North Island
23-02-2005, 21:13
I was flipping through Fréttablaðið this morning and, as I paused over the comics page, I saw another column from Borghildur Gunnarsdóttir. Normally Ms. Gunnarsdóttir writes the kind of light, slice-of-life pieces that go well with your morning coffee. When you´re done reading about all the horror in this world, you can top it all off with one of her pieces and have yourself a little chuckle. Usually.
Today, however, I was met with a surprise. My first clue that something was wrong was in the title, which said that Ms. Gunnarsdóttir "wonders about American thinking." Hm. I "wonder" what on earth that could be. America is a country of around 300 million people and composed of various and sundry races, religions, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but that doesn´t stop anyone from generalising. After all, despite the fact that the number of accents and dialects in the States sometimes keeps Americans from being able to understand each other, some people I know still refer to an "American accent." I took a deep breath and read on.
The opening of the article takes the point of view that while Icelanders like to complain about how Americanized their culture is becoming, Ms. Gunnarsdóttir believes that despite the fast food chains, Icelanders have a hard time letting go of their "careless and innocent thinking." For example, she says, Icelanders still leave their babies in their carriages outside of shops "without the slightest worry." How very astute an observation! Has she not noticed that the incidence of people snatching children and doing terrible things to them is much greater in the US than in Iceland, and that this might lead most Americans to think that leaving their children alone and unattended is a bad idea? This isn´t a difference in thinking; it´s both people reacting to their respective environments correctly.
Another example she cites is how surprised she was that she couldn´t take a pocketknife on an airplane last summer. OK, really? You were surprised by this? In 2004? If there´s anyone else left in the world who´s shocked to hear that you can´t bring knives onto airplanes, you heard it hear first.
The two other examples Ms. Gunnarsdóttir cites also take place in airports. In one, a man is arrested by police for taking his child into a bathroom with him. In the other, a man is arrested for walking around yelling, "Alla!" repeatedly ("Alla" being the shortened form of "Aðalheiður," his wife). Since neither anecdote talks about the men involved being charged with anything, we can only assume that the police let them go. Do policemen only overreact in America? Somehow, I seriously doubt it. Not too long ago, a woman in Reykjavík awoke in the middle of the night to find several policemen breaking into her apartment, who began questioning her about some unpaid fines. Should we take this as an example of "Icelandic thinking"? Of course not. To do so would be just plain stupid.
Ms. Gunnarsdóttir tosses in a few more sweeping generalisations, saying that Americans have "cold and sterile thinking," and that "their behaviour is of course coloured by fear of terrorist attacks and war." Wow, thanks for reminding me! All this time I´d been thinking about things like working, buying food, paying the rent, hanging out with my friends and other clearly un-American things to think about. In fact, most Americans I know think about these things, too. I guess we have no choice but to form a militia at once if we ever hope to call ourselves Americans again.
Using cheap stereotypes to try to get a laugh is really the lowest common denominator. When a person does a little observing, a little thinking even, they might come to realise that the average American is just that: average, no better nor worse than anyone else. Honest. So enough stereotypes. As daunting as the task might sound, I´m sure decent articles can still be written without them.
RG.
Today, however, I was met with a surprise. My first clue that something was wrong was in the title, which said that Ms. Gunnarsdóttir "wonders about American thinking." Hm. I "wonder" what on earth that could be. America is a country of around 300 million people and composed of various and sundry races, religions, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but that doesn´t stop anyone from generalising. After all, despite the fact that the number of accents and dialects in the States sometimes keeps Americans from being able to understand each other, some people I know still refer to an "American accent." I took a deep breath and read on.
The opening of the article takes the point of view that while Icelanders like to complain about how Americanized their culture is becoming, Ms. Gunnarsdóttir believes that despite the fast food chains, Icelanders have a hard time letting go of their "careless and innocent thinking." For example, she says, Icelanders still leave their babies in their carriages outside of shops "without the slightest worry." How very astute an observation! Has she not noticed that the incidence of people snatching children and doing terrible things to them is much greater in the US than in Iceland, and that this might lead most Americans to think that leaving their children alone and unattended is a bad idea? This isn´t a difference in thinking; it´s both people reacting to their respective environments correctly.
Another example she cites is how surprised she was that she couldn´t take a pocketknife on an airplane last summer. OK, really? You were surprised by this? In 2004? If there´s anyone else left in the world who´s shocked to hear that you can´t bring knives onto airplanes, you heard it hear first.
The two other examples Ms. Gunnarsdóttir cites also take place in airports. In one, a man is arrested by police for taking his child into a bathroom with him. In the other, a man is arrested for walking around yelling, "Alla!" repeatedly ("Alla" being the shortened form of "Aðalheiður," his wife). Since neither anecdote talks about the men involved being charged with anything, we can only assume that the police let them go. Do policemen only overreact in America? Somehow, I seriously doubt it. Not too long ago, a woman in Reykjavík awoke in the middle of the night to find several policemen breaking into her apartment, who began questioning her about some unpaid fines. Should we take this as an example of "Icelandic thinking"? Of course not. To do so would be just plain stupid.
Ms. Gunnarsdóttir tosses in a few more sweeping generalisations, saying that Americans have "cold and sterile thinking," and that "their behaviour is of course coloured by fear of terrorist attacks and war." Wow, thanks for reminding me! All this time I´d been thinking about things like working, buying food, paying the rent, hanging out with my friends and other clearly un-American things to think about. In fact, most Americans I know think about these things, too. I guess we have no choice but to form a militia at once if we ever hope to call ourselves Americans again.
Using cheap stereotypes to try to get a laugh is really the lowest common denominator. When a person does a little observing, a little thinking even, they might come to realise that the average American is just that: average, no better nor worse than anyone else. Honest. So enough stereotypes. As daunting as the task might sound, I´m sure decent articles can still be written without them.
RG.