"Why can't we do that here?"

[Incandenza]

What do you wish your country had that's found in other countries?

Aside from the obvious for me--national health care, better worker's rights, etc.--I really wish Americans queued for buses. I hate being the first or one of the first people waiting for the bus, yet one of the last to board because people push their way in front of me. You never know where the bus is going to stop, so it's not really any use waiting right by the bus stop sign, because you don't know if the bus is going to pull up right there--it rarely does.

[WOM]

"Why can't we do that here?"

The right to lane split/filter through traffic on my motorbike.

A part of the country that's tropical.

A genuine big-city transit system (see London, Paris, and any place with the vision to build a monorail or have car-free zones).

Other than that, I'm pretty contented.

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

I recently "volunteered" to help my brother "volunteer" (he's the boss, he had no choice) help to herd people onto the $2 shuttle bus from downtown Des Moines to the State Fair. The inability of so many people to grasp the basic concepts of "wait your turn," "not everyone can have a seat in a full bus," "exact change," and "be patient, it won't take long" was staggering.

Speaking of monorails...

[Heliotrope]

"Why can't we do that here?"

I've wished for queuing for buses, too. Sometimes I pass on a bus home when it looks like it's really crowded (e.g., standing room only), but by the time the next bus rolls around, another crowd has developed, and they don't care who was waiting first. It's a pain ending up on the third bus when it's 30 degrees F outside.

[Incandenza]

"Why can't we do that here?"

WornOldMotorbike wrote:

The right to lane split/filter through traffic on my motorbike.

I think California's one of the only states in the US where that's legal. I must say, I try to stay rational and calm in traffic, but when I see a motorcyclist wearing one of those helmets with the mohawk on top zooming past me and almost taking off my side mirror, I get annoyed.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

"Why can't we do that here?"

A geniune meritocracy, as opposed to an "old school" system based on whose Dad owns which company and offers executive jobs to their mates' kids as favours.

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Do they have that anywhere, Rogin? I don't think so.

Anyway, "meritocracies" are usually a bit of an illusion anyway. Usually the people who are most qualified are the people who had the best educational opportunties, and those are usually the people whose parents had money and/or were lucky enough to be discovered by some well-meaning teacher and encouraged to take the harder classes and so forth.

[Heliotrope]

"Why can't we do that here?"

I wish we had a lot of countries closer to us, because I'm always envious when OTFers talk casually about going someplace like Barcelona or Stockholm just for a weekend.

Having the whole month of August off for vacation would be a lot easier than trying to work around various people's weeks off.

[Guest]

"Why can't we do that here?"

sunshine.

I've just spent last week in Cornwall on what is comfortably the least succesful holiday in the Bannister family history.

6 days of rain, 3 cases of D&V out of 6 people and so we came back early.

[Incandenza]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Heliotrope wrote:

I wish we had a lot of countries closer to us, because I'm always envious when OTFers talk casually about going someplace like Barcelona or Stockholm just for a weekend.

Word. Even getting to Mexico is kind of difficult and takes a while.

[WOM]

"Why can't we do that here?"

A geniune meritocracy, as opposed to an "old school" system based on whose Dad owns which company and offers executive jobs to their mates' kids as favours.

Nah, those with merit will make it on their own anyway. Nepotism levels the playing field for the less-bright in society.

[WOM]

"Why can't we do that here?"

zooming past me and almost taking off my side mirror

Ugh...I wouldn't do that. I just want to be able to sneak up between cars at red lights and in traffic jams.

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

What Heliotrope said.

[matt j]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Free elections with proportional representation in a multi-party system. Legalized drugs. A large-scale, well-run, and affordable national railroad system. (Although, I'd be satisfied with a regional one.) Politicians who don't 'believe' in evolution being shamed and laughed out of office. Intelligent community development patterns. Quality public schools. ('public' being the US definition.)Neighborhood bakeries.

...

oh fine, I'd be satisfied with queuing for buses too.

[Heliotrope]

"Why can't we do that here?"

There's lots of neighborhood bakeries in Philadelphia, of different types: Italian (both desserts and bread-only), Mexican, Chinese, German, African-American, Polish, French, basic American, probably many more varieties.

Edit: I don't know if it's still around, but there used to be one that only sold carrot cakes.

[matt j]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Yeah, fair point. I suppose it applies more to the places I've lived than everywhere in the US. (Though to be honest, there is a bakery down the street from my house. They have one really, really good item - muffintops - but most of it is bland, bland, bland. And they don't make fresh bread.)

[Heliotrope]

"Why can't we do that here?"

I know it's impossible, but I wonder what it would be like to have simpler European-style sports leagues, where there aren't playoffs but just a simple table to determine the champion, but with a knockout or two in the meantime, plus promotion and relegation.

I'd also like more extensive train service, but there might already be more local train routes than I know about.

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Amtrak and commuter rail works ok in the Northeast.

But as a country, 50 years ago we decided to have a kick-ass interstate highway system instead of a train system. Or more accurately, the automobile industry decided that and the public went along with it.

[San Bernardhinault]

"Why can't we do that here?"

I really wish we could do tolerable hotels at non-extortionate prices. On the rare occasions I'm forced to stay at British hotels I feel a mixture of deep discomfort just because they're so crap, and spectacular embarassment because foreigners come here, get told by British Tourist Agencies how friendly and excellent British hotels and hoteliers are, and then pay £200 a night to stay in a decade old cheap bed covered in polyester chintz, and take a shower which has two modes - superheated dribble and cold dribble. And then get served the greasiest, most cardboardy fried breakfast, get charged another £20 for it, and be made to feel grateful that they got that much.

[Heliotrope]

"Why can't we do that here?"

(To Reed) A friend from the UK who is very interested in Andy Warhol wondered about taking Amtrak to Pittsburgh to visit the Warhol museum and was shocked to learn that it takes all day to get there. Just across one state!

[Jimmy Bignutz]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Nationalised public transport.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Heliotrope wrote:

I wish we had a lot of countries closer to us, because I'm always envious when OTFers talk casually about going someplace like Barcelona or Stockholm just for a weekend.

And this. It would be nice to be able to spontaneously go to another country just for a day trip. It's possible, but expensive.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Although I guess if you take the thread title literally, then it's a rather silly complaint.

Sort it out Gordon so-called Browns!

[DCI Harry Batt]

"Why can't we do that here?"

6 days of rain, 3 cases of D&V out of 6 people and so we came back early.

Ah, I worked it out while I was typing - as you were.

[Tubby Isaacs]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Obvious stuff like better transport, particularly fast trains.

I've never really found British hotels as bad as LLR says, but I get them all off hostelworld. When someone else paid, I stayed in nice places in Antrim and Fermananagh, but no idea what they cost.