Tuesday, May 10, 2005
USA Trip - Episode 2
We have been going for regular morning walks. It is cold early in the mornings, but a pleasure to walk in a clean and green environment. I am almost reminded of Wordsworth, as he wrote:
' I wandered lonely as a cloud, over vales and hills, when all at once, I saw a crowd - a host of golden daffodils'...
Except that here in Blacksburg, instead of daffodils, we saw poppies and pansies and a host of other flowers. The roads, I reiterate, are very clean, surrounded by vales and hills and are very well maintained. They appear as if they have been washed early in the morning.
There are hardly any human beings or for that matter any other creature on the roads at this early hour. We did not see many Americans walking, which allows me a nice segue to another aspect of life here - the rampant obesity syndrome. Americans patronize fast food joints. As per a recent issue of the Economist, 60% of American is obese and a large number are tending towards being in the 'very' obese category.
The few people we saw/met during the walk are friendly, ever smiling and communicate if you talk to them. Otherwise it is a culture that encourages one to mind his/her own business.
Shopping malls are huge. Garbage/waste management is an activity to be appreciated. There is a garbage collection bin in every apartment block/commercial area and not a speck of garbage is seen anywhere other than in this area. There is plenty of water (cold and hot) every value, good vegetables, milk, etc. It is quite comfortable for vegetarians to live here (unlike in some parts of South East Asia). Of course the cost is mind boggling at times. For example a big-sized brinjal cost 6 dollars!! . There are a hundred of cars of various makes/models on the roads, and thousand of cars in 'used' car lots.
Most of the transactions in USA are done via credit cards. There are Post Offices, and they are mostly self-service type. Other means of communication like cell phones, landlines, email, etc are more widely used. Banks are efficiently managed with least amount of administrative staff. Most of the activities are automated. The workers, for example, in a car service station, are extremely committed, focused, and loyal to their profession. They do a quality job. There is no cheating at all. They value time.
Car washing is done by owners themselves, at the gas station. They do this by 'dropping a quarter' in a slot. The entire process is fully streamlined and a pleasure to go through the process.
We noticed that there are a number of girls/ladies of all sizes roaming around in clothes of extremely small sizes. Micro-mini shorts are quite common. . The difference however is it is an accepted form of life style, and there is no ogling/staring!!
