Reading for a "Holiday"

Craig and I are planning a little mini-vacation this summer. Of course, being thrifty, I headed off to the library to pick up some guide books. I was in hurry so I didn't really look at them very before I got them, I just grabbed three and left.

When I got home, I realized that one of the books was geared more for British visitors to the area and didn't really have much information for me to glean. But I am still glad I picked it up. It is hilarious. The first third of the book has general information about visiting America. Here are a few of the more interesting sections:

Toilets:
Restroom or bathroom are common terms, toilet is acceptable. Few people recognize washroom, loo or WC...Facilities may be clean and well equipped or filthy...Public toilets are sporadically placed but well marked. Carry toilet paper.

I agree with them that the level of cleanliness in public bathrooms is quite varied, but almost all of them have toilet paper.

Currency:
Bill denominations are $1, $2 (very rare), $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $1000 (rare) and $10,000 (rarer)....Coins include the copper 1-cent piece, 5-cent nickel, 10-cent dime, 25-cent quarter, 50-cent half dollar (rare) and an extremely rare Susan B. Anthony dollar.

Now I don't come across that many Susan B. Anthony dollar coins around but I would say they are seen more often than $1000 and $10,000 bills. Or maybe I am just going shopping with the wrong type of people.

Road Signs:

Traffic lights are red, yellow and green...A favourite (and highly illegal) trick is to jump the red light, that is, enter the intersection when the signal is yellow and about to turn red.

There emphasis on jump is amusing since I have never heard it called that. Have any of you ever heard someone says jump instead of run a red light?

On a similar note, their list of US driving terms is interesting too. They do a fair job of defining them but I have to wonder how often the terms boulevard stop, CNG, metering lights, rubbernecker, or sig-alert come up in the average tourists stay here. The general term use is a little better as I can see how they might need to now that chips are crisps, holiday is a public holiday (as opposed to a vacation) and downtown means a city center. But they were a few misses too. I've been able to survive in the US for quite some time even if I couldn't tell you that a raw bar was a section found in restaurants containing tasty bits which have been marinated but not cooked.

But if you ever have the change to pick up a non-American written travel guide I highly recommend it. Seeing yourself through others' eyes can be quite amusing.