The World According To Americans?

Is it just me... or is this map entirely accurate?

Something is wrong... oh yes, where it has England we need to put "drinks tea and is still looking for it in the river". And we need to put Israel on the map labeled under "masters". Yep.. other ther than that, this is accurate.

reply to post by talklikeapirat


ah very funny indeed. i wish i could make the picture bigger though, because i could not make out some of the words. either way, i completely understand where you are coming from in terms of thought process. our country, Americans, as a whole, need to be more understanding of other countries. MUCH more understanding, because we do not seem to be showing much. we must love everyone as we love ourselves. idk, to me it comes rather easy, idk why ppl are still bitching about it till this day,

reply to post by nixie_nox

-There are things like they talk too loud, they do not pay attention to others around them, do not say "bonjour" when they enter a room of strangers, or "au revoir" when they leave it.

-They look at their phone and text while there are others around them, or eat or drink while others around them have nothing.
-They wave their money in the air at waiters or servers (oh god this one makes me hide, it is the equivalent of standing up and pulling out your dick in public in our country).

-When conversing with others, every sentence starts with "I"... I do this, I did that, I won an award for that, am the best in the state at this....

- They wear extremely revealing clothes, plunging necklines and short shorts (when they weigh 200 pounds ) and try to attract attention this way.

-They serve themselves at the dinner table, and once we had a kid actually getting up to walk around the table and get something (we all spoke english, there was no reason for that).

A whole lot of the problem simply comes from the habit of being oblivious to others around, which is considered rude.

Where for us, staring at strangers is rude, for them they like it- they consider that it means you are paying attention to others- you care, you are intensely aware of their presence and every detail of them.

This is the problem with forming lines or "queues" as the brits say- if you do that, there is no more reason to pay attention to anyone else around you.
The french way, everyone has to be looking around, noting and paying attention to the others to keep in mind who came in what order .

You must make eye contact with the others to confirm that you are part of the order. If you are in your own bubble and don't look at anyone else, it is a statement that you will not respect the order and are in it to forcefully compete. This spurs others around to enter that mentality!
That is what the americans do not understand! I have watched the french all be in their polite crowd letting each person go up in their order of arrival, until the americna gets in, oblivious to everyone, not meeting eyes with anyone, like a wolf in the middle of the sheep and everyone goes into defense/offense mode!

!

Basically, their idea of politess is NOT trying to stand out, to compete with, to make yourself seem better than, the others around you. It is more along the lines of showing you are attentive to others and are one of them.

If you are wearing a plunging neckline, it is assumed you are doing so to send a message that you welcome sexual encounters- they don't figure you were actually oblivious and not thinking at all about others when you dressed this morning.

Where an american may be trying to inspire others around through showing their achievements,
the french see it only as trying to show off and dominate the people around and destroy any current of fraternity circulating.

This is what I mean by feeling torn in the place I am at, where I see each side and their real concerns or motives underneath, and each side is misunderstanding the other!

Originally posted by octotom
reply to post by Bluesma

 

and needed to be saved by the Americans (not the Allies, of course, only Americans).

Given that you're an American, you would know why we say it that way. We're taught that Hitler was on his way to being Supreme Commander of Europe before the United States got involved in the war. It's not something that we just pulled out of thin air; there is a certain reasoning behind it.

It is inaccurate. And it is very inconsiderate of the other allied countries who we couldn't have done it without and who gave their men to die too. We were part of a team, not alone.

Originally posted by SaturnFX
The french people are rude. They have no idea what a queue is (a line), and have a aire of arrogance amongst them.

I worked there for a few months. right in paris. I didn't enjoy it much.

Beautiful city though, and my collegues were good enough...so like anywhere, once you get to know em person to person, they are fine, but the culture as a whole is..ya...steriotype confirmed imo by my experiences..and this was before I knew of the steriotype...only understanding of france was through some movies which made them seem poetic more than a bunch of asses...

