Americans? Opinions?

khaldrogo

Angel1971 wrote:

I'd be willing to bet they just wanted to hear your accent ;-)

The Irish accent??? Which one? There's about 40 different ones

Angel1971

khaldrogo wrote: »

Angel1971 wrote:

I'd be willing to bet they just wanted to hear your accent ;-)

The Irish accent??? Which one? There's about 40 different ones

Yeah here in the US too.

corner of hells

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

I have even noticed different things like different personal space and different volumes at which people speak at.

Some Americans actually have quiet accents.

Here is a tip if their accent is loud they will prefer it if you stand further away and give them more personal space.

Here's a tip for you , the OP is American.

Yer Da sells Avon

Having met them all, I can confirm that they are bad.

Angel1971

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Angel1971 wrote: »

Good question since there are different cultures depending on what area of the country.
For example the west coast can have the reputation of being vain and over indulging, the midwest are friendly hard working family people, the south are hicks with no education and marry their cousins and the east coast are rude and standoffish.
But like a few have said earlier, it all depends on the individual.
I just wasnt sure if there was a generalization made.

I have even noticed different things like different personal space and different volumes at which people speak at.

Some Americans actually have quiet accents.

Here is a tip if their accent is loud they will prefer it if you stand further away and give them more personal space.

Well personal space has been mentioned several times. I've hugged people I've just met so perhaps I'll pull that back some.

Angel1971

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

Having met them all, I can confirm that they are bad.

Lol!!
Hahahaha... :-D

odyssey06

Angel1971 wrote: »

Ohhh... weird, now it says political rally.

Yes I edited it after the fact. Wasnt quick enough to correct before it was read...

Angel1971

Berties_Horse wrote: »

Angel1971 wrote: »

What's the first thing you think of if you know you'll be meeting someone from the US?

What time is it in Cleveland?

Damn. That would take me using math.

corner of hells

How do we know you're really American?
You could be one of us pretending to be American.

Edgware

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Really boring f**kers for the most part but that's a big generalisation. I suppose I met the boring ones because I used to work in software and they'd come to our offices and maybe out for a beer sometime and just bore you to death. All dress the exact same too. Those stupid body warmer things and chinos.
I've also met some of the coolest people ever that are yanks. Plus black Americans are a totally different culture and way less boring.

As if you know

eurasian

Brainwashed.

ILoveYourVibes

Angel1971 wrote: »

What's the first thing you think of if you know you'll be meeting someone from the US?

I would wonder where in the US they were from and what background they were. That would be my first thought.

PinotNero

Did you vote for the Donald? :pac:

Angel1971

corner of hells wrote: »

How do we know you're really American?
You could be one of us pretending to be American.

Ok I'll sing Yankee Doodle Dandy while I'm tossing back a Guniess. That will really confuse you

Angel1971

PinotNero wrote: »

Did you vote for the Donald? :pac:

Nope

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

It is a generalisation and it's more American tourists than Americans but, I have noticed a tendency among them out of all tourists to seem to not totally really understand that this is a country with people just trying to live their lives, go to work, people might be having sh1tty days etc and don't exist purely to facilitate their experience of the place. This manifests as above in intruding into conversations in pubs, keeping you talking way too long when asking for directions, if you give out to them over something they'll respond like you're doing it jokingly. So, don't do that.


Another generalisation and not unique to Americans because Germans and Japanese are brutal for it too, it's obviously a cultural thing and not intended to offend but DO NOT just take a picture of someone without asking or acknowledging their existence. I work in the English Market in Cork and have seen many Americans get shouted at over that. Again, this is just a country with people going about their business, not a zoo where every exhibit is some cute Irish person doing something charming.

Also, you're probably going to hear the C word a lot. We don't mean anything by it.

corner of hells

Angel1971 wrote: »

Ok I'll sing Yankee Doodle Dandy while I'm tossing back a Guniess. That will really confuse you

I'll have a pint of Guniess too.

Blaizes

Friends were on a cruise month or two ago. Loads of retired Americans on the ship ( I don’t know which part of America they were from so don’t want to generalize about all people from America) and our friends thought they were incredibly rude. A baby was crying and the Americans complained saying that if they were offered free WiFi on the ship, ( which cost a fee hundred dollars) they would overlook the crying baby ffs ! Also bullied staff on the ship with ridiculous demands a lot of the staff were from the Philippines and were openly abused by the Americans for minor things. Friends came home glad they were living in Ireland and very appreciative of how things are here.

Angel1971

Lola Whispering Ape wrote: »

It is a generalisation and it's more American tourists than Americans but, I have noticed a tendency among them out of all tourists to seem to not totally really understand that this is a country with people just trying to live their lives, go to work, people might be having sh1tty days etc and don't exist purely to facilitate their experience of the place. This manifests as above in intruding into conversations in pubs, keeping you talking way too long when asking for directions, if you give out to them over something they'll respond like you're doing it jokingly. So, don't do that.


