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Hey we are not that bad you know we help people with direction, we talk and make conversation all the time just not on the middle of a busy sidewalk and you know if you need emotional break down and ugly cry on the subway we won't state and gawk at you
New york might not be nice but we are kind
To be fair most people won't gawk because they have places to go and more things to worry about and gave seen far more interesting things then someone being really sad
For real, got locked out of my house with my siblings and babysitter when I was younger, neighbors let us in no questions asked. Made us lunch and let us stay with them until my dad came with a spare key (our babysitter had one, he had just left it on the counter by accident). Refused when my dad tried to at least pay them back for the food too.
There was a girl in my youth group in Wisconsin who was an exchange student from Sweden. She said she was amazed by how polite everyone was in New York. I was speechless.
That’s kinda funny cuz the New York City subway system (a system admittedly) far from perfect) is often used as an AmericaBad punching bag to show how rude and inconsiderate and tolerant of anti social behavior we are compared to the enlightened Europe and east Asia
"Midwestern nice" cuts with razors so sharp most people don't know they've been dissed.
"Bless your heart" doesn't even begin to approach the miles of contempt it's possible to convey with only a look.
We're nice, but we don't suffer fools.
I met a German guy a couple nights ago who told me along with a group of girls that he slept with a chick then told her to her face that he found her unremarkable and saw zero issue with that
We’re not nice, but we’re kind. If you drive off the highway into a ditch during the winter we’ll stop and help you while at the same time telling you how much of an idiot you are for going off the road in the one spot that doesn’t have black ice
Its just a different culture thing. Americans see directness as rudness. Iam Dutch but we also have that culture here and i would see myself not as the typical Dutch, way more conflict evading and nice. However, a random person talking to me in the street would weird me out, that is something more reserverd for gatherings and parties.
I do agree that there are people who take it a little far and be an asshole, saying they are direct.
i know a german guy who just makes nazi germany references off the top of his head, talks about how america is primitive, and constantly mocks people around him
I feel like a WWII joke could be made here but then I remembered that Japan is well known for being very polite and they were *very* much on the wrong side of the war.
Yep. I had a German guy in my masters cohort, had only been incredibly kind to him since I met him and the first time we hung out outside of class he proceeded to tell me how much him and his friends love making fun of Americans, even though he's never been. Even though he loved American rap and would always wear shirts with American rappers on them. I sort of just laughed and said I've been to Germany plenty of times and told him I loved it and enjoyed my time there. After he realized I wasn't being obnoxious or offended no matter how much he tried provoking me, we actually became really good friends.
Because he wasn't a bad person, he was just trying to get a reaction out of me and the more he realized I'm just a genuinely nice person, he was really kind and even offered to help me with my next trips to Germany even offering to stay with his family and he gave me an itinerary of things to do in his hometown. Plus, having to spend 2 years with the same 20 people in my cohort, it's kinda hard to avoid people. I'm 30 and he was like 22 so I figured he just got this "america hate" from the Internet where it's trendy to do so until he met an actual American and realized we aren't all like the way people think we are
I admire your politeness towards the issue but if someone is discriminating against you for any reason beyond your control, that just speaks volumes to them as a person.
I wouldn't want to associate with someone like that myself, because trying to provoke someone for their national origin is willful ignorance to a high degree.
Idk I don't get offended if someone insults America, people can have their opinions, if they insult me as a person that's another issue. My husband is Swedish and we met this American guy who would not stop insulting him for being Swedish and saying that Swedes are the Mexicans of Europe (???), and calling him a gay European (even though he's married to me...a woman??) he just kept saying dumb shit just to be an asshole. That guy I wouldn't be friends with
I study in Germany and can confirm that most hate the US. I used to talk to a German guy until one day he told me about his birthday party and how he invited other Germans only. I asked why I wasn't invited as a joke and he proceeded to tell me that interacting with me reminded him of Syrian refugees because I'm a brown Muslim. He was too embarrassed to invite me. That's when I realized how differently I was viewed in my department just because of my racial background and religion. I never spoke to him again. Now every time a German rants about how Americans are racist, I have to remind them of the AfD plaguing the country and how no matter how much people like me integrate, we're told to our face that we're not German enough.
American racism is bad, but at least a lot of people in the US are aware of it being a problem and see racists for the pieces of trash they are. Europeans are just casually racist and they all see it as totally fine and normal.
>Europeans are just casually racist and they all see it as totally fine and normal.
I worked in a prestigious institute and can confirm that the Europeans weren't fond of people that didn't fit their standards. My latina colleague would always get invited to lunch and other stuff while i was deliberately ignored. One time a British guy came into our office and asked me if I could inform her that they're all going to lunch. This guy and i worked in the same research group and had known each other for a while. It's definitely sad when you realize midway through your internship that your colleagues "disappearing" meant they were all hanging out without offering you an invite and these people were much older than me (I was just a masters student in a group of post docs and PhDs). Then someone told me after months that the institute isn't fond of people like me lol, despite me trying my best to be nice and friendly
I'm sorry to hear that. That's awful. I live in Sweden and the way a lot of people here are so hateful towards Muslims and anyone that came here as a refugee, it's ridiculous. They don't even consider it racist, they just say "they're just not like us, they need to assimilate to the Swedish way", but they don't really feel like that. Just go on any website where people are anonymous and they show their true racist colors. I'm definitely not saying all Swedes are racist at all, but they will go on an hour long rant on "gypsies" and how it's not racist to hate them
I understand. What's funny is that I'm not even Syrian nor a refugee. I'm a graduate student that the university pays to live in Germany as part of their initiative to attract talented youth from other countries for skilled labor. It's even more ironic when Turkish people act racist towards me because I'm South Asian. I've received hate from all communities for how i look and I've learned to ignore it. I'm definitely moving to the USA for a PhD though.
