Americana

Today I saw a little boy on the underground wearing Spiderman sneakers. Little things like that remind me that no matter where I am, some things always remain the same. Like little boys in Spiderman sneakers, the smell inside of a toilet, couples holding hands on the subway (underground) or the way you feel tired at the end of the day.

That being said, I have been unusually American for the past couple of days. I must say, I was never so American while in America, but I guess I carry it around, like an kleenex in my pocket, or maybe a movie ticket stub for a movie you've seen months ago. Yesterday on the underground, I gave a little girl a biscuit (cookie, for those who don't speak British), which is something discinctly non-British, and something I probably wouldn't have done at home. Today at the bookstore (Borders, by the way), I was waiting to ask an employee a question (yes, me), when I heard that the man in line in front of me was having trouble choosing a gift. As I cut into the conversation to see if I could help, the man turned to me and said, "You must be American."

My eyes widened as I innocently asked why, and he explained that a British person would never have done that. As I was discreetly (yeah, right) making my purchase, I had to ask the check-out whether or not the DVD I was considering would play on an American DVD player. As she finished ringing me out, I joked, "It must be painfully obvious that I'm an American, right?"

And then I quickly hightailed it out of the store as she looked at me like a deer in headlights.

The bottom line here is, that no matter how cultured, or individual, or un-(insert rude stereotype here)-American you believe you are, you will inevitably have moments when you feel (and look) like a stupid American tourist, like when you're snapping pictures in front of the Tower of London (on Sunday), or when you have to ask for directions four separate times just to find the tube stop (this morning), and you, like me, are going to have to deal with it.