The difference in the news

On a recent afternoon, I sat at a table across from a Dutch colleague. We both simultaneously read the news from our respective countries.

“Listen to this,” I said. “The owner of Domino’s pizza franchise wants to create a new town in Florida basic on Catholic fundamentalism. There will be no access to abortion, contraception or pornography. He calls it God’s will.”

He proceeded to tell me the big news from his country. He told me that cafes are legally allowed to sell pot, but they are not allowed to legally buy it. So this creates complications for them to buy in bulk.

“The mayor of Maastricht wants to remove this inconsistency,” Marcus said. “So together with a famous punk group, he wrote a punk song about the topic. And the Minister of Justice, who is against this measure, replied by writing a rap song.”

We both laughed.

While people in the U.S. are fighting to place restrictions on people’s lives, Holland is fighting to lift theirs.

“I think I like your country better,” I said.