- Thread starter JOEPRO
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My thought on the larger (ie taller, stronger, more well built, rather than just excess weight) was they were genetically that way - ie the ones who survived the trip there, the initial existence etc produced off-spring who were products of genetically stronger etc
At 6ft, I've never been anywhere else where I had to look up to so many different people.
At 6ft, I've never been anywhere else where I had to look up to so many different people.
In general, travel for me highlights mostly (when it comes to differences between cultures etc) that mostly - the people met or observed are more pleasant & behave better than people in/from the UK.
Travel Western Europe, see the overall manners, etiquette, how they & their children are in public - & you can see why so many Europeans see the British as a rude, uncouth, anti-social & inconsiderate etc. I went out of my way by & large to avoid places popular with the British Tourist.
I've largely avoided cities in Europe when touring, which is I think going to increase your chances of avoiding the people you'd rather not meet.
In the US (the bits I've been to) the vast majority were pleasant, friendly folk. Like most places though, if you were going to find less-likeable folk, then the more affluent, the more abrasive as a generalisation. Ordinary working people in Arizona I encountered were great.
Canada I don't think I met anyone who wasn't pleasant!
ajlelectronics
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pedrobedro
Man at Matalan
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Could be they are into big shops/keeping stock with less trips..
Gritineye
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We love it over there and have toured around a lot including Canada, most Americans we met were very polite and genuinely interested to know about life in England Shire.
Food varied from awful to excellent, just like here, but the really awfully bad for you seemed to predominate everywhere.
For instance you soon learn to look your server in the eye and repeat no added salt until you see their eyes widen as they grasp the enormity of what you're asking and how to explain it to their chef!
We thought we couldn't go wrong in an Italian place, the salad in a bowl as big as our kitchen sink looked really good but was inedible due to the amount of salt on it. The pasta main overflowing a huge plate was really nice but again way too salty, we left there gasping and thirsty, had to drink more beer!
Likewise in an 'English' bar I had the biggest and most delicious Stake and Ale pie I've ever eaten, had to eat it all!
Then laid in bed gasping for water all night, mouth full of the taste of salt and sugar!
Hard to find anything but properly bad coffee.
If covid hadn't happened we'd have gone back a few more times by now, it really has everything a tourist could want (except truly ancient buildings) if you care to look around.
Best place we've found for buffet breakfasts is Turkey, unbeatable variety and really fresh food every where we went.
Food varied from awful to excellent, just like here, but the really awfully bad for you seemed to predominate everywhere.
For instance you soon learn to look your server in the eye and repeat no added salt until you see their eyes widen as they grasp the enormity of what you're asking and how to explain it to their chef!
We thought we couldn't go wrong in an Italian place, the salad in a bowl as big as our kitchen sink looked really good but was inedible due to the amount of salt on it. The pasta main overflowing a huge plate was really nice but again way too salty, we left there gasping and thirsty, had to drink more beer!
Likewise in an 'English' bar I had the biggest and most delicious Stake and Ale pie I've ever eaten, had to eat it all!
Then laid in bed gasping for water all night, mouth full of the taste of salt and sugar!
Hard to find anything but properly bad coffee.
If covid hadn't happened we'd have gone back a few more times by now, it really has everything a tourist could want (except truly ancient buildings) if you care to look around.
Best place we've found for buffet breakfasts is Turkey, unbeatable variety and really fresh food every where we went.
Tinbasherdan
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Hated them until I rode one in the states. Makes perfect sense on roads with very little in the way of corners, like riding a lazy-boy. Unless you have to stop at lights, in which case the vibration is horrific. Build quality is dog turd as well, the amount of aftercare required to keep them looking half decent is ridiculous, the guys I met spent more time polishing them in their heated garages than actually ridingBut they are rubbish.
My old boss had one that he had inherited from a late mate, and he spent longer fixing it than riding it.
My favourite was the morning he turned up minus a mirror. He said he was sat idling at the lights and it just fell off with no warning, as the mounting bracket failed
Stueeee
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The criticism from Brits visiting of some things in the US, fades into nothingness by comparison with the slagging we Brits dish out to almost everything in our own country. I've visited the US many times, I was originally sent by my work in the 90's; first thing I learnt back then was not to order a starter with a meal, as you'd be pretty well full by the time the main course arrived.
