Over at Buzzfeed, Robin Edds has posited 24 questions his country has for mine. As someone who fancies himself an expert in this matter, I thought I’d do him the favour of answering.
Q 1: Why must we be so patriotic?
A: Cos freedom.
NBC
Q 2: And why would anyone live somewhere it gets THIS cold?
A: Cos this is freaking awesome:
(As a Chicagoan, I actually laughed that a Brit thinks -31ºC was cold. That’s cute.)
Q 3: Why do so many people give [President Obama] a hard time?
A: Erm.
Adam Zyglis/The Buffalo News
And we’re the lucky ones? Really? How quickly you forget.
Q 4: Was this setting really necessary?
A: Damn straight
Gif: tumblr.com/chaosinconverseee
Q 5: Does alcohol taste better if you drink it out of a gun?
A: To be fair anything tastes better when you put a gun to my head. And in America, there’s a real possibility that could happen.
This is a real thing you can buy here: http://www.mgdirect.co/Alcohol-Shot-Gun_p_2054.html
Q 6: Why is everything so much bigger?
A: I honestly don’t know.
Q 7: I mean, it’s a good thing this car park was empty
A: That’s a parking lot for all my American readers. But seriously, there’s nothing hotter than a guy in a pickup.
Lions Gate, c/o Glamour
Q 8: Do you actually have any of your own actors or are you just going to keep stealing ours?
A: You. Tell. Me.
ITV
Lime Pictures
ITV
Okay, so admittedly your stars are bigger than mine (and I may be the only American not related to PJ Brennan who’s heard of him), but we’d really like Nicole Scherzinger to come home.
Q 9: What do you have against the letter “U”?
A: I’m with you on this one, mate. My compatriots seem to forget that without “U” we couldn’t chant “USA! USA! USA!”
Coed.com
Q 10: What exactly does freedom taste like?
A: Like chicken nuggets washed down with beer from a gun and chased with a shot of liberty.
Actually, this is the closet I ever came to literally tasting freedom. It was saccharine, decadent, and a bit too rich for its own good, which basically sums up America.
Q 11: And why are your streets so boringly predictable?
A: Cos I like to know where to board the bus and how to get from here to there.
Chicago’s grid is a work of art. And while we’re talking about this…
What the hell is up with this? You’ve got like 10 different bus stops all at one spot, and then you have to navigate which bus to get on? I have literally pissed myself in the middle of Islington trying to find the right night bus. Unacceptable.
Q 12: What’s with the whole “being happy and confident and talking to strangers” thing?
A: Dude that’s freedom. It feels good. Give it a whirl.
Universal/WorkingTitle
(Okay, Joni Mitchell is technically Canadian, but they’ve always had more in common with us than they’ll admit. Just don’t tell them; it’ll hurt their feelings.)
Q 13: Why must you confuse us thankless Brits with the concept of tipping?
A: Shush. You’re starting to sound like this bloke:
meme: keithpp.wordpress.com
Q 14: You know this isn’t bacon, right?
A: I do. I definitely do. Sadly, my own father disagrees.
We haven’t spoken since.
Q 15: Why are your t.v. commercials for drugs so batshit crazy?
A: You lot literally sent a woman over here to sell us poo-covering air freshener. Stop.
(But really, America, can we talk about this one? The NHS sounds wonderful.)
Q 16: Why must all your cups be red?
A:
Q 17: And why do your toilets have so much water in them?
A: The same reason you sent that woman to spread the gospel of Poo-Pourri; see also my answers to questions 4 and 6.
Q 18: While we’re on the subject, why are there giant gaps in the toilet?
A: I’ve been trying and I just can’t answer this one.
Q 19: How do we get in on this whole breakfast pizza thing?
A: You can do what a lot of Americans do and make one yourself. There’s even a recipe for a Full English breakfast pizza!
Q 20: Technologically, you’re up there with the best of them. So why do you still have to sign when paying the bill rather than use chip and pin?
A: And let Big Brother Obama watch us even more? I don’t think so!
Actually, The Guardian ran a very good piece on just this issue last year.
Q 21. Exactly how many countries take part in the World Series?
A: The only one that matters.
Contrary to popular belief, the World Series isn’t named for the defunct New York World newspaper. It really is just American arrogance. Who knew?
Q 22: And how is it possible that this is a college football game?
A: Mate, if you think that’s impressive, I want to take you tailgating at an SEC (that’s Southeastern Conference) football game.
It’s basically a giant, inebriated party before every football game, sanctioned by the university and celebrated like its bloody Christmas.
Q 23: How did Miss Florida NOT win Miss America?
A: She slapped a shark?? WTF???? I’m still reeling from the time Miss Oklahoma gave a cow a pedicure. Mind. Blown.
Also, have you heard about our senator who “grew up castrating pigs on an Iowa farm?” Louise Mensch loves her.
Q 24. And finally, people aren’t actually called Randy, right?
A: Randy Quaid. Randy Jackson. Randy Travis. Yeah, they kinda are.
Comedy Central/imgur
Well Robin, there you have it. God bless you, and God bless these United States.
