US view of us

[monster]

and have strippers waving signs to advertise pizza and tax preparers.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by monster

and have strippers waving signs to advertise pizza and tax preparers.

Yeah....no, that we don't have :p

[Lamplighter]

I'm not sure about 'strip malls' as such, but we have equivalents. Out of town shopping centres, with a main centre and a few smaller centres all on one retail park, accessible by car.

But we have stripped down, bikini-clad barristas serving latte's to drive-by caffeine addicts.

[Beest]

skimmed the article, not sure how long thw writer has lived in the UK, but certainly she has only lived in one place, which is London, which only emphasises the effect.

As a broad brush short article I didn't see anything that was the opposite of the truth, nobodies mentioned this bit, very relevant at the moment.

A massive advantage of living here is the National Health Service. If an American could understand it, they would be amazed by its magnificence.
In this past week I have seen an ENT consultant surgeon and have had surgery scheduled in a few weeks’ time. There was no direct cost to me.
Tonight my GP (family doctor) rang at 8pm to check in on another health issue. She is chasing a consultant to authorise a new medication and will ring me back next week. This did not cost me a penny.
So, three doctors and one medical procedure without a form to fill in or a bill to pay. Pretty damn impressive stuff –yes, I know it is in our taxes but the system works well. It is ‘from birth to grave’ care all woven together into one service — ambulance to GP to hospital to nursing care. There are all kinds of synergies created by such a system. It is to be deeply respected, emulated, and not feared

[glatt]

A massive advantage of living here is the National Health Service. If an American could understand it, they would be amazed by its magnificence.
In this past week I have seen an ENT consultant surgeon and have had surgery scheduled in a few weeks’ time. There was no direct cost to me.
Tonight my GP (family doctor) rang at 8pm to check in on another health issue. She is chasing a consultant to authorise a new medication and will ring me back next week. This did not cost me a penny.
So, three doctors and one medical procedure without a form to fill in or a bill to pay. Pretty damn impressive stuff –yes, I know it is in our taxes but the system works well. It is ‘from birth to grave’ care all woven together into one service — ambulance to GP to hospital to nursing care. There are all kinds of synergies created by such a system. It is to be deeply respected, emulated, and not feared

Show off.

[Beest]

I've never grasped how the detail of how the Canadian system works, but a concept that's too alien for most Americans to conceive, you never recieve a bill for medical care.

also.
Pet Shops, I only remember pet shops in the UK as a small single person owned business. In the US they are a big store in any mall selling reptiles, birds, fish and maybe cats on the premises, don't see dogs in ours unlkess the local shelter is havoing an adoption day. One of the weird little things for me is that supermarkets, like Sainsburys or Tesco, sell Tropical Fish, no other live animals, except of course live lobsters on the fish counter.