I don’t know why, but it was harder coming back to the States after my vacation in Sunnypour. Yeah, I stopped waking up wondering where I am, but off and on I still get that I-don’t-belong-here feeling – especially with a draught when the automatic doors open and the spring air rushes in. I don’t really know why, except perhaps one of my first experiences here was just that.
But once past the whimsy and nostalgia, there are very certain indicators every day that remind me that I don’t think we’re in Sunnypour anymore.
I present – my How I Know I’m back in the US of A Indicators:
- Idiotic belief that everyone that has an opinion should be heard: this explains bumper sticker messages, picket lines and reality TV.
- Misguided trust that everything (and mostly anything) on TV is “word”: this explains an unhealthy lack of skepticism for the new administration.
- Overcompensation: for perhaps, general idiocy, but everything is 20x{bigger + louder + more obnoxious + more cathartic + salty + available + a worthwhile cause}.
This often leads to an overload of superfluous, zero value added data floating around, getting rehashed at every point, beaten with a stick, then whipped, till it forms stiff peaks and then all over again. For a general population with larger problems, this poses a somewhat iffy vicious circle of denial. It’s tiring and pretty damn frustrating to think about it – how it slowly slid down this path and got to where it is. It’s sad.
I don’t deny there aren’t the same issues in Sunnypour. But our Asian education has taught us (mostly) to speak when we’re spoken to, or not say anything if we don’t have anything better to say. I appreciate that so much more now. Repressed as we may be, there’s something to be said for restraint.
And efficiency.
The bottom line is – people are the same whereever you go. How society forms around it, government handles it, pretty much is what we see. I think I’m pretty much over the – trust people to be considerate and educated enough to know discern the right thing, and do it. Not going to happen for the most part. And that’s the part that counts, no?
In other news, I’ve conquered what is known as – The Frontyard. Yes, the piece of land in the front of the house visible to anyone who’ll look. Mr Garden Cutters and I had a grand time, later on we were joined by Mr Shovel and Mr Rake. In all, took me 5 hours, over two days to clear the planter bed for my peony and roses. It’s a little bare now, while the little filler plants take their time to grow out. But I dare say it’s going to be fine. In a year perhaps when the roses and peony starts growing out a little 
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