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I spotted this on reddit today in a discussion about how downfallen the US is now. I thought it followed on nicely, but, presumably without knowledge, from The Goliath Curse. Of course, subsequent posts were all about what an idiot this poster was and how America is the greatest country of all time. Of course, the rebuttals were posted by Americans.
The first time I visited the US, I was shocked by how much of it felt run-down. The poor building quality, lack of cleanliness, homelessness, and random rude or aggressive people on the streets were not what I expected.
I wasn’t even staying in the worst areas. I was living in between middle and upper-class places. And I’m talking about my experiences from multiple trips, across multiple states and cities.
Growing up in Sweden we get fed this illusion (via movies/tv etc) that US is this paradise country, land of dreams etc. It was shocking to learn the truth was the completely opposite of this.
Yes, there are incredibly wealthy, beautiful, and luxurious parts too, but they’re a minority. The shocking thing was the sheer amount of bad parts. And the range. The contrast between the best and worst areas is insane.
It made me appreciate Sweden much more, especially the fact that the everyday baseline is so consistently high.
The US is only a better country than most western European countries if you are filthy rich. For an average person or below, you got dealt a shitty hand in life if you were born in the US and not Western Europe/Scandinavia.
Obviously, this was downvoted a lot, but it is important to note that the majority of reddit users are from the US. Unfortunately, I cannot link to the thread because the moderators deleted the whole thing. Probably because it started off discussing the World Cup and wound up going way off track in attacking then defending America.
Here, at home, not a lot was happening. I had to take a few photos but, otherwise, my day was spent doing housework. And a bit of admin. All very dull.
Of course, our lunchtime walk was a bit of a release from the mundane. And Freya enjoyed it especially. She still needs a bit of encouragement to leave the deck and head for the blue gate but, eventually, she is as eager as Emma to head up to the track. Today was no exception.
The woods looked lovely under the sun and light breeze. And, apart from a lone jogger, we saw no-one.
The lovely walking weather however did not last. Shortly after we got back to the house, the heavens opened up, and the rain fell in huge drops. This was a tad annoying as I had just set things up to photograph the deck and had to quickly reverse everything – cushions back in the house, kind of thing.
Not a disaster, just an annoyance.
Oh, and Ann Widdecombe died today aged 78. A great defender of Brexit, competitor on Strictly Come Dancing, Tory politician and super conservative believer in the Christian god. I’m pretty certain I will not miss her views, her voice or her politics.
I do wonder, however, how she felt just before her lights went out when she realised the truth about her non-existent god.
I read about her death early in the morning. By the end of the day, police were investigating her death as suspicious.
But, of course, the big event was the World Cup game between Spain and Belgium.
Nicoline can stop reading now
Spain is one of the favourites to win this World Cup and it’s not hard to see why. They play some incredibly sexy football that results in some serious attempts at goals. I was surprised they hadn’t scored at least ten by half-time. But then, there was the Belgian defence to contend with.
Time and time again, the Spanish were repulsed by the solid wall provided by the Belgian back line. It was frustrating for the Spanish team but very exciting for the viewers.
Then, a moment of fast paced passing and the ball was buried in the back of the net. Spain were ahead and Belgian hearts sank. But not for long. At around the 40-minute mark, Belgium levelled the score and the teams went in at half-time with all things back to square at 1-1.
The second half saw things the same as the two teams battled it out for possession. The game was pretty free flowing though Spain had the majority of the possession.
Something I don’t get though is how some players will deliberately foul opposition players by pulling their shirt or shorts and dragging them to the ground then giving a look like they did nothing at all. No contact, no foul, “Why is the ref blowing his whistle?” they seem to be saying. I saw it time and time again.
And I wonder, as I wrote a few days ago, how come they don’t understand how cameras work?
While there were a few yellow cards handed out, the game was played fairly, in the main.
But then, the Belgian goalie, who had played an exemplary game, saving some seriously difficult strikes from the Spanish, went down with an injury. It appeared to be something in a thigh. It is difficult when the commentary is in Swedish.
He left the pitch, tears in his eyes, with about ten minutes to go. His replacement took his place between the sticks. Unfortunately, the second string wasn’t quite as good. Spain scored again as the clock hit the 88th minute.
At least one young Spanish fan sympathised with the opposition.
And so the game ended 2-1 to Spain.
Tomorrow it’s England v Norway which promises to be quite tasty. Can’t wait!
