Sharing a Bit of My Day With You - This Thread Will Devolve Into Politics Talk
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Never
Come What May
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Of course, there is a class system in the US. It’s the basis of our economic system. I’m not quite certain it’s a bad thing; you can have a class system without rudeness, which is what your friend seemed to be describing. I don’t think a person should try to represent anything but themselves though.
SINthysist
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Maybe her Euro-Egalitarian outlook on the United States caused her to expect everyone to feel somewhat inferior to her and the snubs are not someone looking down at her but level at her...
SINthysist
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Texans are THE SAME DAMN WAY!
ma_guy
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Perhaps I'm off on a tangent but is the larger issue here how American's act or it is the false perception those outside the US have of us?
IMO, it's probably a little of both but how much responsibility do we have to live up to some ideal that others have of us?
IMO, it's probably a little of both but how much responsibility do we have to live up to some ideal that others have of us?
SINthysist
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They all look alike !
Okay, I give. Name the culture that doesn't look down on the United States. They all look at us as provincial upstarts. The point being is, by making such an assumption, one assumes one is superior enough to point that out, i.e., involved in hypocracy.
Now maybe if she was a Euro-Egalitarian, she could have pointed out that the NHRE is full of look-down-thier-noses-at-you types. So is even the smallest African or Arab tribe.
Someone just likes to find fault with the US, I think. Besides, you screamed for political in the title alone else I wouldn't have opened the thread.
Got to go! Workout time!
!Okay, I give. Name the culture that doesn't look down on the United States. They all look at us as provincial upstarts. The point being is, by making such an assumption, one assumes one is superior enough to point that out, i.e., involved in hypocracy.
Now maybe if she was a Euro-Egalitarian, she could have pointed out that the NHRE is full of look-down-thier-noses-at-you types. So is even the smallest African or Arab tribe.
Someone just likes to find fault with the US, I think. Besides, you screamed for political in the title alone else I wouldn't have opened the thread.
Got to go! Workout time!
Never
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There’s nothing political in this thread IMHO, only sociological.
However, SIN makes a point, (then carries it to its extreme) if your friend expected to be treated a certain way, and adding to that, experienced the usual uncomfortable feeling of traveling in a foreign land, it’s possible that she’s misreading many of the signs people are giving her.
I’m not saying she hasn’t experienced any discrimination or ill treatment, however, her assertion that many Americans do that is odd.
However, SIN makes a point, (then carries it to its extreme) if your friend expected to be treated a certain way, and adding to that, experienced the usual uncomfortable feeling of traveling in a foreign land, it’s possible that she’s misreading many of the signs people are giving her.
I’m not saying she hasn’t experienced any discrimination or ill treatment, however, her assertion that many Americans do that is odd.
peachykeen
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It is a bit difficult to figure what to make of her comments wihtout knowing what it was she expected to find, the attitude she came with. If she came with an idea of looking to gather evidence to support an image she had already partly formed, then that's what she brought to the party, and maybe she only found what she was looking for, consciously or subconsciously. Or, maybe she was genuinely surprised. Who knows.
My first trip to Paris, I was shocked at how outgoing, friendly, willing to help and eager to talk with me nd my husband the Parisians we met were. Because everything we'd ever heard was to expect the opposite. We didn't neccessarily go looking for negatives, and in subsequent trips we did encounter some less than friendly folks. But that first trip - maybe because it was our honeymoon and we were all goopy in love and shit - I cannot recal one less than positive interaction with anyone, shopkeepers, hotel staff, some lovely students we met in the park, a man walking his dog who saw us looking at a map and came over to see if we needed help and recommended a most excellent restaurant. So feel free to keep mocking the French, they can take it (being from New Jersey, I know how that is).
My first trip to Paris, I was shocked at how outgoing, friendly, willing to help and eager to talk with me nd my husband the Parisians we met were. Because everything we'd ever heard was to expect the opposite. We didn't neccessarily go looking for negatives, and in subsequent trips we did encounter some less than friendly folks. But that first trip - maybe because it was our honeymoon and we were all goopy in love and shit - I cannot recal one less than positive interaction with anyone, shopkeepers, hotel staff, some lovely students we met in the park, a man walking his dog who saw us looking at a map and came over to see if we needed help and recommended a most excellent restaurant. So feel free to keep mocking the French, they can take it (being from New Jersey, I know how that is).
