Cultural observations on America

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

FIVE BAD POINTS.

1. In Walmart, a guy who obviously hadn't washed in a week, suffered a nervous tick and quite probably was perpetually 201 yards outside of a school tried to buy 7 knifes. Seven. And that was all okay.
You think Wal-Mart would ever turn down a sale for anything?  Besides, he needs those knives to defend himself from the government.

2. Your toilets waste water and hold too much. I am not meaning to brag here, but I don't like getting my d-ck soaked everytime I sit down.
Americans need large amounts of water in their toilets for their large amounts of fast-food induced spells of explosive craps.

3. There are other flavours than barbecue, cheese, chilli, barbecue cheese, and barbecue chilli when it comes to savoury snacks. Life isn't a perpetual Texas.
We have more, but Wal-Mart isn't the best place to find it.

4. I can see why some American atheists sound perpetually pissed. I'm actually surprised they are so restrained. Christian discourse saturates everywhere. People seemed to think I had landed from Mars.
Yup, it's sickening.  Worse is that greed and selfishness are also pervasive, and those two are supposed to be mutually exclusive.  (Well, according to that Jesus character anyway)

5. VETERANS DAY 'SALES' ARE A F-CKING TRAVESTY. Offering veterans a free meal at Denny's is the equivalent to feeding the homeless only on Thanksgiving. It's insulting.
We love our token "thank yous".  Same reason you see "Support the troops" bumper stickers and garbage like that.  We always like to take advantage of the literal LEAST we can do

FIVE GOOD POINTS

1. People are generally nice. Those who work in the service industry are the nicest (I know they work for tips). Nice people who treat them like sh-t are assholes.
Yes they are, but this is America, and many like to always remind people who are on a lower income level that they are inferior.

2. I liked DC. It was a neo-classic homoerotic fantasy down the Mall, but the city itself was wonderful.
I agree.  DC is cool.

3. New Yorkers are as amazing as they say. Police officers swearing at each other in public as part of general conversation is something I am familiar with
NYC is amazing.

4. Cleanliness. The cities are pretty clean. Barring the major tourist hubs people proudly used the trash cans and recycled. I have a feeling that attitude might diminish the further out you go!
You felt New York and DC were clean?  Really?

5. Getting the marriage licence was quick and flawless. Michael getting his licence renewed at the DMV was disappointingly fast. The efficiency of bespectacled black women knows no bounds.
Efficient and quick government always gets a thumbs up with me!  And congrats! I love our black people.  They are great.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

When I turned 30 a couple of years ago, I had to get my driver license renewed and a new photo taken. Convinced that the small chore would prove itself to be an epic poem, I cleared an an entire afternoon to take care of. As soon as I walked in, I was directed to a self-service iPad kiosk where I entered my information. About 5 minutes after I had completed that, I was called to take my photo, and the photo person's machine spat out a new license. Not counting the drive to and from the office, the whole affair took less than 15 minutes. I couldn't believe it. Perhaps America's DMVs have finally gotten their act together.

Thank you, Obama. 

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

YO AFLEITCH, I'M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU AND IMMA LET YOU FINISH BUT NASO HAD ONE OF THE BEST CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS OF AMERICA OF ALL TIME

Yea, Naso really needs to get in here and tell us about BBQ chips, Three's Company, and what it all means. 

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Yeah i can guarantee the selection of savory snacks at any American grocery store is far bigger than any store in Scotland.

And im not sure where religion comes up in conversation on a regular basis...unless youre actively looking for it...

I think he's referring to religion's overall pervasiveness in American culture.  That, and the fact that Christianity (and Judaism to a degree) has a hall pass of automatic respect.  Even this left-leaning forum gets a case of the vapors when I justifiably rip on religion.  In that sense, he's correct. 

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

4. I can see why some American atheists sound perpetually pissed. I'm actually surprised they are so restrained. Christian discourse saturates everywhere. People seemed to think I had landed from Mars.

It's in everyday conversation. I hold back like you wouldn't believe. I'm just used to it, I guess. These days I don't feel like I'm biting my tongue so much because I'm just used to it.

This must be an east coast thing because it NEVER comes up in conversation here or anywhere else I've lived.  I'm not understanding the we only have 3 flavors thing either, but I assumed that was hyperbole.

Well, it does get a very privileged position in American culture, but I'm also around a campus a lot, and it's very, very visible, including the kooks (I've been on large and medium sized campuses both during my life, and it's always very visible). When the churches recruit, everyone knows it. It's conventional Jesus style to new age stuff, and kids and converts can really pick up the banner and go.

Hah!  To say the LEAST.  The shysters don't even pay taxes! 

This ****** thing...



...pays NO property taxes. 

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

4. I can see why some American atheists sound perpetually pissed. I'm actually surprised they are so restrained. Christian discourse saturates everywhere. People seemed to think I had landed from Mars.

It's in everyday conversation. I hold back like you wouldn't believe. I'm just used to it, I guess. These days I don't feel like I'm biting my tongue so much because I'm just used to it.

This must be an east coast thing because it NEVER comes up in conversation here or anywhere else I've lived.  I'm not understanding the we only have 3 flavors thing either, but I assumed that was hyperbole.

Well, it does get a very privileged position in American culture, but I'm also around a campus a lot, and it's very, very visible, including the kooks (I've been on large and medium sized campuses both during my life, and it's always very visible). When the churches recruit, everyone knows it. It's conventional Jesus style to new age stuff, and kids and converts can really pick up the banner and go.

Hah!  To say the LEAST.  The shysters don't even pay taxes!  

This ****** thing...



...pays NO property taxes.  

You'd have a point if non-Christian religious buildings paid property taxes.

The fact that other religious buildings don't pay property taxes has to do with the fact that you can not discriminate based on religion, and that since Christian buildings don't pay taxes, you have to extend that.  In a hypothetical world where Christianity is suddenly illegal in America, you can bet that the rest of 'em would be paying taxes almost immediately.  

It's like, if you want to further Christian privilege... you gotta let the others off the tax burden, too.  The Christians begrudgingly go along, of course, because most of those "other" churches are for the Jews and they ain't so bad besides the murderin' Jesus thing.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

A buddy of mine ran into a street preacher in downtown Pittsburgh over the summer. He didn't stop to listen, but he and his g.f. had come out of a restaurant and ran into the preacher. My buddy guessed that the dude was a Muslim who had found Jesus, so he was letting everyone know about it. Street preachers are around the 'Burgh once in a while. Right place, right time you'll see one.

Jehova's Witnesses used to stop all the time (and they were always nice, so I would be nice back), but I haven't received one since maybe 2008 or 2009 or so. A couple times a year (around Christmas and Easter) I'll get calling cards and little pamphlets stuck in my door from local churches. "Need to nourish your soul this Easter? Come to _____."

On campus, good god, they're everywhere. When I was in grad school one would get up on a grassy hill overlooking a walkway that got a lot of student traffic about once a week, and this guy would hold up a Bible or some book and shout his nonsense down at everyone walking by. Once in a great while someone would yell something back up at him, but he ignored it and would continue on unabated.

We have these black Jews in Philadelphia that go nuts with a megaphone around Market East terminal every Friday.  I never stopped to listen fully, but the bits and pieces I've picked up sound like the ravings of a lunatic.