Stupid (but sincere) Questions about the USA

[Netzach]

Yes, many of the laws SEEM reasonable, in the same way that "if you're not doing anything illegal, why are you worried about your phone calls being monitored" seems reasonable. Beware the thief who dresses in the clothing of the good and pure.

I could understand it if the same people crying for everyone to have "papers please" weren't the same people going on about "death panels" and "fema death camps." Yeah, then it makes sense for every single person to have every possible paper trail.

It's a stunning day when I'm more conservative than the conservatives, but consistency isn't exactly their strong suit.

This may seem weird to the non-residents, but the resistance to having to shell out ID all the time is one of those things I think goes with the national character, the "individual right" that the libertarians are always freaking out over but never want extended to "non real americans."

 

[IrisAlthea]

I could understand it if the same people crying for everyone to have "papers please" weren't the same people going on about "death panels" and "fema death camps." Yeah, then it makes sense for every single person to have every possible paper trail.

It's a stunning day when I'm more conservative than the conservatives, but consistency isn't exactly their strong suit.

This may seem weird to the non-residents, but the resistance to having to shell out ID all the time is one of those things I think goes with the national character, the "individual right" that the libertarians are always freaking out over but never want extended to "non real americans."

It's not weird to me but I think Sweden might be the antithesis when it comes to national character.
Most people here seem to think of the government as something good by definition and many share the idea that all surveillance etc is good because if you have something to hide you must be the bad guy.

It's not necessary to carry ID here unless you're driving, but most carry it anyway because service att banks and government offices etc often requires it.
I think few people here refuse to show ID when asked by a police officer.

When I lived in the big city and not the best part of town, the police often wanted ID when there was something going on. This could happen even if you were just walking several blocks from the action.
I used to ask if there was a state of emergency that I was unaware of and they always accepted that, but you could tell they weren't used to it.

 

[Netzach]

It's not weird to me but I think Sweden might be the antithesis when it comes to national character.
Most people here seem to think of the government as something good by definition and many share the idea that all surveillance etc is good because if you have something to hide you must be the bad guy.

It's not necessary to carry ID here unless you're driving, but most carry it anyway because service att banks and government offices etc often requires it.
I think few people here refuse to show ID when asked by a police officer.

When I lived in the big city and not the best part of town, the police often wanted ID when there was something going on. This could happen even if you were just walking several blocks from the action.
I used to ask if there was a state of emergency that I was unaware of and they always accepted that, but you could tell they weren't used to it.

It's a completely different relationship to the state. It's a social contract. The average person sees and understands the benefits of being a participant. The average person here works more, for less, and then hunkers down lest some less deserving person get ANYTHING out of the deal, even if it means that you get nothing.

Here, since the 80's we basically dug in and decided that the government is the bad guy, and the government's own spokesman (Potus Ron) was the one who sold that idea. Now, I personally can appreciate a "may God bless and keep the Tsar - far away from us!" attitude, but I think we've lost all sense of a middle ground.

Actually, I shouldn't blame the 80's. De Tocqueville noticed this about us.

 

[seela]

So time for another question? Back to Hollywood things.

In many movies and TV shows, if there are cheerleaders, they often wear their cheerleader uniform to school. This seems completely weird and completely Hollywood to me, but I was wondering if maybe there is some truth to it. Certainly it would bug the American viewers if the saw that and it had no base in reality at all, right?

Same with the letterjackets. Is it really such a huge deal to be an athlete in highschool and get to wear the letterjacket that you wear the jacket every single day to school?

 

[Endless_Night]

So time for another question? Back to Hollywood things.

In many movies and TV shows, if there are cheerleaders, they often wear their cheerleader uniform to school. This seems completely weird and completely Hollywood to me, but I was wondering if maybe there is some truth to it. Certainly it would bug the American viewers if the saw that and it had no base in reality at all, right?

Same with the letterjackets. Is it really such a huge deal to be an athlete in highschool and get to wear the letterjacket that you wear the jacket every single day to school?

1) So, yes they do.

2) And yes it is.

Odd, but true.

 

[seela]

1) So, yes they do.

2) And yes it is.

Odd, but true.

Odd, indeed. Thanks for answering.

 

[BiBunny]

So time for another question? Back to Hollywood things.

