Rude Americans

I was watching the director/ writer commentary of a show writtin by an American set in Glasgow. She was saying how some Americans are rude to ppl because they can't understand the accents and that she felt horrible about it. Does anyone else get annoyed when they see other Americans doing this ?

I do get irritated.  I live in Windsor, which in summer is swarming with American tourists.  THey often don't understand the shop staff or waitresses--Brit or European and are often rude when they can't understand something or about the price of things or when things aren't done the American way.  I have to admit I find it embarrassing to be another American in the queue behind them.  Although to be fair, it is not just Americans that are rude to foreign staff when they can't understand accents--brits can often be the worst culprits.

Agreed. I see people of all nationalities getting annoyed at others when they can not understand them. Patience, patience!

I third that!!!

...and, consider this a FOURTH.

Rudeness is an international epidemic.  It's a human proplem, not a nationality problem. 

My DF has worked in the tourist trade for years and years and years.  He mentioned how "rude and hurried" many American tourists seem to be.  This is what I explained to him:

A trip to Europe for the average American is a once in a life time trip.  Costing thousands of dollars, and often lasting 2-3 weeks, people jet to Europe and get busy seeing all there is to see in as little time as possible. 

When you take into account that they have flown across time zones, are jet-lagged, sleeping in varrious hotels every night, going to one or two (sometimes three) cities in a day, crossing into France then Germany then Spain and flying here there and the everywhere to soak up as much culture in one pop as they can, it is easy to understand why they may seem rude. 

They are tired, with sore feet and ever-deflating wallets, are eating foods that are not the "norm" for them, if eating at all with the packed tour time table, and are hearing multiple languages and acents at every turn.

When you think about it that way, it's easy to understand why people come across as rude.

Of course, then there are those who are just rude.  Regardless of where they are in the world and how much they have had to sleep...

Well put, Frances.  So true.

Was this show The Book Group??? Cant think of any other show this might be....

There was a show on a few years back about bus tour companies and the Americans who frequent them. One family actually insisted they would not be eating a squirrel burger when they went to Bath, thank you very much!  

I live near Bath which is inundated with Americans around the Abbey..I dont notice rudeness so much as I do the sheer volume...

But when my dad's evil girlfriend was visiting, she threw a wobbly because there wasn't any ice at a teashop.  I thought I was going to curl up and die...

Yep it was the book group X

I was watching the director/ writer commentary of a show writtin by an American set in Glasgow. She was saying how some Americans are rude to ppl because they can't understand the accents and that she felt horrible about it. Does anyone else get annoyed when they see other Americans doing this ?

I don't think this problem is unique to Americans.  Also, what's considered rude varies from culture to culture.  I discovered that the British expect the word "please"....when in the US it's often enough to indicate this via tone of voice, body language etc.  I did have some people get angry with me when I didn't actually say "please"....even though I never intended to be rude.  In the US my behavior wouldn't have been considered rude.  Now I'm very careful about saying "please"....even though it still sounds excessive to my ear.

Btw, I live in Greece....and after 5 years I'm only just now starting to feel comfortable with their extremely blunt way of speaking.  Now, when someone's talking to me on the phone and they suddenly say, "Hang up!"....I don't get offended    

Oh MissSuzy, I would be horrified if someone shouted to me to "hang up!" LOL! But then again, I appreciate when people are honest and just say what they mean.

Frances, you are so right in what you wrote. I agree fully.
I might also add there's not a tendency to wait in queues, either.

Oh oh oh! The Book Group. I miss that show! I think it was Channel 4 who had it on when I first moved to the UK. I keep waiting for it to come back. I thought it was roaringly funny.

This also brings to mind a series I saw several years ago called Tourist Trap.  Perhaps others remember it? 

Basically, a fake "competition" was held in four countries:  The US, England, Japan and Germany, where a group of people won a holiday to a remote resort in Greece.  What they didn't know was that it was a set up, to observe how the groups reacted to bizarre situations and how much they lived up to stereo-types.

Unknown to the "holiday makers", each group had a few actors to stir things up a bit, with unaccaptable behavouir such as stealing drinks from the bar when the bartender left the room or showering openly in the nude next to the poolside.

Each week, the tourists had various activities, such as going on a boat ride, then the boat would "break down."  Or they were invited to a traditional dinner and were served a sheep (or was it goat?) head with the brains.  It was so funny to see how the people from each country reacted to these situations!

I just think the loud, rude people are the ones who stand out. You could pass by some loud american tourists and cringe and think oh god they're all so loud and horrible but how many passed by that you didn't even notice because they weren't loud or rude?

She was saying how some Americans are rude to ppl because they can't understand the accents and that she felt horrible about it. Does anyone else get annoyed when they see other Americans doing this ?

Replace American with British and Glasgow with some place in Spain, and you'll have something similar to an article I once read in a paper over here.  Rudeness, it would seem, is everywhere.