50 I Can Read You Like a Book
from Monterey to Manhattan share at least a common language
and jargon for finding what they need. When this does not work,
there is a huge displacement of expectations.
Most Americans expect to walk into a government office in the
United States and get an answer in English. Is this a reasonable
expectation? Today, yes. In times to come, when the majority of
the jellybeans do not speak English as a first language, maybe not.
A hard-won homogeneity of culture in the United States will
disappear as the predominately Germanic culture dies off. Specu-
late about a time when Americans are primarily Hispanic and the
typical becomes a Spanish speaker. Then what happens to new
immigrants from other regions of the world? The jellybean jar
changes labels to the Spanish equivalent and the new ethnic group
feels victimized until either every sign in every building is in their
language, too, or the new Hispanic typical says, “Learn the lan-
guage of the land.” This sense of entitlement is not free. Who pays
for the interpreters?
The days have passed when Americans identified with singular
role models, such as John Wayne. Modern heroes tend to be big
names in their microcultures—skateboarder, rock star, tattoo
artist—and we look to media and advertising that feature them for
our cultural norming. With the proliferation of media, every
microculture can have its own spokesperson (super-typical) on
the air. Becoming similar to those people validates our attempts
to be unique; we no longer see them as an outcast. Because the