Ok so I know that song is really about Lafayette, Louisiana (Axl Rose's hometown before he moved to LA) but I like to think this song applies to any city in the southern states. I've been to the USA a couple of times as a child, but it's only as an adult I've visited the great state of Texas a few times now. At first it really threw me off guard just how friendly and forthcoming the people here are. When you walk down the street (or Texas state fair) random strangers will say hi, ask you where your from, compliment you, offer you a french fry etc etc. After a few instances of this, you quickly realise that you the native Brit are the rudest person in the state. Because you didn't say hi when that random stranger walked by. You didn't ask where they're from. You didn't compliment them or offer them a French fry. The people here really are just that friendly to total strangers.
When the 2012 Olympics came to London there were a lot of adverts and guidelines published to assist the tourists in navigating the London underground and find their way around. In amongst all that info, the Government forgot one vital thing. They should have published some marketing to encourage us Londoners (I'm not 100% sure I can call myself that now I live in Buckinghamshire, but anywhoo...) to be more friendly and helpful to those visitors. Those people who get in our way at the tube ticket barriers? They're just lost. Those people who get in our way studying their pocket maps and city guidebooks? They're just scared. Those people who stop dead in the middle of the street to take pictures? They're just excited to be here.
I always remember something my mum said about a friend of hers who displayed unwavering patience for an elderly couple who were having trouble operative a pay and display machine. She said; "I always just imagine if they were my grandparents. How would I want someone to treat them if they needed help?". I like to think that I try to adopt that approach when I see someone (age irrelevant) who appears a little lost, scared or over-excited. This has resulted in an increase of occasions where I've had to take pictures of tourists and their families posing in Piccadilly Circus. But that's ok. Just ask yourself - what would a Texan do? So maybe with a little more southern state hospitality (of course there are exceptions to this wonderfully positive stereotype), perhaps the world could be just a little bit friendlier.
Wow this was a slushy rant for me, wasn't it? I do apologise for any confusion caused, I have consumed a great quantity of rose wine and crème brule this fine Saturday evening. I'm spending my weekend in Dallas, or the suburbs of Allen and Richardson to be exact, after my team building in Houston this week. I went to a wine bar in Watters Creek called Cru where you can do Flights of different wine families. Out of the Shiraz flight, Chardonnay flight, Merlot flight and Zinfandel flight I opted for the Something Pink flight. This involved a glass of pinot, a California rose and a glass of pink prosecco bellini. As I sat outside the wine bar on the green they had a Blues band playing and a Hawaiian Hula group of dancers performing. Not at the same time, obviously.
Another thing I've done on this trip to celebrate the great nation of the USA is I spent the 4th July with a colleague and her boyfriend who kindly took me shooting on a gun range. I learnt how to fire am FNP-45 handgun, then a Smith & Wesson. It was crazy scary at first, 'OH MY GOD THAT'S A LOADED GUN' but I eventually got the hang of it. My dad thinks it's very distasteful that my target was the outline of a man. I told him it was between that or a zombie. I have a new found respect and understanding for the culture of guns in the USA. It's a genuine hobby like doing up cars or collecting gadgets. You buy a gun, go to the range, spend hours on end for weeks at a time firing rounds, perfecting your aim. Then when you've mastered that gun, you want to buy another so you can learn to be good on that one. Plus you can't be a numpty, I managed to skim the skin off my thumb knuckle cos I was holding the grip a little too high when I spent a magazine and the hammer flipped open. That's minor compared to the mishaps some people have just for holding the gun in the wrong place or resting their finger against the catch.
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| Fred was feeling a little scape-goated |
Another thing, in Texas you can order deep fried cheesecake on the room service menu. Oh say, can you see by the dawn's early light...
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