Monday, September 13, 2010

International Quiz

Thoughts from the airport:

Which country has fast, modern trains, & tickets with a magnetic stripe that give you seamless access to public transit at the end of the line? Which one has old trains, always late, conductors who hand punch paper tickets and leave a folded or dog-eared colored scrap of paper above your seat to mark your stop? (UK, or the US?)

Which country has hand-held point-of-sale access devices for everyone from waiters to taxi drivers, and chipped credit/debit cards, for fast and easy payment? Which one has to carry your card off to run an old magnetic strip at some point out of your view? (Finland, or the US?)

Which country's citizens would find a promise that "95% of our citizens will have health care coverage!" to be a shameful failure towards the 5% who have no care? Which one thinks it a triumph? (Sweden, or the US?)

Which country has gender-neutral marriage for all of its citizens? Which one considers GLBT couples unworthy of any recognition, and even immigration rights for GLBT couples a "deal breaker"? (Norway, or the US?)

Which country has a long and storied military tradition, and a fully integrated military that actively recruits GLBT citizens? Which one carries out witch hunts against GLBT service members to remove them from the military? (UK, or the US?)

Next stop, Oslo.

5 comments:

JCF said...

Thanks for depressing us Yanks again, IT.

Counterlight said...

Geologists say that the Hudson River at New York is officially a fjord. That must count for something.

JCF said...

Yeah, and Europe doesn't have my "THIS IS OUR YEAR!" San Francisco Giants! :-D

{Awaits IT's "Bread & Circuses" lecture... ;-/}

it's margaret said...

ugghhhh.....

Malcolm+ said...

Last week, Keifer Sutherland (24's Jack Bauer) was in Swift Current, Saskatchewan for the unveiling of a statue of his grandfather, former saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas, the Father of Canadian Medicare.

Just sayin' is all.