BootsnAll Travel Network



A few words on Americans

Fellow countrymen, lend me your eyes.

When I came to Europe, I was prepared for a lot of anti-American sentiment. I wasn’t expecting to have rocks thrown at me or to be hog-tied, but I was prepared to defend our country’s recent foreign policy decisions. (“I voted for Kerry,” I planned to say. Foreigners are even less informed about Kerry’s platform than the American electorate.) I have been pleasantly surprised to find that I haven’t had to get on the defensive, and I’ve had some very constructive conversations about politics (although most people, myself included, avoid talking about that kind of stuff with other travellers). However, I have found that there is a dislike for Americans that isn’t rooted in our politics but our culture. We are the obnoxious people who yell out stupid things in public places, and are generally disrespectful of the cultures which we are visiting. (“But not you,” the other travellers insist, when I give them a hurt look.)

Case in point: yesterday I grabbed dinner in a bar near the Trevi Fountain. I was eating my pasta and drinking my wine (both of which were unfortunately sub-par), when a group of 4 or 5 14- or 15-year-old American girls entered the cafe. Their first mistake was an honest one: they ordered cappuccinos, not realizing that Italians only drink them for breakfast. No big deal. Then they changed their order to iced cappuccinos; the old man working behind the bar gave them a slightly confused look and asked, “Iced cappuccino?” Clearly, he had never heard of such a thing, but, for these stupid Americans, he would make something up. While he was re-inventing the iced cappuccino (he ended up pouring a hot one into a martini shaker and making something like a cocktail), the girls poked around at the other items on sale in his store, loudly commenting on things that were “crazy” because they don’t sell them at Wal-mart. I gave the guy behind the bar a look that said, “I’m sorry we let these people out of the country with their parents credit cards.” He silently replied, “I’m sorry that you have to live in a country full of these people.”

And that is the essence of the American Dream.



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0 responses to “A few words on Americans”

  1. sherwin says:

    in china, we DO hog tie and stone americans. hell we do that with chinese people too.

  2. Surfer says:

    Yeah, the only place I faced open hostility against Americans just for purely being American was in a small town outside of Amsterdam and on an island near Greece. I never realized it, but apparently the greeks HATE Americans…go figure.

  3. sac says:

    You’re equating the mentality of 15 year-old girls to the American mentality in general? Interesting. And what is so appalling about teenagers being amazed at new experiences? So they haven’t been to an Italian cafe before. Most likely their first time abroad. Big deal. Should they walk around pretending to be non-plussed?

    Anyway, everyone knows that Germans are the most appalling travellers. Heh.

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