Reflections

So that was it. In 12 weeks,we travelled 12000 miles by car, 500 miles by train and 400 miles by plane in North America. We walked at elevations ranging from below sea level to 10000 feet above it and, within a single season, we experienced temperatures ranging from –13 to +25 deg.C.. We crossed 4 Canadian provinces, 25 US states and Washington DC, yet saw only a tiny fraction of the continent. Although we experienced a wide range of landscapes, urban and rural habitats, and wildnernesses, we only scratched the surface and caught a fleeting sense of most of the areas we covered.

So what are our main impressions and abiding memories? First is the astonishing variety of natural environments on the continent. The fall colours in eastern Canada and north-east US were stunning. Yosemite and Zion valleys were grand and beautiful, and the deserts of the southwest had a stark and alien attraction of their own. The great canyons of the Colorado Plateau were staggering in their size and awesome in the sense of isolation and solitude they engendered. The huge, open skies over the seemingly endless plains of the midwest produced magnificent sunsets, while the enclosed, secretive Louisiana bayous were hauntingly beautiful, but eerie. Overwhelmingly, there was a wonderful silence in most of the non-urban areas, which we rarely experience in Britain.

The built environment of North America is another matter. The few large cities we visited, particularly on the east and west coasts, are interesting and stimulating in their various ways, but there is a uniformity imposed upon them by modern commercial development and the ubiquitous appearance of national or even global brands. Of course, much the same could be said about most major cities, across the western world at least, where distinctiveness arises largely from the physical geography of cities and their environs. The medium–sized cities we saw were highly variable in their appeal, probably largely reflecting differences in municipal and average individual wealth (and the means by which it is created) but also depending on the extent of cultural diversity of the residents. The numerous small towns and rural communities of the US are almost all ghastly. The universality and uniformity of their open shopping plazas, surrounded by car parks, renders them boring, at best, and often downright ugly. Some of that might be attributed to the relativeness newness of many towns, but an evident lack of tight planning controls and the abundance of cheap land leads to spreadeagled or strip development of the worst type. It is both a result and an encouragement of a mindset which puts individual car use at the heart of much of American life. We wonder how long that can continue.

As we, ourselves, spent so much time in a car during our trip, many of the things we liked and disliked relate to driving on the roads. We liked:

(a) The rule allowing a right turn on a red signal, when the road is clear.
This keeps the traffic moving and removes some of the frustration of motorists who are sitting at traffic lights with no other cars in sight. There seems to be no obvious impediment to implementing the equivalent rule in the UK (i.e. left turn at a red signal), except that our streets mostly carry a higher density of traffic than in the US, so the rule may turn out to be of little benefit, at least in the daylight hours.


(b) Pedestrian crossing countdowns

We have seen these previously, elsewhere, and we wonder why they haven’t appeared in the UK (though it seems they may soon do so). They are an excellent way of assuring pedestrians that they haven’t been "forgotten", and they help to discourage jaywalking. In Istanbul, we also encountered countdowns for motorists at traffic lights and we understand that these excellent developments may soon be introduced in both the US and the UK.


We disliked:

(a) Stop signs (and stop lines) set back too far from intersections

So far back that it was often impossible to get a clear view of traffic coming, particularly from the left.


(b) Inconsistent and inappropriate positioning of direction signs
We frequently missed turnings because the only signs were at the intersections themselves (i.e. there was no forewarning). On other occasions there were direction signs placed well before the relevant intersections, sometimes before other intersections, causing us to turn too soon. These sorts of inconsistent and inappropriate placements were particularly problematical on freeways. Excessively early route indication frequently caused us to exit too early and find ourselves in a part of a city for which we were not prepared, while late signage often led to our missing our desired exit, sometimes having to travel up to 20 miles or more to get back to our intended route!


(c) Aggressive and inconsiderate driving

As we noted, the standard of driving deteriorated markedly as we moved west and south. Excessive speeding was not much of a problem, though as in the UK, some drivers often did not adjust their speeds to the prevailing conditions. Tail-gating was a serious and frequent concern, as were the appalling lane discipline and the lack of the use of indicators. We frequently saw cars suddenly veer across three or more lanes of traffic, without signalling, to exit from freeways. People we spoke to about the poor driving standards generally agreed and gave various explanations, though one which recurred was the American view that the car is an extension of their very existence and, as their private property, can be used in whatever manner they choose, without regard to others (rather similar to the attitude of many Americans towards handguns). In our view, the authorities don’t help matters much. Although, universally, there are frequent signs warning of fines for excessive speeds (especially in road works and near schools) and for littering of the highway, there seems to be scant concern about the finer elements of driver behaviour. Bad examples are set, both in poor road design and in the behaviour of traffic police. Not infrequently, we saw a police car stopped adjacent to the centre strip or fence of a freeway, having pulled over a car driver in the outside lane. On a couple of occasions the police cars didn’t even have their emergency flashing lights on!