In many movies and TV shows, if there are cheerleaders, they often wear their cheerleader uniform to school. This seems completely weird and completely Hollywood to me, but I was wondering if maybe there is some truth to it. Certainly it would bug the American viewers if the saw that and it had no base in reality at all, right?

Same with the letterjackets. Is it really such a huge deal to be an athlete in highschool and get to wear the letterjacket that you wear the jacket every single day to school?

Eh, I think it depends on the school. When I was in high school, cheerleaders weren't allowed to wear their uniforms in school (like to class) because the tops were sleeveless and were therefore against the dress code or some stupid thing like that.

As for the letterman's jackets, it wasn't something that was huge at my high school. I mean, people had them, but it wasn't a huge deal. The year that I tried to order one, the company who made them went out of business, so our orders were never delivered, and I don't think anyone was terribly upset about it. (I didn't bother to try to get one again after that because meh.)

I went to a small public high school in the backwoods, though, so other people's mileage may vary.

 

[Endless_Night]

Odd, indeed. Thanks for answering.

Sports is a big deal in high school. An over the top, crazy parents, big deal. As a result, the cheerleaders and top football dudes are sort of the gods of the school. It can be quite the social thing, extending into the parents lives as well.

There was actually a mother here in Texas (several years back) that tried to hire someone to kill a cheerleader's mother in the hopes that it would rattle the cheerleader daughter enough that she would bomb her yearly tryout. Her hope was that her daughter would then make the team.

I shit you not.

Though of course, as BiBunny says, it varies from place to place.

 

[DVS]

So time for another question? Back to Hollywood things.

In many movies and TV shows, if there are cheerleaders, they often wear their cheerleader uniform to school. This seems completely weird and completely Hollywood to me, but I was wondering if maybe there is some truth to it. Certainly it would bug the American viewers if the saw that and it had no base in reality at all, right?

Same with the letterjackets. Is it really such a huge deal to be an athlete in highschool and get to wear the letterjacket that you wear the jacket every single day to school?

Oh, my God, yes! It was quite the thing to get your letter in some sport so you could then purchase a letter jacket and put the letter on it. Then, all of the different additives, the little trinkets that can be put on the letter itself, like the sport you letter in (some real jock heads would letter in more than one sport), the number of years you have lettered in the form of bars. And, of course, your school and mascot is on the back.

You could also get stripes of the same material the letter is made of that circle the left sleeve, to signify how many years you have lettered. It's all part of the image. You can get a letter jacket without all of that, if you don't letter, but I'm sure you'd be made fun of by those who had lettered...sort of a hazing thing. Look in most school year books at the football squad picture. They are usually all decked out in their letter garb. And the ironic thing about all of this is even though these guys liked to look macho and cool in their letter jackets, they probably had mom sew everything on for them.

The day of the game (Friday) is the day everybody dresses up for spirit. The players all wore their jackets and in some schools, they even wore a ceremonial black tie that day. The cheerleaders are in their outfits, and the pep squad are all in their outfits. They usually have a pep rally sometime during the day. Some schools go so far as to have a spirit stick.

Don't underestimate high school sports spirit. It was usually pretty high, in my day. And if the team was winning, there was even more spirit expressed by the school. Some students that weren't players, on the pep squad or cheerleaders would come to school wearing the team colors. And there were usually home made posters plastered all over the hall walls saying things like, "Beat Kingston" or maybe "Sting the Bees" if the other team were the hornets or yellow jackets. And home coming was over the top with everybody building floats and having a parade. Ah, the good old days. I wonder if they still do all of this. I'm sure some schools do. It was all a lot of fun...when your team was winning.

Oh and don't forget the cheering contests where school cheering squads go to show off their cheers and win a trophy. That was college, but they were quite extravagant in their tumbles and all. I've seen it on TV even!

 

[DVS]

Sports is a big deal in high school. An over the top, crazy parents, big deal. As a result, the cheerleaders and top football dudes are sort of the gods of the school. It can be quite the social thing, extending into the parents lives as well.

There was actually a mother here in Texas (several years back) that tried to hire someone to kill a cheerleader's mother in the hopes that it would rattle the cheerleader daughter enough that she would bomb her yearly tryout. Her hope was that her daughter would then make the team.

I shit you not.

Though of course, as BiBunny says, it varies from place to place.

