No, Americans are not like English people.
‘Up North’ we always, without fail say that ‘Southerners’ are not friendly.
Well I would like at this point to say that compared to the average American (that we have met), Northerners are just as unfriendly and insular.
Without fail wherever we have travelled (and that is quite a long way now) we have found, without exception, that ‘the man in the street’, the next person in the queue (yes Americans do queue, even more assiduously than we do), the person behind the counter, the people on the next table at the café, or restaurant will always give a friendly smile, a ‘how you doin’, a ‘hello’. Drivers will stop to let you cross the street, or car park in front of them. People will hold open doors. There is often a dish of pennies on a counter for people who have slightly too little change. It is taken as almost an insult if your groceries are not packed for you, at the slightest sign of inconvenience the trolley will be taken and unloaded for you (no tip expected). People stand for old and disabled. One of the reasons for our enjoyment of America is that people do care, do take the time to say ‘Hi’, going shopping is a pleasure, sitting in a café is a social experience. And we love that.
Today we explored Wilmington. A town you probably have never heard of. It has a population of perhaps 150,000 in its conurbation, about the size of Middlesbrough; in fact it is very similar to Middlesbrough. It has a river frontage, with warehouses, it has an old district, with some fine large houses (a bit like Oxford and Cambridge Road) built in the 19th and 20th Century, with a few 18th C buildings. It was a boom town in the 19thC, based on being a port, the railways, shipbuilding and chemicals (the man who discovered Acetylene came from Wilmington). Though it was the largest blockade running port for the Confederates, and the last port to fall, it was never fired upon and remained largely untouched by the destruction which followed the war. Nothing remarkable there.
It will be most appreciated by the British for its shipbuilding. In the Second world war, in 36 months, it built 243 ‘liberty ships’. Cargo ships which plied the North Atlantic carrying vital food and munitions supplies.
So why did we like it? Well the weather was exceptional, clear blue skies, upper 70’s, low humidity. The whole place seemed to be interesting. Houses had stories to them, buildings were all different, some of the earliest skyscrapers, interesting warehouses converted to shops, loads of coffee shops (though not one Starbucks, etc did I see). We were able to take a carriage ride round the town at a leisurely pace, with very little traffic. The driver not only pointed out the buildings, but also people we saw, by name.
The riverside had been renovated and turned into a walkway. There was trolley ride one could take. The local trams were free to use.
But what really made Wilmington a top experience was the people. Even without our propensity for instant life history exchanges (not once were grandchildren mentioned, oops sorry, we had to explain about Bens Birthday to the waitress, oh and waiter, that fixed up the power supply for the laptop in Fat Tony’s bar) we seemed to be party to so many cameo scenes. (oh yes Wilmington is quite famous (but only within about 15 miles) as a movie town as it has a Screen Gems studio and is the backdrop for loads of films and Dawson’s Creek and other stuff).
1. Sat a pavement café table having a coffee at 10.30, waiting for the next tour trolley. Woman on next table starts to tell us how nice the carriage ride is, and it was excellent.
2. Woman in the nice information booth happily explained about her next vacation which was to be in Ireland, but also expressed joy at Sally’s choice of hat.
3. Walking along street, group of handicapped people catch up and come past, giving cheery welcomes then talking about what they are doing there; one of them came from Florida. We walked along and talked for a bit, they were on their way to The Dixie Grill for lunch.
4. Looking for a sandwich, we go into a coffee shop which looks ok, but they do not do sandwiches, so a long conversation ensues between the two ladies who discuss various options as to where we can get a good sandwich.
5. Walking past another coffee shop (I told you there were a lot of them) three youths sat there, one asks about my camera, just as we were passing (one could easily have found that aggressive, but no, we talk cameras for a bit, then we talk politics, about Obama, We swap names, he is Tim. The we wander on.
6. We go into a shop for an ice cream. We can’t just say ‘oh I will have a choc ice’. It is an intimate discussion of the variety of flavours, with each description there is a little scoop of ice-cream produced, ‘here try this’. About ten minutes later we have made our choice and are strolling down the sidewalk with ice creams at the ready.
7. We sit down (again by the information kiosk, as it happens) and a young man comes up. ‘hey, where did you get those ice creams, my wife would love an ice cream’, followed by a short conversation.
8. Couple with two dogs comes along; family with 2 little girls plus bump come and pet dogs, long conversation ensues with two families and information woman, we were only watching, though somehow included in the whole conversation and activity.
9. Still sitting a man with a clipboard comes along, stands around for a bit. Then gets messages over his walkie talkie. We chat to him for a bit. He is the Harbour Master, casually waiting to greet a boat arriving at the dock behind us.
Now I can almost guarantee that I could go into Middlesbrough, visit the information centre, get and ice cream, have coffee, walk around, have lunch, go to the riverside and not have a pleasant conversation with anybody. I think that is one of the reasons we enjoy being in America.
Notes:
Blue Velvet A film shot in Wilmington
Anna MacNeil - Whistlers Mother
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