Беликова Е.К., Саратовская Л.Б. - The United Kingdom and United States of America in Past and Present (1268141), страница 43
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Thewillingness to experiment and invent led to another American trait, a“can-do” spirit, and a sense of optimism that “every problem has asolution”. Americans take pride in overcoming challenges and obstacles.As American historian Frederick Jackson Turner wrote, that Americanssee themselves as ground - breakers in all areas of industry, science, andtechnology. They consider it natural that they should constantly createnew ways of life, new means of constructing houses, new appliances,new cars, etc.The frontier provided conditions for strengthening the American idealsof individual freedom, self-reliance and equality of opportunity.
Latermany of the frontier values became national values. Emphasis onindividual personality rather than collective identity or responsibility isone of the most important features of the American character.Another distinctive American characteristic is pragmatism. This meansthat emphasis on achievement and success is understood first of all asmaterial prosperity. Americans are fond of common sense; they are notparticularly interested in theory, abstract reasoning, or philosophy.
Ifsomething works, do it; if it does not, try to do something else.Generally speaking, Americans are open and friendly people. Thepublic behavior of Americans is less reserved than that of English, e.g. Itis normal for Americans to speak loudly, joke and laugh in public.Americans tend to be informal and unceremonious in both their public orprivate lives, although they are not absolutely uniform in their outwardbehavior. It seems that people from the Northeast are more reserved thanMidwesterners, who are very direct and especially famous for their168friendliness. The South has long been renowned for the value it places onhospitality, gentility, and manners.
Westerners are probably moreinformal than all the rest. The rules, which parallel this informality aregenerally established and understood. There are topics – wages, income,religion, politics, – which many Americans try to avoid in casualconversation. Those who insist on formal address or titles or takethemselves too seriously are often targets for humor.Like the British, Americans have a love for the intricate practical joke,the pun, and the understated quip (clever remark). Newspapers headlinesbear witness to the second, and the very subtle humor of “The NewYorker” is an example of the third.
There is also a tradition of “slapstick”,the pie-in-the face, and the banana peel on the floor. A different type ofthe American humor is called “kidding around”. It is part of the daily lifeof many Americans, and often serves as background to normalconversations. In many cases if something is conveyed indirectly, throughjoking or other “light” humor, face can be saved or arguments prevented.Marriage and DatingMarriage in the U.SA is considered a matter of individual responsibilityand decision.
Marriage is preceded by dating – one of the most prominentcultural rituals in America. Casual dating usually begins in the earlyteens. It is quite respectable for a young man to call up a young girl,introduce himself by telephone, and arrange a date. Usually they have afriend in common. It is equally acceptable for a friend to arrange a “blinddate’ that is a date between two young people who have not met before.Steady dating is sometimes followed by marriage.After marriage the young couple is free to decide where to live.
Mostnewlyweds try to set up their own household immediately. The familiarstructure in present-day America is the so-called “nuclear family”. It isunusual for members of the family other than the husband, wife, andchildren to live together. But the forgotten term “extended family” iscoming back again. The marriage age is rising. A high divorce rate and adeclining remarriage rate are sending economically pressured youngpeople to parental shelters. For some, the expense of an away-homecollege education has become too exorbitant and many students nowprefer to attend local universities. Even after graduation some youngpeople find “their wings Clipped” by the housing costs. According to theUS Census Bureau, today 59% of men and 47 % of women between 18169and 24 depend on their parents despite all traditional patterns of behavior,at least for housing.The lives of most Americans revolve around their homes and houses.Home ownership is one of the definitions of success in the USA.Generally people are judged by the house they live in, not only by its sizeand architecture but also the type of neighborhood and the distance fromdifferent amenities.
The percentage of Americans owning houses (andapartments) they live in is the highest among western nations. MostAmericans still live in “single-family dwellings”, that is houses thatusually have a front and backyard. Contrary to a common belief, onlyabout 5 % of all Americans live in mobile homes. For all practicalpurposes, most of these homes are not actually mobile but function asprefabricated housing units in stationary settings.Most of North America has a more or less four-season climate, and therhythms of life around the house tend to follow the seasons. There isalways something that needs to be done around the house, and mostAmerican homeowners do it by themselves.
