Buy a beer and be nice doing it

So thats me been here since Sunday night.  Its been a bit hectic sorting out all the admin that goes with this gig and it really dawned on me today that I am here to live.  How did that particular penny drop, you might well ask -  well, it was when I spent my last $20 on an oven glove and role of tin foil cause I needed those key items more than I needed beer!  Domesticity, eh?

Shopping has been one of the first experiences that has set out for me that America is different to Scotland.  First, nobody seems to go shopping without a Starbucks coffee in their non trolley pushing hand.  In fact, I’ve discovered that most people do very little around Washington without a Starbucks cup in their hand!  This is a wee issue for me, not being a coffee drinker and all, so I sought to blend in on my second visit with a cup of Starbucks peppermint tea in my mitt, I think I got away with it in the store mainly by not getting so close enough to my fellow shopper that my drink’s aroma might give me away, a tactic expedited through the use of the self service check out, clever eh?, However, it was evident, the barista was less than impressed by my drinks order and I certainly felt my cred in my local Starbucks has taken an early knock!

Secondly, shopping is all about big.  There are no small items, everything is huge.  Need some kitchen roll?  Have 12.  Need some milk?  Buy a gallon…seriously?  

Thirdly,  there are side effect warnings attached to pretty much anything chemical.  Its only because I am a real risk taker that I am prepared to wash my face and hair on any given day and am prepare to hang the fear of rashes or other side effects!

However, its not been all Safeway shopping, where it remains a store with everything you want, and little bit more.

It’s football Ricardo, but not as you know it!

I stumbled over Monday Night Football this week. I was looking for a place to eat and spotted a likely looking sports bar.  I didn’t know at this point that The Washington Redskins were playing the Dallas Cowboys that night.  Now this is a real grudge match, cowboys versus indians and all that.  And that is an interesting point of debate here just now. Should the Redskins remain the Redskins and be known as Indians, or is this disrespectful to Native Americans?  All of the folk I spoke with reckoned Redskins was an inappropriate name and knew it needed to be changed…the big debate was what the new name should in fact be.

Talking of debates, given the whole Chad Evans thing that was bubbling away when I left Scotland, I thought it was really good to see a bunch of NFL players doing an anti sexual violent advert that was played at half time - or end of the second quarter as some described it!  Whilst that advert was brilliant, the thing that bemused me was that, literally the next advert featured Mike Tyson plugging his cartoon show, which is a kind of Scooby-doo type affair. 

I’m really not sure about the propriety of that.  I thought it was inappropriate to have Tyson on the TV straight after the NFL guys made their point that sexual and domestic violence is never acceptable. 

I’ve still not resolved in my head, however, if there is a way for sports stars like Tyson and Evans to come back into high profiles sports roles, or whether or not they should just disappear into another field of employment altogether?  I know Evans has not accepted his guilt and therefore not apologised to his victim at all; where as, whilst Tyson has acknowledged he committed a crime, he has sought to deflect the context of that conviction to minimise his liability.  

In fact, as I write this, I think I’ve made my mind up.  There may be a way back, but one which might only be achieved if the culprit apologises and seeks to make meaningful amends, not simply give a grudging acknowledgement then seeks to crack on as if this crime had never occurred.  I certainly don’t think any return should be made to a high profile sport where the individual is a hero to many.  Police officers would not be re-employed as cops in similar circumstances nor would teachers be able to return to that profession had they been convicted of these same offences  So for those, very brief reasons, neither should sportsmen be allowed to return to undertake the position of role model to thousands …what do you think?

Meanwhile, back to the game…the bar was packed and the atmosphere was buzzing.  Cowboys and Skins fans were both there in abundance and, man, they were loud!  As for hassle?  Not a single drop! We just couldn’t manage in Scottish football.  

It’s a strange game, there’s a first half of the first half, they called it a quarter (!) and…well, whilst the rest of the rules were beyond me I did get chatting to some guys who tried to explain them, which helped a bit, but then beer got involved…

The etiquette of buying a beer

Now buying beer, that’s been a bit of a revelation too.  Where I was, the beers cost $6.50 and the convention appears to be that the barman gets tipped $1.50 a beer, not something ever known to happen in the Diggers.  However, when in Rome and all that.  So, the interesting part came when I ordered the fourth beer (put your judgemental thoughts aside, I’m only trying to assimilate into the local culture!).  Anyway, as the barman passed it to me he said that it was on him and refused my money, something else thats never been known n the Diggers!  I, no doubt, looked a little puzzled until a kind soul let me know that barmen like getting tips and if you do it regularly  enough, which it seems I had, and generously enough, again that seemed to be a box ticked, then they do the free drink thing every two or three beers, so all in all I’ve discovered tipping is a good thing to do in bars!

It’s nice to be nice

On a more perfunctory note, I have moved into my apartment, its close to the Metro and trains take around 30 mins to get to central DC.  I visited George Mason today..it is MASSIVE with 30 000 students on a campus that felt like it was the size of Wales!  Its the only university I’ve been to with a Burger King, a sushi bar and a curry option in the student food hall…what could possibly go wrong?

It’s a really friendly place too, which is nice. And nice is really important here, and I mean that in the absolute best sense.  People say, without hesitation, things like ‘have a great day’ ; ‘thanks so much for that’ and ‘how are you’ and say it in such ways that it comes over, in the most cases as really sincere.  The niceness really is nice, it does lift the spirits and just helps to achieve a happier feel about the place than I had expected.

So, in essence, what I’ve learned his week is…

Shopping requires coffee

Its in ones self interest to tip the barman

Grid Iron football is not as boring as I though it would be

It really is nice to be nice

Any thoughts or comments would be gratefully received.

Cheers

Richie