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I'm gonna actually make my way through the author's tripe, and break it down:
He says:
1. Americans are way too sensitive. As a person who has traveled all over the world, I've certainly run into some very touchy people in Europe - most markedly in Austria. I simply don't understand how he reaches the conclusion that we're more sensitive than other ethnicities. There's such a wide variety of emotions and reactions in Americans - individually and within regions - that I don't see how he could possibly make such a wide generalization and expect to be taken seriously.
Maybe he means that we often go out of our way to TRY TO BE ACCEPTING AND POLITE TO PEOPLE WE MAY PRIVATELY DISLIKE OR DISAPPROVE OF. In other words, we try not to offend others. He says this like it's a bad thing. Sheeze!
2. Everything is awesome. Hey, dude, guess what - most of us may REALLY LIKE where we live and REALLY BE GLAD TO BE ALIVE. Life is awesome in so many ways, especially American life. Sorry you're not as enthusiastic or grateful, but don't begrudge those traits in others.
3. Smiles mean absolutely nothing. This is another ridiculous generalization. GENERALLY SPEAKING, Americans are a friendly bunch. Why would this guy assume that when people smile, they don't mean it in a friendly way? Sheeze, who ate his sack lunch? He really seems to be unable to grasp the fact that many Americans do genuinely feel pleasant, happy, grateful to be alive, open, and/or friendly.
This tells me a lot more about HIM than it does about Americans, by the way. I'm just sayin'...
4. Tipping. Wow, what a surly, ornery traveler this guy seems to be. He is actually disdainful of courteous, helpful waitstaff - and the way we generously show our appreciation for their service, and expect him to do the same (much as I am sure he would expect us to respect HIS local customs). By the way, dude, tipping ISN'T mandatory. You will just look like a jerk if you don't tip for good service - and believe me, you probably already look like a jerk, so really - what do you have to lose? GO FOR IT. Don't do anything half way! LIVE LIFE FULLY AS THE JERK YOU ARE!
5. False prices on everything. I found this one to be particularly odd. He seems to hate to pay sales tax. Well, guess what - I don't particularly like paying the VAT taxes when I visit Europe - but it's a freaking hassle to figure out how NOT to pay these taxes that I don't really owe and can technically avoid in many cases. So I just pay their inflated prices, and taxes that I don't owe, and don't sweat it. I'm on vacation. I'm there to enjoy myself, not fret over a few insignificant taxes. By the way, don't even get me started on PETROL PRICES in Europe. My gosh. But I digress. Hey, if I want to toodle around in Europe in a car, then I know before going there that I'll be paying more for "petrol" than I do at home. It's part of the price of the vacation. See - I'm already over it!
6. Cheesy in your face marketing. Ok, cheesy marketing bothers me too - which is why I watch, for the most part, channels that don't have much marketing. I have Netflix, and Amazon.com, and XM/Sirius, and a DVR, and any other number of channels and stations and sources that don't bombard me with marketing. That being said, so far, this one - #6 - is the first of his many tiresome complaints that may have some validity to it.
That being said - have you ever watched European TV? There's a reason why American TV is so popular over there - so much of their stuff sucks SO badly. You really oughtta watch an Elvis movie in German - with plenty of German beer (iced, not at room temperature) it's even BETTER! You'll be BEGGING for a commercial break!
7. Wasteful consumerism. Let me tell you something. I think I KNOW why Europeans don't have as much stuff as we do: THEY HAVE NO CLOSET SPACE. And often, there is an added TAX for each closet or room! Hell, if I didn't have so much space in my house - and my garage - and my yard - I wouldn't have as much stuff! But let me assure you, if you haven't been to Europe - their houses and closets (or wardrobes since they often don't have closets) and tiny one car garages are just as full of junk as any Americans' house. They just have less individual space. So spare me the holier than thou attitude.
