What I’ve noticed so far in America

The client that I’m staying with in Arizona currently, mentioned whilst he was in SA, that he reckons SA isn’t that far off from being a 1st world country.

Hmm… Well I must be honest. I don’t think I agree. I’ve been here for less than a week now, and everyday I see indications of how far South Africa still has to go to be recognized as a 1st world country. Granted we have beauty that many other country’s don’t have, but when it comes to efficiency, forward thinking, and general development and processing of new ideas, South Africa has a long way to go… A very long way.

Small things that are probably taken forgranted by Americans everyday… its these things that represent a way of thinking that is always looking for new ideas - ways to make doing the mundane interesting. For example:

• Drive thru banking
  So far I’ve only seen it with Chase bank, but they have banks set up that look more like petrol stations. There’s ATM’s that you drive up to, lean out your window and do your thing. They even have a service window that you can drive up to, to speak to a teller. Incredible.
• In store credit card usage
  We went to a computer store yesterday where I saw a very clever means of tracking credit card transactions. Instead of the traditional way of swiping your card, and then signing a piece of paper, you instead are given a touch screen device that you swipe your card through, and then you sign on the screen of the device using a PDA type pen. No paperwork, no fuss. Brilliant.
• Internet
  Man, I could go on about this for hours. They have wireless internet coverage everywhere. No matter where you are, you can pretty much find an unprotected WiFi network in range. Verizon offer a wireless connection for like $50 a month (approx) and if you have cellphone reception, you’ll have wireless connectivity at lightning speeds. I suppose SA’s 3-G is like that, but of course, in typical SA fashion, ‘new’ technology costs the earth and is waaaay substandard.
• Freeways
  I saw yesterday 2 cool things on the US freeways. Firstly, if the traffic is relatively high, they’ll turn on a flow management systems for all vehicles joining the highway. Say there’s 2 lanes joining the freeway from an onramp, There’ll be a red/green traffic light on each side of the road (one for left & right lane). They’ll flash green to allow one car per lane onto the highway… That means no bottleneck traffic, no slowing of traffic by every onramp… Awesome stuff
  Plus, by all the bridges, they have awesome art all over the sides of the highway walls. Lizards and cacti and all sorts of abstract shapes. Rocking

All in all, the US has forged ahead in many aspects of their day to day life here. Small things that just make life simpler and more pleasant. Way to go.

Flying to Texas tomorrow. Its about -4′C (29′F) and its hailing. Hold thumbs for me for a safe flight…