Coals to Newcastle

As I write this, I am literally engaged in an online conversation with a friend of someone I am incredibly fond of!

Talk about being raked over the coals!

I'm in mid-exchange with a man who is wonderfully protective of his friend. I have to admit, for this particular 'someone', I would be just the same. And you all know I won't suffer fools.

But I can't help think (and feel) that although my co-converser and I are the same age, give or take a few months, that the cultural differences between our yank cousins and ourselves are as vast today as they have ever been.

In many ways, I feel as if I'm back in the school yard. It all feels a little juvenile. Now I'm not saying that this person is juvenile, far from it. He's a very intelligent fellow from what I've gleamed out of the dialogue so far.

What I'm really getting at is how we each perceive the meaning of 'communucation' and just how deep we will allow the levels of said communication to penetrate. And I'm not applying this to all Yanks; or maybe it should be confederates in this case (need to check that geographically with him); and especially the one who is rapidly taking up a lot of my feeling and thinking time. He is quite the opposite to most Americans I have met. He is very open to communication, and with a little gentle nudging, will let it all out and not feel any shame for it. I applaud him for that and it only serves to make him dearer to me.

As a generalisation, and this is an area I don't like getting into as I much prefer fact; but on the whole I do find that most Americans pay lip service to the very spirit of 'communication'. It's all well and good mouthing the words, but I rarely feel they have the sentiment and belief that should be behind it. There is a tendancy for them to talk "at" you rather than "with" you. And lets face it, they're famous for spending years in therapy going over the same old subject time and time again without resolution. What a waste of time, energy and money!!!

So it begs me to ask, whilst this one is giving me the virtual version of the Spanish Inquisition, and I'm learning things about him he is subconciously giving away, is he actually fulfilling his goals and learning anything about me?