8. Idiotic American stereotypes of other countries Really? The irony of this statement has apparently escaped this guy.
By the way, when I tell Europeans that I'm from Texas, you ought to hear some of them cut loose with the ridiculous stereotypes. No, I don't own a horse. No, I don't live in a mansion. No, I don't have any cacti in my yard. No, I don't own a Confederate flag. No, I'm not Baptist. No, I don't have illegal aliens doing my yardwork or cleaning my house.
Yes, I do say "y'all." And yes, I do own some cowboy boots and I really do wear them on occasion. Yes, you can order them on Amazon and have them shipped to me and I'll mail them to you. No problem. Aren't us friendly, helpful Americans AWESOME?
9. Heritage. Get over it, is all I have to say. It's an American thing - you wouldn't understand. What I don't understand is why you're so touchy about it. Guess that hypersensitivity is an Irish thing - and I don't understand. But I'm prepared to be gracious about your touchy, judgmental attitude when I'm visiting your country. In fact, I will probably find it interesting - and in a strange way, endearing.
One thing for sure is this - if you're an example of an Irishman, well, I'm glad I'm only 1/8th Irish.
10. ID checks & stupid drinking laws. Guess what - we agree on this one!
11. Religious Americans. All I can say is that this is very ironic coming from someone from Ireland. You guys are STILL blowing each other up over religion. Before you correct me, I know that it's more complicated than all that - but come on - Europe's history of religious tolerance, or the lack thereof, is a pretty tattered and bloody one.
Unlike your country, ours was founded on the concept of FREEDOM OF RELIGION - that's right, our ancestors were trying to get the hell away from Europe's intolerance of religious differences, so please excuse us if we revel a bit in our hard earned freedoms.
Don't tell us to "tone it down." You have a whole lot to learn about tolerance.
12. Corporations win all the time, not small businesses. My father and my husband and myself, and my ancestors way back on down the line, have been successful small business owners. This country was founded on their success and the success of many others like them. In my little town in Texas, the most successful restaurants are the privately owned ones, not the chains.
Sorry that we have so much land that you have to drive a car to go to a restaurant. We like it that way.
13. A country designed for cars, not humans. SPEAKING OF CARS! American cars are affordable. Our gas (you know it as "petrol") is about half the cost of that in Europe. We have a lot of space, we own more land individually than Europeans. We have a less dense population. We have a lot of really great roads and highways. Rental cars are very inexpensive. Mass transit, public transportation simply isn't feasible in many of our communities. It would not be cost effective. In other words, it would be a STUPID WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS.
When I am in Europe, I nearly always choose to rent a car rather than rely on public transportation, which, for tourists anyway, is VERY EXPENSIVE. I can rent a car for a week for a lot less than I can buy a BritRail pass for a week.
To each his own. But no - we didn't build our towns and communities to cater to the needs of European tourists. Sorry if that bothers you.
14. Always in a hurry. I don't know what "posh sit down restaurants" you visited where you got your food in five minutes or less - PLEASE SHARE. That's really AWESOME. I have never experienced that!
As for punctuality - yes, we are a punctual people. We consider punctuality to be a sign of COURTESY.
You think we're stressed out because we're punctual and time-efficient. I think that YOU are projecting your own angst onto us. Most of us like our pace of life. We like that for the most part, we can rely on others to be thoughtful of our time by being punctual and efficient as well. This does NOT mean we don't know how to "stop and smell the roses." We just don't make others wait for us to do so.
15. Obsession with money. This is way too much of a generalization. Some people are obsessed with money, some aren't. I've met plenty of Europeans who have much the same mentality. By the way, how do you pay for your traveling? With coconuts? Beers? I think not. Traveling is a priority to you - and I doubt that you'd consider a job which didn't pay you enough to enjoy what you place a priority on. Just because someone has different priorities or desires in life, doesn't mean that their priorities are wrong and yours are right.
16. Unhealthy portions. Dude, I don't know what to tell you. You're overanalyzing this WAY too much. If you don't want all that food, just don't eat it all. I usually take my leftovers home and eat them for lunch the next day, or feed them to my very grateful dogs.
Honestly - this ranks up there as a serious reason why you don't want to live in the United States??????? Wow.
