Что трудно понять в Америке европейцам
Aug. 21st, 2018 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
profprНашел на Кворе
How far a block is
As a frequent visitor to the USA I still have no clear grasp of this unit of measurement. A typical conversation will go something like:
Me: How far away is it?
American: Three blocks.
Me: How big is a block?
American: Well, it depends.
Me: On what?
American: What sort of block it is.
Me: So what information can I derive from your first answer?
American(confused): Pardon?
Me: How long will it take me to walk there? Do I need to take a bus? A train? A plane?
American (even more confused): It’s just three blocks.
I have a theory that, at the age of ten or so, all American children are taken away to an undisclosed location, and inducted into a secret society during which they are told how far a block is. They then must swear arcane oaths to never, on pain of death, reveal this information to any non-American. Even my wife won’t tell me.
The reason for this is so that, should the USA ever be invaded, the tanks belonging to the Russians (or whoever it might be) will grind to a halt since they will be unable to learn from captured prisoners how far it is to the next gas station.
How far a block is
As a frequent visitor to the USA I still have no clear grasp of this unit of measurement. A typical conversation will go something like:
Me: How far away is it?
American: Three blocks.
Me: How big is a block?
American: Well, it depends.
Me: On what?
American: What sort of block it is.
Me: So what information can I derive from your first answer?
American(confused): Pardon?
Me: How long will it take me to walk there? Do I need to take a bus? A train? A plane?
American (even more confused): It’s just three blocks.
I have a theory that, at the age of ten or so, all American children are taken away to an undisclosed location, and inducted into a secret society during which they are told how far a block is. They then must swear arcane oaths to never, on pain of death, reveal this information to any non-American. Even my wife won’t tell me.
The reason for this is so that, should the USA ever be invaded, the tanks belonging to the Russians (or whoever it might be) will grind to a halt since they will be unable to learn from captured prisoners how far it is to the next gas station.
