UpRight or LeftDown
Recently I went to the the US of A a.k.a. the land of opportunity. Frankly speaking I didn't like it initially. Someone showed me some good infrastructure like flyovers in Los Angeles and I retorted "So what! Delhi is also very good. The flyovers are more beautiful there!" But after some days and seeing that they have utilized the technology everywhere to make life easier (or tough for new comers), I sort of started admiring US. In two months, I got to know and analyze a lot of things. Thanks to being in California, I picked up a few words from Spanish also. Like 'San' in San Diego or San Francisco means 'Saint'. 'Los' in Los Angeles means 'The'. Also 'j' in jalapeño is pronounced as 'h'. 'll' in tortilla is pronounced at 'y'. A very good example : a place "La Jolla" in San Diego is pronounced as "la hoya".
Well, coming back to the title of the blog, I observed two things with extra curiosity. As they say, in US everything is made different from what it is in Europe. The first one being driving on right side. In Europe (and India also) we drive on the left side of the road. There doesn't seem to be any difference at first thought. We are concerned with driving and the auto manufacturers have to make their products accordingly. But if we think more, doesn't it sound better and make more sense to drive on the "right" side? Yes, the RIGHT i.e. the correct side. To me at least, it makes. Quite thoughtful...isn't it?
Second difference that I contemplated is the way switches are turned on and off. Very much unconscious thing...press down and it's on and press up and it's off. That's in India and Europe. But not in America. There you press it 'UP' to make things on and press 'DOWN' to make things off. Again, it sounds more meaningful. Something is up (on) when switch is 'up' and it is down (off) when switch is 'down'.
Another differences like use of miles (not km), feet (not meters), inches (not cm), pounds (not kg) etc. are quite irritating. I wonder how does their scientific community like NASA and alike adjust with these when they are at work.
Well, coming back to the title of the blog, I observed two things with extra curiosity. As they say, in US everything is made different from what it is in Europe. The first one being driving on right side. In Europe (and India also) we drive on the left side of the road. There doesn't seem to be any difference at first thought. We are concerned with driving and the auto manufacturers have to make their products accordingly. But if we think more, doesn't it sound better and make more sense to drive on the "right" side? Yes, the RIGHT i.e. the correct side. To me at least, it makes. Quite thoughtful...isn't it?
Second difference that I contemplated is the way switches are turned on and off. Very much unconscious thing...press down and it's on and press up and it's off. That's in India and Europe. But not in America. There you press it 'UP' to make things on and press 'DOWN' to make things off. Again, it sounds more meaningful. Something is up (on) when switch is 'up' and it is down (off) when switch is 'down'.
Another differences like use of miles (not km), feet (not meters), inches (not cm), pounds (not kg) etc. are quite irritating. I wonder how does their scientific community like NASA and alike adjust with these when they are at work.
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