Long before I approached the borderAmerica, I was told “Yankees are crazy.” And it is true. As soon as I landed in L.A.X, I find out how crazy these guys are. Not to mention those incredible graffito, the dressing style they have is enough to surprise us.

   First come the big Americans. As generally known, Americans are big, big enough to have a larger size of clothes. In China my clothes were usually L or XL. However, on the other side of globe, I found out joyfully I need only size M, which means there are a bunch more people who are actually a lot bigger than I am. This fact gives us a question: What on earth makes Americans balloons? (Have you seen those couch potatoes who look exactly like a potato?) The answer is simple-there’s fast food, snack and, more importantly, lazy bones. All right, you may say that they’re not lazy, and they are simply enjoying too much convenience modern technologies give us. But what I wanna mention is convenience itself doesn’t mean anything and what really makes sense is their mind. Indubitably, the States is the most advanced country on the whole planet whose citizens deserve the welfare. Till now we’re not too far from the point. It’s their own desire that pushes them into the abyss. Have they ever considered their behavior during the process of finally becoming even unable to walk? I don’t know. We don’t know. What we know is, failure to control one’s desire is too dangerous for powerful human beings.

   After such serious topic, let’s come to some easier stuff. Party is, generally regarded as, a part of American’s life. And, for many teenagers and college students, it’s their whole life. The whole America is like a big party sometimes. The reason why parties are so popular may be that in the parties one can relax himself, thinking nothing other than having fun, forgetting his duties. And furthermore, party is often linked with wine (which is illegal for under-21s), sex (which is not encouraged by moral education) and, even, drug (which is super illegal and leads one to eventual death in desperation). In other words, it’s enjoyment. Now you see, we finally come to the decline of responsibility and failure to deny seduce.

   Next comes the expression of emotion of Americans. I must say we Chinese are sometimes way too conservative, keeping too much unnecessary distances between people. For example, in an “American” dancing (which is actually shaking your body especially your hip), you can find out a whole bunch of wild actions, which is surely unacceptable by a traditional Chinese. That’s how I started considering seriously about the craziness of Americans. Undoubtedly, Uncle Sam is the symbol of freedom. Freedom is the right to do anything the law allows you to, including crazy things. Definitely, in a country full of freedom citizens can live free-style ignoring moral limitations made by traditional customs and strong religious powers. On the contrary, in an Oriental country such as China, every one who wishes to get more freedom in civil life will have to think twice even before considering it due to powers of tradition. (Especially, religion can be regarded as a tradition too.) And it’s hard to say which kind is better. But the truth is, more people choose to get freedom. And once they tasted it, they would never let go. And that suggests a single person tend, more often, to freedom. And that’s where we Chinese should learn from Americans. Unnecessary limits don’t make anything. And let’s forget those old-fashioned “fundamental” stuff.

   Crazy as it goes, they are having their own way and own theory.

//因为已经交上去了,没办法改了

我很喜欢成熟社会/不成熟社会（幼稚社会）的概念。一个成熟社会，应该具有下列特征。1.有完善的公共设施和社会福利；2.公民道德观念已经建立，公民行为受道德约束；3.价值观认同度高；4.社会心态公正不偏颇，有健康的舆论环境；5.广泛关注并扶助弱势群体；6.有公平、高效率的政治制度，公民有参政意识；7.没有排外心理。

    在我眼中，美国社会是比较成熟的。

初到洛杉矶的时候，惊异地发现其实美国并不是处处都像曼哈顿那样的摩天大楼鳞次栉比，却还有一点荒败。机场外面的停车场甚至就是裸水泥堆积起来的，完全没有涂油漆。不追求面子，只求用着舒服就行。完全不像国内的机场，都是城市的名片，城市的脸面。套用一句老话，叫做“有条件要上，没有条件创造条件也要上。”结果便是“面子工程”。而老美追求的是实用，用着舒服就行。从这点上看，国人的观念差了一大截啊，“革命尚未成功，同志仍需努力”。著名的101公路（从San Diego到Seattle的沿太平洋的高速公路）两旁居然处处都有垃圾，也难怪，公路24小时车水马龙，哪得半点空闲？但是路本身虽然很有些年岁了，但是状况还不错。我们的吴导飙车一点都没有问题。这也应证了美国人讲究实用的特性。

       美国的言论自由是举世闻名的。有笑话曰：美国人可以到白宫骂总统是猪，俄罗斯人也可以到克里姆林宫去骂，只不过骂的是美国总统。虽然媒体与人民其实是同床异梦，但媒体多样化从客观上确实促进了民主的进步。

       美国是移民社会，这意味着你看到的绝大多数人或者本人是移民，或者祖先是移民。总而言之，美国是个民族大熔炉。需要提到的是，虽然低收入人群中黑人所占比例依然较高，但是种族歧视现象已经不常见了。我曾经问过Kira为何Dr. King Jr.的民权运动能够如此迅速地胜利，她的回答是“America is beyond the age of discrimination.（美国早就过了歧视的年代了）” 虽然仅仅十年前，部分有关少数民族权利的法案还没有通过。但现在看来，种族歧视的问题已经初步解决。

去了政府机构参观，发现官僚主义虽然依然存在，但仿佛比我们的“有关部门”负责，也更加人性化：工作人员并不码着脸给你讲马列主义大道理，而是在办公的同时和你聊上几句。并不是刺探你的隐私，而是一种友好的表示。联想到近年来我们的机关也有较大的改进，心中有点欣慰。

另外一个可圈可点之处便是美国人的守秩序。停车场上有为残疾人预留的车位，而且更重要的是，即使整个停车场都满了，人们依然不会贪图方便占用专用车位。（如果在国内，恐怕早就被某些“身坚志残”的人士据为己有了）。在卫生间中亦是如此。（我曾在上海看到卫生间中明明小便池空着，一人却在大便池解小手，另一“忍无可忍”并且双腿绝对健全之人箭步如飞地冲进残疾人专用便池。真是“无法可想”了。）在迪斯尼乐园的时候，虽然去玩一个过山车要排一个小时以上的队，可是人人都十分遵守秩序，无人插队。偶尔看到的插队之人，也大多是带着孩子的“礼仪之邦”的国民。真是有点让人抬不起头来。迪斯尼乐园排队有两条线，其中一条是快速通行道。（如果提前到取票机取票，它就会给一张“快速通行证”，在指定时间去指定的过山车，就可免去排队之苦。）两条通道是平行的，但是没有人从长龙中偷偷进快速通行道。另一个例子是，在柜台前，人们都自觉遵守一米线的规定，这不是迂腐的陈规，而是对他人隐私的尊重。对比国内形同虚设的“一米线”，我们真的可以再次羞愧地抬不起头来。

成熟社会就像成熟的水果，外表上其貌不扬，只有亲身体验才能感受到生活于其中的方便。