Thursday 27 September 2012

Some Things Just Don't Grow on You

I've been in the States now for twenty two years, yet there are some things that still make me shake my head a bit.

Pop over to my column at Expat Focus to read about a few.

8 comments:

  1. My thoughts exactly re the ironing. I can't see how you can wear a dress shirt or blouse without ironing it. Not everything can go in the dryer and even so collars and waistbands and cuffs and pockets and..... well they just look horrible when they're all creased.
    I know people who don't even OWN an iron!
    SCREAM!
    :D

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  2. I do own an iron, but I hate using it enough that I tend to hover around the drier and pull things out immediately so they come out uncreased or require only minimal touch ups. I completely agree with you about the fork/knife thing, though: such a waste of time and very inefficient. As far as tailgating goes: I think that's really a custom that started down South, where you can comfortably tailgate through most of football season without feeling much more than a brisk chill in the air. Frankly, crowding into the parking lot of a football stadium to drink beer and queue forever to use the washrooms has never been much of a draw for me, warm or cold, but hey - to each his own.

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  3. I have four children, three of which never iron. I, an American, can't fathom wearing something that hasn't been pressed. When I was young the clothing fabrics HAD to be ironed in order to be wearable. Perhaps permanent press fabrics have made people feel if most of the wrinkles are out that's okay. Not in my mind. I wonder, could most of the non-ironing Americans be of the 40 and under group?

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  4. Hate how people cut up their food and then lay down their knives...or don't provide knives at all.

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  5. In the US I sent my clothes to the cleaners; in the UK I iron. I tried sending them out, but I found it inconvenient and expensive, and to top it off, they did a rubbish job of it. So I iron.

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  6. Anon- who knows? In my husband's case, he's not under 40 and his mother irons so I guess he just couldn't be bothered. Besides, as Mike points out, it's dirt cheap to get your shirts cleaned so why bother.

    I have to say that with jeans, I have taken them out of a dryer as it finishes and they're still creased up like a used handkerchief.

    I bought myself an iron press a few years ago and it halves the time it takes to get through a pile. Now that I've stopped burning my knuckles, it's great.

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  7. I only iron things that really need it (if you forget stuff's in the dryer, stick a dampish cloth in there, put dryer back on for 20 mins, then take clothes out and fold), but shirts really need it.

    I eat the American way a lot of the time, using my fork to cut food up. It's easier as most of the time we eat on trays on our laps. If I'm sitting at the table I'm more likely to eat the British way; likewise if I'm eating steak or something that requires cutting. But we eat a lot of curry, chilli, casseroles etc, so that's all cut up anyway.

    I don't care which way people eat, as long as they don't shovel overly large pieces into their mouths or chew with their mouths open, or talk with food in their mouths. Yuck.

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