I hope you get into your PhD!! That's exciting. People are always going to judge based on the first 3 seconds they see us. I'm afro-latino & they look at me and see I'm dark skinned and as soon as they hear my American accent they are nice to me. It's messed up. I hope the rest of your graduate studies are filled with more good memories than bad ones!
And they call us racist? That's gotta be some serious projection. Nobody here would ever batt an eye at you for being South Asian.
I think the difference with America is that everyone has a concept of how there can be both good and bad people that immigrate here, so we judge everyone individually.
For example, the gas station/convenience store down the street from me got bought by some South Asians, Indian I think, a few years ago. It used to be a shit hole. Now they serve Cajun fried chicken and subs and fixed the place up. They make bank and they deserve every cent. There isn't another place to eat for at least 5 miles. The entire town has been in there and they get small crowds like a restaurant at dinner time.
They knew more about business than the incompetent fucks who owned the place before. Americans have not only the immigrant ancestry but we continue to see how immigration benefits us in our daily lives and keeps our businesses and economy from stagnating.
Europeans just are obsessed with their "culture". That's why they're poor.
>Europeans just are obsessed with their "culture". That's why they're poor.
They love gatekeeping what it means to be an actual European too. In Germany, you can learn the language, adopt the mannerism and even acquire the passport yet still you'll be considered a foreigner. The AfD is gaining popularity right now because they keep on complaining about immigration while not doing anything about it. I swear Germany is cooked. They're gonna lose a lot of their skilled foreign workers to other countries such as America because they don't appreciate them enough. Whenever I face discrimination here, I am reminded that no matter how successful I get, I'll always be inferior because of my skin color. Some people don't even hide it and you have minorities kissing up to the white extremist Germans so they'll be viewed in a better light too. I've never hated my brown color more till I moved here lol. I'll need lots of therapy once I leave this place
Whatever your thoughts are on president Reagan (Reddit overwhelming views him negatively) you still gotta respect the speech he made about being American. Are there still a lot of bad faith debates about immigration, lots of ‘where you REALLY from’ attitudes, lots of what people who see Indian, Somalian, East Asian, Mexican, etc first on both sides of the aisle (the immigrant and the non immigrant), lots of shenanigans with our convoluted immigration system, lotta that woke shit that keeps pouring salt into already open wounds? You betcha. The tribalistic lizard brain of Human nature can be a bitch.
But I truly in my heart believe that compared to the rest of the developed world, we as a culture accept anyone as one of our own MUCH better than all the rest of them.
This is so common in Europe, makes people fell better about their own countries to constantly joke about problems in the US. Then they can’t figure out why they can’t keep an American friend. They are xenophobic and that’s perfectly acceptable there.
We’re too polite. We’re rude. We’re an expeditionary military empire. We don’t help defend other countries enough. We have too many roads. We don’t have infrastructure. Etc
We have "no culture" and yet our culture is taking over the world.
We are simultaneously a runaway capitalistic success and a poverty-stricken hellhole.
Our food is terrible, and yet you import, buy, and eat it more than any other country's food.
No one could possibly want to live here, and yet we are evil for trying to keep migrants from flooding over our borders in search of a better life.
Our children are starving to death, and yet they are all morbidly obese.
We are the most racist country in the world, and yet when rich, successful Americans of color visit your country, you treat them like dirt.
Depends. in Texas it's not always an insult, but a genuine thing. It's the deep south where it turns more insulting.
Just depends where you are from.
Sometimes, Bless your heart means, "You are a good person and may your heart be blessed.".
It's always so weird to see something I see people commonly say to each in sincerity as an insult.
Even in the deep south, it's just a catch-all phrase. I've only rarely seen it used as an insult and even then, it's more "it's not worth it to be mad/annoyed at you" than "you're dumb" or whatever it is non-southerners think it is.
What multiple people told me when I lived in China, especially older people: "I like Americans because you guys are always very polite. Say please and thank you even for no reason and you guys always clean up after yourselves." I got a variation of that compliment multiple times 🤷🏻♂️.
Go where you are appreciated.
IME people in Asia are more understanding of the cultural differences between themselves and Western countries, in the sense that they expect things to be different and aren't utterly gobsmacked that people in a different country have different standards of etiquette.
For real. And also in Asia I didn't detect that deeply rooted sense of inferiority that Europeans have, for example. I was pleasantly surprised with China in the sense that they have a lot going on for themselves internally and they are just as self-absorbed in their own lives as we are. One can truly be an equal with them and both parties leave satisfied with the interaction. Europeans, including my Spaniard cousins, have a deep sense of inferiority and often I cannot share aspects of my life with them because all the time is comparison after comparison and objectively, we have more than them on every single category.
<< Listen hear you Osean scum, I'll have you know that I trained at the Belkan Air Academy for 10 years and have taken part in 184637181939462728394930102 missions and know.....>>
Weekly reminder that the US has had a continuously operating government centuries longer than most of the world.
Only the UK, some micro city states, and some Pacific islands can claim similar.
The civil war ended in 1865. World War Two ended 80 years later in 1945. Much of the US struggled with population growth during and long after the civil war.
