‘Only in America’?
Stephen Fry writes —
“Only in America!” If you were to hear a Briton say “Tch! Only in Britain, eh?”, it would probably refer to something that was either predictable, miserable, oppressive, dull, bureaucratic, queuey, damp, spoil-sporty or incompetent — or a mixture of all of those. “Only in America!”, on the other hand, always refers to something shocking, amazing, eccentric, wild, weird or unpredictable.
I read this a while ago, and at the time I thought as Stephen did; that it was true —
My plane descended and flew over The Hamptons and Long Island as the sun was setting — This was my first glimpse of America and New York, it certainly did look like I was arriving in some place very different from London where I had departed from for my one month immersive experience in Havas New York. I wondered how different it really would be.
My first week is coming to an end and I can confidently say that there is an infectious positivity here — It has been a pleasure meeting so many people who are very genuinely pleased to meet new people and have been very generous with their time.
There is a sense of possibility and positivity here which underpins not only their attitude to new people, but the work they do, and their approach to challenges and obstacles.
I was following the UK election from my hotel room and thinking about changing attitudes back home —
The youth turnout in this election stands at an estimated 72%, this is ~60% higher than the election in 2015. This shows a sense of something which hasn’t been seen before in the UK.
Last night young people in the UK came together and stood up and made their voices count, together with the rest of the UK they changed the course of the election.
Closer to ‘home’; and with our recent move to The HKX Village there is a real buzz at Havas in London — a people coming together to explore what is possible under the banner of #togetherness which shows we really are better, together.
Which made me think… “Only in America”?
I would have thought it true, though now I think it is not as true as it once was — At least for me, and perhaps now the UK. I know I have already taken something away from this experience.
I think I could still learn a lot from the “Only in America” attitude demonstrated here in New York, but perhaps “Tch! Only in Britain, eh?” is already changing its meaning.