Another generalisation and not unique to Americans because Germans and Japanese are brutal for it too, it's obviously a cultural thing and not intended to offend but DO NOT just take a picture of someone without asking or acknowledging their existence. I work in the English Market in Cork and have seen many Americans get shouted at over that. Again, this is just a country with people going about their business, not a zoo where every exhibit is some cute Irish person doing something charming.

Also, you're probably going to hear the C word a lot. We don't mean anything by it.

I like this! Thank you.

Angel1971

Blaizes wrote: »

Friends were on a cruise month or two ago. Loads of retired Americans on the ship ( I don’t know which part of America they were from so don’t want to generalize about all people from America) and our friends thought they were incredibly rude. A baby was crying and the Americans complained saying that if they were offered free WiFi on the ship, ( which cost a fee hundred dollars) they would overlook the crying baby ffs ! Also bullied staff on the ship with ridiculous demands a lot of the staff were from the Philippines and were openly abused by the Americans for minor things. Friends came home glad they were living in Ireland and very appreciative of how things are here.

Oh wow. That's horrible. I will say wealthy Americans tend to have a sense of entitlement. That's not always the case with us working class.

odyssey06

If you go to the Guinness Storehouse you must finish the pint they give you afterwards.
If you arent going to drink the pint, dont go!

Otherwise you wont get no respect in pubs.

BalcombeSt4

Love the people hate the government. One of the most evil states in the post WW2 world, one of their first military operations after WW2 was to support the Greek Fascists & Nationalists, against Social Democrats & Democratic Socialists in the Greek civil war of 1946, and it went on from there,.

Next, 1954 removing a democratically elected leader who was center-left President Arbenz of Guatemela, he was probably less left-wing than Harold Wilson or Attlee, but that was the exscuse the US came up with to paint him as a red Marxist devil for giving peasents a tiny bit of extra land, and then they removed him with a Fascist, military coup (a pattern that would dominate Centeral & South America for the next four decades) and a number of different military hard men took his place, each worse than the last, and in the 1980's the Mayan Genocide was carried out. And Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Panama, Argentina, Nicaragua, Uraguay & El Salvador faced similiar faiths.

Of course we know about Korea & Vietnam, were in those 2 wars they killed between 3 - 6 million people, about 80% of them civilians, in Indochina & Korea, and then Pol Pot killed another 2 million in Cambodia, and when the Vietnamese invaded & kicked out Pol Pot, America sanctioned Vietnam hard for ending Pol Pot's genocide, then the US gave Pol Pot diplomatic immunity. The N.Koreans are the most paranoided people in the world for a reason, they haven't forgot what the US did to their country.

Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, funding Israel's genocide of the Palestinians, funding Saudi's genocide of Yemen, and bombing Libya into a four-way hell hole.

But the young Democratic Socialists there give me hope for the future. I forget her name I think it was Cortez & she was from Puerto Rico and she won a stunning victory in a New york primary last year.

tea and coffee

Again, generalizing, but I like Americans. What you see is what you get. They speak openly and plainly, and are generally upfront (except some in Silicon valley). Sometimes this can be interpreted as in your face or loud, but I often prefer it to the way we tie ourselves in knots to not cause offence or talk like politicians not saying what we mean, And maybe that's why they are seen as not "getting" sarcasm... I find it sort of Germanic, which I like.
It's a pity the political system is so polarised as it leaves little room for nuance.
The consumerist society is worrying and it always freaks me out how little concern some States give to environmental issues (e.g. big cars, no recycling bins, lots of plastic and polystyrene packaging).
There is a huge obesity problem and I think American society should look after their poor and their healthcare system better... hello Capitalism.
But, as I say, while these are indictments of the society, in the main I find them very forthright, polite and rule abiding/ straight and narrow folk.

odyssey06

tea and coffee wrote: »

There is a huge obesity problem and I think American society should look after their poor and their healthcare system better... hello Capitalism.

HSE? We are in a serious glass house here throwing stones at another country's healthcare system.

BeerWolf

They're [the Government] Warmongers that profit off Munitions and War, and are flat out a bunch of hypocrites that pretend to be "the good guys!" with all their spouted propaganda in every media possible with full on patriotism.

garbanzo

Very clean people...

ILoveYourVibes

Lola Whispering Ape wrote: »

It is a generalisation and it's more American tourists than Americans but, I have noticed a tendency among them out of all tourists to seem to not totally really understand that this is a country with people just trying to live their lives, go to work, people might be having sh1tty days etc and don't exist purely to facilitate their experience of the place.

There is a reason for this I think.

The American tourism industry is over developed. Everything is planned. It's like the really don't want to let you do anything yourself.

Go to Nevada etc or NY. Every business is highly aware of catering to tourists.

Las Vegas is a city totally revolving around your experience as a tourist.

Whatever you think about that quality of service etc.

Irish people prefer to sort things out themselves etc.

