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I live in the #1 tourist destination in the USA, according to Conde Nast, and that's Charleston, SC.
Not only is there Charleston, but we have beautiful beaches nearby. Whenever I go to restaurants, downtown to walk the streets, or shop (either at the grocery store or outdoor shopping malls), people always appear to be so rude.
I've been in SC since 2006 and can spot a tourist with no problem. They always seem to have this attitude about them. Has anyone else experienced this? Of course, not everyone is like this but I've met my fair share.
I lived in Charleston for a while...Goose Creek actually. I think part of the problem is people around there are more friendly than avg. When I first moved up into the New England area I was a little shocked at how rude people are from up there. I came to realize they just live by different standards, and they don't acknowledge people unless they know them, whereas in the South people are more open to conversing with and helping complete strangers. So when you bump into a tourist from somewhere like that and you try to make some small talk or hold the door for them and they blow you off and/or ignore you, while your thinking their rude, they are thinking I don't know this person just keep walking. Or so I assume, because I don't really understand why they would think like that either.
I remember holding the door open at a store for an older lady a few days after I moved up there. She walked right past me without even acknowledging my existence. She was old so I held my tongue. Just as I was about to let go of the door a younger lady was walking out so I held the door for her, and behind her came a stream of people. They just walked past me like I was hired to hold that door open. After about 6 or so walked through I let the door go on the next person. They didn't seem to notice as they didn't if look at me. Weird people. Lots of stories like that. I also found that even though the South gets a bad rep for racism, we don't have anything on those New Englanders. Some of the most blatant racist things I have seen in the US happened up there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PAinSC
Really????
When we were visiting Hawaii, we came across many Asian tourists who were rude, but it was mainly on Oahu. One huge example is when we were paying our respects at Pearl Harbor and there were a group of Asians laughing and joking on the Arizona memorial. The same thing happened while they were showing a film strip about the attacks that day. I was furious.
I have also lived in Hawaii. The location that the majority of tourists are coming from changes with the seasons. Different times of the year the majority of tourists will be either Japanese, South American, US/Canadian etc.
You have to remember that the Japanese have a very different version of WWII history taught to them. Or I should say a white washed version. So when they stumble on to the Arizona they see Japanese heroes (who were ultimately defeated, this a key point) that got a good lick in on the US, who caused the whole mess anyways and dropped 2 atomic bombs that wiped out 2 cities which is covered in detail in their history books. I know, I still wanted to smack some of them too. Honestly though, I have been many times and the laughing Japanese story isn't really that common, but it does happen.
I have been to Japan many times, unfortunately I have also watched a couple of American tourists laughing and running around gleefully snapping pics at Hiroshima. Not the majority by any means, but I left with the impression that its not that uncommon either.
I live just north of a pretty popular regional beach area. My take is that 90% of tourists are perfectly nice folks; 7% are just kind of clueless that there are other people around and that the world does not just revolve around them; 3% of them go out of their way to be jerks because they enjoy being able to get away with behavior that would get them called out back home (letting their kids run wild and play dodge ball in the grocery store, stiffing the tip for their waiter, driving overly aggressively, etc.) It's that 3% that makes a really bad negative impression and kind of spoils it for the 90% nice folks.
I would say it is fairly close to the truth to say tourists are spoiled, and become exasperated easily when things don't go their way.
In the USA, it is very common to blame the messenger. Customers take it out on cashiers if there is something systemically corrupt in the retail corporation. They take this attitude abroad with them.
I lived in Charleston for a while...Goose Creek actually. I think part of the problem is people around there are more friendly than avg. When I first moved up into the New England area I was a little shocked at how rude people are from up there. I came to realize they just live by different standards, and they don't acknowledge people unless they know them, whereas in the South people are more open to conversing with and helping complete strangers. So when you bump into a tourist from somewhere like that and you try to make some small talk or hold the door for them and they blow you off and/or ignore you, while your thinking their rude, they are thinking I don't know this person just keep walking. Or so I assume, because I don't really understand why they would think like that either.