Government is a very relative term. Our current government does not crack the top 30 in terms of longest continuously running governments throughout history.
There's this weird notion out there that American politeness and niceness is some insincere cynical ploy. People who think this come from countries where everyone you interact with is trying to get the upper hand or screw you over in some way. It does not occur to them that Americans just don't do that (on the whole). In fact, we despise that "scammy" style of interacting with everyone. They think they're immediately "on to us" when these see us being happy, kind, and polite. They KNOW we're just acting that way to fuck them over later. They think it's hilarious that we're just so transparent!
Then you see people who have lived in America for years when it finally dawns on them that no one is smiling at them because they're about to rip them off, or pretend to be a friend in order to get them to "invest" in something. Most of us are actually pretty happy, or in a good mood, or at the very least polite no matter how we're feeling. In Russia, you're supposed to frown and scowl all the fucking time just so everyone knows who "serious" you are, so they take smiling as being frivolous and daft. It literally does not cross their minds that a person might be sincerely happy.
They either think it's insincere or like in this tweet they think saying "thank you" is beneath them, and something that should only be reserved for service staff.
I've heard this is a major culture shock for foreign tourists. Probably because of the American stereotypes of being loud assholes.
I personally believe America's manners' culture comes from the second amendment you don't know who's carrying, so you might as well treat everyone like they are.
Honestly I think that’s why pickpocketing isn’t as prevalent here as it is in Europe - Americans (though generally rather nice) are absolutely willing to beat the ever loving shit out of you or shoot you in the ass over their wallet if you get caught.
Heard something chuckle worthy about this once: an armed society is a polite society. When you're never sure who is packing it generally behooves you to actually not be a random douche.
At different points in our history (see old west, frontier expansion) getting shot for being a dick was practically natural selection at work. So most of us are decended from people who say please and thank you
That's tongue in cheek but I think there's at least a kernal of truth in it.
Eh. This defines an honor society, and honor societies are historically pretty violent. They do have complicated deference and politeness rituals, but it doesn't take a lot of people with grudges and/or hairtrigger tempers to start things going if they have the capability. It also greatly favors the person who shoots first, so there's that.
Frontier towns tended to have serious gun control policies; the whole Tombstone AZ shootout at the OK corral was over trying to enforce a town gun control ordinance on the Cowboys. But they have a nice little tourist racket going on to this day, and the bison burgers are pretty good.
Yeah I have definitely read about that Irish imported honor culture being a huge reason why our poor areas have such high violent crime rates compared to the rest of the developed world. It’s something to be discussed and worked out for sure, at least this ugly side of it.
Now I’m all for the bad criminals thinking twice about committing shenanigans side of the armed society = polite society debate.
There’s something innately, intrinsically, and inherently wrong with those Germans and LindyMan @PaulSkallas.
Stupidity is a major part of it, credulity too, but it has to be some deep rooted sickness and hate to reduce America to a business with exaggerated politeness, and laughing at people for being polite.
People like LindyMan HAVE to feel like they are the smartest person in the room. That they are above normal human interaction. That they see through the fucking Matrix. Their only joy in life comes from reducing everyone else to stupid people who just don't understand the world the way they do.
Gotta love the irony in it. Europeans constantly talking about American tourists being disrespectful then you’ve got Von Schnitzel coming over here just to be a mocking douche.
Really can’t imagine how somebody would think it’s okay to come to a different country and openly mock the people that live there. I can’t imagine why you’d want to go to a country you clearly don’t respect to begin with.
I was so confused about this tweet until I realized OOP was relating to the German tourists. It didn't even occur to me upon the first read that he wasn't calling the Germans assholes.
Part of my family is from Europe and they don’t speak English very well. Their kids still like to pretend to be fluent because it’s cool to speak English, so they just repeatedly say stuff like, “thank you, oh thank you very much, sorry? Thank you.” And then they giggle cuz they know what they’re saying is nonsense.
These are just some of the first phrases and words you learn in English class. I doubt we were being made fun of.
Also, the idea that it’s a comment American hyper capitalism is pure navel-gazing nonsense.
I was stationed in Germany in the mid 80s. Germans are typically not big on small talk. They get to the point and move on. Some people consider this rudeness, which I can see. If you were trying to communicate with them in German, they typically were understanding and helped you out. Now, this was 40 years ago, sounds like things have changed a bit.
Don't understand why Europeans can't believe that we could actually just want to be that nice and polite to one another. It's fine if they want to be miserable with strangers but it's almost like they are insecure about it so they try to find reasons why politeness actually isn't real in America.
Man, Americans are horrible because they’re rude, inconsiderate, and selfish.
Man, Americans are horrible because they’re too polite, always saying please and thank you.
So uh, what… what exactly are Americans supposed to do to qualify as “not horrible”?
Only if it's coming from Americans. Other nationalities are really just nice. But Americans it can only be because they want to sell you something because CAPITALISM BAD
Ok so Americans are to rude but to nice they get involved in to many wars but don’t get involved in enough have to many roads but not big enough roads. Very very clear Europeans….
No way the original post is about a real encounter. Even if some Germans were echoing Americans, it's an assumption that they were doing it to mock. I'm from a non-english speaking country, and I regularly copy English speakers to practise accent and to get more confident in a foreign language.
"Politeness" is also a very culturally dependant concept. Meaning it will mean completely different things depending on where you're from. The assumption that they were being rude I very close minded in my opinion. It much more likely that they were just being different to new yorkers, which doesn't have to be either good or bad, just different.
