Posted on 10/21/2017 6:27:48 AM PDT by T-Bird45
The old country was not a pleasant place for most and average folks were treated very poorly. They came to the US with great expectations which were fulfilled and they didn't expect handouts. They expected to make it on their own and they did. They learned independence and self sufficiency.
IMO, it was the tough folks who made the journey and from this toughness they made their way in the new world. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. By surviving this great hardship and being successful in the New World, we Americans established a standards and expectations that were and are above the average peasant's. For that reason, we Americans don't want to be pigeon holed into “a class” as many Europeans are.
Bottom line: we must not feel guilty about being an American and this new and different standard that we expect from others and live by ourselves. That doesn't mean that we should be rude or disrespectful.
My parents, born in the 1920s and raised in Brooklyn never even considered air conditioning for our south Shore LI home. I, on the other hand, never having suffered a Brooklyn summer, never considered living without AC once I was on my own.
We spent our honeymoon there...couple years before it got wiped out...the resort was nice...never had a hooker hit on me & my wife before just walking down the street
Only in America do you find a high percentage of the poor obese?
Few are truly “poor” here...few.
It was a huge mistake and that first summer was he!!. We survived but by the second summer we had air conditioning. It might be the difference in architecture, a brand new home or maybe the area was warmer and more humid. But no doubt we needed air-conditioning!
As we have learned in our travels, the East, South, and Midwest can be miserable. It is the humidity that is a killer.
I often wonder what life was like in those areas 100 years ago. Worst of all, no deodorant and a once-a-year bath (whether you needed it or not).
I didn’t make it up, couldn’t find a reference with a quick google search. He more or less expressed the same sentiment.
Thanks T-Bird45.
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