Musings in US

These thoughts are based on three satirical books on US people and places: How to be a Yank and more wisdom by George Mikes, The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur and The American by Henry James. I have spent about 2.5 years in US now. I have spoken to people from different parts of the US (not all) and it is amusing to see how the authors views and my views match/differ. I will continue to modify/add views as my time of stay here in US increases.

So who is an American? It is really difficult to identify an American. Everyone I have talked to have their country of origin something different from this land (if they trace it back one or more generations). Yes, it is a land of immigrants. Like Mikes says, New England is so terribly British(because they say tomahto instead of tomayto and potahto instead of potayto..this is something for me to keep in mind when and if I go to New England), the Wild west is too wild, the Mid-West is too Mid-western(what does that mean?) and Hollywood..it has never been America. America is essentially a rural country and ironically, the US is just not America without the large cities such as NY, Chicago and San Francisco. Nevertheless, America and Americans exist.
Here are some interesting observations by Mikes: Its a shoe-conscious nation; Americans are always in a hurry(need to lead a fast life, you see)..speak in brief, staccato sentences (I dont agree completely with this). Size of things(O Boy..is he right!)..bigger, the better..number of copies of the same thing(if you buy 10 of the same thing instead of 2, its cheaper..but you end up spending more anyway..because you really wanted only 2 and the seller has made you buy more than 2!)...choice in things(too much choice that just confuses you and deters you from its purchase).. They are extremely gadget-minded people..Being British, he is against gadgets which make life prosaic and over-mechanised. According to him, modern Americans know nothing of joys of living- things have to be perfect all the time and automatised. Whats the fun in life? What is our job then? Nothing goes wrong..nothing breaks down...all is smooth..which brings me to the subject of how Americans whine..oh...do they whine! When you are devoid of pleasures and lead a boring 'automatic' life, you will invariably look for things to complain about.
Here are more amusing observations: In US, you need two hands to post a letter. Every letter box has a handle which you have to pull down, then you throw your letter in and release the handle. Haha..I remember my irritation in having to do this on a cold winter morning near my apartment the first time! If you are wondering who writes letters in this electronic age, here is an eccentric who does! Why don't they leave it open?
Everybody is called by his/her christian name. Sir John So and so, DSO,PhD,LLD..would be simply introduced as 'John'..You simply cannot stand on your dignity if you are introduced to people like this. Its good to be informal..but I think I rather tend to forget who the person actually was if I am just told his first name. There are so many Johns and so many James and so on...On the flip side, friendliness does help ease the tension a bit, for eg,in an elevator. You say,'Hi..how is it going? or How are you?'..He would not have met you before at all..and he is worried about how you are..in reply I should say, 'I am good!'...It took me a while to get used to saying this versus..'I am fine'...odd expression indeed! and then when you reach your destined floor, he says 'Take it easy'...take what easy? I have to teach a class in another 5 minutes and I dont think life is that easy..:)..

They don't use the word 'rubbish' much here..use 'garbage' instead..'O' instead of 'zero' for numbers..a lift is called the elevator, although when hitch-hiking, you do not ask for an elevator, you ask for a lift. The word 'flat' here means a flat tyre and not an apartment as in the British system. I would just call a flat tyre a flat tyre. Tyre is not too long a word, eh?

Prices..everything is $x.99 just to give you the illusion that you are spending $x and not $x+1 almost..its working well for them though..capitalist economy as it is. The American has a purely utilitarian relationship with the material world..something does not work...throw it away and get a new one! Its more expensive to get something repaired than to purchase a new one. So much price to pay for a little emotional attachment to the first time purchase of that article! Or rather sensibly in other countries, it is usually cheaper to repair something than to buy it again. Odd again! Why are there so many ghost towns in US? Americans discard whole cities in the same way as objects..when a town has served its purpose-the gold rush is over, they evacuate it, leaving houses and furniture behind. In other words, US is not a second-hand country. They need to have the best and most modern of all things. Being a bit conservative, I might reluctantly buy a new item to replace one that needs repair, but the worst part..I would still not throw away the old one..in the hope that if the new one stops working..I can get the old one fixed..brilliant!

Americans like to make things as straightforward as possible..in the following sense..28th street should definitely fall between 27th and 26th street right? No prizes for guessing that. But where is the challenge for a first time visitor when he has to travel to a 'Spring street' in the middle of 'lake street' and 'Richmond avenue'? First one has to find the two flanking street/avenue to locate spring street. So in a sense, it was all too easy for me to travel in one of the biggest cities in the world, New York whereas I got so horribly lost in a small town like Catania, Italy and it took me 2 hours by car to reach my hotel from the railway station which is actually a 10min walk!! I am not implying that a hungry traveler should be subjected to such a treatment, but my message is apparent in a more pleasant situation, where the real purpose is to explore, not mechanically go from one place to another too easily. George Mikes finds the British town-planning abilites just remarkable and note-worthy for any traveler.

On the other hand, I find Americans kind-hearted and good-tempered people. People are in a hurry, no doubt, but they are always prepared to stop and help others. Also, the 'superior' attitude does not exist. Usually even the highest of the society will be rather casual and introduce themselves to you by their first names. Only thing is, as Mikes puts it..'American way of life seems to be a matter of honour for the US people, for us its a matter of taste.'
In US, you have to acquire a few skills- in particular, shopping, drinking. If you wish to be a teetotaller..then the issue does not arise. But shopping cannot be avoided. Its deals..deals everywhere and I am convinced that it is a favourite pastime among many americans.
Distances are amazing in this country. I am not surprised if they use miles instead of km, even though a mile in only roughly 1.5times a km. You could run into big numbers quickly in terms of km as compared to miles for large distances. But one of the greatest things in this country are their roads. They have possibly the best maintained roads, safe roads as compared to rail roads. No wonder road and air trips are much more cheaper than rail travel.

