Why do Americans do this?

Jasper   Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:56 pm GMT
DAMIAN: "Whether any kind of major disaster in Britain would ever elicit such generosity of spirit from China is highly debatable, but there you go..."

I doubt it very much, Damian. The Chinese do have strong family values, and greatly respect their elders, but donating to charity is not among their strongest points.

"Americans like K.T and Jasper have a lot of time for writing their drivel on Antimoon yet they have issues with taking care of their parents and grandparents. "

Damian, it looks like KT and I have us got one of "them thar' trolls". Apropos this, I guess we have "truly arrived" on Antimoon.

<smiles>
K. T.   Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:18 pm GMT
"Being generous to the rest of the world doesn't diminish their heartless nature towards their elders.

Americans like K.T and Jasper have a lot of time for writing their drivel on Antimoon yet they have issues with taking care of their parents and grandparents.

Excuses, Excuses !"-Guest

Pardon me, but did you even read my posts? I can't speak for Jasper, but I have certainly helped to take care of my elders. You must be playing the fool to get a response.
foreigner   Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:26 pm GMT
<< It is something we Americans nave to put up with daily. . . the stupidity of foreigners. >>

It's nothing compared to what we have to put up with daily from you Americans.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:18 pm GMT
***Damian, it looks like KT and I have us got one of "them thar' trolls". Apropos this, I guess we have "truly arrived" on Antimoon***

You've made the big time, kiddo! You've won your Antimoon accolade, and as they say in British theatrical circles when you've achieved stardom -you've broken a leg!

I offer you and KT my heartiest congratulations on your arrival among the victims of Antimoon's posting loons, and I wish you a very guid New Year and may you continue to have a good laugh as you "suffer" the slings and arrows of outrageous trollery from the chronically under-developed infesting this forum.
Robin Michael   Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:29 pm GMT
Happy New Year Damian and KT. Let's hope it is a happy year for antimoon. Happy and prosperous with the new advertising.

Best Wishes to Uriel and Launa!

My internet connection is cracking up for some reason.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:36 pm GMT
***So are you saying that, in a country of over 61 million people, weeks do very occasionally go by without people collecting money for some charity or other?***

More or less, yes.....I suppose there are sufficient charities seeking ever more donations in this nation of over 61 million people for there to be collectors out on the streets 52 weeks a year, but many collections are arranged by all the various charities on a local basis at different times and on different days, so that Edinburgh will see them all out for a certain charity in May, while the same charity will organise its Glasgow collectors in September, and so on.

For national appeals at certain times of the year, such as the Poppy Appeal (the charity for all ex armed forces personnel and personnel still serving in the British armed forces, and for all the welfare organisations supporting them and their families, as well as all dependents of those lost in battle) all collections for donations are held at the same time all over the UK for about three or four weeks before Remembrance Sunday, which is always the second Sunday in November, when memorial services are held all over the UK for all those lost in both world wars and subsequent conflicts, in both churches and at every single war memorial, of which there is one in practically every single city, town, village and hamlet in the UK.

Therefore there are indeed weeks when no street collections take place at any given location. I mean, let's be realistic here - how can you expect the public to hand over their hard earned cash, or dosh doled out to those on social welfare, to charity every single week of the year? If so, we'd all be clamouring for tax rebates! Not even this ******* Labour Government would be THAT profligate!
K. T.   Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:39 pm GMT
Happy New Year to all Antimooners! I started to name some, but I didn't want to leave anyone out.
Guest   Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:51 pm GMT
Happy New Year from Russia! We just had it here!
Jasper   Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:00 pm GMT
" I can't speak for Jasper, but I have certainly helped to take care of my elders."

The funniest thing in my case is that my parents, in their late 60s and 70s, healthier and otherwise better off in every way than we kids. (chuckle)
They sleep soundly every night and don't have the same kind of day-to-day stress as their progeny.

There is some truth in KT's ideas. The previous generation, scarred by the Great Depression, didn't borrow like we Baby Boomers do.
Robin Michael   Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:10 pm GMT
My parents are just off to New Zealand. They are wealthy. My Uncle unfortunately has Alzheimer's disease. Realistically you cannot look after someone with Alzheimer's disease in your own home. My father took control of my Uncle's finances, sold his home, and arranged for him to stay in an elderly person's home (Nursing Home).

My Uncle had wanted to leave his money to Bangladesh. My Uncle had worked there on a paid and voluntary basis. So there is a sense in which he has been cheated. But decisions are never easy and there are always moral doubts.

I am quite sure in China and other countries there is a lot of abuse of elderly people within the home. There is no easy solution.
BethAnn   Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:47 am GMT
*** More or less, yes.....I suppose ...***

I don't buy that Damian. I work in an office of less than 200 people and I can say with confidence that *not a week goes by* without my coworkers collecting money for some charity or other.

I feel like I can wave an idiot little flag about the other-worldly grandeur of my own country, and make sweeping childish generalizations about other countries, on any of countless sites (and I do ;). But this site is supposed to be about the effective use of the English language.

That said... Hardly a day does not go by when I need to keep breathing in order to stay alive.
Uriel   Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:50 am GMT
Nursing homes are generally reserved for people with medical problems that require professional care that family members can't realistically give. They cost an arm and a leg and they aren't used lightly.