The tortoise-shell hippie bus

These people from otherwise asshole societies being cloyingly nice to each other does not provide extra economic efficiency, which is the usual demagogue. The idea does not provide extra aesthetic enjoyment either, as is witnessed by the preceding "cloying". Rather, sociological phenomena, such as impromptu poetry parties and jazzmen commandeering park benches, do provide the latter, and as moss can emerge from unlikely parts.

Money

As I put on my freshly-laundered shorts before some Italian girl sitting on my bed, I reached in and found a crumpled up dollar bill in one of the pockets. As you know, I had found a 50 in a similar fashion the year before, but I was still pleasantly surprised. She said to me, "That's such an American thing to happen! I never leave money lying around in my pockets..."

Then it occurred to me: this is a very American thing to happen. But I like that. I've noticed before that this is one of the things I really like about this country, which sometimes fails elsewhere. Having "finally" reached a high enough per capita income and enough diversity at the local retail outlet, we don't quibble over small financial discrepancies. We share. We even have charities in place of government handouts.

It's because most Americans realize that the time spent quibbling simply isn't worth the money. Lose a dollar, lose another dollar, but lead a happy life.