the tourist thing go to the big cities. I guess it’s understandable, they are centers of culture and it’s where the airports are. How many folks have actually explored the rest of the US?

        I just finished a road trip this week, going San Francisco to Vegas to San Antonio. Discovered a delightful spot for dinner in Flagstaff, AZ. Which itself is a very pretty town, and it doesn’t seem to have much of a homeless problem, doesn’t have potholes, and has friendly people. My accent bemused the guys in the wheel repair shop in Clovis, New Mexico, I may well have been the first Irishman to ever set foot in the place when I drove in three days ago, but they checked out my wheel for me cheerfully and without cost when I swung by, whilst having a conversation. Who has been to Cheyenne, WY? It’s easy to get to, it’s on I-80. I learned to fly in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a nice friendly quiet part of the US, and about as far in style from New York as possible. As of next week, I will no longer be living in Dublin, California, but though it’s only 35 miles from San Francisco, it is an entirely different way of life, and I though I doubt I could ever live in SF, Dublin is great. I drive transcontinental again (my 6th time doing it) week, places like Phoenix and El Paso are on my route. And even at that, those are the cities, it’s sometimes worth just pulling off into small towns off the motorway. Dinner three nights ago was in Brownwood, TX. I had never heard of the place, would never try to visit it, but it’s still a nice part of the US.

        But it’s “I went to New York City and didn’t like it”. That’s fair. I hate NYC as well. But I love living in the US. Just in partof the 99% of the country which is not high density urban area.

        Perhaps the greatest irony is that the least pleasant parts of the US tend to be the parts with which folks on Boards tend to be the most supportive. (High taxes, heavily Democrat, etc).

        We were in the Road Kill Cafe in Seligman (AZ), and had a grand old chat with a lady there, who on hearing that my kids were Irish, from a French mother, was mightily impressed that they could speak French, Irish, and had what she said with awe, fluent English .... :) (my kids wouldn't really say that they can "speak" Irish)
        She said she knew about Scotland, and how lucky we were we could just head off for a drive there whenever we fancied.

        In Rachel in the Little Ale'Inn (alien highway), some guy and his family on a fun trip smiled at us and asked if we were there for the folk-lore/social commentary-type interest in the area, or if we were believers (in the whole Area 51 myth). We somewhat embarrassingly admitted it was for the whole fun of it (and social/lore aspect), and he agreed it was great fun drinking in the crazyness sometimes, and directed us to one of the entrance gates.

        In Cambria we met a gay couple with their Chihuahuas exhibiting their vintage car as they do yearly. They apologized profusely for Trump with a laugh and wished us a nice stay.

        I've more stories for every place we stopped at, but no people stories from the big towns.
        It's nice to get out of the big towns !


      • Registered Users Posts: 2,116 ✭✭✭archer22


        Americans are like knackers on steroids :pac:


      • Registered Users Posts: 10,198 ✭✭✭✭JohnCleary


        I'm a relatively well traveled person. When I meet with like-minded people, they're shocked that i've never flown West of Ireland (It's all Asia / SE Asia). Totally flabbergasted that I have no interested in visiting the US.

        Sorry buddy, I travel to see new cultures / experiences. I really have no intention to travel to the US, despite many invitations from fellow travelers, colleagues, clients etc.

        I still can't understand the tipping culture in the US. Pay the staff a working wage and absorb this in the menu price ffs.... not that hard!


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      • Registered Users Posts: 8,034 ✭✭✭mad muffin


        I was thinking about it today. America reminds me of a modern day feudal Japan.


      • Registered Users Posts: 16,067 ✭✭✭✭Grayson



          This. Or San Fancisco.

          San Francisco has a very serious image problem which nobody wants to talk about. https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-tourist-industry-struggles-to-explain-street-12534954.php or https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/SF-s-appalling-street-life-repels-residents-13038748.php

          Yet despite that, folks doing the tourist thing go to the big cities. I guess it’s understandable, they are centers of culture and it’s where the airports are. How many folks have actually explored the rest of the US?

