Greatness and Laziness

I've traveled to a good portion of the world, more than most people see in their lives. I lived in Japan, Italy and of course the US. I've been to Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, England, Singapore, and I'm planning and seeing a lot more of Europe in the next few years. There is one thing I keep coming back to in mind, and when I say this don't think I'm some singled-minded bigot because I'm not. But America is really the greatest country in the world.

And I'm not just saying in terms of the economy or the quality of living in the States, I'm talking about the beauty of it all. Sure maybe America doesn't have as rich or ancient a culture as say Japan or Europe. But I mean think about it, the clear blue waters of the Florida Keys, or maybe the striking outline of the Rocky Mountains in the distance, or even the beautiful night line of New York City. Sure I've seen clear blue waters elsewhere, I mean come on I spent almost half of the last two years underway on the Kitty Hawk where there's nothing BUT blue water to look at! But really, no where else I have seen the wide open spaces, and I'm not just talking fields and such. Even looking at LA or NYC, two of the most crowded cities the US has, they are so much more open then any other city in the world, except for maybe Australia.

What brings about these thoughts are not the actually any of the things I've described above, but in fact the work ethic of the Neopolitians, or lack thereof. The most noticeable about such is that EVERYONE in the Naples area takes off for the whole month of August, and I mean everyone! I asked some of my friends about it and they told me that everyone works so hard all year long they want a vacation, so everyone I guess just decided on the month of August. But when they said "hard" I became skeptical. So I decided to do some research, I found online an article from the New York Times from 1894 about a reporter who traveled to Naples, and he noticed four things: the lack of work ethic, the trash, the beautiful scenery, and the lack of young beautiful women. With the exception of the last one, Naples really hasn't changed in over a hundred years. Maybe this is the region time forgot? Surely you could ask any senior citizen what the internet is only to have them look at you like you've sprouted a third eye.

Nonetheless, the point to all this is... I believe a lot Americans who have never left America take it for granted. Go someplace like Singapore, trying looking at the cops their crossed eyed and see if you don't end up in a hospital. Don't believe me, neither did a first class from Kitty Hawk engineering department. And it's not just limited to a particular preference either, cops in other countries will beat the piss out of anyone regardless of race or sex, they're equal opportunity beaters. you should see the cops in Hong Kong, I wouldn't mess with those guys for all the shady electronic goods in China. Plus speaking your mind, not such a big thing around the world, or religious freedom (middle east anyone?). I'd like to see someone go to Angola and try suing McDonalds for making them fat, cause that'd probably go over REAL well. Then again I'm not even sure if people in Angola sue to begin with...