17. Thinking America is the best. Well, let's just be honest about this - the United States has been considered "the land of opportunity" by many Europeans (and others, of course) for hundreds of years. After all, most of our ancestors voluntarily dismantled their lives in other countries, and took great risks to move to a completely foreign country, to start over totally - to get OUT OF the land of their birth and to take advantage of what our country offered them. Most of us were raised by these very grateful people (or their children) and taught to be grateful ourselves. Our country has gone from fledgling colony to a world power in just a couple of hundred years or so. Honestly, the world has never seen a country grow and prosper as quickly as this one has, with power and influence as far reaching in such a short amount of time. Now - that doesn't mean that we're superior in all things, but damn - we ARE good at a lot of things, and in spite of our flaws, we still offer great opportunities to those who choose to live here. I hate to rub your nose in it, but we have had a lot more influence and offered more opportunity than Ireland ever has or could. That's just the way it is.
That doesn't mean we're "the best" at everything. You guys make some great wool sweaters - and beer. I really appreciate those things - hell, you do them better than we do! But...we really are a great country, in spite of our flaws. I hope we remain great and I will do all I can to keep my country strong.
Have an awesome day. Hope you come back again - in a better mood.
I'm gonna actually make my way through the author's tripe, and break it down:
He says:
1. Americans are way too sensitive. As a person who has traveled all over the world, I've certainly run into some very touchy people in Europe - most markedly in Austria. I simply don't understand how he reaches the conclusion that we're more sensitive than other ethnicities. There's such a wide variety of emotions and reactions in Americans - individually and within regions - that I don't see how he could possibly make such a wide generalization and expect to be taken seriously.
Maybe he means that we often go out of our way to TRY TO BE ACCEPTING AND POLITE TO PEOPLE WE MAY PRIVATELY DISLIKE OR DISAPPROVE OF. In other words, we try not to offend others. He says this like it's a bad thing. Sheeze!
2. Everything is awesome. Hey, dude, guess what - most of us may REALLY LIKE where we live and REALLY BE GLAD TO BE ALIVE. Life is awesome in so many ways, especially American life. Sorry you're not as enthusiastic or grateful, but don't begrudge those traits in others.
3. Smiles mean absolutely nothing. This is another ridiculous generalization. GENERALLY SPEAKING, Americans are a friendly bunch. Why would this guy assume that when people smile, they don't mean it in a friendly way? Sheeze, who ate his sack lunch? He really seems to be unable to grasp the fact that many Americans do genuinely feel pleasant, happy, grateful to be alive, open, and/or friendly.
This tells me a lot more about HIM than it does about Americans, by the way. I'm just sayin'...
4. Tipping. Wow, what a surly, ornery traveler this guy seems to be. He is actually disdainful of courteous, helpful waitstaff - and the way we generously show our appreciation for their service, and expect him to do the same (much as I am sure he would expect us to respect HIS local customs). By the way, dude, tipping ISN'T mandatory. You will just look like a jerk if you don't tip for good service - and believe me, you probably already look like a jerk, so really - what do you have to lose? GO FOR IT. Don't do anything half way! LIVE LIFE FULLY AS THE JERK YOU ARE!
5. False prices on everything. I found this one to be particularly odd. He seems to hate to pay sales tax. Well, guess what - I don't particularly like paying the VAT taxes when I visit Europe - but it's a freaking hassle to figure out how NOT to pay these taxes that I don't really owe and can technically avoid in many cases. So I just pay their inflated prices, and taxes that I don't owe, and don't sweat it. I'm on vacation. I'm there to enjoy myself, not fret over a few insignificant taxes. By the way, don't even get me started on PETROL PRICES in Europe. My gosh. But I digress. Hey, if I want to toodle around in Europe in a car, then I know before going there that I'll be paying more for "petrol" than I do at home. It's part of the price of the vacation. See - I'm already over it!
6. Cheesy in your face marketing. Ok, cheesy marketing bothers me too - which is why I watch, for the most part, channels that don't have much marketing. I have Netflix, and Amazon.com, and XM/Sirius, and a DVR, and any other number of channels and stations and sources that don't bombard me with marketing. That being said, so far, this one - #6 - is the first of his many tiresome complaints that may have some validity to it.