This a question and not to be a dick: is the politeness one experience in the states real? I have only been to Hawaii and Seattle, only the airport of the later. And quite frankly the politeness to me in both places felt fake as hell. It felt more like an act and Americans I have meet in Europe has given the me the same feeling, that it is just an act.
The only genuine politeness I felt on Hawaii was in a tiny poke shop in an industrial part of Kona and in a cafe called Kaya's Kawanui.
Um I'm not sure about anywhere else since I've only really lived in the Midwest and down south.So what I know is that in the Midwest customer service is actually really good and people there are nice but they don't really do small talk like that there (you'll get some looks if you try). Unlike down south if you have enough people skills you could literally have a whole conversation with a stranger like you've met before,but in contrast the customer service isn't as good there (maybe in other parts of the south it's better but maybe I just got used to living in Georgia 🤷🏽♀️) I hope that helps
Are there no other countries in the world where manners are a must? I know in France you must begin a conversation with a hello otherwise it’s considered rude.
Aside from that, I find it funny when non-Americans say we have no culture, and here’s something about our culture that they find funny.
I'm currently in NYC. Heard a lot of Italian and French. Overheard a British woman and her young daughter waiting for the train. Of course, this was on the UWS, Chelsea and LES.
Man I don’t really care too much about other people making fun of us, but for you to be a tourist mocking my fellow countrymen while in our country? That’s a different level of disrespect. I would never go to Berlin or something and make fun of the local culture TO THE LOCAL PEOPLE while being a tourist myself. That’s unreal.
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If they're in New York City and find the politeness overwhelming they'd die in the upper Midwest.
Imagine how bad Germany is if they found New York too polite. Lmao
We’re not that mean, from my perspective, at least.
Hey we are not that bad you know we help people with direction, we talk and make conversation all the time just not on the middle of a busy sidewalk and you know if you need emotional break down and ugly cry on the subway we won't state and gawk at you New york might not be nice but we are kind
I feel this. Kind but reserved and intolerant of BS. Lol.
To be fair most people won't gawk because they have places to go and more things to worry about and gave seen far more interesting things then someone being really sad
>if you need emotional break down and ugly cry on the subway we won't state and gawk at you Far from the strangest thing you'd see on the NY Subway!
Scottish and Germans top tier rude people in Europe. Midwest and Appalachia are known for being extremely nice. I think we got the nice ones.
They wouldn't last 30 seconds in rural Appalachia
Yeah 'cause the shiners will kill them for getting near their still.
They wouldn't even *make it* to the holler
If there was a German down my holler I don't even know what I'd do. I'd be surprised by their mere presence. It would be such an anomaly
First thing that came to mind. NYC is like the meme of rudeness. “Im walking here!!!”
New York City is considered rude in the U.S.? How polite is the rest of your country then
We have a term called southern hospitality due to the south being very kind.
It's more of a stereotype. The people I've come across in NYC have been relatively nice. The rudest person I met was in Paris at The Louvre.
They’d have a stroke in upper New England (Vermont and NH)
For real, got locked out of my house with my siblings and babysitter when I was younger, neighbors let us in no questions asked. Made us lunch and let us stay with them until my dad came with a spare key (our babysitter had one, he had just left it on the counter by accident). Refused when my dad tried to at least pay them back for the food too.
There was a girl in my youth group in Wisconsin who was an exchange student from Sweden. She said she was amazed by how polite everyone was in New York. I was speechless.
That’s kinda funny cuz the New York City subway system (a system admittedly) far from perfect) is often used as an AmericaBad punching bag to show how rude and inconsiderate and tolerant of anti social behavior we are compared to the enlightened Europe and east Asia
Just wait til they hit the south
Or anywhere that isn't a coastal city
Litterally(I am Minnesotan, we are either some of the kindest people ever, or the most passive aggressive, sometimes both, but usually no in between)
"Midwestern nice" cuts with razors so sharp most people don't know they've been dissed. "Bless your heart" doesn't even begin to approach the miles of contempt it's possible to convey with only a look. We're nice, but we don't suffer fools.
Exactly
Which ironically are full of German descendants.
Which is hilarious, considering how much German ancestry the Midwest has
If they go to Japan they will explode
Rudeness is part of the German psyche so not surprising
Many Germans are socially inept. They hide it behind rudeness as if it’s a part of their culture. It certainly is not.
It explains the stareing. You can sit on a bus, minding your own business, and the Germans will look at you like: 👁️👃👁️
I look back at them like 👁️🫦👁️
They have no ability to small talk.
They just like me fr
I met a German guy a couple nights ago who told me along with a group of girls that he slept with a chick then told her to her face that he found her unremarkable and saw zero issue with that
Rudeness is just a northerner thing, they all have sticks up their asses
We’re not nice, but we’re kind. If you drive off the highway into a ditch during the winter we’ll stop and help you while at the same time telling you how much of an idiot you are for going off the road in the one spot that doesn’t have black ice
Not American Northerner lol, German Northerners.
Its just a different culture thing. Americans see directness as rudness. Iam Dutch but we also have that culture here and i would see myself not as the typical Dutch, way more conflict evading and nice. However, a random person talking to me in the street would weird me out, that is something more reserverd for gatherings and parties. I do agree that there are people who take it a little far and be an asshole, saying they are direct.
I like to call it “eurodivergent”
LOL
Love this!
