Heh, heh... unfortunately that is often true, Francis. We consider anything before 1950 to be ancient . I remember sitting among the ruins at the Roman Forum and turning to my friend and saying, "Can you believe how effin' old this place is... Julius Caesar walked here." Of course, so did dinosaurs, but I was impressed with the Romans. (Alright, I had Shakespeare running through my head, but still....)francis wrote:Maybe Mick's reaction is an American thing. Sorry, not that I want to be prejudiced, but my experience with Americans (or Canadians) and history goes something like that (and in no way are they all like this):Lilly wrote:One of the things that always struck me in the scene with Mick and Josef was Mick's being impressed at Lola's age. Wow - 500 -- almost like he forgot that Josef is over 400 himself and that he too has seen so much in that course of time. Josef just gives him a nod and a smile. He knows too well all the history Lola had seen, but he humors his friend.
German: "This house is 80 years old."
American (very impressed): "Wow, that's really something. Did a king build it?"
German: "No, it's just an old hotel. It's so old and decrepit, we will tear it down."
American: "Noooooo!"
German: "This church/building/whatever was built in 1345."
American: "I can't even imagine something being that old. Wasn't that when the Romans were ruling here?"
German: facepalm
For many Americans there seem to be three times: my lifetime, my family history back to the family member who immigrated, very very long ago.
ETA: And can I just say, the man can make taking a drink look like sandpaper on a raw throat. That looked painful.