Sitting at a picnic recently by the sea in Florida, I was reminded of my mother talking about a picnic she had attended in America in the 1950s. She didn’t know what had amazed her more, the fact that the picnic was held at a wooden table with benches – instead of on the ground sitting on a typical English blanket – or the enormous size of the bananas.
In Florida, the picnic bench was not the only thing I was surprised by. There was also the fact that in the seaside park where we ate, alcohol was not allowed, so the wine we drank had to be hidden in a fizzy water bottle. It was fortunate that I wasn’t in a cotton frock, as this picnic happened after Labor Day – 5 September – the date by which in the States you are supposed to stop wearing summer clothes.
These are the kind of small differences that constantly divide countries. We called the French frogs, they called us beef; the times of holidays are different; a job that only can be done by men in one country is usually done very efficiently by women in another.
If we are going to have large numbers of refugees and other incomers we must make sure that new people who are here to stay should be allowed to continue with their own, harmless ways. Their favourite food, their important special days, their preferred way of parenting their children. Keeping your own identity is achieved through these small everyday things. And once they’ve learned our ways, too, maybe everyone will benefit from learning new things…
What do you think? Have your say below
