A Change of Pace

I have made a significant observation about the British people.  From what I can tell they are not nearly as uptight as we Americans.  They may not be quite as affectionate, or certainly not as loud, but they are also much less tense than people from back home.  While all of us "yanks" worry about germs, and deadly bacteria in our food, and traffic jams, and pretty much everything else in our lives, the Brits take all of this in their stride.    I mean once a country has survived a plague, multiple enormous fires, direct bombings, and every other kind of devastation, these trivial dangers are put into perspective.  There are no seat covers in the bathrooms, no obsessive use of hand sanitizer.  The milk and eggs are not pasteurized to kill all the bacteria (and consequently they tend to me much more delicious).  On the "tube" they sit and read quietly to themselves rather than curse and swear and honk their horns in frustration.  As a matter of fact, all over the subway stations there are advertisements for books and theater plastered all over the walls.  Can you imagine driving down the freeway and seeing an expensive add space taken up by a book add?  Not very likely in the good old US of A.  The most obvious example of this laid back mentality, is seen in the countless souvenirs labeled with their motto, "Keep Calm and Carry On."  From what I figure, this society, which is our senior in so many ways, has realized something that America has overlooked.  That stress is a real killer.  They have survived for thousands of years even without toilet seat covers and pasteurization, and are still going strong.  So... I've made a decision to adopt this particular British motto into my life.  "Keep Calm and Carry On."  What a beautiful little piece of advice.