Underestimate America....

[Irish]

...at your peril.

Just back from a long weekend in NYC and Montauk.

I guess over the years I have had that slightly smug anti-US leaning. You know the drill, 95% have no passports, the cars are crap, welfare poor etc. etc.

I guess the older I get the more I reassess. People have no passports because they don't need them. The US has everything one needs from a vacation perspective. If you overlaid the same 95% in Europe I guess you have a similar number who never leave this geographic region.

Even some of the republicans I met were OK.

Lifestyle is very high. The US is the center of the global economy.

National debt was almost gone under Clinton. The only reason the US has a gigantic debt is fighting the republican's wars.

Cars over there are getting more sensible (I'd still have a Ford F-150 for tootling around).

The US has some serious systemic problems but, no matter what, I can always see it bouncing back. Time to cut the US some slack? Now, were do I get a green card

[DonkeyApple]

Completely agree.

People only tend to mock the US out of jealousy.

You are spot on that you just don't need a passport. Everything that we leave the UK for an American can find in their own country.

You will definitely find that the further you are from salt water in a America the nutter and mong factor increase almost exponentially.

As a Brit it is a great country to visit. You get cut a lot of slack.

[lostsoixanteneuf]

Should that not be missunderestimate America?

[RobDickinson]

So long as you have plenty of money the US is probably a great place to live.

[davepoth]

RobDickinson said:

So long as you have plenty of money the US is probably a great place to live.

It's pretty decent, even as a wage slave. I got to eat at Taco Bell every night if I wanted to.

TACO BELL.

EVERY NIGHT.

[RemainAllHoof]

davepoth said:

It's pretty decent, even as a wage slave. I got to eat at Taco Bell every night if I wanted to.

TACO BELL.

EVERY NIGHT.

I don't know why they don't have it over here (or did they try and failed?). I loved that place.

[hornetrider]

davepoth said:

TACO BELL.

EVERY NIGHT.

Livin' the dream!

[tinman0]

Irish said:

Now, where do I get a green card

Maybe 8 weeks for mine

[tinman0]

RobDickinson said:

So long as you have plenty of money the US is probably a great place to live.

Depends on the state and where exactly you live.

[Caulkhead]

I lived there for three years. It's not as good as your rose-tinted weekend snapshot tells you it is, but it is a good country by and large. Your holiday bit applies if you only want to see different landscapes, but if you want to experience new cultures, there's far more difference in the 22 miles between Dover and Calais than there is between Fairbanks and Miami!

[davepoth]

RemainAllHoof said:

I don't know why they don't have it over here (or did they try and failed?). I loved that place.

I just googled.

http://www.tacobelluk.co.uk/

I AM GOING RIGHT NOW.

[EarlOfHazard]

davepoth said:

RemainAllHoof said:

I don't know why they don't have it over here (or did they try and failed?). I loved that place.

I just googled.

http://www.tacobelluk.co.uk/

I AM GOING RIGHT NOW.

probably closed

[RemainAllHoof]

davepoth said:

I just googled.

http://www.tacobelluk.co.uk/

I AM GOING RIGHT NOW.

Lakeside isn't that far!

[Morningside]

EarlOfHazard said:

davepoth said:

RemainAllHoof said:

I don't know why they don't have it over here (or did they try and failed?). I loved that place.

I just googled.

http://www.tacobelluk.co.uk/

I AM GOING RIGHT NOW.

probably closed

For Christ sake DO NOT mouse-over the bell - Nearly gave myself a heart attack!

[Pappa Lurve]

I feel dirty but I am sooooo tempted to drive the 90mins to lakeside!

The US is no paradise, but it is an amazing place both to visit and (I hope!) to live. Depends where of course but anywhere with the Cheesecake Factory can't be all bad :-)

[Beyond Rational]

The only thing that makes me question the United States is vehement actions of those who feel the need to say how great it is.

[RemainAllHoof]

Starting to feel a bit peckish. Hmph.

[jimmyjimjim]

DonkeyApple said:

You will definitely find that the further you are from salt water in a America the nutter and mong factor decrease almost exponentially.

EFA.

Seriously. Lots of well grounded and well travelled people the further you get from the coasts; they're the ones who are most likely to have travelled outside of the country - if you've got to fly for 4 hours just to get to one coast, you might as well go the whole hog and leave the country...

[ErnestM]

Better than Taco Bell...

Orlando Area...

http://www.amigos-texmex.com/index.htm

East Coast...

http://www.donpablos.com/

^^^^^^Mmmmmmm cerveza



For fast food, if you can find one near you...

http://www.deltaco.com/home.html

[rypt]

Caulkhead said:

there's far more difference in the 22 miles between Dover and Calais than there is between Fairbanks and Miami!

So true