Work life balance in the USA

NYMackem said:
That was never my experience. I never saw or heard anything of guns when I lived in NYC (whereas other cities I felt wary of people being armed). Handguns are very illegal in New York. I thought it was safer than living in the UK day to day. My boss was a lairy Scottish arsehole, but no-one ever swung for him (he'd have got chinned on every night out in Sunderland, the way he went on).
Click to expand...

Yes, the guns culture in the US is very dependant on which state you are in. If you live in one of the more civilised parts of the country then guns are just as rare as here. I spent a lot of time visiting Boston (averaged 4 trips a years for 12 years) and the only guns you ever saw were being carried by the police. Go down to Texas and the person sat next to you in a bar could be carrying a loaded gun and you could pick a new one up with your weekly shopping in Walmart.
 


NYMackem said:
Dunno, I've never paid anything beyond £10 for a prescription to use the NHS.

But I have read (in several different places, though maybe all from the same source) that the US pays more per head of population to cover poor people and old people for free than we pay per head to cover everyone.

If you are suggesting I'm paying the same for NHS cover but through tax rather than insurance, that is not the case. I paid a higher average rate of tax in the US.
Click to expand...

I was going compare the average U.K. wage NI contribution against the average US private healthcare cost.

Maybe there’s no such correlation.
 
Darlo1973 said:
Yes, the guns culture in the US is very dependant on which state you are in. If you live in one of the more civilised parts of the country then guns are just as rare as here. I spent a lot of time visiting Boston (averaged 4 trips a years for 12 years) and the only guns you ever saw were being carried by the police. Go down to Texas and the person sat next to you in a bar could be carrying a loaded gun and you could pick a new one up with your weekly shopping in Walmart.
Click to expand...
Denver zoo had a sign at the entrance saying "please do not bring firearms into the zoo". Can you imagine needing to be told that?
 
NYMackem said:
I came back 12 years ago,and I was there for 3 years.

Definitely noticed the difference after Di Blasio got elected though. Traffic jams all over and he seemed to suspend the vagrancy laws - there was an angry homeless nutcase on every street corner when I was there a couple of years back.
Click to expand...
Aye, the homeless are my big worry. You want to help, but there's too many horror stories. There was a lad last year who was asking for a couple of dollars, and when he didn't get it he looked into the glass at his reflection and started talking to himself.
 
Nicky Winterwasp said:
Bloke I used to work with was out there for a few years and complained about the lack of workers rights. Always seems like they can just fire people at will as well.
Click to expand...
The people I know in the US always dreaded a Friday afternoon meeting with their boss if scheduled at the last minute. Apparently a common signal for a firing. I’ve worked alongside US organisations in the past but have been fortunate enough to have always been on a contract with a U.K. company. Shite annual leave, awful hours and a culture that would cause constant anxiety for most. Been offered the opportunity to relocate in the past and work exclusively over there but when I weigh it up has never really appealed. Maybe will regret later in life. Also..everyone I ever worked closely with was off their noggins on medication to be able to function.
 
Carrick18 said:
Aye, the homeless are my big worry. You want to help, but there's too many horror stories. There was a lad last year who was asking for a couple of dollars, and when he didn't get it he looked into the glass at his reflection and started talking to himself.
Click to expand...
often see nutcases walking around having full on convos with themselves, shagging on the subway stairs, taking a shit in the street. theres one guy who just tugs off ffs. also opened the door to go down to the train platform the other day and there was a fat bird naked just laid at the top of the stairs covered in scabs. was revolting and nearly made me throw up. sad really.
NYMackem said:
Denver zoo had a sign at the entrance saying "please do not bring firearms into the zoo". Can you imagine needing to be told that?
Click to expand...
or whenever you book a flight with a US airline you get reminded not to bring your firearm 'in the cabin'.
 
Last edited:
nyron4england said:
often see nutcases walking around having full on convos with themselves, shagging on the subway stairs, taking a shit in the street. theres one guy who just tugs off ffs. also opened the door to go down to the train platform the other day and there was a fat bird naked just laid at the top of the stairs covered in scabs. was revolting and nearly made me throw up. sad really.
Click to expand...
Seen some horrific things on my trips over in the US. Took me a while to adjust if I’m honest. Never seen such a disparity between those who have and those who don’t. People just blank it out. I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t sit in a cafe whilst a bloke is taking a dump in a side ally (in full view of passer bys) and accept that is normal. In SF took the BART for my first ever trip and it was something out of a horror film.
 
Lefty Frizzell said:
Seen some horrific things on my trips over in the US. Took me a while to adjust if I’m honest. Never seen such a disparity between those who have and those who don’t. People just blank it out. I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t sit in a cafe whilst a bloke is taking a dump in a side ally (in full view of passer bys) and accept that is normal. In SF took the BART for my first ever trip and it was something out of a horror film.
Click to expand...
I was in a hotel in NYC, the Excelsior, and unknown to us until we arrived it was being used to house homeless people at the same time.
It was no hassle to be fair but some of the lift rides were a little uncomfortable.
 
