- If I put lots of mouthwash in my mouth is it better than a little? With lots, perhaps I get more cleaning if the wash gets "used up" at all. However, if I go with a little bit, I can really swish it around well and probably get it where it needs to go.
- Pandora is really finding some good music today. It's hindering my ability to work.
- I orphan lots of my work. I can't remember how many I truly have abandoned, but right now there are two that I'll talk to people about and they ask when the papers are coming out. But they're just not high priority and I only work on them once a year or so. I have two papers to review, an invited talk to prepare, a review to write, and a regular research paper I'm working on. And then in September I've got two proposals to write. But of course, to all my non-physicists friends, I'm somehow "off from work" during the summer!
- Why don't European hotels have alarm clocks (or at least some form of clock) in the rooms? Even the crappiest hotel in the U.S. has a clock.
- I get that Europeans tend to think of Americans as dumb, uncultured, spoiled babies, and perhaps some of that is deserved. However, if you're going to group me in particular with them when you make fun of them, I'm going to take some offense. Especially when you hardly know me and I've given no particular reason for the grouping. And whatever criticism Americans deserve, this hardly means that Europeans are particularly well-behaved or cultured. On the whole, they can be as rude and crass. Of course, by necessity they're very likely going to be more aware of the world.
Friday, August 05, 2011
Questions
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2 comments:
Most Americans look quite silly (or naïve, to put it politely) to most Europeans (and probably to most Asians as well). Part of that perception is based on the fact that most Americans are mono-linguistic (well, so are most British too, which probably means that Britain is sometimes the closest thing to the 51st state). Therefore, when you open your mouth and an educated person notices that you are American, it is hard not make generalizations. And the fact is that, because most Americans can only speak English and assume that everybody else does, they are much much much less aware of the world themselves. Not to speak of the stupid conviction that most people in America have, independently of their educational background: their belief that theirs is the best country in the world.
Anonymous: That may all be well and good, but my points are: (i) I don't fit that stereotype and (ii) many Europeans do not live up to any higher standard.
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