One of the more enlightening encounters had in America (this time in San Francisco) was being presented with the following question as we were traveling through the Golden Gate Park.

Did I prefer to a) Go watch Hippies having an impromptu bongo jamming session to the right or b) Go watch children playing on the playground to the left?

The question was sincerely asked, no joke, no clever ironic statement about the state of the world today. Those were the choices.

My friend and I looked at each other in surprise, and explained to our guide that, in Britain, adults can’t just hang out at playgrounds watching children play, that essentially someone would probably call the police on you if you tried. “Pedophiles”, I said. There’s peedos everwhere! Even suggesting hanging out at a playground to watch kids play made me feel a bit squirmy.

Our guide was baffled and confused and couldn’t quite believe what we were saying. I felt like I’d learnt something… important. Something.