That being said - have you ever watched European TV? There's a reason why American TV is so popular over there - so much of their stuff sucks SO badly. You really oughtta watch an Elvis movie in German - with plenty of German beer (iced, not at room temperature) it's even BETTER! You'll be BEGGING for a commercial break!
7. Wasteful consumerism. Let me tell you something. I think I KNOW why Europeans don't have as much stuff as we do: THEY HAVE NO CLOSET SPACE. And often, there is an added TAX for each closet or room! Hell, if I didn't have so much space in my house - and my garage - and my yard - I wouldn't have as much stuff! But let me assure you, if you haven't been to Europe - their houses and closets (or wardrobes since they often don't have closets) and tiny one car garages are just as full of junk as any Americans' house. They just have less individual space. So spare me the holier than thou attitude.
8. Idiotic American stereotypes of other countries Really? The irony of this statement has apparently escaped this guy.
By the way, when I tell Europeans that I'm from Texas, you ought to hear some of them cut loose with the ridiculous stereotypes. No, I don't own a horse. No, I don't live in a mansion. No, I don't have any cacti in my yard. No, I don't own a Confederate flag. No, I'm not Baptist. No, I don't have illegal aliens doing my yardwork or cleaning my house.
Yes, I do say "y'all." And yes, I do own some cowboy boots and I really do wear them on occasion. Yes, you can order them on Amazon and have them shipped to me and I'll mail them to you. No problem. Aren't us friendly, helpful Americans AWESOME?
9. Heritage. Get over it, is all I have to say. It's an American thing - you wouldn't understand. What I don't understand is why you're so touchy about it. Guess that hypersensitivity is an Irish thing - and I don't understand. But I'm prepared to be gracious about your touchy, judgmental attitude when I'm visiting your country. In fact, I will probably find it interesting - and in a strange way, endearing.
One thing for sure is this - if you're an example of an Irishman, well, I'm glad I'm only 1/8th Irish.
10. ID checks & stupid drinking laws. Guess what - we agree on this one!
11. Religious Americans. All I can say is that this is very ironic coming from someone from Ireland. You guys are STILL blowing each other up over religion. Before you correct me, I know that it's more complicated than all that - but come on - Europe's history of religious tolerance, or the lack thereof, is a pretty tattered and bloody one.
Unlike your country, ours was founded on the concept of FREEDOM OF RELIGION - that's right, our ancestors were trying to get the hell away from Europe's intolerance of religious differences, so please excuse us if we revel a bit in our hard earned freedoms.
Don't tell us to "tone it down." You have a whole lot to learn about tolerance.
12. Corporations win all the time, not small businesses. My father and my husband and myself, and my ancestors way back on down the line, have been successful small business owners. This country was founded on their success and the success of many others like them. In my little town in Texas, the most successful restaurants are the privately owned ones, not the chains.
Sorry that we have so much land that you have to drive a car to go to a restaurant. We like it that way.
13. A country designed for cars, not humans. SPEAKING OF CARS! American cars are affordable. Our gas (you know it as "petrol") is about half the cost of that in Europe. We have a lot of space, we own more land individually than Europeans. We have a less dense population. We have a lot of really great roads and highways. Rental cars are very inexpensive. Mass transit, public transportation simply isn't feasible in many of our communities. It would not be cost effective. In other words, it would be a STUPID WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS.
When I am in Europe, I nearly always choose to rent a car rather than rely on public transportation, which, for tourists anyway, is VERY EXPENSIVE. I can rent a car for a week for a lot less than I can buy a BritRail pass for a week.
To each his own. But no - we didn't build our towns and communities to cater to the needs of European tourists. Sorry if that bothers you.
14. Always in a hurry. I don't know what "posh sit down restaurants" you visited where you got your food in five minutes or less - PLEASE SHARE. That's really AWESOME. I have never experienced that!
