Americans are a queer tribe. Lived here my whole life and still have no earthly idea why we do half the shit we do. One quirk that I've always been particularly baffled by is our obsession with roadside crosses. I'm not talking about the ones signaling the presence of a church or meant to menace interstate traffic (the latter seems a bit odd too, until you stumble inside a Southern Baptist church) but rather the ones that result from our fetish with marking where someone died in an auto accident.
The one in the photo above is right beside the entrance to one of Louisville's largest public parks, as well as a weird five way intersection. Growing up, you couldn't drive to town without passing four or five such crosses. "Hey y'all look, my uncle died right thar!" Of all the things in a person's life to memorialize, place of death just seems a bit morbid. I don't get it. Do people do this in other countries too?
Signs. This may not be a uniquely American obsession but it seems like half this country seems to delight in putting up signs telling people what to do. The other half of the country takes their delight in pointedly ignoring said signs. I'm pretty sure pets can't read, can't decide if this is an exercise in futility or absurdity... Either way, everybody gets to have a little fun but I can't see how it's worth the effort.
For all our pride in our exceptionalism we sure do like our homogony. Cookie cutter houses in cookie cutter subdivisons, driving the same cars, taking the same vacations in cookie cutter condos. If you took away flags, bumper stickers, and yard signs, would Americans even be able to express themselves?
Do they put the national flag on anything and everything in other countries too? Beer cans, swimsuits, door mats, underwear, automobiles, anything comes in flag these days. Does patriotism-as-marketing count as peak capitalism? I can't quite reconcile being so enthusiastic about something that you put it on everything and simultaneously so indifferent to it that it is casually discarded.
Forget the gold standard, shit tickets toilet paper will be the standard of value in post-apocalyptic America. Well maybe not, that'll probably be ammo, but if spring of 2020 was any indication Americans certainly think that it will. Don't ask me why Humana is flaunting their post-apocalyptic wealth in the middle of a pandemic but nobody seemed overly concerned.
Anybody live someplace that has its own curious habits? Or does some of the same things happen where you live? Drop me a comment, I'd love to hear about it.
Yes. We have those crosses in Poland too. Often decorated with some plastic flowers and stuff.
About the flag I noticed the weird (for me) obsession with it in USA. We don't just put out flag all over everything and it doesn't hang in front of the house all year round. We do put it out for some national holiday only.
But then again our flag is pretty boring :p
Good to know. Lol, there's usually plastic flowers and such with the ones here, that one had some garland and a Christmas stocking on the back side of it.
In the 90s it was like that here with the flag too, the Cold War was 'over' and nobody was really all that worried about it. Then 9/11 came along and all of sudden flags were everywhere it seemed, then it just went downhill from there.
Lol, I've always been a little jealous of Mozambique's flag, they've got an AK-47 on it which seems much more interesting than stars or stripes.
In some areas of France they put life size black silhouettes of people to mark the place of death. Sometimes there's what looks to be a whole familly.
That is really scarey and bordering on creepy
I agree, they always made me uncomfortable, but they are pretty rare. It seems from a quick Google that they are being removed gradually, and familly members have insisted on the removal of others. I can only imagine what it would be like to have to pass one on a regular basis that represents someone dear to you.
I second that ^
Holy hell, that sounds a wee bit terrifying. Might make for an interesting photo project though.
LMAO... We are an odd lot. Just started realizing it myself. 🤣
Lol, I mean when that's what's around you all the time it just seems normal.
I've been away so long I forgot how many flags were everywhere, I do remember the crosses poppin up anywhere and everywhere someone died, here they staple some plastic flowers to the nearest tree, No tree no problem they'll tape them to a streetlight if needed.
I didn't think the flaggy stuff could get worse than it was after 9/11 but holy hell did it ever, last 5-6 years especially. Lol, around here they just staple/tape 'Cash Advance' and 'Get Cash For Your House Now!' signs to everything.
How long you been gone?