Hey, everyone, it’s random rant time! I saw this question on Ask Metafilter, and it made me recall my annoyance whenever I hear people make comments like “When I’m in a foreign country, I don’t tell anyone I’m an American.” Or “I just say I’m Canadian.”
Dear Everyone Who Does This,
What the hell, people? I ain’t no fortunate son, but I never try to hide the fact that I’m from the United States. What, you think people won’t like you because you’re American? Despite the fact that our government’s policies may not be at the peak of their international popularity, in my experience, most people do not regard the individual traveler as a personal representative of George W. Bush. If you’re so worried about being stereotyped as an obnoxious American, behave like a decent human being without hiding your nationality, and you can play your own little part in dispelling this stereotype. I think a big part of it is that many Americans seem to have an inferiority complex when it comes to Western Europe. Just because the Brits have slick accents doesn’t make them more culturally refined than us; remember, these are the same people who invented soccer hooliganism. But they certainly don’t feel the need to buy ugly sneakers and tank tops when taking a trip to the United States.
Proud to be an American,
Eileen
2 comments:
Here here, Eileen! I have wanted to say the same thing but just don't have the eloquent words.
Kudos! You know how many times I am told that by people in this group. One girl said she tries to hide her accent while we were in London... I just went off on that. I just don't understand it.
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