(d) Freeway entrance ramps too short

Frequently when entering a freeway, there is insufficient distance to check what traffic is coming fast from behind and to pick up speed before joining the traffic flow. Adrenaline rush (aka terror) was a frequent experience upon joining freeways.


Probably the American practice that we most dislike is the universal expectation of tipping for all services and for many provisions of goods. It is not seen as an optional additional payment for exceptional service, but rather as an additional cost to be included, compulsorily, in the overall charge made, along with taxes (which are also never included in the basic costs quoted for goods and services). Quite frequently, a tip was simply added to the bill and we were, in principle, challenged to remove it. This situation is sanctioned by the US government by not including waiting staff and other service personnel in minimum wage provisions (which are extraordinarily low by UK standards, anyway). Tipping is an iniquitous practice, which invokes feudal comparisons. Having grown up in New Zealand, where (at least at that time) tipping was non-existent, we have a very clear view: tipping should be done away with entirely, in the US and elsewhere, and all workers should be paid reasonable wages.

One of the aspects we liked most about the “American way” is the expectation of individual responsibility for one’s own behaviour and the care of children. Oddly, given the litigious culture in the US, government and local authorities appear to be much less concerned than those in the UK about providing advice and safety measures at places of danger. Much more than in Britain, it is left up to individuals to determine and regulate their own behaviour and to supervise the activities of their children. In Britain, it is not so much that we have a “nanny state”, but rather an irresponsible population that leaves too many decisions and responsibilities to government and local authorities.

A final observation is that Americans like predictability or certainty in their lives. They are, of course, quite certain that the USA is the greatest country on earth, the only one in which the citizens are truly free and the only one with complete moral integrity. They are certain that it is (or should be) invincible and they are bewildered to discover that other countries don’t necessarily share or welcome all American values. Their certainty, as that of most imperial powers, is underpinned by their faith that God is “on their side”. That is apparent in the huge number of churches across the country and in the extraordinarily conservative fundamentalist Christian radio stations which fill the airwaves.

The uniformity in the development of towns is just one aspect of the predictability which pervades US culture (at least that of the dominant white community) and which is expected or, at least, welcomed by individual Americans. It is evident also in the ubiquitous fast-food clones and the extraordinarily and depressingly similar budget motel chains. This standardisation and predictability makes a lie of “freedom of choice” and individualism, which Americans proclaim as basic to the “American way”. We’re not the first people to point out that freedom to choose between options which are broadly the same (whether in fast food or in political parties) is really no freedom at all.

At another level, the desire for certainty affects the way Americans talk and act, for example in the standardised vacuous greetings and predictable behaviour of most of those who serve in shops, cafes and hotels. We suspect that it may also be one of the reasons why most Americans don’t appreciate irony. On several occasions when one or other of us spontaneously made what we thought were mildly amusing or slightly clever comments or repartee, the response was almost always incomprehension or suspicion, as in the following actual telephone conversation:

[Them: Thank you for your credit card details. For security purposes can I just have your zip code please?

Us: Sorry, I live in England, so I don’t have a zip code.

Them: That’s not a problem.

Us: Well, it certainly isn’t a problem for me, anyway!]

Through the silence which followed, we could almost hear: “smart-ass limey bastard!” . On the other hand, Americans are too polite to be directly rude to others, except possibly to the girl in the cafe who inadvertently puts blue-cheese dressing on the salad when “ranch” was specified. Their politeness, general lack of boorishness in public, and individual keenness to be helpful are pleasing qualities that we could do with a lot more in Britain. Unfortunately, this pleasantness is not applied to their compatriots who are physically more remote (e.g. other car drivers), nor to “foreigners” who do not share “American values”. While some European nations are at least occasionally included in the latter group, the British are generally exempted and we quietly cringed when told by a taxi driver that “I’m really grateful to the British for supporting our boys in I-rak. They really understand what we’re trying to do there”. However, we appreciated the genuine interest and welcome often accorded to us by individuals in shops, cafes and hotels, particularly in small towns and rural areas. Many people spontaneously shared with us the details of their family’s British origins or their recent travels in the UK and some gave us their contact details, with invitations to stay with them if we visited again.

It is a beautiful and amazing country, with people who are individually very pleasant and welcoming. However, the American nation seems to be busy playing an internet strategy game with the rest of the world, while maxing out on junk food and watching a nostalgic patriotic old movie. It hasn’t noticed that the electricity supply is starting to fail, the creditors are knocking on the door and its opponents in the game are losing interest and starting to play among themselves. The next couple of decades will be interesting and we may make another visit in the next few years to check on progress!





Our last US blog 'post'!