MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

RSA vs USA

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I have lived in this wonderful country of ours for 48 years. I recently had the opportunity to go to America on a 3 week holiday. We stayed in a small town in New Jersey and toured around from there to Pocono, Niagara, New York and the Jersey Shore. I must say with absolute conviction, I felt very safe wherever we went.

Here are a few comparisons between the two countries that I did notice:

Firstly the good. No potholes were to be see. No burglar bars or gates to be seen anywhere. The buses were on time and were in a very good condition. not a single scrap of litter was to be seen anywhere. Good and clothing was very cheap. You can buy a Toyota Rav 4 for $20 000 at 0.5% interest. That is not a typo. really 0.5% interest and no such schemes such as balloon payments etc. The house doors were left unlocked even when we slept or there was no-one at home. Cars are left unlocked and windows were left open day and night in the driveway. And the best of all. NO MINIBUS TAXIS.

Now the not so good. The roads are tolled to death. Between New Jersey and JFK there are four toll gates adding up to a whopping $40 and that is without airport parking. Then there is the traffic. Lasts for hours if there is an accident. Accommodation is also very costly as is the price of housing.

In a nutshell, everything in the USA works and believe me you cannot get lost as it is so well signposted.

Would I live there? No.

This country is still so much more beautiful. God bless Africa.

Author: Tim Emmerson
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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.

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Comments

  1. I hear what you are saying but they also provide perfectly reliable and safe ways to overcome the traffic and tolls, the tolls are to try and reduce traffic. (eg subways, trains and busses). I am an outdoors person and have felt the same way as you until recently. We are heading to North America. The question you need to ask is will you feel the same way in 10 years time given the history of the African continent. If we had leaders (including the past) who lead to unite the people of Africa it would be worth any amount of toil. But African leaders stay in power by propergating hatered and discord.I think that we are at least 200 years from a solution here. Madiba was our only leader in the past 70 years who started with the right intentions but the rest have gone backwards. I hope that i am wrong but there is safety in things working properly.