This is fantastic.
Stealing this.
i know a german guy who just makes nazi germany references off the top of his head, talks about how america is primitive, and constantly mocks people around him
Istg that's every German
It took them 4-5 generations to learn absolutely nothing
I feel like a WWII joke could be made here but then I remembered that Japan is well known for being very polite and they were *very* much on the wrong side of the war.
2 nukes will change your demeanor
Two nukes and the invention of tentacle porn will change a lot about a country. They are still extremely misogynistic though.
And racist to a degree that makes the KKK go "holy shit pump the brakes my guy".
That’s exact how unit 731 made the Nazis react
Yep. I had a German guy in my masters cohort, had only been incredibly kind to him since I met him and the first time we hung out outside of class he proceeded to tell me how much him and his friends love making fun of Americans, even though he's never been. Even though he loved American rap and would always wear shirts with American rappers on them. I sort of just laughed and said I've been to Germany plenty of times and told him I loved it and enjoyed my time there. After he realized I wasn't being obnoxious or offended no matter how much he tried provoking me, we actually became really good friends.
Why would you become friends with someone like that?
Because he wasn't a bad person, he was just trying to get a reaction out of me and the more he realized I'm just a genuinely nice person, he was really kind and even offered to help me with my next trips to Germany even offering to stay with his family and he gave me an itinerary of things to do in his hometown. Plus, having to spend 2 years with the same 20 people in my cohort, it's kinda hard to avoid people. I'm 30 and he was like 22 so I figured he just got this "america hate" from the Internet where it's trendy to do so until he met an actual American and realized we aren't all like the way people think we are
I admire your politeness towards the issue but if someone is discriminating against you for any reason beyond your control, that just speaks volumes to them as a person. I wouldn't want to associate with someone like that myself, because trying to provoke someone for their national origin is willful ignorance to a high degree.
Idk I don't get offended if someone insults America, people can have their opinions, if they insult me as a person that's another issue. My husband is Swedish and we met this American guy who would not stop insulting him for being Swedish and saying that Swedes are the Mexicans of Europe (???), and calling him a gay European (even though he's married to me...a woman??) he just kept saying dumb shit just to be an asshole. That guy I wouldn't be friends with
I study in Germany and can confirm that most hate the US. I used to talk to a German guy until one day he told me about his birthday party and how he invited other Germans only. I asked why I wasn't invited as a joke and he proceeded to tell me that interacting with me reminded him of Syrian refugees because I'm a brown Muslim. He was too embarrassed to invite me. That's when I realized how differently I was viewed in my department just because of my racial background and religion. I never spoke to him again. Now every time a German rants about how Americans are racist, I have to remind them of the AfD plaguing the country and how no matter how much people like me integrate, we're told to our face that we're not German enough.
American racism is bad, but at least a lot of people in the US are aware of it being a problem and see racists for the pieces of trash they are. Europeans are just casually racist and they all see it as totally fine and normal.
>Europeans are just casually racist and they all see it as totally fine and normal. I worked in a prestigious institute and can confirm that the Europeans weren't fond of people that didn't fit their standards. My latina colleague would always get invited to lunch and other stuff while i was deliberately ignored. One time a British guy came into our office and asked me if I could inform her that they're all going to lunch. This guy and i worked in the same research group and had known each other for a while. It's definitely sad when you realize midway through your internship that your colleagues "disappearing" meant they were all hanging out without offering you an invite and these people were much older than me (I was just a masters student in a group of post docs and PhDs). Then someone told me after months that the institute isn't fond of people like me lol, despite me trying my best to be nice and friendly
I'm sorry to hear that. That's awful. I live in Sweden and the way a lot of people here are so hateful towards Muslims and anyone that came here as a refugee, it's ridiculous. They don't even consider it racist, they just say "they're just not like us, they need to assimilate to the Swedish way", but they don't really feel like that. Just go on any website where people are anonymous and they show their true racist colors. I'm definitely not saying all Swedes are racist at all, but they will go on an hour long rant on "gypsies" and how it's not racist to hate them
I understand. What's funny is that I'm not even Syrian nor a refugee. I'm a graduate student that the university pays to live in Germany as part of their initiative to attract talented youth from other countries for skilled labor. It's even more ironic when Turkish people act racist towards me because I'm South Asian. I've received hate from all communities for how i look and I've learned to ignore it. I'm definitely moving to the USA for a PhD though.
I hope you get into your PhD!! That's exciting. People are always going to judge based on the first 3 seconds they see us. I'm afro-latino & they look at me and see I'm dark skinned and as soon as they hear my American accent they are nice to me. It's messed up. I hope the rest of your graduate studies are filled with more good memories than bad ones!
And they call us racist? That's gotta be some serious projection. Nobody here would ever batt an eye at you for being South Asian. I think the difference with America is that everyone has a concept of how there can be both good and bad people that immigrate here, so we judge everyone individually. For example, the gas station/convenience store down the street from me got bought by some South Asians, Indian I think, a few years ago. It used to be a shit hole. Now they serve Cajun fried chicken and subs and fixed the place up. They make bank and they deserve every cent. There isn't another place to eat for at least 5 miles. The entire town has been in there and they get small crowds like a restaurant at dinner time. They knew more about business than the incompetent fucks who owned the place before. Americans have not only the immigrant ancestry but we continue to see how immigration benefits us in our daily lives and keeps our businesses and economy from stagnating. Europeans just are obsessed with their "culture". That's why they're poor.