I think the comparison comes from many years living in the southern US small town environment...lot of pretend happy people, manners, etc..France seems to just disregard the false pretense that everyone is friendly...I might feel the same way visiting some major US city also..but to me, this was a culture shock in general attitude and atmosphere..

When I lived over in England, I didn't find that resenting feel in London...bit stand offish, sure, but not rude..quite the opposite actually. detatched and polite.

If I would recommend vacations or places to live outside of the US, I would say definately the UK, (only minor culture shock experienced there...otherwise, felt like living in the northeast), or almost anywhere in Italy (good atmosphere, great food)

Avoid Egypt. feels like invaders took over the whole place and your walking on eggshells when wandering around Cairo.

But certainly, if your living in the US, get a passport and just go. Your entire worldview will change once you spend a few weeks somewhere else..get to know the locals, and just listen..don't speak much..just listen, observe, and immerse yourself.

I've noticed that about France too, just little things like, they won't stop to let you walk past in a narrow hallway, if you don't move they'll just walk into you.

Its spot on I would say. Americans are very ignorant (most of them). Earlier today a fella I know told me that he wants to vote for Romney because Obama is a muslim and he wants a christian president, LOL considering Romney is a mormon. Whatever comes out of the TV is gospel for most folks and stereotypes abound out of the squawk box.

Just a comment about America "crushing the olympics". There are 60m brits and 300m Americans. You'd need 5 times as many medals just to be drawing equal yet you didn't even reach double.

reply to post by Kentucky


LOL that vid is hilarious! But obviously it's not representative of the population as their sample seems to be based on non-probability methods (convenience and possibly self-selective samples). Also, the re-ordering of the map does not necessarily equate to high ethical standards in interviewing. Although funny, it's not scientific...but then again, what polls/interviews/surveys are these days?

Originally posted by sixswornsermon
Is anything ever as simplistic as portrayed by a stereotype?

Meh.

Stereotypes exist for a reason.

reply to post by BobbyTarass


I have traveled outside of my country, and I am not originally from Texas. I am originally from Louisiana, which has a significant Acadian French population. I am an American mutt genetically composed of Southern French, Native American, Scottish, Irish and Dutch.

I live outside of Houston, so I come in regular contact with many non-American individuals on a regular basis. My husband works with people mostly from India and the Middle East.

The reason I mentioned water availability is because I have been told by Europeans that Americans are considered to waste water by frequent and ridiculously long baths/showers. I was told that Americans generally take their access to an abundant fresh-water supply for granted, and that Europeans are not inclined to use their more limited supply of fresh water for what they would consider indulgent toiletry purposes.

If you are so offended by my American idiocy for simply repeating what I was told by someone that was actually from Europe, then I suppose you would have to take it up with them.
As much as it thrills many people to make denigrating jabs at Americans and our eclectic culture, I can assure you that the general population is not stupid. The previous video celebrating the ignorance of Americans shows individuals that are the exception, rather than the rule.

I also don't see the reasoning behind the notion that Americans are incapable of laughing at themselves? That is the antithesis of how I would describe American humor in general.

Regardless, we are all human beings, we all have skin and flesh and beating hearts and emotions and souls. No matter where we "come" from or what culture we are acclimated towards, we all share the same planet. Our commonalities far outweigh our differences.

If one thing globalisation and the internet should have taught you (if you're able to learn the way you're built to) is that there are no 'typical' types of people. The Germans aren't warmongers, the French aren't arrogant, the British aren't stoic, the americans aren't brash. There are just stereotypes and our own paranoia's that we re-enforce ourselves everytime we dont take the opportunity to educate ourselves or get to know these people. I've dated and lived with girls in both America and France and the vast amount of people I met in both places were genuinely amazing.

Lets just laugh at the map and how it highlights archaic steroetypes instead of looking at something that is blatantly humour and then going " ha ha ha ha errrrr but is it actually accurate?"

