Americans who missed the boat
My aunt Vickie was such a one. She missed the boat to America (actually, she wasn’t invited) when we left Belfast in 1950, but she often came to visit us during her summer vacations.(On the left is a 1963 picture of Aunt Vickie on a Bench.)
Vickie was named for the reigning queen when she was born, and she bore herself with regal elegance. She was amazingly erect and well spoken, and she was very proud of her English heritage (on her father’s side). Every Christmas, Vickie sent us a calendar with pictures of the Royal Family, and every summer she showed up at our home on Rockaway Beach.
My otherwise positive view of my aunt was colored by my mother’s utter disdain for the woman. Mom was annoyed that Vickie free loaded off us all summer, never offered to help around the house and drank gin on the sly. Mom also noted that Vickie was a waitress and not a member of royalty, even though she lorded it over everyone she met.
So, here’s my point: America is a classless society that is fascinated by visiting “royalty,” but in the end we reject unearned privilege. Britain has produced great poets, playwrights, warriors and statesmen who have earned the world’s praise. She has also produced some “first class” prats (like my aunt) who can keep their snooty attitudes at home (or just take them to the Costa del Sol like she had to after my mother rescinded her annual invitation).
