Engaging America

America is an actual country.

This came as a surprise to me a couple of years ago when I relised it. Over time, we become so saturated with America that it is not so much a country as the entire world.

The specific moment came when I was on a tram a couple of years ago with my then-girlfriend and going past the MCG. For some reason I was pretending to be American (various comments like "Is that the Cricket Ground?" "I hear it's one of the biggest in the world"). A lady overheard us talking and chimed in with some facts about the MCG. Then she started asking about our home...
"So, you're from America?"
"Yes", I replied.
"Which part?"
Sweating, I replied "New York"
Then came her next question: "New York City?"



At the time, my brain went into meltdown mode: What do you mean, New York City? Why would you ask that question? I'm from New York, for fuck's sake. There's only one New York.

Confused, I spluttered out a curt "ya". It was only later that I realised that New York is a state, which is why you hear Americans say they are from "New York City".

 What interested me about this is that after so many years of being saturated by America, I actually had not idea that New York was in a state.

The lady got off the tram, a couple of question marks lingering in her head.

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One of the things about Mike is that he is a fat American, and therefore almost a cliche. The sensational nature of his delivery, which probably seems normal to him, jutts out completely for me. How could you make a piece of theatre so sensational, about something so precious?

But as usual, it's the little things which stick out. Like, what the hell is Kinko's?