rdn32

I have been to the America twice in my life. The first time was when I was about 11, visiting a family who had been neighbours when they were living in England, but had moved back to the US; to Connecticut, as it happens. The second time was much more recently.

For the journey from London to Fort Lauderdale (in Florida), we took a rather scenic route. The return trip was more straightforward: the plan was to get a taxi from the port to a Tri-Rail station, from which we would catch a train to Miami airport.

Our taxi driver was a loud, Hispanic guy. I don’t know quite how the conversation started, but when the penny dropped that we were English he turned around to us and said “So, if I were in England I couldn’t carry a gun, right?”

The question took me by surprise. I suppose it hadn’t occurred to me that the most interesting cultural difference between Britain and the US might, to some people, lie in attitudes towards firearms.

There are times that one becomes acutely aware of having trusted one’s safety to a total stranger. Sitting in a back seat of someone else’s car, in an unfamiliar city, in a foreign country, I felt very powerless.

I don’t know what I found more alarming: the fact that he had turned to face us, whilst still driving; or the thought that–in his enthusiasm for his topic–he might want to show us his own gun.

I mumbled agreement with him, but offered no opinion on the matter. I quietly hoped that he would lose interest, and start paying attention to the road again–which duly he did.

He was quite persistent, though, in explaining that he could easily drive us all the way to Miami airport. I don’t know if he just wanted the extra fare, or if he thought that crazy English people shouldn’t risk using public transport. In any case, we declined the offer: repeatedly but politely.

He dropped us off, and we waited in the sunshine at a small, quiet station. The train arrived, and we caught it. It was all very pleasant.

I like trains.

I don’t know how I might have answered the taxi driver’s question better. Perhaps I should have said “No, if you were in England you’d say ‘Where to?’ and then we would discuss the weather.”

Perhaps Miami doesn’t offer much scope for that sort of thing. After all, how many times do you want to say “it’s turned out nice again” in a single lifetime?