Travelog: A for America

"Are you okay there, honey?", asked the waitress. She was talking to me. I was kinda staring at a bunch of guys in business suits having drinks and watching the baseball game on the big TV - so I probably looked a little lost. Yeah, I was more than okay. I was just thinking about the world's most famous country - the food, the culture and the people and what a fantastic mix it all was.

I am reminded of a conversation (more of an argument, actually) I had with one of my aunts a few months ago. It was about the Americans in general. She had been living in the US for more than 20 years and she was in love with the country. She had embraced the whole American lifestyle long back and constantly vouched for the Americans. I had taken an opposing stand and we kept debating on which was a better country. She kept talking about how warm and helpful the Americans were while I was being pretty naive by pointing out the recession, the high divorce rate, the crime rate, the fast food, the obesity, the junk food and every other cliched negative thing I read about the country. I was being supported by the others in the room and she couldn't take the bombarding anymore. She just said, "You know what, you can say all you want but they are still some of the nicest people in the world. You need to be there to believe". How true!

The two words that came out of my mouth (and that I heard from other people's mouths) more than any of the other word in the past 3 days were "Thank you!". The politeness is infectious. A lot of people who are not used to it might get irritated by it over a period of time, but I am not one of them. Not yet, at least. A more narrow minded person might wonder if the person greeting you actually knew you from somewhere or if it is mockery or if she (or he) has a crush on you. You might think its all pretentious, but trust me its not. It might be simple customary courteousness which is no big deal for them, but it is genuine. We (people from the east) feel so pampered and respected. At least I did.

I really love the way they treat each other. For us, waiters are waiters and janitors are janitors. For them, the waiters, the janitors or anyone for that matter, are people. Ever wondered why its an American way to address everyone at work (including your boss and of course his boss) with their first name (and not "Sir") or why you are expected to tip around 15-20% on the bill amount? To me, its dignity of labor and professionalism in action.

We keep debating about the excessive consumerism of the Americans, but I think it is more of a choice. If they want to spend all their money and by doing so, live life king size, I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Its one life you got, after all and it is okay to have such an attitude. Saving and being conservative is something which we taught ourselves and I think it is wrong to judge the others on that basis. We have no reason to expect them to follow our philosophy. We are happy this way and they have the right to be happy that way.

Coming to the much talked prevalence of junk/fast food, I think we fail to realize ta=hat they have an equally large selection of the healthiest foods. A joint that serves burgers and fries also serves salads and soup. Percentages can be quite misleading. If one in every three Americans is obese (which gives us about 30% obesity rate), one of the other two is really really fit. In India, if one in every ten Indians is obese (which gives us only a 10% obesity rate), at least five of the others are fat/not fit/"on their way to being obese" and only one qualifies as being "really really fit". Oh, we have a lot of junk (if not "fast") food too. Its just in a less popular form - its not burgers and fries - its puris and samosas.

I agree that three days in one city and that too among a very niche crowd in downtown is not a great sample space to make all these impressions. The cynic in me mocks at the impressed me. Of course there is bad too. There are jerks among these people too, where are they not? All this rosiness is likely to wear off with time but this wonderful "first take" is worth cherishing. For a visitor like me, its always a far more defining experience as a lot of things which the Americans take for granted are not quite so back home. We kinda tend to have an ideological advantage, which, when combined with all these nice things here, can leave you feeling content and wise.

I wonder if I can enjoy an evening at a pub back home where most of the the bartenders and the waiters think it is cool to be rude and aloof. Like I said to one of my friends, "One is tempted to wish that you belonged here, but much remains to be seen yet."