Why Americans do not complain about marathons

Фото: Depositphotos

On Sunday, October 22, the Washington 42 Annual US Marine Marathon is held in Washington (Marine Corps Marathon), in which, by the way, Ukrainians are participating for the second time - ATO veterans.

The marathon starts between the Pentagon and the Arlington War Cemetery, passing through the whole of Washington.

In the north, the route covers Rock Creek Park, Washington's favorite place for picnics and jogging. In some places it is a real wild forest, with my own eyes I saw deer and coyotes here. In the center, the marathon road runs through the National Avenue, that is, through all the main attractions of the city: the Capitol, memorials to Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt.

Covered and a huge part of the residential area of ​​Arlington, Virginia. The roads, of course, overlap, and this will affect both tourists and residents of Washington and Arlington. And the most interesting - no one complains. At least for the year I have never heard discontent about this.

During the last September marathon in Kiev, my Facebook feed was full of angry comments, sometimes with humor, and sometimes indignation. They say why this comfortable movement on your own car in the city center on a day off should fall victim to a handful of healthy lifestyle lovers (HLS) ?!

The attitude of Americans to this can be expressed in the words of my colleague: “Why be indignant? This will not change anything. ” Banal truth, which we, Ukrainians too often forget.

Only races on different distances here are more than 120 pieces per year

Washingtonians have long been accustomed to dozens of events that almost every weekend make the authorities block roads. March of Women or Scientists, Pride or Thanksgiving Parade, St. Patrick's Day or July 4 march, marines or triathlon Ironman... Only races on different distances here are more than 120 units per year. And, as it turns out, for the capital of the country of automobiles all these blocked roads are not at all a disaster.

One of the reasons - for its part, the city government is doing everything to warn residents about such events in advance. Make interactive maps. Motorists, and this 62% of the population, mostly with an understanding of this. And not just because of the prevalent running culture. It's just that Americans seem to complain much less.

America is a country of two parties. So, no matter who was in power in the White House or Congress, Republicans or Democrats, about half of the country's population will be unsatisfied. Do they complain about politicians? Of course. Does their words feel as much hatred as the Ukrainians? In my opinion, no.

Do Americans have less problems than Ukrainians? Maybe. Because the nation as a whole is richer, which means that many do not need to think about how to literally feed a family.

But at the same time, America - such a huge, powerful and diverse country - constantly suffers, for example, from natural disasters. The west coast - forest fires, earthquakes. East coast - storms, hurricanes. North - bitter cold, blizzards. South - heat, drought. The center of the country is generally the Tornado Alley. And I have not heard that Californians, Texans or Michigan people complain too much about life.

Once I heard an interesting fact about the human psyche. A person smiles when experiencing positive emotions. But it works and vice versa: if you force yourself to smile, the body can be “deceived”, and it will begin to produce hormones of joy. In this light, the white-toothed and “insincere” smiles of Americans do not seem like such a bad idea.

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