Don't make fun of Americans!

It used to be commonplace to make fun of Americans as not being very bright - I probably fell into the trap myself on a couple of occasions. However, this is manifestly unfair, as illustrated by two recent comments I heard.

1) I was standing at a bus stop near our home. We live on the edge of the Berkshire Downs, although in Oxfordshire, and it's often windy here. A chap strolled up, scowled at me and said, "I've never lived anywhere so windy. They ought to do something about it".

2) I was at a networking event and I overheard a guy say, "Why do we have leap years? Having 29 days in February makes it impossible to plan."

In both cases these comments were made in all seriousness. What makes it even more surprising is that we live only a few miles from the huge, and growing, scientific community at Harwell, and every second person you meet is a scientist. Presumably the others are here to maintain equililbrium.

And remember, they reproduce and have the vote.