Understanding our Differences
Sorry for the gap since my last posting. All of the real news in my life has been either boring or things I can’t talk about in a public forum. For instance, I had a rash! (Look forward to a strip about THAT!)
I worked on the 4th of July. Only 2 people wished me a happy 4th of July the whole day. One of them is a recent transplant form Ireland, the other is from Australia. Think about that for a minute.
I work with many college students from other countries. They come here to learn about our country, and the hospitality business. One of them, the aforementioned guy from Ireland, was flipping through the channels on the break room TV and stopped on tennis. He mentioned that he hadn’t met many Americans who were interested in sports. I told him that there are many Americans who are very interested in sports, but that they aren’t really going to be found in a break room at Disney World.
A sports news segment interrupted the tennis coverage. The lead story was about the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. I joked that competitive eating was THE American sport. One of the other coworkers agreed wholeheartedly and started going off about the lack of respect competitive eating gets and the quality of the athletes involved in the upper echelons of the sport. I had researched the subject trying to write a bit about it back when I was a comic, so I was able to feed this guy questions that were just detailed enough to keep him going.
“What do you think of the ‘belt of fat’ theory?”
“It’s no theory, it’s a fact! Japanese dudes can eat more because they’re skinnier! Americans have belly fat that keeps their stomachs from expanding.”
I had to stop eventually because I was laughing so hard. My coworker’s enthusiasm for “competitive eating” was funny, but the look of concealed horror and disgust on the Irish guy’s face at what we Americans consider a sport was just hilarious.
He came here to learn about us, and he has.
I worked on the 4th of July. Only 2 people wished me a happy 4th of July the whole day. One of them is a recent transplant form Ireland, the other is from Australia. Think about that for a minute.
I work with many college students from other countries. They come here to learn about our country, and the hospitality business. One of them, the aforementioned guy from Ireland, was flipping through the channels on the break room TV and stopped on tennis. He mentioned that he hadn’t met many Americans who were interested in sports. I told him that there are many Americans who are very interested in sports, but that they aren’t really going to be found in a break room at Disney World.
A sports news segment interrupted the tennis coverage. The lead story was about the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. I joked that competitive eating was THE American sport. One of the other coworkers agreed wholeheartedly and started going off about the lack of respect competitive eating gets and the quality of the athletes involved in the upper echelons of the sport. I had researched the subject trying to write a bit about it back when I was a comic, so I was able to feed this guy questions that were just detailed enough to keep him going.
“What do you think of the ‘belt of fat’ theory?”
“It’s no theory, it’s a fact! Japanese dudes can eat more because they’re skinnier! Americans have belly fat that keeps their stomachs from expanding.”
I had to stop eventually because I was laughing so hard. My coworker’s enthusiasm for “competitive eating” was funny, but the look of concealed horror and disgust on the Irish guy’s face at what we Americans consider a sport was just hilarious.
He came here to learn about us, and he has.
posted by Scott Meyer at Friday, July 06, 2007
2 Comments:
Excellent - as another Irish guy frequently impralled (impressed/appalled) by the sheer dimensions of the people I meet, I appreciate that scene.
But you have to give some credit to fate for setting up the perfect people in the right place for that humour.
"Basic Instructions" is a comic strip. Any advice contained herein is intended as humor, and should not be followed as actual instructions or advice.
Im not sure if this is meant to be funny , but it cracked me up
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