afternoon storms, new orleans
Things I like about the USA:
- the food
- everything is a robot
- it feels like the centre of the world
- the beer is surprisingly good
- the sheer variety of people, places, weather, culture
- new york
- chicago deep dish pizza
- everything I ate in new orleans
- you can get The Onion for free as a real newspaper
- Jon Stewart is on every night live
- the natural environment
Things I do not like very much about the USA:
- the rampant homelessness
- the outrageously poor healthcare system
- the total lack of public toilets
- the fact that anyone wearing a uniform from the janitor upwards acts like a member of the SS
- the apparent obliviousness to the irony of having to pass through aggressive security in order to view the liberty bell
- the media
As much as I love the place, I’ve also found the uniform/SS behaviour thing very noticeable. They call you “sir” and it makes you feel like you can give orders, but it often actually means that you are about to receive them. Still, I guess they have to be pretty careful with the Liberty Bell, what with the terrists/Nic Cage.
It sounds like you’ve had quite a journey, did you drive all the way between Yosemite/Gotham/Philly/New Orleans? I envy you.
I mercifully was never pulled over by the highway patrol, but they take it to the next level with those weird riding boots and the regulation aviator sunglasses. We saw several examples of people being handcuffed by the police too, which is not something I can ever recall seeing in Australia. Coming into Nevada from Arizona there was a huge traffic jam because the police were checking every car for… something, what exactly was unclear. Just keeping everybody in line, apparently.
We drove SF->Yosemite and back, and later Phoenix->Monument Valley->Grand Canyon->Vegas->LA, as well as driving around LA a fair bit. The rest of it was flying and catching trains, the latter being my favourite.
Sadly I am now back in Adelaide…