Travelling abroad spotlights America’s greatness

Over the course of my life, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many different countries. My most recent business travels landed me in England. I spent ten days there, travelled to five different cities and slept in four different hotels. It was a grueling trip, but it opened my eyes to a lot.

Interestingly, my father was born and raised in Walsall, England. He met my mother, fell in love and immigrated to the United States in 1974. My father was one of six children, so I have a very large family in England. And while my father would often reminisce about growing up in England, one thing is for certain. He loved America and was grateful for the opportunity to live here.

My father came to America and built the American dream. He worked nights, bought a beautiful home and raised his children in a great environment. He was proud of his accomplishments and always appreciated the opportunities he had in America.

I work with a lot of people from the UK, and we often have friendly banter about our respective countries. The line I often use is that there is a good reason hundreds of people in England got on ships and said, “We don’t know where we’re going and we don’t know where we will land, but wherever we end up, it will be better than this horrible country!” Of course, I mean that jokingly.

However, I will say that spending ten days in England showcased the greatness of America and why so many people want to come here. While some of my complaints may seem miniscule, what I experienced reminded me how fortunate we all are to be American.

No air conditioning
Of course, the entire time I was in England, they were experiencing an unprecedented heat wave. It was brutal. When I got to my first hotel, I walked into the lobby, and it was like an oven. I went to my hotel room, attempted to adjust the thermostat and no cold air came out. I went to the front desk and told them my AC was not working. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Sir, we do not have air conditioning in this hotel. As a matter of fact, air conditioning barely exists in England.” I was blown away.

No sheets
When I returned to my sauna of a hotel room, I turned on the small fan that was on the table, laid on my bed and pointed the fan at my body. I decided I didn’t need the heavy comforter on the bed and would instead just sleep with a sheet over me. As I pulled back the comforter, I realized there was no sheet. Are you kidding me?

Mass immigration has changed the country
As a kid, my Dad took us to England frequently to visit family. I haven’t been back in over ten years and this time when I visited, I was shocked to see how things had changed in such a short period of time. I took the train from Coventry to Walsall and the train stop is in Walsall’s town center. When I exited the train station, I literally thought I was in another country. The mass immigration that has occurred in England has changed the fabric of their society and not for the better. The locals are dismayed and it’s not how I remembered the country as a child. I saw countless women walking around in black burkas in the scorching heat while their husbands strolled alongside them in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops. From what I could see, assimilation was non-existent.

Gun laws are reprehensible
I have a good friend who is a Bobby (police officer) in London. I met him for lunch when I was there and of course we got into a discussion about guns in England. Regular police officers on patrol do not carry guns. They carry a baton and some carry a taser. I asked him what would happen if he was on patrol and a terrorist decided to turn his vehicle into a weapon and drive through crowds. I told him I didn’t think his taser or baton would help much and he agreed. He informed me that they have a special armed police unit that responds to violence. What a disgrace. I also learned that hand guns were completely banned in 1997. It’s appalling and reminded me how important it is for all Americans to continue defending attacks on the second amendment.

Please don’t take what I am saying as disgracing England. England is a beautiful country with an amazing history and is a close ally of the United States. However, spending ten days in England reminded me why America exists and why we are so fortunate to have the freedoms and quality of life we all too often take for granted. When I heard the plane’s tires screech on the runway at Logan airport, I instantly smiled.

Chris Thompson’s ([email protected]) column is published weekly on howiecarrshow.com and livefreepressnh.com