Adam C. Lipscomb wrote:
>I'll repeat what I said in an earlier post - I've seen European tourists act
>the same way here in the states.
I haven't, but I'll take your word for it- I must have only had exposure
to polite tourists somehow <grin>. I'll admit I ran into some pretty
obnoxious people from many different nationalities while I was
travelling. I still think the Americans stuck out as being exceptionally
bad- I only ran into one or two that didn't make me cringe- but I could
just be extra-sensitive because I'm an American.
<me>
>> To be fair, it seems to be a tourist trait more than an American trait.
>> But I had someone say to me yesterday, "I would have thought all
>> Americans were loud and annoying if I hadn't met you" and people
>> routinely assume I am either a) Canadian or b) Dutch (why Dutch? I don't
>> know. Because I'm blonde or something?) and express considerable
>> incredulity when I say I am an American- usually because I'm too "nice".
>
>Darn those Kiwi bigots! ;-)
Yeah, yeah, nobody said they weren't arrogant in their own quiet way
<grin>. But we do it to ourselves. Quite aside from the tourist issue,
what, oh what, made us think that producing a trashy program like
"America's Most Wanted" was a good idea? And if we had to produce it, why
did we further embarrass ourselves by showing it in other countries? I
hear about every single episode ("No, not everybody in America is an axe
murderer, honest....") OK, I realize the answer is "because we can make
money off of it" but even capitalism could have a little dignity.
I can hardly blame the Kiwis for being prejudiced against us, with that
sort of advertising.
Kat Feete
------------
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin
unprotected.
- George Carlin
