neb:

networkn:

Absolutely agreed. I have spent a fair amount of time in the USA but never lived there. I can't recall ever seeing or having a bad interaction with anyone over there,

That's the thing, you've presumably only interacted with individuals. The US is governed by something a bit like the Law of Conservation of Ninjitsu where the amount of ninjitsu is divided by the number of ninjas present: One ninja is practically unbeatable, a few in a group are average, many ninjas can be defeated by a five-year-old.

It's the same in the US, almost every individual is great to interact with, I've hung out with stereotypical rednecks with, literally, cars up on blocks in their front yard, half a dozen dogs tied up in the back yard, a pet snake, and a shotgun hung over the fireplace with an easter egg basket full of shells below it (the stereotypes exist for a reason), and they were lovely people and fun to hang out with. I'd just have to be very, very careful if there was a large group rather than just the three I hung out with, to keep clear of any topics involving politics, religion, the environment, medicine, sports, guns, crime, other countries, ...

Another thing you really notice when you live in the US for awhile is how utterly divided their society is between, at the risk of sounding slightly marxist but I can't think of any better labels, the bourgeoisie (typically white, well-off people) and the proletariat (typically non-white labourers, gardeners, maintenance people, food workers, bus drivers, etc). The proletariat are more or less invisible to the bourgeoisie, they're politely acknowledged but little more. The bourgeoisie talk in front of them as if they weren't there, and treat them like servants. The proletariat in turn don't interact with the bourgeoisie because it's not done.

As a kiwi I couldn't care less about this and just treated everyone with the same level of bluntness, but it took a long time for the proletariat to realise that it was OK to interact with me socially. For example when I caught the bus into work or back - a mode of transport reserved exclusively for the proletariat, most of my co-workers didn't even know that there were buses - I made a point of turning to the driver and saying "thank you" when I got off, as is the norm here. I thought others might get the hint, but no-one ever did, and no driver ever responded. However, at one point I went away for Christmas for a few weeks and on my first day back as the bus was coming down the hill the driver, a huge black guy who occupied about 1 1/2 driver's seats worth of space, saw me and broke into a huge grin that didn't go away until he stopped to pick me up.

Same with one of the food workers, he was a bit short of change for the bus at one point and none of the other proletariat waiting for the bus had any either so in desperation he turned to me, he barely spoke English so I just offered him a handful of change since I wasn't sure what he needed and let him pick out a nickel or dime or something. After that I was his best friend, a member of the bourgeoisie that actually treated him like a human being rather than an invisible servant.

I've seen more social interaction between different levels of society in Sarth Effrica than I have in the US...