As for punctuality - yes, we are a punctual people. We consider punctuality to be a sign of COURTESY.
You think we're stressed out because we're punctual and time-efficient. I think that YOU are projecting your own angst onto us. Most of us like our pace of life. We like that for the most part, we can rely on others to be thoughtful of our time by being punctual and efficient as well. This does NOT mean we don't know how to "stop and smell the roses." We just don't make others wait for us to do so.
15. Obsession with money. This is way too much of a generalization. Some people are obsessed with money, some aren't. I've met plenty of Europeans who have much the same mentality. By the way, how do you pay for your traveling? With coconuts? Beers? I think not. Traveling is a priority to you - and I doubt that you'd consider a job which didn't pay you enough to enjoy what you place a priority on. Just because someone has different priorities or desires in life, doesn't mean that their priorities are wrong and yours are right.
16. Unhealthy portions. Dude, I don't know what to tell you. You're overanalyzing this WAY too much. If you don't want all that food, just don't eat it all. I usually take my leftovers home and eat them for lunch the next day, or feed them to my very grateful dogs.
Honestly - this ranks up there as a serious reason why you don't want to live in the United States??????? Wow.
17. Thinking America is the best. Well, let's just be honest about this - the United States has been considered "the land of opportunity" by many Europeans (and others, of course) for hundreds of years. After all, most of our ancestors voluntarily dismantled their lives in other countries, and took great risks to move to a completely foreign country, to start over totally - to get OUT OF the land of their birth and to take advantage of what our country offered them. Most of us were raised by these very grateful people (or their children) and taught to be grateful ourselves. Our country has gone from fledgling colony to a world power in just a couple of hundred years or so. Honestly, the world has never seen a country grow and prosper as quickly as this one has, with power and influence as far reaching in such a short amount of time. Now - that doesn't mean that we're superior in all things, but damn - we ARE good at a lot of things, and in spite of our flaws, we still offer great opportunities to those who choose to live here. I hate to rub your nose in it, but we have had a lot more influence and offered more opportunity than Ireland ever has or could. That's just the way it is.
That doesn't mean we're "the best" at everything. You guys make some great wool sweaters - and beer. I really appreciate those things - hell, you do them better than we do! But...we really are a great country, in spite of our flaws. I hope we remain great and I will do all I can to keep my country strong.
Have an awesome day. Hope you come back again - in a better mood.
Right on. I think #17 is the one least understood by those "on the outside looking in". The whole root for the underdog thing that we've retained despite being the world's largest economy since WWI
I read this article awhile back and, though he makes some good points, the idea that he can just whitewash America because we "have it comin" it kind of...dickish. He should opted to weight in the positives and negatives of his experiences rather than stooping to "our" level and becoming everything he hates about Americans to make some arbitrary points so we'd see the error of our ways.
Also the feeling of being a superior nation is not just an American thing. Japan? China? France? Germany? It is absolutely universal.
5. False prices on everything. I found this one to be particularly odd. He seems to hate to pay sales tax.
He means that tax should be included in the price you see on the menu because it makes it easier to figure out how much you owe. I also don't care how much the business makes. What I care is the full amount I have to pay. Because in Europe the tax is included in the price shown in stores, web sites, menus, but in USA and Canada, you have to add the tax separately.
Last edited by Botev1912; 04-04-2013 at 10:44 PM..
He means that tax should be included in the price you see on the menu because it makes it easier to figure out how much you owe. I also don't care how much the business makes. What I care is the full amount I have to pay. Because in Europe the tax is included in the price shown in stores, web sites, menus, but in USA and Canada, you have to add the tax separately.
Yeah, we get that. But it's not the business of the company to make it easier for you to figure out how much you ultimately owe because of whatever taxes are added on. They charge $XX for their product and that's all they care about.
That $5 widget at Walmart or that $3 fast Big Mac is going to cost you a different price depending on where you buy it. I cannot imagine those companies printing out myriad menus or price tags for all the different price points that would ensue because of all the various state and local taxes. In a ten mile radius around me I think there are at least 5 different prices I would pay for the same $1 item, depending on which store I bought it at.