In many American familieschildren are expected to help around the house and perform the home“chores”. Americans have always been concerned with making the choresof everyday life less tiresome and distasteful. Inventors, businessmen,designers, neighborhood initiatives and interest groups, public officialsand private citizens – all try to make things better, more efficient, morereadily available, more convenient. From mail order shopping to drive-inbanking, from durable-press materials for clothes to computerizedservices and take-out food, Americans have shown their preference for aconvenient lifestyle.In the average American home, there is a great amount of activity, ofcoming and going, all happening at once. For the parents, there areperhaps courses at the local evening school or college.
There are bridgeand bowling clubs and golf leagues. There are PTA (Parent TeacherAssociation) meetings. The church is having a bake sale, a car wash, or a“potluck” dinner (everyone contributes a dish). The social life ofAmerican children is often hectic as well. One child is off to a party,another to the music or sport classes.One of the features of American life is volunteer work. According tothe statistical Gallup polls, about 84 million Americans both adults andteenagers donated part of their time as volunteers. Some of this work isdone through volunteer organizations and clubs; some is on a personal170basis.
Teenagers, for example, often volunteer to work in hospitals – socalled “candy- stripers”, from their striped uniforms.At the same time, many American middle-class families expect theirchildren to find part-time jobs, especially as they enter their teens. Thismight be work in the local supermarket or service station, mowing lawns,delivering newspapers, or babysitting.
The idea seems to be that the workexperience is “good for the kids». One effect on American society is thatmiddle-class children can do menial work without losing face. This alsoeffects customer-employee relations: the kid who just packed yourgroceries or filled your tank could be your neighbor’s son or daughter. Ingeneral, Americans feel that young people should appreciate the value ofwork and learn how to stand on their own feet.It is necessary to mark that since the 1960s there has appeared a greatand drastic shift in seemingly ideal “puritan” moral behavior of themiddle class young people in the USA. the “new morality, characterizedby violence, sexual permissiveness and cheating, drug and alcohol abuse.According to a federal finding of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuseand Alcoholism a minimum of 10 million Americans has alcoholicconnected problems, more than 1.1 million youths between the ages 12and 17 have “serious drug-abuse problems”.
According to the PoliceFoundation there are some 40 million handguns in America andaccording to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the chance of beingvictimized by violent crime has increased 24% since 1980 and more than50% during the last 10 years. One of the trends of the “new morality”among young Americans is close relationships and living together beforemarriage.
A study by the National Foundation released in 1995 showsthat between 1970 and 1993 birth to mothers under 16 rose by 80%.A steady progression of life-changing landmarks: the automobile, theradio, cars, “TV and movie era” may result in even greater future changesin lives and attitudes of Americans.Cars in American Life.
The fact that the Americans can’t do without acar is well known to everybody. One primary reason for having cars isthat the public transportation in the USA is not so well developed as inEurope. Bus lines in the US suburbs are unprofitable, bus routes arescarce and the scheduling is very unstable. So, willy-nilly people have touse their own cars. The car is such an important part of American life thatfor many people it would be impossible to manage without it. The car isinherently built into the tissue of American life Today only really poor171families and those too old to drive do not own a motor vehicle. But forthe 87 % who do have cars, there is hardly any need to leave them.. Thereare banks, fast-food restaurants, and movie theaters, where you canwithdraw money, eat a meal, or see a film without ever getting out ofyour car.
There are even drive-in churches. It’ssurprising that some people remember how to walk atall. Taking a job or entering a college leads to animmediate follow-up of buying a car. The car is also anabsolute necessity for the rural or suburban parent,often the mother, who goes shopping for the family andtakes the children to after-school activities. Somepeople wind up driving many miles a day doing errandsand taking their children from one place to another.When it comes to vacation time, many American families prefer to drive,sometimes very long distances.
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