Yeah, I remember hearing about that. Sometimes the parents can get a little over the top with their spirit. I think it's considered a bit of a trophy to have been a high school cheerleader, when you are trying to be on the squad in college, just like it's important to have been good in high school football if you expect to get anywhere on a college team.

 

[Daddy2mylilgirl]

So time for another question? Back to Hollywood things.

In many movies and TV shows, if there are cheerleaders, they often wear their cheerleader uniform to school. This seems completely weird and completely Hollywood to me, but I was wondering if maybe there is some truth to it. Certainly it would bug the American viewers if the saw that and it had no base in reality at all, right?

Same with the letterjackets. Is it really such a huge deal to be an athlete in highschool and get to wear the letterjacket that you wear the jacket every single day to school?

It depends on the school.

At my school cheerleaders were only allowed to wear their uniforms in school on game days.

Letterman jackets weren't a big deal at my school.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

A lil raggedy today, so not verbose...

They have state and national high school cheerleading competitions, and you can get full-ride college scholarships *in* cheerleading at some schools.

 

[midwestyankee]

In Illinois its illegal to ask for proof of who you are at the voting polls. (Yea.. that makes sense right?)

No wonder the big joke in Chicago is how many dead people are voting.

The motto is also "Vote early and often."

Please, let's not confuse the present day for earlier decades. We don't still have Al Capone's gang running around with Tommy guns, either.

 

[Netzach]

So time for another question? Back to Hollywood things.

In many movies and TV shows, if there are cheerleaders, they often wear their cheerleader uniform to school. This seems completely weird and completely Hollywood to me, but I was wondering if maybe there is some truth to it. Certainly it would bug the American viewers if the saw that and it had no base in reality at all, right?

Same with the letterjackets. Is it really such a huge deal to be an athlete in highschool and get to wear the letterjacket that you wear the jacket every single day to school?

This really really REALLY varies from school to school, but if you're going for a "mainstream" depiction, it may fit. I didn't go to a public school, but among my friends who did, and/or who teach now, in some schools being that into the team was kind of a social liability, and in others the team was more important to the parents than their kids showing up to class.

 

[midwestyankee]

This really really REALLY varies from school to school, but if you're going for a "mainstream" depiction, it may fit. I didn't go to a public school, but among my friends who did, and/or who teach now, in some schools being that into the team was kind of a social liability, and in others the team was more important to the parents than their kids showing up to class.

Netzach is right to point out that there's a great deal of variability in the use of letter jackets or sweaters and cheerleader uniforms as markers for being at the top of the school-spirit pyramid. Some schools do tend to go in for this more than others. Further, this practice was mandatory during my high school days back when The Beatles were still a current band. After earning my letter sweater for track, there were days such as the Friday before a football game or the day of a big evening basketball game when we were expected to wear our colors. Cheerleaders also dressed in their uniforms for the same reason: to incite and promote school spirit. To some extent, the practice has diminished in importance so movies set in the '50s and '60s will be more likely to show cheerleader uniforms in class. Since the production of ironic high school movies like "Fast Times and Ridgemont High," "The Breakfast Club," and many others, the cheerleader uniforms are a source of humor more than any marker for school spirit or social rank within the high school population.

I was always a little bit sad that our chess team did not have cheerleaders.

 

[seela]

Fascinating! Especially the cheerleading uniforms have always looked so odd to me that I've thought they're just another TV cliche pushed by Hollywood, like phone numbers always starting 555.

We don't have anything even remotely like that in highschool here. Sure, there are sports teams (usually soccer) and some minor competitions between the local schools, but the teams are not celebrated or idolized. There might even be some national competitions, but I really don't know. As a rule schools don't have anything to do with serious competitive sports, all the little competitions between schools are in good spirits.

PE is mandatory for all at all school levels (although in highschool only for a year out of the three) and the sports we do are very varied. When I was in school we went skiing and skating, played ice hockey and did some basic figure skating things, did some gymnastics, played basketball, volleyball, soccer, went swimming, did orienteering, yoga, ballroom dancing, boxing, all the track things etc.

There's also no such thing as school mascots or school colors here. In my highschool we did have ties available with the school logo for those who wanted to buy one for one reason or another. The only reason my highschool had those ties was because my highschool was historically important, and the old fart alumni wanted to feel special and reminisce the good times when girls weren't allowed in, so they needed some token accessory to go with it. I've never heard from other schools that would have even that.

