People in US will never cease to amaze me. When I initially moved to Bay Area, 12 years ago, I went through a cultural shock; it wasn't a big one, but it was unsettling. From realization that I am missing words for everyday things to homeless people in San Francisco, to living in suburb first time in my life (we moved to City since then!) ... on the positive note, smiley everywhere, sunny attitude and really, we've met a lot of friendly people, that helped me to not to feel like a stranger, full of advices and ready to help when we needed help (thanks Ceco!).
Yesterday, I went to meetup for knockout.js - javascript library I've heard much about but didn't have time to play with to see what's so good about it. Speaker started the presentation flatly stating that he has speech impediment - he stutters! He wasn't bad, actually and whole presentation was very good, but what baffled me was how matter of fact he was - yes, I have the problem, and yet, I do refuse to let that stop me from presenting.
It's hard to explain how strange this sounds to somebody outside of US - you stutter and you want to do public presentation? Really? I am impressed and I think that attitude of "I can do it" is what I really like here - people _do_ believe they can do things, and they do work very hard to make them possible.
It reminds me of that wonderful Mark Twain's book - "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" - main character is just sure he can turn things around, or build anything he needs to build - he doesn't doubt that for a second. "I can do it' is such a part of character that it convinces reader too and you are not surprised by changes he made in just couple of short years that he is in 6th century.
It did make me think about the way I am approaching problems, that's for sure.
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