That's the only dumb thing here.

reply to post by Bluesma


Everything you just listed just shows a gross lack of manners and tact, regardless of what country you're from. I have been born and raised in the Southern U.S. and I can guarantee you, behavior like that is utterly appalling to any of my friends and family and the rare occasion it is witnessed is usually in a setting that attracts large tourist populations, or lower income families, which for some reason seem to have a much higher liklihood of not teaching their children manners --why?-- I have absolutely no idea, but it is what it is.

My Pappaw & Mammaw would have worn out a belt on me if I even thought about interrupting an adult conversation, not using my manners, not saying "sir" and "ma'am", running around like a damn heathen in a public place, or staring at someone (especially while they eat....that was [and still is for my own children] a big no-no).
And dressing like a slut is a worldwide thing, not simply limited to obese Americans who think if they can get it zipped, then it fits.

Personally, I am disgusted by the banana hammocks that European men wear to swim in versus normal swimming trunks. I don't want to see a fist full of pubic hair peeking out from the top of a pair of "man-ties" being worn by some middle-aged man as a swimsuit.
One of the guys my husband works with is from Greece, and I swear, the man would wear just his Speedos no matter where he went if he could. Anytime we have a function that is anywhere near water, he wears those stupid manties that are barely big enough to properly fit a toddler, much less a 40 year old dude, and his gigantic gold medallion necklace, nestled among his thick, prolific chest hair. That's it-- manties and gold medallion pimp necklace.

Of course, I am fully aware that not all men from Greece are wannabe Cassanova pimps. Just like I am fully aware that all men from France are not sex-crazed perverts like the boss I used to have when I was in my twenties. This man was incapable of having a normal conversation that did not include something about sex. Didn't matter what we were talking about, cutting bell peppers= his musing on the diversity of boobs, his kids= his musings on what position each of them were conceived, cleaning the bathroom toilet= his musings on the shapes of women's butts. He was a small man, his name was Gilbert, pronounced Jobear, and I loved him to death.

Whether it is far off or not. You gotta admit that America is a pretty decent country.

reply to post by Bluesma

Thoughtful post. Good points. I am an American and I am exasperated by the people around me. Land of the free and brave has become land of the suspicious and "better thee than I".

We live in close proximity to each other for years and hardly speak other than hello and how ya doing. Which isn't genuine. The response is "Fine", which means nothing (sand is "fine", hair is "fine"). Just a cover, a non-pleasantry , we really could care less about our neighbors. What goes on behind closed doors is none of my business. Unless you are one of the other types. With security cams under your eves and peep holes in your garage door (?). They are always peering at everyone from behind their facade, afraid of the boogie man in this increasing climate of paranoia.

When we do absolutely have to meet and deal with each other, its all about the stare, like you said. The look me up and down to how am I dressed, is my shirt stained, is my hair combed, all in cold disdain. We like to tear each other down to feel superior by comparison.

And the gossip. Everyone has something negative to say about the other guy. It all gets bottled up and then blurts out at meetings in the club house. People run at the mouth about non-problems except in their eyes. He walks his dog off the leash and tosses poopies in the bushes. They have a hose out front and don't pick up their garbage cans. It's endless.

And don't ever, ever under any circumstances ask for help. Its always, I'm busy or I am over extended and so terribly, terribly, terribly unable to help you. Then in the next sentence ask for your help.

When Sunday rolls around in church one gets absolved for the all-week selfish behavior and permission to go right back to denying reality, pretending to help, and dismissing their negligence. While all the while secretly building resentment and laying plans to expose and tear down others worlds around them.

Sorry, you say it better than I, just touched a nerve I guess. Now, that I feel better, I am going to drive around in my car, not use my signal, tailgate the car ahead of me and flip people off.

reply to post by talklikeapirat


What a bunch of nonsense! And as for how important cultural diversity is, I'm not sure I quite understand the question. Is it important to me that the US be culturally diverse? Is that what you are asking? If so then no, it isn't important to me at all. So long as whomever is here is treated fairly, equally and all laws apply the same to all then I don't care at all.

