Most Americans are great, but. . .
Jul 15 2008 by Our Correspondent, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
AT the moment I am avoiding anything American.
This may seem strange, considering they are allegedly our closest allies and Maria and I have American relatives and many friends living on the other side of the Atlantic.
In fact, most Americans I have met are great people.
It’s just the insidious way America infiltrates our life.
You want fries with that?
No. I want chips.
Coca Cola is the biggest brand name in the world, every street corner has a McDonald’s and everybody owns a baseball cap.
Thirty years ago, on my first trip to the United States, I was impressed by their malls.
Now every town has a mall and individual shops are dying.
Few pubs these days sell mild beer but they all have Budweiser, an insipid brew that puts me in mind of gnats and which seems to have attained its world popularity on the strength of annoying advertising that in the past brought us “wazzup?” and currently screens a TV ad that features the worst rock and roll band in the world.
America took us into Afghanistan and Iraq and their predatory banking practices have got them into a financial mess that has snowballed round the rest of the world, with recession pounding in its wake like a tsunami.
We seem obsessed with American show business personalities, films and television to such an extent that I now avoid all US programmes on the box, even the best of them.
I would rather watch UK Gold. Or The Royal.
And, of course, there is George W Bush, who said, “People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.”
Just to compound that statement, he was instrumental in having Tony Blair appointed peace envoy to the Middle East.
Blair, friend of America and Israel, who had just led his nation into war against two Islamic nations?
Yeh, George thought. That would work.
There are big reasons to cringe at the US influence in life but it is the smaller ones that irritate; like their TV adverts, Tommy Hilfiger, 24/7, high fives, gangsta culture and the celebration of Hallowe’en.
You want fries with that?
No. I want chips.
