I was on my own today. M and I decided to go our separate ways for a day. I was sitting in a Starbucks today in a very touristy area of Edinburgh. I asked the barista “ how are you?” and she said she was glad it was Friday that working all week you are tired by Friday.
I sat there thinking how all of us tourists must look to people like this. We look weary. Tourists hit the ground running and wear themselves out. Always afraid they won’t see everything. She probably gets tired of us and all of our various cultural quirks.
I sat there listening to a two American tourists talking. The young women recounted her other travels. Sounds like she had travelled lots as a kid. Probably comes from a family with extra money to spend.
It struck me how privileged we Americans are. How privileged I am. How many people can do what I’m doing? Very few. They don’t have the income. They have obligations.
In the last few years I have wanted to leave the United States. I just couldn’t stand what it had become. All the violence, the political crap, the racism. I’d had enough.
It’s interesting to see cultures where violence is not overwhelming. There is violence here. There is knife crime. One thing that isn’t here is the pervasive gun culture, the mass shootings, the everyday violence.
Perhaps I am naive but people don’t seem to fear each other here like they do in the United States. They don’t hate each other.Things seem normal here. They don’t feel normal in the United States.