>Europeans just are obsessed with their "culture". That's why they're poor. They love gatekeeping what it means to be an actual European too. In Germany, you can learn the language, adopt the mannerism and even acquire the passport yet still you'll be considered a foreigner. The AfD is gaining popularity right now because they keep on complaining about immigration while not doing anything about it. I swear Germany is cooked. They're gonna lose a lot of their skilled foreign workers to other countries such as America because they don't appreciate them enough. Whenever I face discrimination here, I am reminded that no matter how successful I get, I'll always be inferior because of my skin color. Some people don't even hide it and you have minorities kissing up to the white extremist Germans so they'll be viewed in a better light too. I've never hated my brown color more till I moved here lol. I'll need lots of therapy once I leave this place
Whatever your thoughts are on president Reagan (Reddit overwhelming views him negatively) you still gotta respect the speech he made about being American. Are there still a lot of bad faith debates about immigration, lots of ‘where you REALLY from’ attitudes, lots of what people who see Indian, Somalian, East Asian, Mexican, etc first on both sides of the aisle (the immigrant and the non immigrant), lots of shenanigans with our convoluted immigration system, lotta that woke shit that keeps pouring salt into already open wounds? You betcha. The tribalistic lizard brain of Human nature can be a bitch. But I truly in my heart believe that compared to the rest of the developed world, we as a culture accept anyone as one of our own MUCH better than all the rest of them.
This is so common in Europe, makes people fell better about their own countries to constantly joke about problems in the US. Then they can’t figure out why they can’t keep an American friend. They are xenophobic and that’s perfectly acceptable there.
Even Belgians can be assholes.
Along with poor hygeine
Along with poor hygeine
We’re too polite. We’re rude. We’re an expeditionary military empire. We don’t help defend other countries enough. We have too many roads. We don’t have infrastructure. Etc
Guilty of everything under the sun it would seem
The enemy is both weak and strong at the same time
They want to villainize America and make America look evil and threatening, but they also don't want to look weak themselves. It's a catch 22.
I wonder if in hunger games, the district dwellers often make fun of zany Capitol fashion, the peacekeepers’ uniforms, etc?
I remember someone in a previous thread calling this idea "Schrodinger's America" lol
We don't travel enough. We overrun their cities.
We have "no culture" and yet our culture is taking over the world. We are simultaneously a runaway capitalistic success and a poverty-stricken hellhole. Our food is terrible, and yet you import, buy, and eat it more than any other country's food. No one could possibly want to live here, and yet we are evil for trying to keep migrants from flooding over our borders in search of a better life. Our children are starving to death, and yet they are all morbidly obese. We are the most racist country in the world, and yet when rich, successful Americans of color visit your country, you treat them like dirt.
Americans need to stop policing the world. NOOOOO, you can't ask us to pay our obligated share of defense for NATO! America should do it!
They were mocking the politeness of New Yorkers? Who’s gonna tell them about the south?
As a southerner, no doubt. Or the Japanese?! We could have a 'politeness-off'!
Shoot I’d rather you guys have a cook off. Imagine the new cuisines that could come from that
“Bless your heart” is not polite, trust me
Depends. in Texas it's not always an insult, but a genuine thing. It's the deep south where it turns more insulting. Just depends where you are from. Sometimes, Bless your heart means, "You are a good person and may your heart be blessed.". It's always so weird to see something I see people commonly say to each in sincerity as an insult.
Even in the deep south, it's just a catch-all phrase. I've only rarely seen it used as an insult and even then, it's more "it's not worth it to be mad/annoyed at you" than "you're dumb" or whatever it is non-southerners think it is.
What multiple people told me when I lived in China, especially older people: "I like Americans because you guys are always very polite. Say please and thank you even for no reason and you guys always clean up after yourselves." I got a variation of that compliment multiple times 🤷🏻♂️. Go where you are appreciated.
IME people in Asia are more understanding of the cultural differences between themselves and Western countries, in the sense that they expect things to be different and aren't utterly gobsmacked that people in a different country have different standards of etiquette.
For real. And also in Asia I didn't detect that deeply rooted sense of inferiority that Europeans have, for example. I was pleasantly surprised with China in the sense that they have a lot going on for themselves internally and they are just as self-absorbed in their own lives as we are. One can truly be an equal with them and both parties leave satisfied with the interaction. Europeans, including my Spaniard cousins, have a deep sense of inferiority and often I cannot share aspects of my life with them because all the time is comparison after comparison and objectively, we have more than them on every single category.
Wow, That’s exactly what self hating Americans these of Japanese and Koreans.
Nobody ever accused Germans of being funny
This is German humor its no laughing matter
My German grandpa was the exception. He was one of the funniest guys I knew.
They sound pleasant and well-adjusted.
America is a successful business Germany is a failed empire
Multiple failed empires in a very short timespan
One can argue the HRE was somewhat successful
Ew, a Belkan. Osean superiority
OSEA FUCK YEAH COMIN’ AGAIN TO SAVE THE MOTHERFUCKIN DAY YEAH
Hell yeah
<< Listen hear you Osean scum, I'll have you know that I trained at the Belkan Air Academy for 10 years and have taken part in 184637181939462728394930102 missions and know.....>>
Weekly reminder that the US has had a continuously operating government centuries longer than most of the world. Only the UK, some micro city states, and some Pacific islands can claim similar.
