>"The more stimulating climate of the United States has produced a more eager, a more expansive, a more decisive people."
Prior to my first trip to the States I received a letter from my future employer, "we are so excited that you will be joining us". I was amazed, did she know something about my magnetic personality, marketing and fund-raising skills that I hadn't fully grasped myself. Why was she excited? It really worried me. I'd never met anyone who'd been excited by the thought of a new employee before then.
In the end I realised that Americans are not uncommunicative. In its coolness and quiet withdrawal, in its prevailing sobriety, our language reflects the cautious economies and leisurely assurance of the average speaker. We say so little that we do not need to enliven our vocabulary and underline our sentences.
Even so, I am still troubled by waiting staff (I have met many of them, mainly outside the big cities) who are genuinely pleasant, and communicate with enthusiasm, even after the obligatory "have a nice day". It just doesn't seem right!
