You know, there is harldly anything more arrogant than pre-judging people based on faulty assumptions. What started this whole thread was Keith Dance's comment "As an observer from the UK, I think it would be fair to say that Americans consider themselves the centre of the world.

Indeed, this can be seen time and again in posts here. People asking for advice where location matters (i.e. where to find a guitar shop, how to find a map for a certain location etc.) differ. Those from the UK, Australia, wherever, tend to explain where they are. Those from the USA seem to take it as a gien that they live in the USA."

It seems like most times I meet someone from another country, this is the attitude I run into. At a trade show in April, a Canadian co-worker did the same old "You don't know anything about Canadian gov't or geography" crap. So we had a little competition, he asked me 5 questions, I did the same. Boy, it's awful being the big dumb barbarian American! I only got 5 right out of 5. He clearly knew more about the US, ahh... is 1 out of 5 good? Doesn't matter, the assumption remained that I got lucky! LOL

Finally, to explain our "self-centeredness" in Keith's example, has it not occurred to you where this website originates? If I walk into a store in South Carolina and ask directions to a good music store, the answer (from knowledgable people) will be Hames Music (by the way, an incredible place with great staff), a mere 20 miles away. Why, because the assumption is that I'm looking for local information, since I'm standing in South Carolina when I ask. If I were told about this great little shop in Tokyo, I'd think they were a bit strange. By the same token, if this website originated in London, I would probably emphasize the fact that I was an American in the same type of situation, because otherwise my answer would seem very strange and out of place.

A last note; everyone thinks the world revolves, at least partially, around themselves. Why? Because their world does! The trick is to realize that your world can be as big as you want it to be, and can overlap many other "worlds" and cultures if you so choose. That's one of the great joys of music, it gives us a bigger world.

Peace, Blues