What exactly is homecoming? I know there's a big important football game and then there's that homecoming court and all. But where are they coming from if they're coming home?

 

[Primalex]

Fascinating! Especially the cheerleading uniforms have always looked so odd to me that I've thought they're just another TV cliche pushed by Hollywood, like phone numbers always starting 555.

It's not a cliche, but a smart move to reserve numbers for fictional use.

 

[midwestyankee]

Fascinating! Especially the cheerleading uniforms have always looked so odd to me that I've thought they're just another TV cliche pushed by Hollywood, like phone numbers always starting 555.

We don't have anything even remotely like that in highschool here. Sure, there are sports teams (usually soccer) and some minor competitions between the local schools, but the teams are not celebrated or idolized. There might even be some national competitions, but I really don't know. As a rule schools don't have anything to do with serious competitive sports, all the little competitions between schools are in good spirits.

PE is mandatory for all at all school levels (although in highschool only for a year out of the three) and the sports we do are very varied. When I was in school we went skiing and skating, played ice hockey and did some basic figure skating things, did some gymnastics, played basketball, volleyball, soccer, went swimming, did orienteering, yoga, ballroom dancing, boxing, all the track things etc.

There's also no such thing as school mascots or school colors here. In my highschool we did have ties available with the school logo for those who wanted to buy one for one reason or another. The only reason my highschool had those ties was because my highschool was historically important, and the old fart alumni wanted to feel special and reminisce the good times when girls weren't allowed in, so they needed some token accessory to go with it. I've never heard from other schools that would have even that.

What exactly is homecoming? I know there's a big important football game and then there's that homecoming court and all. But where are they coming from if they're coming home?

Homecoming at high schools or college here is an event created for the purpose of allowing alumni to feel special and reminisce about the good times before the current generation set about to ruin the world.

 

[DVS]

In my school, all of the school sports teams, football, basketball, track, tennis and golf, all played against other schools. It was a small town school, so the other schools were from other towns in the area. I'd guess in larger cities, the other schools would be other parts of that city.

The school colors and mascots were just a part of that team spirit thing, and not a priority of the school itself. Schools didn't consider it a primary part of a student's education, but it was seen as honest competition between schools. The coaches always stressed that class work came first before anything else. Any decorating of the halls was done after school the day before game day and cheerleaders didn't wear their uniforms on any other day but game day.

Letter jackets were pretty normal for the jocks to wear, when the weather called for a coat. It was a sign of personal accomplishment that they had "lettered" and you could easily tell who was a jock. While you could letter in other sports, those who lettered in football and basketball were more likely to be the ones who wore their jackets. And some of that could have been because the other sports were current in warmer weather and they would have looked stupid wearing a jacket.

But, if you had lettered in any sport, your coach gave you a letter (no ceremony involved) and you'd go to a store in town that sold the jackets and all of the other accessories if you wanted. Jackets came in all team colors. In my case the jacket was always black and the sleeves were gold colored. The color and cuffs had piping and stitching of the school's colors. They were very nice bomber style jackets and warm for winter wear. You could get a longer style coat that was even warmer.

Homecoming was one designated game in the football season where alumni who had graduated from the school would come back for the event. They could be recent grads, or somebody who had graduated years ago. I don't think there was any real acknowledgment of the alumni in high school, but many of the college alumni supported the school with donations, so they would be recognized at the game and sometimes treated to special tokens of the day. In both cases, some former team members would wear their letter jackets (if they still fit) in a show of school spirit, but mostly as a badge of honor from their past.

For homecoming day, the high school classes (sophomore, junior and senior) would all build a float. In the week before the day, it was a kind of social gathering and class spirit in the evening to help build the class float. There was always a theme and then a class committee decided how to use that theme to build a winning float. One year, the theme was current movie titles. Floats had to pick a movie title and somehow use it in a phrase on the float and in the float itself. Chicken wire, colored tissue paper and paper mache were the main visible parts of every float. Wood could be used underneath for any reenforcing structure.

It was quiet a deal in my home town. Of course, the town only had 2,000 people in it, at the time. And because I wasn't in football, I was able to be a part of our float that year. I forget what the title was that year, but we had a toilet and I was inside the toilet wearing a chicken wire and tissue paper mascot of the opposing team. I was to move around, like I was trying to get out of the toilet. Of course, there were pictures of the homecoming parade in the school yearbook and town paper and of the three class floats. So, I was prominent in several of the photos, but you couldn't tell it was me.

