The american way of life
One often hears of the Englishman’s “reserve”; how he likes to ”keep himself to himself”; and how on a long railway journey, with four Englishmen in the carriage, often there won’t be a word spoken during the whole journey. I’m sure that wouldn’t be the case in America. The Englishman thinks it is ill-mannered to ask personal questions. The American doesn’t feel like that at all. In the short ride between the boat on which you arrived in New York and the hotel to which you are driven, the taxi driver will have told you all about himself, his wife and family and probably the towns in England that he was during the war. He will inquire where you have come from, what your job is, how you like America and how long you are staying in New York. The Englishman prizes privacy, the American prefers sociability. The same feeling shows itself in the houses in the two countries. The Englishman’s suburban house has its little garden with a hedge or a fence all round it to shut him off from his neighbours. “the Englishman’s home is his castle.”
The American houses have no hedges or fences separating them from the pavement or from each other. There are none of those little shut-off gardens; generally just a strip of grass with trees on it. The American in his home doesn’t object to being seen by everyone — he actually likes it. And inside the house, instead of the separate hall, living-room, so typical of the
English house, the American has the “open plan” house, just one large room where all the family activities (usually noisy) go on with.
With this sociability goes overwhelming hospitality. You are taken to parties at the houses of your friends and your friends’ friends.
The Americans like new things, a new car every year, the latest thing in television, this year’s, or if possible, next year’s, washing machine. In England — and in France — there are people who have lived in the same house and been in the same job for twenty, thirty, forty years, and who would hate to pull up their roots and change to something new. That’s not the American way of life. They love change, they call it ”the spirit of adventure”, a spirit that they think is more characteristic of America than of Europe. There may be something in this. There was a very interesting remark in a book by an English writer giving what he thought was a reason for this American characteristic. He wrote: “We in England, and the French, the Germans, the Italians, descended from the men who stayed behind. In the states they are descended from the folk who moved away.”
And so they still like “to move away”, to change homes and jobs. They seem to be constantly pulling down old and often quite beautiful houses or throwing away things merely because they are old. They have none of the Englishman’s sentimental love for things because they are old.
Treating time in America. Promptness is valued highly in American life. For example, if people are not prompt they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the US, no one would think of keeping a business associate waiting for an hour; it would be too impolite. When equals meet, a person who is five minutes late is expected to make a short apology. If he is less than five minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence.
The automobile dilemma. Dependence on cars has become part of the American way of life. Today the US has the largest automobile industry and it has more than 100 mln. cars and trucks on the road. About 85 % of all travelling that is done by car.
Public transportation system had never been very well organized in many US cities, and after World War II even the existing ones couldn’t compete with the flood of new cars and the new highways. Fewer and fewer passengers used trains and buses, which meant that many train services were shut down and bus services reduced. One important reason for this was that the average American, whose dream was to buy a home of his own could only afford to do so in one of the new suburbs, which were far away existing railroads and bus lines. In order to get to work and back again he needed a car. And so did his wife who could do her shopping only by car.
Nowadays almost every American has at least one car, and, as he doesn’t believe in walking anywhere if he can go in a car, there are drive-in
banks, where you can cash a cheque without even turning off your engine, drive-in post-offices, or drive-in cafeterias where a meal is brought to you on a tray that fits neatly on to the door of your car; there is even a drive-in
church.
THE MOBILE HOMES. During the 19th century thousands of emigrants crossed America on their way to the west. Out of those restless pioneers has grown a generation of restless Americans. The desire “to move away” becomes evident when some Americans prefer mobile homes to permanent ones. These mobile homes are not just trailers, which are perhaps fine for spending a week-end in, or for a short vacation, but rather small for longer time. These are, in fact, real homes. Up to 10 metres long, they have to be towed by a truck. In spite of being smaller than a house, they can have up to five rooms. They are beautifully designed, air-conditioned, and are fitted with all kinds of equipment — refrigerator, toilet, bath and television, sometimes even a dishwasher and a washing machine. They are towed to a mobile home site, where they are moved into position. Connecting water and electricity, plugging in a telephone and putting up a television antenna — all these don’t take long. Then the mobile home has all the advantages of a permanent home — warm, hygienic, constant hot water — complete and comfortable.
But it has extra advantages. The most important one is this: if you don’t like your neighbours, you simply unplug everything, and tow your home to another site. Keeping a dog is difficult for people who live in a flat. Here you just open the door and let him out. And the children enjoy being able to play right outside the door. Living in the country is much healthier for them, too. If a man wants to change his job, he doesn’t need to worry about finding a new house or a flat. He simply tows his mobile home to the place where his new job is. New models come out every few years. Just like cars.
Most people who live in mobile homes would prefer a permanent house if they had enough money. However mobile homes are much cheaper to buy than houses. And yet, the low cost is deceptive as builders often use cheap materials and this means that doors, windows, paintwork and equipment soon have to be repaired.
Grown-ups may be keen on moving around from place to place in mobile homes, but is it good for their children? They live in small cramped rooms, have to keep changing schools and find it difficult to make real friends. Children need the security of a permanent home.