It's gonna be a bumpy ride!

C said something funny tonight. He said, "Americans don't go to England for Independence Day Weekend."

Unless you're one of the Daughters of the Revolution, you do.

"George, call off Phildelphia. Tell Williamsburg it's with regrets. Pack your bathing suit, because we're going to Vegas!"

We had been discussing our imminent departure to Greece, with a one-day layover in England to see his fam. One of the perks of him working for an airline is that he's using a company ticket to fly us over. One of the downsides of this is that it's standby.

July 4th is on a Tuesday this year, meaning you can make a four day weekend out of it, if you get the Monday off. We have standby tickets on said weekend. You do the math.

Stop laughing. No, seriously. Stop.

"I don't understand! I checked last week and there were plenty of seats left! It just completely sold out!" C said.

"Your company probably did one of their promotions," I said darkly. His airline regularly does discount promotions centered around long weekends. My own plans one year - to see him in the Mother Land - had fallen victim to such a promotion.

"But why?" And then he unleashed the zinger: "Americans don't go to England for Independence Day weekend!"

Oh, how I laughed then. If we can wrangle a four day weekend out of a national holiday, we'll go all the way to Timbuktu, oh yes we will. The promise of maximizing your time off from work, for your own personal enjoyment, supercedes all.

Yes, it's a sad state of affairs when we don't honor our veterans, but don't tell me you didn't Timbuktu last Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day weekend, 2006 - "Wish you were here"

What makes it even funnier is how often he reminisces about the trip when he and his British cronies went to South Beach during one Fourth of July weekend. They partied with Americans, celebrating the defeat of their country on the very soil their king previously held the deeds to. Am I bold enough for you? How do you like your irony in the morning? Maybe with a side of cornflakes?

Personally speaking, however, to make that trip is pretty cool and I don't see why the shoe can't be on the other foot. I suppose I just have a "we're all in this together" kind of attitude as far as foreign policy goes. Which is a quite unpopular outlook in the general scheme of things, as I'm starting to find.