An American (or two) in England: Just the Gravy on Top

We caught each other's eye and I chirped "You must be Jarred, the other American!" He laughed and said "Hi! I thought that was you!" Someone said, "It's funny how you Americans can recognize each other!" He seems super nice and friendly. Apparently he is unhappy living here and talks incessantly about how great America is compared to here or anywhere else in the world. "Leaders of the Free World!" he quips whenever someone takes a stab at good ol' U S of A. His wife is British and they lived in America for about 15 years before moving here to be near her family. He loves her and knows it's the right thing to do (this is what I've deduced after hearing the town gossip). I know he misses American football and that Thanksgiving was difficult for him. I wanted to invite him for dinner but he volunteered to work because he said it wouldn't be the same regardless of what he did since there was no (American) football on TV and his brothers weren't around. It made me feel sad for him because I got what he was saying. Everyone else seemed to find humor in it. The British have the uncanny ability to laugh at everyone's misfortunes including their own. I have determined they are a cynical people who love to wallow in negativity and cringe at cheerful, positive attitudes. They are weary of optimism and take pride in this negativity and weariness. That being said, they are a ton of fun to be around, are kind and generous and are also some of the most politically well-informed people I've ever met. They have a history that is beyond my comprehension and their culture is steeped in this history. I laugh with Justin because it seems as if, with as much subjugation as the British have inflicted on so many peoples and cultures in their sordid past, they are equally adept at subjugating themselves. They are bound by the chains of their history and quite envious of the American optimism - the fresh attitudes of "starting anew" that has permeated the American Culture since the British persecuted our forefathers for their religious practices. It's fascinating really and I've quite enjoyed engaging in conversations of this nature with several folks in the pub. They're not so interested in talking about themselves for a very long period but would talk endlessly about America. They tend to make gross generalized statements about Americans to the point where it becomes obvious that many do not have the concept of the enormity of the country as compared to England or even the entire United Kingdom. Just like they make distinctions between the Welsh, English and Irish, so do we with southerners, northerners, mid westerners, East coasters and West coasters. Although they understand the concept of each of the countries making up the UK have separate law, the idea that there are state legislatures and laws that vary between the states (let alone between townships and counties) is foreign here. There is one law here - national (England) law. There are county and district councils that enforce that law but there is no distinction between village, town, city, county, district and national law. This quite fascinates me as everything becomes very mainstream and individuality tends to not exist as much. My summation? Individuality is the gravy on top of all of the mashed potatoes. All of us, we’re not the meat. The earth is the meat. We’re the potatoes. And what makes all of it delicious and tasteful is our individuality – our ability to create in new and evocative ways and to stand out from one another whether we’re human, animal or plant. Some days I am turkey gravy and on other days I find pork gravy to be more satisfying. Of course, other times I'm the icing on the cake!