DAD                 I can’t believe I’m hearing this. After all I’ve been saying to you for the last twelve months. 

BETH                You know how I feel about him dad, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.  

DAD                 My own daughter! Wanting to marry a Yank! It’s not a surprise, it’s a disaster! 

BETH                We love each other, dad.   

DAD                 Love? You only met the bloke six months ago, and now you want to run off with him. 

BETH                We wouldn’t be running off dad, we’d be getting married. 

DAD                 Oh, and I suppose he’d be just delighted to settle down in a little Yorkshire village miles from anywhere, Mister High and Mighty from New York City? He’d love it here, wouldn’t he? Everything he could possibly need – bingo on Saturday night, church on Sunday .... maybe he could get a job down the local pit, live like the natives do! Let’s face it Betty, if you got married you’d be off to America. Think how your mother would feel about that. 

BETH                Mum just wants me to be happy. 

DAD                 Course she does. All mothers do. But she wants you to be happy somewhere she can see you, where she can come and visit. She can hardly jump on a bus on a Tuesday morning and nip over to blooming New York, can she? 

BETH                I’ll talk to Blake dad, see if we could maybe settle down over here, in Leeds say, or Sheffield. He’d easily get the right kind of work in a big city, and we’d be virtually on each others’ doorsteps. Blake loves the British way of life. 

DAD                 That’s what he says, is it? Then why is he always going on about how wonderful everything is in his precious New York? The skyscrapers, the bright lights, the ships, the Statue of Liberty, the blinking Empire State Building. It’s all he ever talks about! 

BETH                He’s proud of it, dad. It’s his home and he’s proud of it, just like you’re proud of Yorkshire. 

DAD                 That’s as maybe, but I don’t go around shouting it from the rooftops like these Yanks do. He’s just like the rest of them, Betty - full of nonsense. 

BETH                He isn’t, dad! You’ve met him. He’s always been polite and friendly when he’s come round for tea.  

DAD                 Aye, like a great big Labrador charging around trying to make friends with everyone in the room, lumbering into tables and knocking all the ornaments over with its swishing tail. 

BETH                He wanted to make a good impression dad, because he cares about me and he wants you to like him too. And be honest, how many English men call you ‘sir’ when they speak to you? 

DAD                 It’s all talk, Betty. It means nothing. He’s full of himself, same as they all are, cos they’re rolling in money. Five times as much as a British soldier, they get paid. Five times! And for what? For hanging around our towns and villages, whistling at our girls, chewing their disgusting gum and dancing the night away, while our lads are out there dodging the bullets in the trenches, worrying about their families and fighting for the country they love.