too old for dreads

I’m in the US. And I’ve arrived here with a different view of the place. Post Trump this has to be different to pre Trump – right?

Despite the latest travel ban I have to report that getting in to the US via Atlanta was a significant improvement on other US airports I’ve experienced in the past (maybe it’s my lack of beard). 

Gone was the ‘What are you here for and why?’ interrogation and in were kiosks, self service points and friendly border guards. Weird. Not what I was expecting at all. 

So what’s it like being back in the USA? 

Fact is, some things stay the same, some never change and some will forever be different.  It’s a quick hop to Georgia. Atlanta to be precise. Not somewhere on the bucket list but it’s always good to take a stop at places less traveled. I’m staying in Buckhead – only in America would you have a place called that – and it’s a rather soulless suburb north of the city made up of tower blocks full of bankers, accountants and consultants with countless hotels situated in between to accommodate their visitors. 

So far I’m taken as usual by the space here in the States; I always forget just how much land there is here, the traffic (which seems to fill all the available space), the billboards shouting religion (‘Are you going to heaven or hell? Call us on 800-345 7249’. Oh please …) and all the usual American stuff that makes us love and loath this place in equal measure. 

I’m always astonished by the innate confidence of ALL Americans. Why are they all so confident and we Brits … well, aren’t? Is it bred in to them at an early age? Does confidence breed confidence? I don’t know but to (probably) misquote the line from ‘When Harry met Sally’, ‘I’ll have what she’s having’. I’d love some of their natural confidence. So, first job tomorrow – absorb the confidence from others and act like an American. I’m going to observe, listen and learn. Not sure I’m going to find what their secret is though. 

What I’m not going to do though is eat what they eat. Blimey I’m shocked. Everyone, and I mean everyone, on the MARTA train from the Airport to Buckhead was, well, how can I say this politely, ahem … fat. Overweight. Porky. Clinically obese. Even the bloke opposite me whose top half looked normal had a bottom half the shape of a pear. It’s not right and not healthy and it’s surely a massive ticking health time bomb. Let’s hope Trump is well and truly out of office by the time that particular (massive) bird comes home to roost. He’s not going to cope very well with that is he?

And what else about the land of the free? Disposable everything (I felt very guilty walking away from the shop this evening with a plastic bag that I hadn’t even paid for), cars everywhere and a society designed around driving not walking. 

Having been East on our travels and to China relatively recently, I have to say that the US feels strangely dated. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore etc. etc. all feel like City 2.0. The up to date version. The new edition. The shinier model. 

I kind of get why Trump’s ‘Let’s make America great again’ rallying cry struck such a chord. The US was the epicentre of the second half of the 20th century. The next century is already being played out much further East. 

It’s going to remain 1.0 unless of course Trump sorts stuff out, improves the general health of the nation and gets the country looking collectively forward rather than dwelling on past success. 

Anyone else think we should be taking bets?