After attending a recent standup comedy show which was being filmed for a show called ‘Comedy Blue’ on the Paramount Channel, one comedian’s musings hit me particularly hard. The comedian in question, a Canadian, began to comment on his view of the nationals of two opposing yet strangely similar nations: England and America.

‘I love you English, because you don’t seem to be bothered by anything’: the statement in question, seemed particularly presumptuous on the behalf of the view of someone relatively outside of the culture. However in his comparison there seemed to be a critical point. His point of reference, as already mentioned, were the people of America, in which he argued seemed to care about absolutely all and sundry. ‘It’s refreshing to meet people who simply pick the toppings off of a Pizza they have ordered, rather than harangue the order taker’. The point in question seemed to ring particularly true in my own experience with American people.

I have to agree that these Americans do seem a bothered type, they appear constantly on edge. Insult any part of American culture and you will hear infinite cries of defense from proud nationals that may even be harboring sympathy for the argument in question deep inside. Of course, the hiding place is well submerged; to expose it to other Americans would be as good as committing social suicide. I remember back to the time I was waiting in a bus queue in Miami, someone cut in, and a fight broke out. I couldn’t help but feel that the situation was a major overreaction; everyone boarded the bus less than a few minutes later. 

  ——— (A detailed reconstruction of the scuffle)

So are we English simply a calmer sort, or are we simply less forceful in voicing our irritations? Maybe it is an economical thing; our largely less prevalent class divisions seem to render everyone in a sort of ‘same boat’ situation. In America, a country so diverse, the classes are battling with one another to improve their very situations, in such a tense society, can rash decisions and voiced irritations be something we should be sympathetic toward?