          I just finished a road trip this week, going San Francisco to Vegas to San Antonio. Discovered a delightful spot for dinner in Flagstaff, AZ. Which itself is a very pretty town, and it doesn’t seem to have much of a homeless problem, doesn’t have potholes, and has friendly people. My accent bemused the guys in the wheel repair shop in Clovis, New Mexico, I may well have been the first Irishman to ever set foot in the place when I drove in three days ago, but they checked out my wheel for me cheerfully and without cost when I swung by, whilst having a conversation. Who has been to Cheyenne, WY? It’s easy to get to, it’s on I-80. I learned to fly in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a nice friendly quiet part of the US, and about as far in style from New York as possible. As of next week, I will no longer be living in Dublin, California, but though it’s only 35 miles from San Francisco, it is an entirely different way of life, and I though I doubt I could ever live in SF, Dublin is great. I drive transcontinental again (my 6th time doing it) week, places like Phoenix and El Paso are on my route. And even at that, those are the cities, it’s sometimes worth just pulling off into small towns off the motorway. Dinner three nights ago was in Brownwood, TX. I had never heard of the place, would never try to visit it, but it’s still a nice part of the US.

          But it’s “I went to New York City and didn’t like it”. That’s fair. I hate NYC as well. But I love living in the US. Just in partof the 99% of the country which is not high density urban area.

          Perhaps the greatest irony is that the least pleasant parts of the US tend to be the parts with which folks on Boards tend to be the most supportive. (High taxes, heavily Democrat, etc).

          There's also extreme poverty in a lot of those areas. It's not just the big cities. Having said that, I'm from the midlands here and I would love to see a small town in the interior and stay there for a week. I don't think you get to know much about a place by travelling through it.


          BTW I spent my month in west Dublin/Pleasanton. I hated that place. It's like they got the west end retail park in blanch and decided to make it 20 miles long. Sure downtown Pls or Livermore is pretty but they're just islands in a gigantic sea of concrete. It's impossible to get anywhere unless you travel by car. The rents/property prices are ridiculous and it's honestly the least cultural place I've ever been. And there's that huge disparity in incomes. People either earn a fortune or they earn a pittance.

          And the Bart makes the Dart look classy. :D


        • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


          I've been to ~18 states through work or personal travel. It's a much more diverse country than many Europeans realise, and can be a very interesting place. It has a lot going for it, but also many problems.

          There's certain parts that I wouldn't be against living for a short period, but I don't think I could ever consider it my long-term home. I prefer Ireland and Europe generally. I generally prefer travelling East of Ireland too, but there's room for both!


        • Registered Users Posts: 33,721 ✭✭✭✭RobertKK


          The US is what you make of it, never had a problem with the people there, always got treated well. The national parks are a treasure and well worth visiting.
          I have seen poverty like one would see in Dublin despite the wealth of the city.
          I see some people here knocking something they never tried.


        • Registered Users Posts: 12,948 ✭✭✭✭bnt


          I have friends just south of Houston, with three kids. The eldest will be heading to college in a couple of years. The thing about Houston is that the car rules, and everything revolves around that. Once you get outside a neighbourhood, there are literally no sidewalks on the roads, because no-one walks any more than a few houses distance. Houston has no official urban planning and (with suburbs) has sprawled to the point where it's bigger than Leinster.

          Their youngest is heading for high school soon: one day I went with her brother to collect her from the school bus stop, and the driver wouldn't let anyone off the bus until she said "oh yes, I know him" - even though I was talking to her brother, whom the driver knew. I know all about "stranger danger", but that's bordering on paranoia. :o

          The healthcare situation there is completely prohibitive for someone like me with a "pre-existing condition": I might get health insurance, but at massive cost with severe limitations.

          From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

          — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



        • Registered Users Posts: 3,444 ✭✭✭evil_seed


          Not long back from Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of the most breathtaking views you'll encounter are here. I've done New York, Miami, Key West, Vegas, and they are fine for visits, but the country is where you want to go to. See the heart of the US, take in the mountains, lakes, forest parks.


        • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,165 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manic Moran


          Grayson wrote: »
          And the Bart makes the Dart look classy. :D

          An unfortunate problem with California is the “oooh. Shiny” effect. We love being first with new things. BART was the first board gauge/lightweight heavy rail system in the country. We’re making the first true high speed rail system. (Which I will be very surprised if it actually gets finished). We’re one of the biggest adopters of green energy. Everything that is great about new developments, we’ll throw crap tons of money at.

