After spending two weeks in five countries of central Europe, an American may very well notice some startling differences in daily life. Below are just a few of my own observations.
1. The streets are clean. There is no trash or garbage in the gutters, on the sidewalks, or in the roadways. Street sweepers are out early; there are even sidewalk-sized sweepers that leave the walkways damp in the cool of the morning and debris-free for the day.
2. There are almost no homeless people visible. There are a few indigent individuals here and there who sit quietly with a cup or a cap in front of them, awaiting donations. I saw no tent cities, no one being harassed, no drug addicts shooting up, no one copulating or defecating on the streets as happens so often in major US cities.
3. Monuments and memorials are everywhere, and they are honored. In response to a question in our group, one of our tour guides answered that memorials are patrolled by police at night and that the penalties for desecrating monuments vary from stiff monetary fines to jail time. That sounded good and right to me.
4. Police are visible and respected. It was easy to feel safe, with police cars and officers a standard presence on the busy streets.
5. There are huge throngs of people crowding together, and no one seems fearful of any harm coming to them. Even with the onset of the summer holiday season, the endless hordes of people at every point of interest tended towards the overwhelming. Yet there was no pushing, shoving, arguing, name calling, or any other negative behavior that I could identify throughout my visit. Coming from our currently contentious American environment, that was impressive.
Today is July 4, the celebration of our national Independence Day. In Europe, I saw American flags sharing space with the rainbow flag on several US embassies. I took no pictures of, and no "pride" in, that reality. Our flag should always be above any prevailing political currents.
I'm hopeful, though, that Americans are beginning to awaken from our "woke" slumber. One returns from traveling abroad with a fresh perspective on our homeland. Our history is newer than Europe's, but we have shown strength, toughness, and resolve throughout many social and political storms long before today's controversies. As my dad used to say, "Americans never give up." Happy birthday, USA. It's good to be home.
