United States Observations 2017

Parking Rates at New York Midtown



Luggage lock that was plied open by TSA

What I like about United States?
(1) Automobile is probably one of the cheapest in the world.
(2) Freedom of Speech as guaranteed by the Constitution.
(3) Certain things are cheaper - Example Polo Ralph Lauren.
(4) Cool weather if is not too cold.
(5) Great online shopping - Amazon, Ebay etc. Offering free delivery to any part of main land United States. With the size of population, commercial companies target Americans with convenient solutions. Not so for international buyers. Example: Black Friday deals.
(6) Less dusty as compared to Singapore
(7) Respect for the dead for them to RIP.

What I am concern?
(1) Availability of guns. TV News have reports of murder and gun shots.
(2) Legalistic Society. Advertisement offering legal help against companies.
(3) Cost of Living. A meal at fast food costs about US$10 per person. More expensive if it is in proper restaurant with tips. Public transportation is also expensive considering Washington DC bus is about US$1.75 per trip. However, there are means for man on the street to survive, eg Walmart, K-mart (all offering reasonable priced items especially when purchased in bulk), self cook, use of private transport, coupons etc. For office workers, there are street food vendors offering reasonable priced variety food. Local produce is also value for money, eg 1 box of strawberries in New York Chinatown cost US$1 and they are fresh.
For ways to see how Americans survived in New York, please refer to this -> http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/24/i-saved-100k-on-30k-salary-here-are-my-money-saving-tips.html
(4) Tax - Income Tax, Sales Tax etc. All adds up to reducing the disposal Income.

Observations:-
(1) Society respect for military and unformed personnel, giving them priority in public facilities.
(2) Not so handicapped free access at subway.
(3) Slums where the whole community moved out leaving houses which are ransacked. Saw them when travelling along the Northeast Regional Amtrak.
(4) Multi cultural society - Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Caucasians.
(5) Presence of emergency siren 24 hours each day. It can be from ambulances, fire engine, police.
(6) At the Airport, there are only 3 processes (a) check in by airlines counter staff (b) verification of tickets purchased against passport holders name and (c) security checks. The security checks are the most prominent ones having to remove laptops/tablets, shoes etc...  It appears that there is no immigration for exits. Passport has no exit stamp chop. Don't US authorities check on undocumented immigrant exit?
(7) A lady in New York actually gave way for me to step out. The lady was a modern and young person. I was pleasantly surprised.

According to report, in 2016, there are 10.8 million of Americans who are millionaires (not including primary residences).