Differences between UK and USA

DLax69

DLax69

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MarkMas said:
I don't know why the Americans eat like this, but this explanation seems to me like inventive and unlikely speculation. And it would be more likely that people travelling light would only have a knife amongst their utensils, not a fork.

A slightly more credible speculation is that forks came late to the colonies, and so were used in the way that spoons had been, rather than as a supporting utensil for the knife.
qz.com

The history behind the way Americans use forks

Whether it's the way the fork is held, to only eating with the fork, or using the "cut-and-switch" method, the American way of dining is controversial to Europeans.
qz.com qz.com

Also I remember an account of the Mayflower by Bill Bryson where he reported that they brought with them an extraordinary number of mostly useless and absurd items, and very little practical equipment.
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...what is this thing you are calling a "fork"...? Guess I gotta joogle it...
 
DLax69

DLax69

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Nibby said:
I'm near the Mildenhall/Lakenheath bases Den, I thought American servicemen get treated well, they get all there rent paid, cheap good quality food and fuel on base and get to retire early with a nice pension.
Just to add further to Wack's comments, at finishing time up on the base half four or half five, the American national anthem is played and everyone stops until it's finished.
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It's not a bad life, which is why poor kids (like I was) sign up. Agree that there's a lot of "thank you for your service" stuff here. Bitter irony is that fireworks, which normally feature at any proper "patriotic" display, aggravate my apparent PTSD! U-S-A! U-S-A!
 
Nibby

Nibby

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DLax69 said:
It's not a bad life, which is why poor kids (like I was) sign up. Agree that there's a lot of "thank you for your service" stuff here. Bitter irony is that fireworks, which normally feature at any proper "patriotic" display, aggravate my apparent PTSD! U-S-A! U-S-A!
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Much the same here Den, if they weren’t tall enough to join the army they got sent to Newmarket to become jockeys.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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Oneball said:
It’s not as odd as you think.

What it is saying is by buying our Royal Reserve drink you aren’t damaging our war effort to make industrial alcohol (not for drinking) as our drinking stuff comes from batches made prior to the war (you’d only just been in it a year by thanksgiving 1942).
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I think the turkey leg is damned odd. On the wing of a plane.

C
 
D Walker

D Walker

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DLax69 said:
It's not a bad life, which is why poor kids (like I was) sign up. Agree that there's a lot of "thank you for your service" stuff here. Bitter irony is that fireworks, which normally feature at any proper "patriotic" display, aggravate my apparent PTSD! U-S-A! U-S-A!
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Certainly wasn’t much of the appreciation thing when I was in until 2004 ish I reckon. I can remember being denied entry to any eatery in a 10mile radius of where we did our trade training. I guess 3 squaddies looking to just have a Sunday dinner was a a risk too far for some quite empty locations. We went the same places for a bout 4 / 5 weeks in a row just for the craic. Haha.
 
DLax69

DLax69

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D Walker said:
Certainly wasn’t much of the appreciation thing when I was in until 2004 ish I reckon. I can remember being denied entry to any eatery in a 10mile radius of where we did our trade training. I guess 3 squaddies looking to just have a Sunday dinner was a a risk too far for some quite empty locations. We went the same places for a bout 4 / 5 weeks in a row just for the craic. Haha.
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Now, I got treated rather poorly on Corfu...

One of the bases I was at was in a town that was complaining about how awful the military was, and all the issues we caused. So the paymaster arranged it so that all the on-base banks and exchanges were stocked with US two dollar bills on a Friday...when all the merchants got through balancing their drawers after the weekend, and saw the contents, the chatter quieted...
 
Wack61

Wack61

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Oneball said:
Everything’s bigger over there, that’s just a chicken leg.
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On the first day of a 2 week holiday to florida in the late 80s we went to a restaurant for breakfast, Dennys I think it was, there were 2 options for breakfast, I chose the larger option because it was only $2 more

They just kept bringing it, an utterly ridiculous amount of food, by the time the last plate came there was nowhere to put it, the pancakes in McDonald's here are maybe 5", these were 12" piled 6 high, the plate with the main breakfast on was huge.

If you asked for a slice of cake it was as big as a whole cake would be here.

Food production must've been incredibly cheap because I don't see how they made money when they gave you that much to eat.
 
DLax69

DLax69

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Wack61 said:
On the first day of a 2 week holiday to florida in the late 80s we went to a restaurant for breakfast, Dennys I think it was, there were 2 options for breakfast, I chose the larger option because it was only $2 more

They just kept bringing it, an utterly ridiculous amount of food, by the time the last plate came there was nowhere to put it, the pancakes in McDonald's here are maybe 5", these were 12" piled 6 high, the plate with the main breakfast on was huge.

If you asked for a slice of cake it was as big as a whole cake would be here.

Food production must've been incredibly cheap because I don't see how they made money when they gave you that much to eat.
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Production is a factor...as is quality/grade...and relative low cost of labor, seeing as how front of house staff survive off tips, not wages. Years ago, a buffet chain called Golden Corral was one of my customers. I think (if I remember values incorrectly, the indexing is still mostly accurate) they were charging about $10 US for all you could eat and drink...and the management told me that their average meal costs were in the $2-$3 US per person range...
 
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