In the wake of this economic recession, I understood some aspects of money that I didn't before. Being a capitalist economy people are always encouraged to go bankrupt. There is no social stigma attached to taking loans, going bankrupt and living beyond your means, as there would be in a conservative and socialist society. In fact, that's what consumerism is all about. The consumer is given the illusion that he has all the power..but in fact rendered powerless in the end. Your whole life becomes one on credit! Also people are 'fired' in companies..which means they are told to leave without any notice..leave alone hope for any pension.


Now to catalogue one of my memorable experiences here at US-

My experiences with medical treatments- I am not a person with demanding allergies or medication for other innumerable possible situations, and I happen to be able to adapt relatively easily to the climatic and adversities presented by a foreign land, and thanks to the ‘training’ received back home. Now, one cannot be too prepared for minor injuries inflicted on the flesh ( matters related to the mind will be dealt shortly), for example, journeys undertaken on a heavy snow-covered footpaths, or when on a ‘bike’ (this has a story behind it too.), or when walking tranquilly on a walkway in general. It is walkway, by the way, not a footpath. Whats the difference? Americans want to be different. It is ‘O’..not zero..so its 6’O’ 8…..wonder why they didn’t change the o’s to zeros, just to be different..it could really bring about a difference..in fact the language itself would change.

Such was an event when my friend injured her hand at home, while opening a can of vegetables. Vegetables..this reminds me of something else..you get everything here cut and frozen..’frozen’ is the word…food in general is always ‘frozen’ here, ironically to preserve its freshness. Being used to buying, cooking and eating freshly made food back home, it feels like eating stale food even after using the magic ‘reheat’ button on the microwave oven. The microwave oven is an indispensable commodity in the kitchen here..in fact it defines the kitchen itself. All you need is a microwave, you can buy frozen food, heat it and eat it all your life. Anyway, back to my friend, who is under considerable misery by now, thanks to the deep cut the lid of the can has made. The cans remind me of another trend here..frozen and canned as much as possible. ‘Can’ go with it I suppose, sans the freshness. So now really getting back to my friend, we tried a lot of basic immediate measures to stop the bleeding and clean the wound. But after a while, it was clear that she needed proper cleaning and dressing by a qualified person. We needed to get to a clinic somewhere nearby, quickly if possible. Trained as my intuition was, I was thinking that back home, we would have just taken an auto to the nearby hospital, regardless of whether it’s a weekend or not. Everyday is a day,right? Whether it’s a Sunday or Monday. Buses on weekends are scarce, and you have to book a cab beforehand. As far as medical treatment goes, one is bound to go to a definite practitioner under your Health care plan and not allowed to walk in clinics. Not allowed means, I doubt if you will get attention straightaway. That’s precisely what happened with us. It was a Sunday, and we had to walk in freezing temperatures to the clinic..it did some good to her hand, as it just froze her wounds, and made them less painful, and also reduced the bleeding. Where is the development here? Immediate resources like an auto/bus is something that should be there all the time, and I was thoroughly disappointed with what I had to accept here. Making it to the hospital, what did we look for? What would you do in an Indian hospital? There would be a ward, where you are rushed to, in case of urgent care(not necessarily emergency, note) and then other formalities are completed regarding your existence on this earth and your visit to the hospital. There was a reception here, and we requested for a nurse or any qualified person to look at her injury, as it had started bleeding again. All we got in reply was that we don’t have an appointment and we would have to wait really long to get attended to. That was the most ridiculous thing I heard. All she needed was some good first aid, and it would take at the most, 15min job to clean it up well, and dress the wound. But we sat, and waited in the irony of it all, ‘patiently’ for our turn. It was almost an hour now, and we enquired about our ‘status’ in the queue. The receptionist said that her practitioner is on her way and would be here soon, and that since it was weekend, it was taking longer. Ya, great..like you can finally wait for your own practitioner even after reaching heaven. Ok, this is taking it a bit far, but the waiting time just seemed unpractical and unnecessary to start with. Now, a nurse comes and calls her, and she has to first take care of the documentation first, before anything else. The emphasis on documentation is extreme, to the extent of deviating from purpose at hand. She was checking her weight, blood pressure and temperature. My argument is that she can do all this after the injury has been taken care of. I doubt if we would violate any science or the US policies if the weight of the bandage is added to her weight, or that her blood pressure would go up or go down because of the treatment. I applaud the thorough efforts in documentation, but I think a little more practicality and immediate response would be appreciated. After this initial documentation ritual, she was taken to a room where she would wait for her ‘practitioner’ to come. Alas, little would she realize how much time of her Sunday has been taken away, to do a small dressing, which could have been done by an ordinary nurse immediately at the clinic. Anyway, doomed as we were to wait for God to come, another hour creeped by. By now, the ‘initial documentation’ nurse had cleaned up the wound including having her own panic attack when she saw the yellow appearance of the wound..we had applied turmeric on it. Now, even that temporary antiseptic protection was gone. Strongly as I was feeling about all this, I did go back to the reception and requested that we have a little more faster response. I talked to a nurse, and explained to her that she just needs to be bandaged and lied…told her that my friend has to catch a flight that evening. She took a second look at the wound, and felt that she could dress it up. I felt blessed at this point, as I felt that I could have done the dressing if I had the appropriate bandages and the cleaning alcohol. Anyway, she finally did it, in lieu of which I should have broken a coconut if there would have been a temple nearby. Happy and hungry ( it was about 3.00 in the afternoon and we came to the clinic around noon) we walked back home. That was my first exposure to the medical treatment in US. Ah..the divinity of autos and buses in India!