Lefty Frizzell said:
Seen some horrific things on my trips over in the US. Took me a while to adjust if I’m honest. Never seen such a disparity between those who have and those who don’t. People just blank it out. I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t sit in a cafe whilst a bloke is taking a dump in a side ally (in full view of passer bys) and accept that is normal. In SF took the BART for my first ever trip and it was something out of a horror film.
Click to expand...
yeah i went for a piss in westfield bogs SF and there was a bloke shooting up smack in broad daylight in a cubicle with the door open. regular occurrence in the street. avoided public transport at all costs there. subway in NY the same. trains and NJ buses are fine like, although PABT is riddled with hobos.
 
nyron4england said:
yeah i went for a piss in westfield bogs SF and there was a bloke shooting up smack in broad daylight in a cubicle with the door open. regular occurrence in the street. avoided public transport at all costs there. subway in NY the same. trains and NJ buses are fine like, although PABT is riddled with hobos.
Click to expand...
It’s awful like. Always relieved to get back home on every trip I’ve ever taken to the west coast, not so much the east if I’m honest.
 
nyron4england said:
often see nutcases walking around having full on convos with themselves, shagging on the subway stairs, taking a shit in the street. theres one guy who just tugs off ffs. also opened the door to go down to the train platform the other day and there was a fat bird naked just laid at the top of the stairs covered in scabs. was revolting and nearly made me throw up. sad really.

or whenever you book a flight with a US airline you get reminded not to bring your firearm 'in the cabin'.
Click to expand...
Aye. There were A LOT more fruit loops on the subway than there ever are on the tube. Although the standard of in-train busking is better in NYC.
 
I posted this on a different thread about the USA some time ago, but it is more appropriate on this one:-

It's sort of interesting to see the way the UK and USA diverged.

In his excellent book "The Road to Nab End", William Woodruff describes his working class upbringing in Blackburn in the 1920s and 30s.
He talks of his parents working in a mill in Massachusetts in the 1890s before they came back to work in the Lancashire mills.

Even then, so long ago, he talks of wages in the USA being comparatively higher, but at the same time, if you got injured at work, you had less rights.


As a footnote, he made a fleeting visit to Silksworth by the way, possibly in the sequel "Beyond Nab End" when he also visits pre war Nazi Germany.
 
El Oso said:
I posted this on a different thread about the USA some time ago, but it is more appropriate on this one:-

It's sort of interesting to see the way the UK and USA diverged.

In his excellent book "The Road to Nab End", William Woodruff describes his working class upbringing in Blackburn in the 1920s and 30s.
He talks of his parents working in a mill in Massachusetts in the 1890s before they came back to work in the Lancashire mills.

Even then, so long ago, he talks of wages in the USA being comparatively higher, but at the same time, if you got injured at work, you had less rights.


As a footnote, he made a fleeting visit to Silksworth by the way, possibly in the sequel "Beyond Nab End" when he also visits pre war Nazi Germany.
Click to expand...

Excellent book and close to these parts .
 
HellsBells said:
Aye. There were A LOT more fruit loops on the subway than there ever are on the tube. Although the standard of in-train busking is better in NYC.
Click to expand...
I grew to always be wary of an almost empty end of a busy F train car! It was always because of a homeless man stinking out the whole car. You only once think you've got lucky and might get a seat!
 
nyron4england said:
often see nutcases walking around having full on convos with themselves, shagging on the subway stairs, taking a shit in the street. theres one guy who just tugs off ffs. also opened the door to go down to the train platform the other day and there was a fat bird naked just laid at the top of the stairs covered in scabs. was revolting and nearly made me throw up. sad really.

or whenever you book a flight with a US airline you get reminded not to bring your firearm 'in the cabin'.
Click to expand...
Mate, I rememeber my first trip to Yankee Stadium. Full of the New York buzz, and as I walk into the Subway station I just see a jet hit my shoes. A lad in a New York Knicks pair of hot pants and tank top pissing right on my new trainers.

Was the biggest 'welcome to New York' I've ever seen.
 
nyron4england said:
yeah i went for a piss in westfield bogs SF and there was a bloke shooting up smack in broad daylight in a cubicle with the door open. regular occurrence in the street. avoided public transport at all costs there. subway in NY the same. trains and NJ buses are fine like, although PABT is riddled with hobos.
Click to expand...

The worst thing about public "bathrooms" in the US is the lack of privacy in the cubicles. There's always an inch gap between the door and the frame and a foot at the bottom. Apparently it's to make it harder to get up to mischief in there but it's disconcerting to be having a dump when you can see everything outside and who is next door.
 

Back
Top