Comment: Putting the world to rights
Photo: Kelly Draper
In my country, we have a hobby. This hobby is called 'Putting the world to rights'. As far as I knew, this was a universal hobby. A way to bond.
My first attempts in Denmark to 'put the world to rights' were thwarted by Danes and foreigners alike with the following phrase.
»It would be worse in the US,« or »It would be the same in the US«.
But, but, Americans like flags!
I have never been to the States, I only know about it from friends and the media. What I have learned about the US from Danes is the following:
Americans like their flag
Americans are fat
Americans eat junk food
Americans are dumb
Let us take these one at a time. Americans like their flag. From what I hear, people from the US indeed like their flag. At patriotic occasions. For example, during international sport events, wars, elections and times of national crisis. The people of Denmark like their flag during those times plus birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, sales in shops and poked into dog turds.
Blind spot
Americans are fat. There are 309 million people in the US. Some of them are very fat and some of them are very thin. Scarcely anyone working in their entertainment industry is 'fat'. In fact, the percentage of self reported overweight people is very similar (around 34 per cent), it is only when you count obese people that the US starts to break away. But Denmark’s obese population is increasing all the time. Simply pointing to another country and saying: but-THEIR-Mummy-lets-them-do-it-! does not change anything.
Americans eat junk food. As I have said, I have never been the US, so I have no idea what people there eat. I did see that movie Supersize Me once, but I doubt it qualifies me to speak. I have lived in Denmark a while now, and the food that is NOT considered junk is worrying. Chocolate is bad, cheese is okay. Peanut butter is bad, liver pâté is okay. Burgers are bad, processed meatballs are okay.
I find this blind spot extraordinary.
Hard to find Denmark on map
Now to the last one: Americans are dumb. There are about a million videos of Americans being asked to point to Denmark on a map. Or to say a tongue twister in Danish. AND THEY CANNOT DO IT. The fans of this genre are absolutely certain that no non-Dane has any knowledge of Denmark and that this is both hilarious and tragic. They attribute this lack of knowledge to something called 'ignorance'.
Yet, you do not see videos testing Danes on their geography. I cannot count the number of times that grown up Danes have let it slip that they think Africa is a country. I wonder if any random on the street could point to Lithuania on a map. Or Laos. Or French Guiana. And if they COULD, I would never upload it to Youtube.
I would expect that it is not 'ignorance' that drives this phenomena but rather 'it is of no consequence to know this stuff'. That's alright, isn't it? It is a really small country with minimal influence in world affairs. It's okay if people don't know how to say red berry compote with cream in Danish, right?
Now we have got that out of the way, can we start putting the world to rights or what?
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Comments
Kelly, I am guessing you are
Kelly,
I am guessing you are from Canada?
So many European, not just Danes in general, confuse the two nationalities. Just tell them "all of you Swedes make the same mistake!".
-Jorgen
Dont undertand the need..
... for putting people into boxes or categories?
I mean, why dont we just see people as we should - as individuals. Nobody is 100 pct alike.
Instead of spreading nationalism by putting people into boxes, we should be spreading more humanity by talking about people a sbeing individuals.
Besides that, I do agree with the author that Danes know just as little about the US and Americans, as they claim Americans to know about DK.
Peace.
Tongue Twisters
I get the tongue twisting and why it's funny to them. It's like when the Danes are talking to me about their hunting weekend and stop to ask me if we say "pheasants" or "peasants," or when the guy on the radio announces the Pink Floyd song as "Another Prick in the Wall." If my mumbling amuse them so much, it doesn't bother me as I'm grateful that they're always willing to speak to me in English. As for the other things...junk food, fatness, etc., that can be annoying I eat more junk food here than in the States because non-junk food cost so much more here.
I SO miss not being able to
I SO miss not being able to do this without being attacked for negativity.
Great piece, once again!
Funny
Kind of nice to have someone who is not from the U.S. pointing these things out. I (from the U.S.) attended a DJOEF event a few years ago and was clearly not Danish. During the break, a Danish woman came and sat down and started asking, nay, telling me, me about "why Americans do this" and "that" . . . I finally said to her, which of the 300,000,000 plus "americans" are you speaking about exactly? Knowing, would certainly help me formulate an answer. To give a little proportion, for every baby born in DK (Dare I say "Danish" child - since some will be denied that 'right' and referred to in racist form as "efterkommer" . . and so, very literally not included in that definition . . . ) there are 60 born in the U.S. Another example of why the generalizing doesn't work . . . I grew up on an island in New York - which has a population of over 7,500,000 today. That little island, not even considered a "State" in the U.S., has a larger population than all of Denmark. A little perspective, can be a good thing. If only those self-righteous (and that does not mean all) Danes would stand back for a few moments and, as you say, look at their own breakfast and candy-eating habits. Judge and ye shall be judged.
"Putting the world to rights"?
Good individual points, but I think I miss the overall point: What does it mean, "Putting the world to rights"? Please describe that phrase specifically. Is it like "community involvement"? Thank you.
re: "PUTTING THE WORLD TO RIGHTS"?
It's a nicer way of saying "whining about the world"!
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