Two Countries Separated by the Same Language …….

As a words person I know that language usage is constantly changing but I’m often entertained in New York to see how the English language has developed differently here. Many nouns have been transformed into verbs. Each time we get on a bus we are warned ‘No littering’, on the pavements we are told to curb (kerb) our dogs. Walking in Central Park we were instructed to respect the fence. In England respect is something for parents or teachers. As Steve said, ‘A fence has to earn my respect’. He’s so English.

More striking (and I have to admit shocking at times) are the views expressed. In the New York Times this Sunday there was an interview with Maria Shriver about her father’s Alzheimers. The interviewer, suggesting she was a strong spokesperson for the disease (though he called her a spokeswoman – could have been worse), said, ‘You look like a Wonder Woman with those cheekbones’. I re-read it several times. Was this ironic I wondered? I don’t think so. Where was the editor? On our last visit we watched a television programme that divided a group of men into two groups – Brawn and Brains (though looking at them it wasn’t easy to see the difference) and the viewing women were asked to vote on which group they preferred. We should have clicked on to CNN news of course but I found this so amazing I carried on watching.

But there are also strikingly liberal attitudes. There is widespread support for the disabled. If a wheelchair user wants to get on a bus the driver gets out and helps the person in the wheelchair safely onto the bus. None of the passengers look annoyed at the delay (except me, I’m ashamed to say, after one journey was delayed at almost every stop). Nor do the wheelchair users think that gratitude is required. One person shouted and swore at the driver and the passengers, “Move along, I need more space. Get out of my way”. We use the buses a lot in London and I’ve never known a driver get out to help in this way.

Each nation is full of contradictions, contrasts and great plurality of views. When Hamish was in San Francisco some years ago he was often stopped by people shaking him by the hand and thanking him for Tony Blair’s and Britain’s support of the war in Iraq. It was rarely possible to explain his anti-war position. The titles on the bookshelves here show alternative views: ‘Conglomerates And The Media’, ‘The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism’,‘The War At Home – the domestic costs of Bush’s militarism’.

How are diverse views disseminated to a wider public? Maybe one way is through literature festivals (or film festivals like the Tribeca one we’ve been attending). We constantly need a challenge to our thinking and I’m finding this happens all the time while we are in New York. Travel does indeed broaden the mind.

Ageist attitudes are still widely accepted in Britain so I am glad that Julia Neuberger has tackled this issue in her latest book and will present her ideas at Ways With Words at Dartington on Sunday 19 July.

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