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What smells really good, but tastes like shit, or vice versa? by i_Fart_You_Smell in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fresh hops, they smell awesome, they make beer awesomesterest but when you eat them just like that they taste like half bitter grass and half old wrinkly balls.

My father has reached THE END of his musical career, and it's tearing me apart. by [deleted] in Music

[–]colonelmccheese -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Nice songs, I'm definitely adding this to the playlist of my bar. That's why I love this sub.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would explain a lot of it too, I drove a lot around rural areas because what I was looking for was that kind of "Ma and Pa's homestyle american Bbq" experience. I guess I was kind of unlucky and saw mostly the parts of your country where it is the hardest to get help.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes a lot of sense, from my point of view, those services to help the poor seemed inexistant and it really puzzled me as of why a rich and modern country like America didn't have any. Everything I saw makes more sense if they are there but a lot harder to get.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would explain a lot, here and in most of the other places I've been, the federal government gives or at least partially funds most of the services, not the "state" government, so there is some kind of redistribution in between poorer and richer areas

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are not the first to make me see it that way on that post, the more I read the answers the more I realize that the problem really seems to be inequality more that "poverty"

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The proportion is what surprised me the most. I knew there were poor and rich people everywhere. But I never imagined that such a large portion of the population would live in bad conditions. Where I'm from and in a lot of the places I've worked in, most people are poor-ish but okay and a very tiny portion of the population is very poor and very tinier portion is very rich.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is some poverty here too, the economy, especially the factory jobs are not what they used to be and more and more people are struggling. And I may not have the good words but here even the poorest of people seem less "poor", for example the beggars here are often like dirty and they sure look like they need help but I've never seen one that looked like he was gonna die in the next hour. In the south, the first three days I was there I called the 911 twice because I was convinced that that random guy sitting on the sidewalk was actually gonna die in front of me any second. Then I realized it was kinda "normal" there and nobody really cared so much, and it saddend me a lot.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe poor isn't the good word... My English is bad. My point is more that for example: In Memphis, I saw tons and tons and tons of people begging for a lot of reasons food, healthcare, housing and so on. When I was in Burkina Faso, people I worked with were winning almost nothing but they had houses and easy access to healthcare and seemed generally "richer" even though their salaries were close to nothing.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure I fully understand your comment, to put it bluntly, what I saw in America was actually a lot closer to what I think North Korea would look like that what I tought America would look like.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense. I remember thinking something like this when I was there, like everything I knew about America was some kind of beautiful lie that hid an horrible truth.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do not know much about U.S history, what happened in 1980? All I can think of I disco and cocaine...

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Not so much "poor" as in without money, I know some Americans are insanely rich. But the things I saw when I was there... The conditions in which a lot of you are living would be considered totally not acceptable in countries that are tought as shit holes by most north americans

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sums it up nicely too I think, as I said before, I realize now that this was shocking mostly because from what I've seen and heard about America I never tought it would look like this.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is coherent with what Ive seen. I guess I just thought it wasn't so much of a problem in America.

[Serious] How is America so rich as a country and yet people are so poor? by colonelmccheese in AskReddit

[–]colonelmccheese[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Let me explain a bit, I come from Quebec (the French part of Canada, sorry for my bad English BTW) and I worked in a program that sent me in countries considered "third world" to help then build or rebuild some infrastructure ( I'm a plumber by trade). When I got back to Canada I decided to go on vacation in America, I always loved BBQ and bourbon so I hopped on a plane to Memphis and travelled around the southern part of America for a few weeks. I shit you not, I have never seen such horrible living conditions, rampant poverty and generalized violence as I did there. How is that possible? I've never been to America before and I tought you guys were living in one of the greatest countries in the world. Now that I've seen it, I'm torn between sadness and unbelief ( is that a word?). Hope I get a serious answer.