Many many years ago, not so long after returning from nine years spent living in the US, I was on a train listening to a fellow Briton regaling his mates with stories of his holidays in the US.
And he mentioned those newspaper vending machines that were common all over the US in the 80s (and probably other times, but I don't recall looking for them on my subsequent trips over there(1)). The machine stands out in the street, and you put your coins in the slots on the front, and that unlocks the door, and you take out a newspaper and shut the door.
This chappie, however, commented on the implied difference in American and British culture - his comment was that in Britain, such a machine would be emptied by the first or maybe second person to put coins in, whereas in the US, people dutifully took only the one copy they paid for, even in really dodgy areas.(2)
(1) I first arrived in the US in 1981 on a ninety-day tourist visa. I stayed for nine years.
(2) I'm not saying he was right about this, just that that's what he said. It made me sad, in a way, because it was closer to the truth than most of us would probably like to admit, and it's not a nice thing to have to admit about your own countrymen.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