          However, what we are terrible at is spending money to repair and upgrade what we have got, especially roads and water infrastructure. It’s as if there were fewer votes in maintenance than in opening new things. As a result, BART has the oldest rolling stock in the country. Most of the cars date to the original opening in the 1970s. By comparison, DART opened in 1984 and has been through, what, three fleet changes? Worse, because they wanted to be “better” and went broad gauge, now that we are finally getting new rolling stock, it cannot he tested until it gets here, and it’s being built on the East Coast. And, of course, problems are being found, adding to cost and delay. That’s before you get to the signaling system and refusal to build a greatly needed second crossing point. Instead we got a new $2bn bus terminal.


        • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


          evil_seed wrote: »
          Not long back from Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of the most breathtaking views you'll encounter are here. I've done New York, Miami, Key West, Vegas, and they are fine for visits, but the country is where you want to go to. See the heart of the US, take in the mountains, lakes, forest parks.

          Western North Carolina is incredible. Had wanted to do Blue Ridge Parkway but Hurricane Florence had some of it blocked. Ended up doing Tennessee > Asheville (and on to Georgia after) and the Appalachian scenery was still spectacular. It's so far removed from the big cities and typical resort destinations.


        • Registered Users Posts: 12,948 ✭✭✭✭bnt


          I've been to Colorado, which was stunning. Just standing outside Denver airport, I could see Denver 20 miles away as if it was some model a few feet away - then clear past it all the way to the Rockies. Photographs don't do them justice. Fort Collins was possibly the nicest place I've been to in the USA - a college town (Colorado State), not too big, plenty of green space, sidewalks and bike lanes - almost the opposite of Houston (see above). Only problem I had in Colorado: I walked a lot, and with the thin air meaning less UV protection, I got seriously sunburnt.

          From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

          — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



        • Registered Users Posts: 16,067 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


          An unfortunate problem with California is the “oooh. Shiny” effect. We love being first with new things. BART was the first board gauge/lightweight heavy rail system in the country. We’re making the first true high speed rail system. (Which I will be very surprised if it actually gets finished). We’re one of the biggest adopters of green energy. Everything that is great about new developments, we’ll throw crap tons of money at.

          However, what we are terrible at is spending money to repair and upgrade what we have got, especially roads and water infrastructure. It’s as if there were fewer votes in maintenance than in opening new things. As a result, BART has the oldest rolling stock in the country. Most of the cars date to the original opening in the 1970s. By comparison, DART opened in 1984 and has been through, what, three fleet changes? Worse, because they wanted to be “better” and went broad gauge, now that we are finally getting new rolling stock, it cannot he tested until it gets here, and it’s being built on the East Coast. And, of course, problems are being found, adding to cost and delay. That’s before you get to the signaling system and refusal to build a greatly needed second crossing point. Instead we got a new $2bn bus terminal.

          Lol. I was on it with a local coworker. He pointed at a sign that said no smoking and said "it doesn't say no sh1tting though".
          The BART looks like something that was space aged in the 70's and hasn't been touched since.

          I hardly saw any buses in Pls. There was a bus stop near stoneridge but never saw anyone getting on or off.

          The whole place struck me as somewhere that needs a good urban planner. It's sprawl on a scale I've never seen. It's insane how spread out everything is. And no-one things anything about driving 20 miles.

          My one regret is that I didn't get to see a national park there. As others have said the US has amazing parks. Still, they send me there every year for work so maybe next year. I have a friend in New England who lives near a huge park. I might head there for a few days of hiking.

          It took me the best part of a month to get over seeing huge pickup trucks and saying "Holy Fcuk" every time. One of the guys I worked with bought a brand new one the day before I left. My head was level with the bonnet. It had a 5 liter engine and did 18 miles to the gallon.

          Editing to add: If there's one thing that would make me want to live there it was the weather. It averaged 25 degrees every day. It was wonderful. There's a big part of me that wanted to stay just for that.


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        • Registered Users Posts: 16,067 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


          bnt wrote: »
          I have friends just south of Houston, with three kids. The eldest will be heading to college in a couple of years. The thing about Houston is that the car rules, and everything revolves around that. Once you get outside a neighbourhood, there are literally no sidewalks on the roads, because no-one walks any more than a few houses distance. Houston has no official urban planning and (with suburbs) has sprawled to the point where it's bigger than Leinster.

          I had a friend in SLC who decided to walk from the hotel to work. The cops stopped to ask him if he was ok. No-one walks there.


        • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,325 ✭✭✭ Owen Numerous Shyness


          topper75 wrote: »
          Why oh why oh why do Irish go to one of the eastern cities and think they have seen America?

          They are ludicrously unrepresentative of the rural interior. If you want to see America - go south or west, or ideally both. There is nowhere like it on earth. Mindblowing.

