>
> Well, there are American tourists who are just like that. But no one is
> defending them.
Exactly. That is what people regard as the stereotypical American tourist.
Of course, I know that not all Americans, probably not even a majority are
like that.
>
> 1) Americans are uniquely and prevalently loud and rude. A polite American
> tourist is the exception that proves the rule. Tourists from
> other countries
> are not nearly so bad as American tourists.
>
> 2) Tourists are often ruder than they are at home. Tourists from any
> country can be rude. Rude American tourists stand out, but there are also
> plenty of Americans who try to be polite while traveling.
> Americans are, on
> the average, as rude or polite as tourists from other countries.
>
> I'm not saying you are advocating 2, Charlie. I think you are
> interjecting
> a viewpoint in the debate that is not inconsistent with my
> understanding of
> point 1. But, I do see that as the debate.
No disrespect, but there's a lot easier ways to say that, Dan. Put in much
simpler terms, you're saying that I said something close to point 1.
I have said "point 2" almost verbatim elsewhere. What you think I think is
wrong. I know you think I hate America and all it stands for, at least
that's the impression I've got. Well, I don't, or at least I wouldn't give
that impression if some of you didn't take yourselves so seriously...
However, I do think that, getting back to where we started, Americans abroad
tend to be arrogant. I mainly have experience of students (lived next to or
near Pepperdine University's London halls for 4 years...) and elderly
tourists, but it's there. Hearing the same conversations from the American
students in our college bar, always within a week of their arrival (twice
yearly...) "London's so boring, we've seen everything..." OK...
In our own conversations offlist, you yourself once expressed contempt of
the quality of a Mexican meal I was about to go out for. You said that it is
impossible to get a decent Mexican meal outside of America (presumably you
include Mexico in that definition of America...). That is sheer arrogance,
whichever way you slice it. It's that attitude people take umbrage with.
Everything in the US is the best.
I, however, while I'm *fiercely* patriotic, I'm quite happy to admit that,
other than the beer and low-volume sportscars, England isn't great. The rest
of Britain can be pretty ropey too. If you said to me you were going to have
roast beef and yorkshire puddings for sunday lunch, I wouldn't *dream* of
saying "Ha! You won't get a decent yorkshire in the states..."
Cliches and stereotypes exist for a reason...
Charlie