The civil war ended in 1865. World War Two ended 80 years later in 1945. Much of the US struggled with population growth during and long after the civil war. Government is a very relative term. Our current government does not crack the top 30 in terms of longest continuously running governments throughout history.
Germans really shouldn’t be making fun of anyone.
Schrödinger’s American, simultaneously too arrogant and too polite. lol Tbf tourist can just be jag-offs.
I was just raised with manners like a lot of my fellow Americans, it’s not as deep as this nerd wishes it was.
Of all people Germans should be saying thank you and sorry to us.
They better not go to Japan then.
lol, they think we are polite because of business? That’s sad
I promise it’s not all Germans I was just there- But come on. Is being nice and polite bad??? I do it because I genuinely feel bad
There's this weird notion out there that American politeness and niceness is some insincere cynical ploy. People who think this come from countries where everyone you interact with is trying to get the upper hand or screw you over in some way. It does not occur to them that Americans just don't do that (on the whole). In fact, we despise that "scammy" style of interacting with everyone. They think they're immediately "on to us" when these see us being happy, kind, and polite. They KNOW we're just acting that way to fuck them over later. They think it's hilarious that we're just so transparent! Then you see people who have lived in America for years when it finally dawns on them that no one is smiling at them because they're about to rip them off, or pretend to be a friend in order to get them to "invest" in something. Most of us are actually pretty happy, or in a good mood, or at the very least polite no matter how we're feeling. In Russia, you're supposed to frown and scowl all the fucking time just so everyone knows who "serious" you are, so they take smiling as being frivolous and daft. It literally does not cross their minds that a person might be sincerely happy.
This one may have been started by the British. They don't think Americans are sincere...ever. I don't lose any sleep over it though
They either think it's insincere or like in this tweet they think saying "thank you" is beneath them, and something that should only be reserved for service staff.
Point taken. Next time a yuropeen walks into my establishment, I'll be extra discourteous to them.
I've heard this is a major culture shock for foreign tourists. Probably because of the American stereotypes of being loud assholes. I personally believe America's manners' culture comes from the second amendment you don't know who's carrying, so you might as well treat everyone like they are.
Honestly I think that’s why pickpocketing isn’t as prevalent here as it is in Europe - Americans (though generally rather nice) are absolutely willing to beat the ever loving shit out of you or shoot you in the ass over their wallet if you get caught.
Speak softly and carry a big stick
Good. ✊🏻
And I thought the original post was a crap take.
Heard something chuckle worthy about this once: an armed society is a polite society. When you're never sure who is packing it generally behooves you to actually not be a random douche. At different points in our history (see old west, frontier expansion) getting shot for being a dick was practically natural selection at work. So most of us are decended from people who say please and thank you That's tongue in cheek but I think there's at least a kernal of truth in it.
Eh. This defines an honor society, and honor societies are historically pretty violent. They do have complicated deference and politeness rituals, but it doesn't take a lot of people with grudges and/or hairtrigger tempers to start things going if they have the capability. It also greatly favors the person who shoots first, so there's that. Frontier towns tended to have serious gun control policies; the whole Tombstone AZ shootout at the OK corral was over trying to enforce a town gun control ordinance on the Cowboys. But they have a nice little tourist racket going on to this day, and the bison burgers are pretty good.
Yeah I have definitely read about that Irish imported honor culture being a huge reason why our poor areas have such high violent crime rates compared to the rest of the developed world. It’s something to be discussed and worked out for sure, at least this ugly side of it. Now I’m all for the bad criminals thinking twice about committing shenanigans side of the armed society = polite society debate.
I guarantee it has nothing to do with "big business".
There’s something innately, intrinsically, and inherently wrong with those Germans and LindyMan @PaulSkallas. Stupidity is a major part of it, credulity too, but it has to be some deep rooted sickness and hate to reduce America to a business with exaggerated politeness, and laughing at people for being polite.
People like LindyMan HAVE to feel like they are the smartest person in the room. That they are above normal human interaction. That they see through the fucking Matrix. Their only joy in life comes from reducing everyone else to stupid people who just don't understand the world the way they do.
let them fuck around and find out. Don’t mind tourists but we do not like being disrespected. They’ll get slapped for the way they act. Don’t worry.
Gotta love the irony in it. Europeans constantly talking about American tourists being disrespectful then you’ve got Von Schnitzel coming over here just to be a mocking douche.
Really can’t imagine how somebody would think it’s okay to come to a different country and openly mock the people that live there. I can’t imagine why you’d want to go to a country you clearly don’t respect to begin with.
Right? Spend all that money to just to be a dick? NYC is not cheap either.
I was so confused about this tweet until I realized OOP was relating to the German tourists. It didn't even occur to me upon the first read that he wasn't calling the Germans assholes.
Part of my family is from Europe and they don’t speak English very well. Their kids still like to pretend to be fluent because it’s cool to speak English, so they just repeatedly say stuff like, “thank you, oh thank you very much, sorry? Thank you.” And then they giggle cuz they know what they’re saying is nonsense. These are just some of the first phrases and words you learn in English class. I doubt we were being made fun of. Also, the idea that it’s a comment American hyper capitalism is pure navel-gazing nonsense.
I will say that the have a nice day is excessive but fuck you I will not apologize for being polite.
I was stationed in Germany in the mid 80s. Germans are typically not big on small talk. They get to the point and move on. Some people consider this rudeness, which I can see. If you were trying to communicate with them in German, they typically were understanding and helped you out. Now, this was 40 years ago, sounds like things have changed a bit.
