posted on January 17, 2003 05:02:06 PM new
You look at what they say to your face, you look at how they treat their neighbors, you look at how they treat someone who they think is lesser than themselves.
posted on January 17, 2003 05:11:07 PM new
Americans have no monopoly on good manners. Try again. Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
posted on January 17, 2003 08:48:14 PM new
I've seen rude and kind people of all nationalities. Generalizations are silly.
If you want rude try to speak French in Quebec.
posted on January 17, 2003 09:33:47 PM new
It is ridiculous to imply that you can "tell an American by what they say to your face, how they treat their neighbors, and how they treat someone who they think is lesser than themselves."
So, anyone who doesn't act a certain way (with good manners) can't possibly be an American? Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
posted on January 18, 2003 08:39:23 AM new
I have been to several foreign countries. Americans stick out like a sore thumb. They are the loud, arrogant and rude people over there treating the locals like scum.
To actually hear in a German Gasthaus "What's wrong with you, don't you speak English!?!"
To be in Paris a see American tourists walking around like they should still be treated as the WWII liberators....
To be embarrassed to be associated with America because of the actions of my fellow countrypersons, even in a Mexican border town!
.................................................
We call them our heroes...but we pay them like chumps
posted on January 18, 2003 11:44:34 AM new
Well, I have been. Not just being in the Navy was enough for that. I grew up outside the USA and the Americans there for the most part treated the locals like the British did in India. Oh, those "Little Brown People" -- ya know?
Americans have earned their reputation worldwide as being loudmouthed, arrogant, and barbarians without any manners. While certainly the majority of Americans are the opposite when visiting foreign countries, I've seen and heard enough of them to distance myself from them. There's even a term for them, "The Ugly American"!
posted on January 18, 2003 06:22:37 PM newBritons have been labelled the world's worst holidaymakers in a survey of tourist boards around the globe. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2137729.stm
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
posted on January 18, 2003 09:06:13 PM new
Italy, Spain, Portugal, South and Central America, Mexico...I've been embarassed to be American in all those places when witnessing American tourists acting drunk, arrogant and beligerent. Maybe we are no different than other tourists, but we are certainly no better.
posted on January 18, 2003 09:27:00 PM new
Could this be explained by the fact that the people you describe are tourists, having a holiday and behaving in an unbecoming way because of the alcohol that you mentioned.
The only difference that you will find between people throughout the world is their level of education and this is not generally reflected in any significant way by their native country.
