Some countries hate America, others want to be like America. I “ll just mention three episodes I “ve been personally involved in during the past two weeks, to tell you why I like living in America. Try to apply these cases to your country, and honestly answer to yourself, if the outcome would be the same. The names of the businesses and the money involved are real.

Case #1. I had to take my car for a scheduled service to the dealership called Ray Catena. Over the past 10 years, I “ve been leasing several cars from them. In the morning, I dropped the car there and had a short conversation with the person who was taking care of the paperwork and the loaner car.

I “ve asked, “How much this service would cost me? rdquo;

He said, “From $325 to $425. The car is pretty new, but you have high mileage, so it depends if we “ll need to replace the brake fluid in the system. rdquo;

When I picked the car in the evening, they “ve charged me $325. Apparently, they did not need to replace the brake fluid. What stopped them from charging me $425? I would not knew if they did or did no flush the brake fluid. They just did not. How much would you pay in the same situation in your country?

Case #2. Last year we switched our TV cable provider to Cablevision. Recently, we found out that the jack in the guest room did not have a signal. We called them, and they said, “We can send you a technician, and it “ll cost you $46 rdquo;. We made an appointment; the cable guy came in and fixed it for free. He said, “I thought, I “d need to do add an extra cable, but the cable was already there. Most likely, the technician who was doing the job last year just forgot to connect it rdquo;. If he “d send give me the $46 bill, I “d pay without saying a word. But he did not do it. How about the same situation in your country?

Case #3. My brother is visiting, and he asked me to help him with purchasing a laptop. We came to the electronic store from a chain called Circuit City, and found a laptop we liked. It was on display for $619. We “ve asked the clerk, “Please check if you have this model in stock rdquo;. He checked on the computer and said, “Sorry we are out of it rdquo;.

“Can you check the other stores in the area? rdquo;

He did, and none of the stores had this model.

“Can we purchase this one that you have on display rdquo;

“Sorry, you can “t rdquo;

Over the years, I “ve learned that one should never take the first “No rdquo; for an answer. I asked for the supervisor, and he saw that we were eager to buy this laptop, agreed to check if it had all required accessories. He found the bag with the battery, CD and the manuals, and said, rdquo;OK, we “ve got everything, and will be able to sell it to you as an open box deal for $549 rdquo;.

We “d be happy to get it even for $619, but he gave us a discount, because this laptop was already “in use rdquo;. How this story would end in your country?

America is not an ideal country, it has lots of crooks and businesses that are trying to get your money for nothing, but in general, the way of doing business here is healthy. Yes, there are stupid clerks that just do not care, and you need to take an extra step to get what you want, but the majority of people are running business honestly. These are some of the reasons why I really like living in America. All these little episodes are things that make the quality of life here a lot better.

Recently, I had a conversation with a fellow colleague, a software developer who was originally from India. I asked him how much money he would “ve earned if he “d return back to India with his current skills and industry experience? He said, “about $5K USD a month “, which is A LOT of money for people living there. But when I asked him if he had any plans to go back to India, he simply said, “No. The quality of life is a lot higher here rdquo;. I know exactly what he means.