THE REAL PEOPLE
Roger Simon has an interesting entry on his blog today called “An American in Paris.” Read it *here.*
It brought to my mind something I’ve thought about for years.
I have traveled a lot. In the past it has almost always been work related. I would be going to and from engineering and construction projects. The projects always seemed to be located in a wilderness somewhere.
My travel followed a pattern without variation: Land in the capital city. Spend a few days getting signed in and briefed and introduced around. Then off for months in the boonies.
The attitude of the local people toward me also followed a pattern, though not as rigid. Just about the only negative feelings I encountered among the populous was in the big cities. Get away from the big cities and the people seemed to be unanimous in liking Americans.
A cynic might say that was because the people in the boonies didn’t know us while the big city people did. There probably is a lot of truth in that.
But I think it had more to do with the native people themselves. I have always found that the people in the hinterlands were more good-natured and down to earth. I have always thought that to find what the people in a country are really like, you must get away from the big cities. For a glaring example: Don’t judge the population of France by the people of Paris.
Think about it. Would you want the people of the United States judged by the populations of New York City or Washington DC?
It brought to my mind something I’ve thought about for years.
I have traveled a lot. In the past it has almost always been work related. I would be going to and from engineering and construction projects. The projects always seemed to be located in a wilderness somewhere.
My travel followed a pattern without variation: Land in the capital city. Spend a few days getting signed in and briefed and introduced around. Then off for months in the boonies.
The attitude of the local people toward me also followed a pattern, though not as rigid. Just about the only negative feelings I encountered among the populous was in the big cities. Get away from the big cities and the people seemed to be unanimous in liking Americans.
A cynic might say that was because the people in the boonies didn’t know us while the big city people did. There probably is a lot of truth in that.
But I think it had more to do with the native people themselves. I have always found that the people in the hinterlands were more good-natured and down to earth. I have always thought that to find what the people in a country are really like, you must get away from the big cities. For a glaring example: Don’t judge the population of France by the people of Paris.
Think about it. Would you want the people of the United States judged by the populations of New York City or Washington DC?
posted by Walter Guest at 9:53 PM
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