Here's what I learned:
They pay crazy taxes - their gas is 10 bucks a gallon plus they pay about 1000 a year in car taxes!
Their smoking laws are as Draconian as ours.
Their gun laws are totalitarian.
They drive a lot better, and faster, than we do.
I'd go back in a second flat; and wouldn't mind living there for a while if the opportunity presented itself.
What do we get for our "crazy" taxes, as opposed to what you get for yours?
ReplyDeleteHow do our roadways compare with yours? Can you make a correlation between taxes and maintenance?
How many gun-related deaths per year do we have, as opposed to the states?
Can't quite see why you'd like to live in the UK, considering how much you hate taxes and government regulations.
>>Can't quite see why you'd like to live in the UK, considering how much you hate taxes and government regulations
ReplyDeleteThe smoking regs are a wash as yours are no more Draconian than ours.
Both are absurd and an invasion of private property rights; should someone wish to run a pub they should buy one with their own funds - not legislate every facet as to how it's operated.
The gun laws simply make no sense to me. But then, I'm an American that grew up in the west prior to the west being paved and invaded by east coast hand wringing whiny liberals.
The driving seemed *so* much better.
Faster.
Better drivers.
Better roads (you do pay big for them however).
Better cars (scads of hot European cars and few cheezy Japanese junks)
Scotland has more pretty Scottish girls per square mile than anywhere else on the planet; I've no idea what would have possessed my ancestors to leave in the first place!
Plus the food wasn't as advertised here in the states (UK dining is allegedly awful) as we didn't have a bad meal anywhere; quite the contrary in fact.
(We were quite impressed with Bean Cross outside Falkirk)
I did like Scotland better than England and noted a more defiant attitude there that seemed familiar to me; very similar to that found in the western U.S.
I suppose in America you have every right to smoke where you aren't bothering other people, stinking up their clothing and all, just as we do. Manners know no borders after all.
ReplyDeleteIn 2007, total murders committed with firearms in the UK were 58. I do believe that is less than the number in the US per DAY. That makes sense to me.
We're probably better drivers because we're more polite on the road; driving in America is quite an experience what with people cutting each other off at every opportunity, speeding where it is inappropriate, failing to maintain a lane and all manner of madness.
Yes, we do pay for our fine roads. How on earth can the roads be maintained if we don't pay for that? There are no tarmacadam fairies you know.
Scotland would have more pretty Scottish girls than anywhere else on the planet then, wouldn't it? I certainly wouldn't expect to find more Scottish girls in Berlin than in Edinburgh. Would you?
(In case you return, you might note that the majority of fine looking Welsh women reside in Wales.)
Oh yes, we've become quite civilized in our dining habits, Mr. Hageman. But then, our food has always suited us quite well, despite what our brethren across the pond may have thought of it. I take it you had no bubble & squeak, nor haggis, nor black pudding, but stuck to those restaurants which cater to tourist tastes.
I spent my uni years at Edinburgh. The Scots aren't all that defiant; they're actually a bit more stiff than we Brits. Unless you were in Glasgae, with the lads.
Tomie:
ReplyDeleteClearly I must have offended you someplace along the way which was certainly not my intent.
>>.... 2007, total murders committed with firearms in the UK were 58.
Yes but how many people were robbed, or stabbed (often to death) because they had no means by which to defend themselves?
Why is it that stores in a downtown area are shuttered after hours as opposed to simply locking the doors as we do in all but the very worst areas?
(Shuttering a store front here is unusual.)
America's tradition with individual possession of firearms goes back to when we were occupied
by the most fierce Army on the planet; the British.
(Smaller than ours today - but by all accounts from our military; still an incredibly fierce fighting force and our best ally bar-none.)
Clearly you haven't any idea how difficult it is to get the English out of your country..........no .....wait a minute............oh never mind.
>>I take it you had no bubble & squeak, nor haggis, nor black pudding, but stuck to those restaurants which cater to tourist tastes.
Quite the contrary - I spent a ton of cash so as to rent and fuel a car so we could avoid where ever
it is that most tourists go.
We got lost enough that I'm quite sure few tourists regularly stumbled into some of the small villages we saw.
The folks at Bean Cross outside Falkirk told us they hadn't seen many Americans at all and left us with the impression we the only ones so far this year.
There were no others at the pub we visited in Grangemouth either.
Most of the people we met in Nottingham seemed to be used to seeing Americans.
>>...failing to maintain a lane and all manner of madness.
Our drivers refuse to get out of the fast lane no matter how slowly they're going.
Not so on your highways.
Our drivers are forced to change lanes due to the high number of idiots that tie up the fast lanes here.
You folks drive MUCH FASTER, and even little old ladies seemed to navigate a rotary (ie: Round About) with total ease - not so here.
Plus, our highways have become yet another revenue enhancement scheme as our police set up speed traps anywhere it seems safe to go a little faster than the posted limit (which on the east coast is rarely over 55 - 60 regardless of the road.)
We saw no such underhanded behavior by the police anywhere we traveled in the UK.