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By Amer Sabaileh

AMMONNEWS - While travelling, one can catch many hints of the host culture, but, above all, one can gather an insight into the “the mind “ that runs the country. This was my first visit to the USA, after a long period of hesitation, one reason among many being the length of the trip. One day in the US was enough to understand many things, most importantly, in my opinion, why Americans will never be able to change their image no matter what they will do to achieve that. However, when one compares them to many peoples, Americans can easily be considered to be one of the friendliest.

Many would question why most American projects end up with tragic costs. Iraq springs to mind, as does Afghanistan, amongst many other places. The proclaimed goals of these were always noble, but what happened on the ground was totally different. Consequently, the US always finds trouble finding solutions to the consequences of their decisions, draining their resources and energy to deal with the results of the original decision. Is it time then for Americans to revise this whole issue?

One simple incident in Chicago’s airport was enough to start following the possible reason of this American crisis. The incident linked the sense of superiority that hides behind a fake excuse called “applying the law”. The implications of this small incident might be so easily applied to American global politics.

This scene is thus: the face of an old man begging a lady to let him pass, he has a flight connection; he wants to avoid staying in the passport check line that will take at least three hours. The answer of the lady was deeply shocking: “your airline will find you another connection”. The disappointment on the face of the old man, caused me to observe further that most of the passengers had heard the same put-down, perhaps even in a more offensive way.

The result of such an attitude is that hundreds of passengers wait outside, hoping to find new connections. These passengers included the group I was travelling with, which had been invited by the American government. Since most of the flights did not have a connection that same day, everybody was then put through the trouble of finding a hotel reservation, a round trip bus shuttle ticket and another reservation. Due to the lady’s simple gesture, most of the people were stuck for days because of the storm “Sandy”. Although everybody was compensated, everybody was indignant; indeed they were showing clear hatred towards the lady. This simple behavior ruined the effect of a costly program organized by American government, which, aiming to give a positive impression of the US to the participants left one, on the contrary, with a negative impression.

American politics seemed somehow familiar: they close their ears and never listen, leading, for example, to war and only a reactionary process of dealing with the consequences. Such consequences include hosting refugees, immigration issues, security measures and costly humanitarian missions. The source of the problem is unjustified Arrogance. The Administration is deaf to the people’s voice and needs, an obduracy which cannot be compensated by any means. Put simply, the US is continually dealing with the consequences of their mistakes.

Respect for the value of human beings is demonstrated by gaining understanding, and respecting their needs. Not just by contriving mistakes. Understanding the value of people’s time, respecting their vulnerability and listening to their words would be the key to turning round the negative image that people might have for America.