I didnt mean to step on your toes, SC. But if you've ever been to Italy, or even Spain for that matter! you'd see what I mean. You can pick American tourists out of the crowd as easily as you can pick cockroaches out of a display of butterflies ;)
I wasnt in any way intimating that *I* possessed the key of finery and sophistication. By all means, Im one of the tacky ones, unashamedly so. But I do know some of the "rules," and I do happen to cringe whenever I see a man with a "prole handle," that gap in the collar of a suit jacket that is improperly fitted. I've seen desperately poor Spaniards with better sense of style than most Americans. It is my observed opinion, and that is all I claim.
Thats very interesting about your grandfather! You have a deserved right to be proud of his accomplishments. Which is something that you should be happy to know is a positive aspect of America. Europeans, historically, especially the European aristocracy who patronize the Arts, have looked down upon entrepeneurs and scientists alike, as being crassely "bourgeois" occupations. If Americans are tacky for their lack of an aristocracy, then Europe lacks a proper appreciation of productive minds for the existence of an aristocracy! Touche' Mssr. Gustave! ;) |
