alex the girl

Whenever I say something challenging about America or living in it, I get a flood of email from people telling me to leave the country if I don't like it. This is so bloody absurd. Why? If a friend was leading a really crap life and you saw a better alternative and thought that by mentioning an idea that could help them, wouldn't you do it? It doesn't mean they have to change but what's wrong with sharing ideas or different ways of being? Why is challenging the status quo such a bad thing? My challenges aren’t always right or the best but perhaps something to think about. Besides, if a challenge makes one that angry then perhaps they ought to think more of why a nerve was hit than why I ought to leave the country.

The other frustration is when I speak in general terms, I receive a flood of email from people who say, "I don't do that," or "In my neighbourhood we're not like that." That's fine, then my message wasn't for you.

I tend to speak more globally than personally because that's how I see things. Living in 6 countries and in several states in the US, being married to an American, having a diverse family, reading news from around the world and several sources, and seeing America from the point of my husband, as an immigrant, as a corporate person, as an entrepreneur, as a resident in the country and as a previous foreigner outside of it, I see America from a lot of different perspectives and a lot of different ways. I understand its history and its way of being on so many different levels - most likely more than the average American . Because of this I tend to speak on broader terms based on the majority. I understand generally, in America, people tend to take comments and ideas a lot more personally than in other places. That comments one makes in general terms are going to feel like personal attacks which they’re not. They’re general ideas, observations and statements.

So maybe although you and your ten friends don't do it, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen generally or at all. I understand that not everyone does everything. I just tend to speak about the majority of which I've seen a lot of.

And lastly: realise, specialise, neighbourhood, cosy - these are all correct spellings.