Once, a few years ago, I was enjoying a quiet drink in a bar in Stockholm. Watching some sports on the TV, that kind of thing. An attractive blonde lady made her way over to my table, 'my lucky night', I thought. She proceeded to ask me, in a nasally American accent where I was from. I told her I was from England.

She processed this for a few months, then said, and I do not lie "Righhhhhhhhtt.... So what language do they speak there?".

Originally posted by Alekto
Once, a few years ago, I was enjoying a quiet drink in a bar in Stockholm. Watching some sports on the TV, that kind of thing. An attractive blonde lady made her way over to my table, 'my lucky night', I thought. She proceeded to ask me, in a nasally American accent where I was from. I told her I was from England.

She processed this for a few months, then said, and I do not lie "Righhhhhhhhtt.... So what language do they speak there?".

Hey, that's cheating! You can't post combo stereotypes! You'll have to pick one: dumb blonde, or dumb American.

Originally posted by Alekto
Once, a few years ago, I was enjoying a quiet drink in a bar in Stockholm. Watching some sports on the TV, that kind of thing. An attractive blonde lady made her way over to my table, 'my lucky night', I thought. She proceeded to ask me, in a nasally American accent where I was from. I told her I was from England.

She processed this for a few months, then said, and I do not lie "Righhhhhhhhtt.... So what language do they speak there?".

Please tell me you answered "German" and then proceeded to inform her about how Germany won World War 2 after defeating the Soviet Unions valiant last stand of their Polar Bear Cavalry.

Originally posted by stupid girl

 

Everything you just listed just shows a gross lack of manners and tact, regardless of what country you're from.
My Pappaw & Mammaw would have worn out a belt on me if I even thought about interrupting an adult conversation, not using my manners, not saying "sir" and "ma'am", running around like a damn heathen in a public place, or staring at someone (especially while they eat....that was [and still is for my own children] a big no-no).

Then I think you misunderstood some of what I said. In this country staring at strangers is GOOD, or POLITE.
Kids are included in adult conversations, if they refrain they are considered "sauvage" (uncivilized).

Personally, I am disgusted by the banana hammocks that European men wear to swim in versus normal swimming trunks.
Of course, I am fully aware that not all men from Greece are wannabe Cassanova pimps. Just like I am fully aware that all men from France are not sex-crazed perverts like the boss I used to have when I was in my twenties. This man was incapable of having a normal conversation that did not include something about sex.

See, these comments are humorous from a french point of view- you consider "speedo" type of swimwear "sexual". I wonder, do you not consider it sexual that women wear no tops at the beach??
For the french, it is not.

But, the taboo americans have against sex is the equivalent of theirs concerning money.

It is okay to make jokes about sex, (it doesn't mean you want to have sex with the people you tell it to)
but it is not okay to do so about money. You think it is okay to say in french public how much you are paid, or how much you paid for your house? Well, that is like wearing a speedo. That is offensive to them. That means you want to steal their money. You were just extremely rude when you did that, and you don't even know it!


The water wasting comments? I am american. I just had two american guests at home. They are very successful and well brought up men. We gave them a very nice apartment we just had constructed. Every damn time we left for the day or the evening, they left all the lights on inside! All of them! I have seen my own family in the US do the same thing.

So if they complain that we spend so much money on travel during our many vacations, I have only to say that we made a choice- we waste less, so we can do more. I can't help but say that yes, I think americans have largely taken on the habit of waste.

reply to post by intrptr


The problems with people talking about each other behind backs exists in France also though, I have seen it is more prevalant in rural areas, no matter what the country. I grew up in a big city in the US and found people don't that- we respect privacy and ignore each other completely. That changes when you get to smaller communities.

What's really wierd for me is to be used to that form of "respect" while being married to someone for whom it is more considerate to keep and eye on your neighbors! He'll watch out the windows to see what the neighbors are doing, and I am repulsed by that. Yet they think I am cold and don't care because I didn't notice their comings and goings! Go figure..