Ok – so everybody wants to know how chaotic the security procedures were at the various airports after the recent Heathrow scare. Well, sorry to disappoint you – the queue’s were short, the staff were efficient, and everything happened on schedule. In fact, at JFK we took about 1/2 hour from landing to exiting the airport. The only problems we had were that my deodorant was confiscated when we boarded the aircraft!

You have to experience America to really understand it. Everything is bigger, better and faster! Everything you buy in the supermarkets is big – from packs of tea, to vegetables, and huge packets of laundry detergent. The variety and range of goods is staggering, from entire rows dedicated to crisps (OK – chips), tons of different teas, and of course Oranges from South Africa. This was in a small supermarket.

So far, I am amazed at the level of customer service. Everybody we encountered at JFK were friendly, they all greeted you and were all helpful. This included the huge security guard standing at the exit to our aircraft when we arrived.

The road we took from the airport to Wilmington (where I am currently typing this blog) is eight lanes (in each direction) – so sixteen lanes in total!

USA is a very patriotic country, many of the houses have USA flags hanging outside.

There is a lot of ‘bad’ things we often say about ‘The American Way’ and how they support each other almost to the exclusion of anybody else, but I think that perhaps us in South Africa can learn a thing of two from USA. Imagine the ‘South African Way’, and support for each other. Imagine a world-class level of customer service in South Africa. Imagine a country where you don’t have to keep everything kept behind barbed wire, electric fences and armed guards.

Anyway – enough thinking, I am off to explore Wilmington…

Craig

ps: I am writing this on a 5 Gig fibre optic Internet connection – at somebody’s home…