I still come over with next to no luggage and binge buy jeans in WalMart and other clothing stuff in JC Penney and others. But my abiding shopping memory is of going into a NAPA store in Pennsylvania and asking whether they could get a pair of kingpins for a 1950 Chevy truck; the bloke behind the counter immediately bought up an exploded diagram of the front suspension on his computer, confirmed what I wanted and apologised that he couldn't get them into stock until the next day. In Halfords, our nearest equivalent, you'd be lucky to be able to order anything for a vehicle that is more than 10 years old.
atomant48
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Im in Miami right now. Had a great week (all work unfirtuntaltely). Ive got a few hours before flight home this afternoon Im going to try to find a mall to see if there’s any F1 stuff left over going cheap. I did see an ad on TV the other night that Craftsman is now stocked at a couple big retailers (not SEARS) but cant remember what they were. I always try to “look through” some tool stores.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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I also found the food can be very salty too in the chain restaurants...once at breakfast I asked if they could make my scrambled eggs without salt. The answer was "no as it comes to us ready mixed with the salt already added!"....I never went back!. Stuck to smaller owner run places and that was a lot better I found.
The sea food on the west coast I think is the best I've ever had anywhere on planet earth...bloomin amazing!
marlinspike
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I read a weird thing that said people's jaw profile was changing in the West because we eat so much soft food these days, which most processed food is, rather than crunchy apples or tough, chewy meat.
Gritineye
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Yes we spotted the sea food, but sadly it's not something we are vey fond of, wish we were as we definitely missed out there.
Best tasting stake ever was in Utah, biggest I've ever seen, nothing else came with it!
ajlelectronics
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Morrisman
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First time in the US, for work, an American friend and I ordered breakfast in a cafe in New Orleans. Mine arrived with what looked like weak powdered mash potato piled on the plate. I asked my buddy what the muck was…. “Keep your voice down, it’s grits, and these people get mad if you insult their staple diet”. We were in a bit of a hillbilly type local yokel neighbourhood I think.
Turned out you have to add salt, pepper, butter, and god know what else, to make it edible. It’s basically the sweepings off the granary floor, from what I can make out.
That same evening I went to a restaurant near the hotel, ordered a burger. It was only about $6 so I thought I’d go large, and ordered the ‘eat all you can’ salad bar too.
Turns out the ‘salad bar’ includes fried chicken, chips, roast potatoes, veg, as well as salad…
Another time, I order Gumbo, some sort of sea food soup, and just in case, I order chips too. Well, the Gumbo arrived, a bowl as big as a crash helmet. And the fries were equally as massive. It was almost like I had ordered a group meal.
MacDonalds, one lunchtime we went for a feed, and as we left and walked back to the works van we were in, two of the ‘African American’ girls who worked there followed us out and gave us a load of sassy verbal. My US buddy had neglected to remember that it’s basically the law that you clear your own table. You can’t just get up and walk out.
He had lived in Thailand for many years and had gotten used to everything being done for you.
Turned out you have to add salt, pepper, butter, and god know what else, to make it edible. It’s basically the sweepings off the granary floor, from what I can make out.
That same evening I went to a restaurant near the hotel, ordered a burger. It was only about $6 so I thought I’d go large, and ordered the ‘eat all you can’ salad bar too.
Turns out the ‘salad bar’ includes fried chicken, chips, roast potatoes, veg, as well as salad…
Another time, I order Gumbo, some sort of sea food soup, and just in case, I order chips too. Well, the Gumbo arrived, a bowl as big as a crash helmet. And the fries were equally as massive. It was almost like I had ordered a group meal.
MacDonalds, one lunchtime we went for a feed, and as we left and walked back to the works van we were in, two of the ‘African American’ girls who worked there followed us out and gave us a load of sassy verbal. My US buddy had neglected to remember that it’s basically the law that you clear your own table. You can’t just get up and walk out.
He had lived in Thailand for many years and had gotten used to everything being done for you.
julianthegypsy
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I lived in rural alberta and everyone was huge. The first time I went to Edmonton it was noticeable that they were much more normal sized!
pedrobedro
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My wife's American friend could not get that UK kids are not taught to "bus their tray" when they finished eating.US buddy had neglected to remember that it’s basically the law that you clear your own table. You can’t just get up and walk out.