I remember holding the door open at a store for an older lady a few days after I moved up there. She walked right past me without even acknowledging my existence. She was old so I held my tongue. Just as I was about to let go of the door a younger lady was walking out so I held the door for her, and behind her came a stream of people. They just walked past me like I was hired to hold that door open. After about 6 or so walked through I let the door go on the next person. They didn't seem to notice as they didn't if look at me. Weird people. Lots of stories like that. I also found that even though the South gets a bad rep for racism, we don't have anything on those New Englanders. Some of the most blatant racist things I have seen in the US happened up there.
I have also lived in Hawaii. The location that the majority of tourists are coming from changes with the seasons. Different times of the year the majority of tourists will be either Japanese, South American, US/Canadian etc.
You have to remember that the Japanese have a very different version of WWII history taught to them. Or I should say a white washed version. So when they stumble on to the Arizona they see Japanese heroes (who were ultimately defeated, this a key point) that got a good lick in on the US, who caused the whole mess anyways and dropped 2 atomic bombs that wiped out 2 cities which is covered in detail in their history books. I know, I still wanted to smack some of them too. Honestly though, I have been many times and the laughing Japanese story isn't really that common, but it does happen.
I have been to Japan many times, unfortunately I have also watched a couple of American tourists laughing and running around gleefully snapping pics at Hiroshima. Not the majority by any means, but I left with the impression that its not that uncommon either.
Are you in the Navy? Just asking with you being in Goose Creek and Hawaii. My husband is a military man too
I didn't even think of that either, how SC is known for their friendliness. Charleston has been named the friendliest city in America.
And FYI to some previous comments, if you can't answer the question with a legit answer, no need to waste anyone's time writing a few words that has nothing to do with the thread. Everyone's perception of someone being rude is different from each other. Get over it.
Charleston is a specific kind of tourist area, where people tend to drink heavily on vacation. I've found this sort of tourist spot brings out the worst of people's rudeness. This is in contrast to say a national park. I worked at Glacier National Park for a summer and did not think tourists were very rude at all. But I don't even like being a tourist myself in places like Charleston, South Beach, the Keys, New Orleans, etc.
I don't think it is a matter of being rude, but rather overwhelmed with the sites. I am sure people shopping in the market saw something that was interesting and stopped, more oblivious than rude.
I live in the #1 tourist destination in the USA, according to Conde Nast, and that's Charleston, SC.
Not only is there Charleston, but we have beautiful beaches nearby. Whenever I go to restaurants, downtown to walk the streets, or shop (either at the grocery store or outdoor shopping malls), people always appear to be so rude.
I've been in SC since 2006 and can spot a tourist with no problem. They always seem to have this attitude about them. Has anyone else experienced this? Of course, not everyone is like this but I've met my fair share.
I lived in San Francisco, which is also a top tourist destination, for 18 years and now I live in a small town (Port Townsend, WA) that's a tourist destination for people in the Northwest, though we get tourists from all over the world here, too. During the summer our hotels and inns are sold out and it's hard to even park downtown from all the tourists. I've never run into rude tourists in either place, except for one Japanese man in SF who scolded me for asking him not to step into a flower bed at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park to take photos of his friends.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 37,016,353 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by veuvegirl
I don't think it is a matter of being rude, but rather overwhelmed with the sites. I am sure people shopping in the market saw something that was interesting and stopped, more oblivious than rude.
This, and not making small talk with someone isn't rude. They just don't feel like making small talk with strangers. That is their right. What would be rude is if someone kept trying to make it with them when they obviously don't want to.
I've grown up in the tourist industry, my background is quite extensive, and for the most part, tourists are very friendly because they are thrilled to be on vaycay.
My mother's family goes back hundreds of years in Charleston and except for very rare instances, I've never had tourists be rude to me.
Also, I don't poll people and ask if they are tourists so I can't automatically spot all tourists. Unless they are checking into one of my hotels, I have no idea if the people at SNOB are tourists or locals.
When we were visiting Hawaii, we came across many Asian tourists who were rude, but it was mainly on Oahu. One huge example is when we were paying our respects at Pearl Harbor and there were a group of Asians laughing and joking on the Arizona memorial. The same thing happened while they were showing a film strip about the attacks that day. I was furious.
I am never one to make a scene, but I think I would have exploded at those people.
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