Making the consumer responsible for keeping up with the tax is no better or worse than the European way, it's just different.
He means that tax should be included in the price you see on the menu because it makes it easier to figure out how much you owe. I also don't care how much the business makes. What I care is the full amount I have to pay. Because in Europe the tax is included in the price shown in stores, web sites, menus, but in USA and Canada, you have to add the tax separately.
I know what he means. Honestly though, it's not that difficult. It's just a different way of doing things. That's part of the charm of traveling to different places - people do things differently.
When I'm in Europe, I have to figure out how many euros equal a dollar and vice versa -and - here's the really tricky part - IT CHANGES EVERY DAY. Oh my GOSH!
If one can't afford a few cents or pence one way or another, then one really has no business traveling internationally.
I wonder if Europeans truly love urban living, or are forced into it because of high gas taxes and urban growht restrictions that make suburban living unaffordable for most people. I wonder how people live in Europe's rural areas with the gas prices they have to deal with.
As for tipping, even after i tip 20% a meal in America would STILL be cheaper than a meal in Europe which would have a smaller serving size. At least here the tip is optional while if its a service charge you have to pay it even if the service was bad.
I wonder if Europeans truly love urban living, or are forced into it because of high gas taxes and urban growht restrictions that make suburban living unaffordable for most people. I wonder how people live in Europe's rural areas with the gas prices they have to deal with.
As for tipping, even after i tip 20% a meal in America would STILL be cheaper than a meal in Europe which would have a smaller serving size. At least here the tip is optional while if its a service charge you have to pay it even if the service was bad.
When societies face challenges (known as externalities in economics), they come together to form solutions in the form of government. Seeing as most of Europe is democratic in nature, I don't see how "forced" would be an accurate word to describe the situation.
I am American but have lived in Europe and in Asia, and traveled extensively throughout both regions.
I LOVE traveling through, and even living in, different countries - because I have my US passport and know eventually I'll be going home to my favorite country.
But when I'm in other countries, knowing that it's a temporary thing, I revel in the differences. I savor the unique traits of each place I visit. I respect the histories which have created the values and traditions that may seem alien to me. I soak in the cultural differences - take photos, try to speak the language, taste odd foods, avoid the tourist traps and get out into the small towns and countryside. I try to engage in conversations with the natives as often as possible, even if much of that conversation is gesturing or drawing on a napkin. We nearly always end such conversations in smiles and laughter.
The commonality is that we're all human beings. The differences are the icing on the cake.
I like icing.
This guy obviously doesn't. He probably needs to stay home and quit inflicting himself on other nations.
Meanwhile, I'll keep globe trotting - having great fun, experiencing things with a positive outlook, and making friends everywhere I go.
In a few weeks, my husband and I are going to visit the UK. We'll probably tip too much (Oh, the horror - what awful Americans!), we'll alarm people by talking to them in a queue, and we'll definitely look like American tourists, with our camera and our big grins and our Texas accents. We'll have a great time, and frankly I don't care much if a few pretentious people assume that we're GWB supporters, and that we live in a cardboard mansion and both drive Hummers emblazoned with American flags. I am sure that most of the people we meet will be decent and kind hearted - like most of the people in the world.
Don't let what this bloke says 'skew' how you feel about your upcoming trip to the UK, you just make sure you have a good holiday - bring your camera, your smiles, make sure you chat to people in any queue's you encounter and wear whats comfortable for you it is your holiday after all! I am very confident that you will be made to feel very welcome wherever you go - eat drink be merry and have a great time!!
If anything, I think the author made it a point that (s)he wasn't generalizing nor speaking for every single American. That being said, American culture is, when compared to others at least, oriented to a very large degree on consumerism, money, and efficiency. Have you ever been to Jimmy John's? It's the fastest growing franchise in America right now, and it's appeal is the speed at which you can get a meal.
You'd rather wait?
When my wife and I were in Amsterdam we went to an Indian restaurant (Don't ask) and we were there for four hours and no, this was not a good thing.
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