There is also a homecoming queen and her court voted for by the student body and they each get to ride in a nice convertible in the parade. They also got large pictures in the yearbook. Yes, homecoming was a big deal. Maybe not so much for the alumni coming home, but it was for the kids still in school.

P.E. was required in every class, both high school and college. If you went out for some sport, that was your P.E. for that sport's season. But, physical education and exercise was a very large part of both my high school and college. I don't know how much it is now, because of budget cuts and all.

 

[DVS]

It's not a cliche, but a smart move to reserve numbers for fictional use.

I remember there were some movies that didn't use the 555 thing and people would call that number as a joke or prank. It could often get annoying for the person with that number.

There was once a song that was pretty popular, with the phone number in the title. It wasn't a 555 number, so it was a working number for somebody, in EVERY area code in the country. I'd guess those people got their share of crank phone calls from people. The 555 system was indeed a smart move.

 

[KoPilot]

I remember there were some movies that didn't use the 555 thing and people would call that number as a joke or prank. It could often get annoying for the person with that number.

There was once a song that was pretty popular, with the phone number in the title. It wasn't a 555 number, so it was a working number for somebody, in EVERY area code in the country. I'd guess those people got their share of crank phone calls from people. The 555 system was indeed a smart move.

Eight six seven, five three-oh naaaah-eeee-aaaayn~

 

[LWulf]

looks like someone beat me to tommy tutone.

Edit: The concept of "letterman" sweaters and cheerleaders walking around in their outfits is a throwback to a bygone era (1950's). While some schools still have such concepts still in practice, I think it is more and more rare. Frankly, I don't believe it was ever "allowed" to have on anything other than "proper" school attire while attending class (in the 50's).
I spoke with my mother about the subject once and she stated emphatically that no one wore cheerleader outfits (in class) nor did they wear leather anything to school in the 50's (at least in NY). In the 60's? Definitely a possibility. The only way hollyweird has it right is that guys did grease back their hair in the 50's.

You didn't ask about leather jackets but I threw that in there. Likewise about poodle skirts. After school, is another matter altogether. Wearing a leather jacket or poodle skirt to school (in the 50's) was absolutely verboten. The 60's is when that was more likely, but then in the 60's poodle skirts were out of fashion. Likewise about leather jackets in the 60's. They saw a resurgance in the 80's and kids wore leather jackets to school and as far as I know, in class.

By my era of attending school, guys didn't generally aspire to be jocks and therefore letterman sweaters were archaic. A girl wearing a letterman sweater was a girl who was dating a jock (guys in some form of athletics). More common by my era were that the girl would wear the guys school ring on a necklace. This was a way for girls to clue in prospective guys that she was already spoken for.

This thought has likewise probably turned into an anachronism, since a female can go out with and seems encouraged by society/peer pressure to go out and "get it on" with as many guys (or girls) she can, while she can. Saying a young woman "belongs" to someone is not politically correct or at least that's the leanings that people are trying to invoke here (in the States).

 

[Netzach]

My mom went to the arts magnet of Fame fame, in the mid 60's. The dress code battle royale in the NYC public schools was for girls to be able to wear pants, especially in winter. She got to.

So I always kind of picture girls having a sit-in in just longer than mini skirts and wet winter boots.

 

[CutieMouse]

All the cheerleader chatter made me think of football. As in Texas. Because ye gods football. There's a high school football stadium near here that cost $60 MILLION dollars to build.

$60 MILLION

It's only 18 months old, and the sub contractor that poured the concrete didn't do such a good job... the whole thing has been closed "indefinitely" to have all the concourses ripped out and re-poured.

SIXTY MILLLLLLLLION

For kids to play football from the ages of 15-18.

 

[seela]

All the cheerleader chatter made me think of football. As in Texas. Because ye gods football. There's a high school football stadium near here that cost $60 MILLION dollars to build.

$60 MILLION

It's only 18 months old, and the sub contractor that poured the concrete didn't do such a good job... the whole thing has been closed "indefinitely" to have all the concourses ripped out and re-poured.

SIXTY MILLLLLLLLION

For kids to play football from the ages of 15-18.

Who pays for such things? Certainly it can't be the school districts or schools themselves?