Simone de Beauvoir in America

From the marvelous diaries kept while in the U.S., January to May 1947....
"what makes daily life so agreeable in America is the good humor and friendliness of Americans...(but) this amiability is disconcerting. The respect granted the citizen is completely abstract; the same polite smile that assures David Brown that he is a unique individual will also gratify John William s who is unique too. Nothing is more universal than this singularity recognized with such ceremony. One suspects a hoax. Nonetheless, thanks to these considerations, the American doesn't need to strain to feel his human dignity. It may be commercial but the cordiality of salespeople is never servile. They are not bitter or stiff, and though it is encouraged by self-interest, their kindnes is no less real. We've held German soldiers responsible for the wayy they carried out orders of extreme cruelty- and in fact, man is never passive. In obeying he commits his freedom, and submitting to evil is a way of reclaiming it for himself. Most of the time he reclaims it through inventions and initiatives that make his responsibility apparent. Likewise the American citizen does not submit passively to the propaganda of the smile; on a foundation of of obligatory optimism, it is really he who freely presents himself as cordial, trusting and generous. His kindness is less suspect the less interested he is in the success of the system- he is more duped than duping. p 24