James

Just when I think I am never going to have a blog-worthy person enter Coco's, the door opens....  Today it was James.  Young guy, mid 30's.  James was killing time waiting for his girlfriend.  She is doing an internship at the high school in psychology.  James is from the UK.  He kept saying, in the UK.  I love that.  They were motoring to Ohio later today.  Just need some sweets for the ride.  We managed to talk about 90 minutes.  James is from the United Kingdom and currently lives in the Netherlands.  He was living in New Orleans and recently moved to the Netherlands.  His girlfriend is from Ohio.  She will be moving to the Netherlands at the end of the year.  Maybe!  That is up for discussion because she might need to finish a year of post doctoral work.
What did James and I talk about?  So many interesting things.  I will hit some high points.  He told me his parents live in England and that is where he grew up.  For a bit he lived in Scotland.  He said that was about an 8 hour drive from his parents.  He said in the UK that is considered too far to drive.  He said Americans consider that a great road trip.  They would fly in the UK.  I said because of cost?  He said, No.  Because it is clear on the other side of the UK.  They would not dream of driving all the way across the UK.  He said they cannot believe how Americans will drive across country. 
Another big subject is guns.  He said in most countries they are shocked by the fact Americans think they should carry handguns.  He said that is not done in the UK or Netherlands.  I was explaining it is hunting season here.  I told him there is shotgun season and bow season for deer hunting.  He said, (say this in an English accent), ah yes, it would be more of a sport without an gun.  He said in other countries when they of mass shootings that take place in the US they feel like, what do you expect.  If you let everyone have guns it is going to happen.  He said few people hunt in the UK.  It is not such a big part of their culture like it is here.  In order to even have a gun for hunting people have to complete so many checks and paperwork. 
Natural Disasters.  James said as far as he could tell there are only a few states that are safe from natural disasters.  Tornadoes can happen in the UK but they rarely, rarely occur.  He cannot believe the US has earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and tornadoes.  The Netherlands are full of canals.  He said they have a 1,000 year flood plan.  Meaning the chance of flooding is about zero.  They had bad floods in the 50's and redid their levee system. 
Vehicle insurance.  In the UK you pay for liability insurance.  Not for a set amount.  You just have liability insurance and it covers what is needed.  He said they consider the need for millions ridiculous.  Their insurance is becoming more Americanized.  His father works with Salvage Yards.  They used to sell salvage vehicles for a set amount.  Now they are negotiating contracts and insurance ask for percent of sales.  He said if someone died in an accident they would not consider getting millions for the death.
Medical insurance.  It is basically socialized medical coverage.  They just don't call it that.  By law all people must have coverage.  The same type of coverage.  They have it for life.  He said a young, employed person would pay more than an unemployed poor person.  He was shocked that the US does not think they should have to help pay insurance for poor people.  James lived in New Orleans so that was his frame of reference.  He said it looked like Americans did not care about helping poor Blacks.  I said they do care about helping insure anyone if it is going to cost them more money.  He was shocked by that.  He cannot believe that people can have to go without insurance because of pre-existing conditions.  He said it was shocking to him that people would have to keep jobs because of insurance.  That he has met professionals that could make much more money by leaving big companies but they do not because of insurance issues.  There is socialized medicine that works.  The US needs to go to the countries and use them as a model.
News in the US.  James said he cannot believe how terrible the news coverage is in the US.  He said in order to get unbiased reporting, he watches American BBC or some news agency out of Israel.  He said the news that comes out of the US is all about political party control. 
The Netherlands.  I am very well versed on the Netherlands because I watch House Hunters International of HGTV.  I know housing is tough to find and very expensive.  James said housing is not the worst of it.  People are taxed 51% of their incomes.  Can you imagine?  I am assuming that James makes a decent salary.  He works for Shell Oil.  That explains why he was in New Orleans.
All of the windmills.  James said he cannot believe how many windmills are around here.  Of course, there are windmills in the Netherlands.  They still have the old fashioned wood looking windmills.  He said their power comes from mainly natural gas, some coal.  The cost of natural gas is more than double what we pay in the US.  That is unreal!!  The high cost of taxes, heating, and housing explains why on House Hunters people are usually looking at tiny apartments.
Vaccinations on children.  He said some areas went through people panicking and not giving their children the MMR vaccine.  He said the government was not very concerned until large areas of population stopped.  They were having Measles, Mumps, and Rubella making a reappearance.  He said there were villages that many people were not giving the shots to their children.
Living in New Orleans.  We were talking about how there are houses still standing from the flood that have not been torn down.  James said that is partially due to the fact that people had houses that were passed down from generation to generation without ever having deeds changed.  So people cannot prove they owned the house.  Because they were living in houses that were already paid for, they did not have insurance.  New Orleans had to create laws after the fact that would allow them to tear down houses for safety reasons.  They did not have anything in place to handle all the houses people walked away from.  There was a 30% decline in the population.  New Orleans has still not recouped that loss.  Tourism is still not what it once was.  He enjoyed living in New Orleans but he said there are so many issues.  The poverty was upsetting to see.
Because I am what my Hubby refers to as a bleeding heart liberal, I agree with so many of the views expressed by James.  Now I am sure there are people that would say that James can just stay out of the US if he does not like our country.  I would not be one of those people.  Diversity is what makes life interesting.  Listening to James reminds me that the US is not a country people look up to the way they once did.   He said most of the time when the US has a policy it is based on greed.  Not necessarily what is best for the most people.  That is true.  We let people live on the streets, and send millions to other countries.  That is something I will never understand.
Another interesting visitor to Coco's.  I wish it happened daily.  Yes, I do have a crush on James.  That English accent kills me.