IR Blog Post 3

Symbols: Technology- While the author was in Britain for 20 years the technology in America got way more advanced. He mentions that in Britain they have very few television shows and one that really stuck out to him because it was the only one on at the time he was able to watch TV was Open University. This was a show were a professor would give a lecture and students would watch and then later would be tested on what was told. He noticed when he came back to America there were many shows just like this that he had never known about.
His Past- He says that the thing he missed most was baseball, the sport of America's pastime. Bill talks about how it is a key thing in his life and that no matter where he lives that it will never leave his life.
He talks about lessons that he learned when he was younger that have helped him develop into who he was today.
Drugs- Drugs are brought up a good amount of times especially on how addicted Americans are to drugs and how they will spend so much money not only fighting against them but at the same time buying them. He says how British people don't look to over-the-counter drugs to help change their lives and when something is wrong they help themselves differently instead of wasting their money. Drugs are seen in magazines, commercials, and newspaper ads everywhere you look in America, but in Britian only a very few ads are seen.

Themes & Ideas: Enjoyment of the little things- In the book he mentions a lot of different little things that help make his life a lot better. He talks about how people get so stressed out about things and can't take enjoyment of the little things life has to offer. If you enjoy as many little things as you can eventually something big will come along.
Intelligence- People are not very intelligent. Companies have to put directions on products because people can not use their brains long enough to understand how to do things. He does not call out any specific group of people but as a whole America tends to not grasp things as quickly as other countries.
Food- No matter where you go there are always restaurants that try to make a name of a food sound fancier than it is so that you will want to buy. Even though this only causes confusion and Bill talks about a time he and his wife went out to eat and he asked for a steak but the waiter said they only have a fancy type of steak and that calling it steak is an insult.