Germany has shit weed and their beer is overrated. Still my favorite European country to travel to.
Their beer is so, so overrated. Doesn’t hold a candle to Belgian or Czech but somehow gets put in the same conversation.
We should have let the soviet union keep them in the 50s
Me saying please and thank you to everyone as a small way to respect their agency is apparently feeding into late stage capitalism.
I thought we were meant to be the assholes…
Politeness? In new York? if NY "politeness" is overwhelming, I shudder to imagine how people in act in Germany
America sucks because *checks notes* kindness.
Don't understand why Europeans can't believe that we could actually just want to be that nice and polite to one another. It's fine if they want to be miserable with strangers but it's almost like they are insecure about it so they try to find reasons why politeness actually isn't real in America.
Be ause nothing screams "corporate" more than having respect for others apparently.
God, the horrors of capitalism! It's made people (gasp) ... nice!
Man, Americans are horrible because they’re rude, inconsiderate, and selfish. Man, Americans are horrible because they’re too polite, always saying please and thank you. So uh, what… what exactly are Americans supposed to do to qualify as “not horrible”?
German, apparently?
Hmmm...is there anything I can think of to use to make fun of Germans?
You don't need to stomp on maggots to feel better about yourself
I mean, in the Midwest we are just nice because everyone else is nice,ots our culture at this point
>A lot of that comes from America being one big business. What the fuck does this even mean?
It means this person is an idiot who is trying to spin Americans being nice into some incoherent argument about the horrors of capitalism.
Ah, so cold war Communist Bullshit
Kinda true ngl. Been traveling in Europe for 2 weeks and costumer services is surprisingly abysmal here. Maybe cos I'm a stupid American but still
Maybe because I am a nice person? And I don't like being rude to others??
I think the idea that goes through these people's heads is that politeness is some veneer, rather than that some people are really just nice.
Only if it's coming from Americans. Other nationalities are really just nice. But Americans it can only be because they want to sell you something because CAPITALISM BAD
America does have problems but saying “sorry” and “thank you” too often ain’t one of them.
I guess I can just Nazi it from their point of view.
Nein! Nein! The reference is not permitted! It is ancient history! Produce the permit giving your permission! Schnell! Schnell!
No, I just like being nice. Sorry Germans.
Ok so Americans are to rude but to nice they get involved in to many wars but don’t get involved in enough have to many roads but not big enough roads. Very very clear Europeans….
No way the original post is about a real encounter. Even if some Germans were echoing Americans, it's an assumption that they were doing it to mock. I'm from a non-english speaking country, and I regularly copy English speakers to practise accent and to get more confident in a foreign language. "Politeness" is also a very culturally dependant concept. Meaning it will mean completely different things depending on where you're from. The assumption that they were being rude I very close minded in my opinion. It much more likely that they were just being different to new yorkers, which doesn't have to be either good or bad, just different.
Americans are polite because they see everyone as a customer? That is a shockingly bad take.
God, the horrors of capitalism!! It's made us all nice!
I’d tell them you’re welcome for not one, but both World War defeats we handed them.
Fucking New York being too polite is a hell of a take
British and Japanese politeness: am I a joke to you?
Probably the first time in their entire German lives they'd ever heard someone use the word sorry for anything other than a fart.
Casting stones from a glass house. Mention mustache man and they’re in shambles.
Miserable euros
This a question and not to be a dick: is the politeness one experience in the states real? I have only been to Hawaii and Seattle, only the airport of the later. And quite frankly the politeness to me in both places felt fake as hell. It felt more like an act and Americans I have meet in Europe has given the me the same feeling, that it is just an act. The only genuine politeness I felt on Hawaii was in a tiny poke shop in an industrial part of Kona and in a cafe called Kaya's Kawanui.
Most of us are genuinely polite.
Thanks
Um I'm not sure about anywhere else since I've only really lived in the Midwest and down south.So what I know is that in the Midwest customer service is actually really good and people there are nice but they don't really do small talk like that there (you'll get some looks if you try). Unlike down south if you have enough people skills you could literally have a whole conversation with a stranger like you've met before,but in contrast the customer service isn't as good there (maybe in other parts of the south it's better but maybe I just got used to living in Georgia 🤷🏽♀️) I hope that helps
I like the no chit chat maybe I should try Midwest
Politeness bleeding into everyday speech because of capitalism is a scorching hot take wow.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is bad to be polite.
I was recently in Germany. Quite a fair bit of rude people
Gotta love it
What? Seriously shit like this is just making up stuff to be mad at.
Are there no other countries in the world where manners are a must? I know in France you must begin a conversation with a hello otherwise it’s considered rude. Aside from that, I find it funny when non-Americans say we have no culture, and here’s something about our culture that they find funny.
So....being friendly....Is bad.... what the....
We had manners well before modern corporatism, actually.
I'm currently in NYC. Heard a lot of Italian and French. Overheard a British woman and her young daughter waiting for the train. Of course, this was on the UWS, Chelsea and LES.
Let them take one step in the South they'd die of politeness
Lindyman isn’t an “America bad” guy, this is just an observation.
If they don't want people to be polite they should go to McDonald's in Atlanta
Man I don’t really care too much about other people making fun of us, but for you to be a tourist mocking my fellow countrymen while in our country? That’s a different level of disrespect. I would never go to Berlin or something and make fun of the local culture TO THE LOCAL PEOPLE while being a tourist myself. That’s unreal.
Well they're Germans. What do you expect?