          I'd agree. It's worth noting that the US is a vast and diverse country, with the contiguous 48 states alone spanning four different time zones. The state of Texas is bigger than France. The state of North Carolina is around the same size as England. Ireland is approximately the same size as Indiana. So you really can't make generalizations about the entire country on the basis of having spent a few days in Manhattan -- which unfortunately is what people tend to do.


        • Registered Users Posts: 32,876 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


          JohnCleary wrote: »
          I'm a relatively well traveled person. When I meet with like-minded people, they're shocked that i've never flown West of Ireland (It's all Asia / SE Asia). Totally flabbergasted that I have no interested in visiting the US.

          Sorry buddy, I travel to see new cultures / experiences. I really have no intention to travel to the US, despite many invitations from fellow travelers, colleagues, clients etc.

          I still can't understand the tipping culture in the US. Pay the staff a working wage and absorb this in the menu price ffs.... not that hard!

          Why pay someone to so something when you can get someone else to pay them for you?! Cornerstone of US culture!

          Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



        • Registered Users Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


          I'd agree. It's worth noting that the US is a vast and diverse country, with the contiguous 48 states alone spanning four different time zones. The state of Texas is bigger than France. The state of North Carolina is around the same size as England. Ireland is approximately the same size as Indiana. So you really can't make generalizations about the entire country on the basis of having spent a few days in Manhattan -- which unfortunately is what people tend to do.

          There is actually worse than that though here: you have whole swathes of people who are convinced they know all they need to about the U.S. through their 'learnings' from watching films and TV shows! :)
          Their loss.


        • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,325 ✭✭✭ Owen Numerous Shyness


          topper75 wrote: »
          There is actually worse than that though here: you have whole swathes of people who are convinced they know all they need to about the U.S. through their 'learnings' from watching films and TV shows! :)
          Their loss.

          I know. It makes me smile when I hear people declare that they have no interest in ever going to the US, even on a brief holiday, based on what they think they know about it from watching TV. But yeah ... it's their loss, ultimately.


        • Registered Users Posts: 923 ✭✭✭Salvation Tambourine


          I think the general perception of America would be very different if they didn't speak English. We share so much of their culture because of our shared language. Films, TV, celebrities. I'd love to see an alternate reality where America spoke Spanish as it's first language.


        • Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


          The America of my mind is the New York depicted in movies of the 70s and 80s, verging from Upper East Side with fur coats and "cars big as bars" to the rundown, grimy if not downright apocalyptic neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and Harlem, rife with poverty, violence and hustling.


        • Registered Users Posts: 4,246 ✭✭✭ardinn


          Grayson wrote: »
          I had a friend in SLC who decided to walk from the hotel to work. The cops stopped to ask him if he was ok. No-one walks there.

          Can I ask why nobody walks? Is it too dangerous or are they too fat? Serious question!


        • Registered Users Posts: 1,638 ✭✭✭SHOVELLER


          No interest in going, not even for a holiday.

          Seems to be a much more aggressive place than it used to be (and not just since Trump guy in, but he hasn't helped) and not as free add they'd have you believe if you were to live there.

          You've never been stateside yet it seems more aggressive???

          There's more aggression in Dublin city than anything I've seen here. One solid difference is manners. At home some pleb might "start" on you if you accidentally bump into them while here you would hear "Excuse me".

          As regards the thread title America will never be over because of the opportunities here.

          Those who visit NYC or Vegas for a crazy weekend are not experiencing the country. As said making generalisations based on a few days shopping in midtown Manhattan is the same as a tourist writing off Ireland after drinking through Temple Bar.


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        • Registered Users Posts: 12,325 ✭✭✭✭mariaalice


          evil_seed wrote: »
          Not long back from Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of the most breathtaking views you'll encounter are here. I've done New York, Miami, Key West, Vegas, and they are fine for visits, but the country is where you want to go to. See the heart of the US, take in the mountains, lakes, forest parks.

          That an interesting point, but the post is not just about stunning scenery it is a different experience going on holiday there as opposed to living there, mass shootings, the health care issues, the extreme poverty coinciding with an extream level of wealth, homeless is massive but it's not just that. A commentator was talking about the long queues to vote in the recent election and said infrastructure is creaking and even breaking down in some areas of the country, its that sort of issue that has changed people perception of the US, plus the rest of the world is becoming wealthy.


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