by Woodsman » Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:42 pm
Fansy - Nice job for trying to minimize that guys problems with his seizures.
I have a dog with epilepsy. Every 6 months or so he goes into a bout of seizures. It's not fun to watch. I can imagine how people can be totally freaked out by that, but staring forward seems like a very strange reaction for sure. Not sure what would happen if the same thing happened on a train here - probably people would react in panic more than ignoring it. Ultimately, there are some of us around that will move to help others because that is what needs done.
I notice more differences between urban and rural lifestyles than I notice between UK and US lifestyles.
Similarly, I notice more differences between individuals than I do societies.
A good person to travel with is an individual who acts on his respect and regard for another. If one could work out this one defect in individuals, we would probably have most of societies problems solved worldwide. I suppose you could stereotype a particular culture for its propensity to have more or less of these individuals, but I think that would be wrong.
As for body odor - there is no question it is a cultural issue. Soap goes a long way toward that problem. Deodorant solves it. There maybe a few people where it simply doesn't work, but that's not who we are talking about. Indians, Paks, related regions culture probably don't even know they stink since they grew up in an environment where those smells are their "norms".
There is definitely less violence in the UK. I mean WAY less violence. Anywhere in the US is a dangerous place compared to UK based on what I saw. I watched some TV in the hotel and one was this show about the most feared men in the U.K. That was an absolutely idiotic show, but it somewhat highlighted the difference between our societies.
Quest is the best cable channel I saw in London. It had some good fishing shows on it and other cool stuff. BBC is pretty good with the news I thought.
UK's version of the US "COPS" is laughable in terms of the lack of violence. The idea of cops without guns is weird. It's a great concept, but to me it's just weird. That gun is there for good reason.
While I was in London, I heard of one person being stabbed. I expect there were at least half a dozen shot in Detroit alone during that same time, though I don't know.
I didn't hear one person being rude to another one in London during my entire trip (though I did see one guy make a violent reference to stomping on a baby in a carriage to one of his buddies that started to stir up my feelings of him needing an ass kicking - but at the time I was on a mission, and since these guys were from different countries, not sure if I misunderstood his gesture). 2 days at Disney world (an equally heavily populated place only in Florida), I saw at least half a dozen events where people were yelling at each other coming close to getting into a fight. IIRC, most of these were women.
I watched a mother and father (definitely English) sort out their children for behavior on the bus. It was just a little different than what I see (or not) with American families with young kids.
I think there are a whole lot more similarities compared to differences between the cultures, but granted you've spent a lot more time there to get the full picture than I have.
Life is short. Eat, Drink & Be Merry!