If I need to ask for directions in a foreign country I will keep it short and ask the person who looks most friendly and least busy etc or go into a restaurant.

Generally speaking if we see German's on holiday or Italians we think 'oh we don't want to bother them on their leisure time this is their time to relax and be with family etc.'


Look at this.

Its basically about Las Vegas. This guy is an Academic. He is an American though. He thinks Las Vegas is perfect for a tourists experience etc.

Of course that is 'perfect' is cultural.

I think Americans expect that from wherever they go. For a hotel and the people to read them etc. ' Hospitality neurons.'

Irish people are like ' just leave them alone.'

ILoveYourVibes

garbanzo wrote: »

Very clean people...

Not all of them.

mickoneill31

It's like asking what do you think of Europeans.
There are some great ones but there are some assholes. And some states / countries have a higher percentage of either type.

I work for an American company. Find them perfectly friendly. Some are great. Wouldn't be mad about working in the US offices though. Totally different work culture. Their jobs are more critical to them than they are to us (well me anyway). Any of the Americans that come over to us have all told us how friendly we are and how they love our offices (and we're not that friendly in work).

ILoveYourVibes

mickoneill31 wrote: »

It's like asking what do you think of Europeans.
There are some great ones but there are some assholes. And some states / countries have a higher percentage of either type.

I work for an American company. Find them perfectly friendly. Some are great. Wouldn't be mad about working in the US offices though. Totally different work culture. Their jobs are more critical to them than they are to us (well me anyway). Any of the Americans that come over to us have all told us how friendly we are and how they love our offices (and we're not that friendly in work).

Any American i have met through work or study I have gotten on with well. But we would have had age and common interests etc.

I wonder why they think Irish people are so friendly ..or are they just saying it :P ??

mickoneill31

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Any American i have met through work or study I have gotten on with well. But we would have had age and common interests etc.

I wonder why they think Irish people are so friendly ..or are they just saying it :P ??

They were comparing working in our offices with working in theirs. And it was backed up when some of our guys went over to the US. Totally different atmosphere. But I'm generalising. That might just be our company.

Angel1971

odyssey06 wrote: »

If you go to the Guinness Storehouse you must finish the pint they give you afterwards.
If you arent going to drink the pint, dont go!

Otherwise you wont get no respect in pubs.

Promise, I'll finish several ;-)

mad muffin

How can America be bad? They exported their culture and we drank deeply from it.

SEPT 23 1989

BalcombeSt4 wrote: »

Love the people hate the government. One of the most evil states in the post WW2 world, one of their military operations after WW2 was to support the Greek Fascists & Nationalists, against Social Democrats & Democratic Socialists in the Greek civil war, and it went on from there,.
Next, removing a democratically elected leader who was center-left President Arbenz of Guatemela, he was probably less left-wing than Harold Wilson or Attlee, but that was the exscuse the US came up with to paint as a red devil, and remove him with a Fascist, military coup (a pattern that would dominate Centeral & South America for the next four decades) and a number of different military hard men took his place, each worse than the last, and in the 1980's the Mayan Genocide was carried out. And Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Panama, Argentina, Nicaragua, Uraguay & El Salvador faced similiar faiths.

Of course we know about Korea & Vietnam, were in those 2 wars they killed between 3 - 6 million people in Indochina & Korea, and then Pol Pot killed another 2 million in Cambodia, and when the Vietnamese invaded & kicked out Pol Pot, America sanctioned Vietnam hard for ending Pol Pot's genocide, then the US gave Pol Pot diplomatic immunity.

Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, funding Israel's genocide of the Palestinians, funding Saudi's genocide of Yemen, and bombing Libya into a four-way hell hole.

But the young Democratic Socialists there give me hope for the future. I forget her name I think it was Cortez & she was from Puerto Rico and she won a stunning victory in a New york primary last year.

Yeah but worst of all the green trousers that they wear over here

ILoveYourVibes

mickoneill31 wrote: »

They were comparing working in our offices with working in theirs. And it was backed up when some of our guys went over to the US. Totally different atmosphere. But I'm generalising. That might just be our company.

What was the atmosphere like over there?

Mad_maxx

BalcombeSt4 wrote: »

Love the people hate the government. One of the most evil states in the post WW2 world, one of their military operations after WW2 was to support the Greek Fascists & Nationalists, against Social Democrats & Democratic Socialists in the Greek civil war, and it went on from there,.
Next, removing a democratically elected leader who was center-left President Arbenz of Guatemela, he was probably less left-wing than Harold Wilson or Attlee, but that was the exscuse the US came up with to paint as a red devil, and remove him with a Fascist, military coup (a pattern that would dominate Centeral & South America for the next four decades) and a number of different military hard men took his place, each worse than the last, and in the 1980's the Mayan Genocide was carried out. And Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Panama, Argentina, Nicaragua, Uraguay & El Salvador faced similiar faiths.

Of course we know about Korea & Vietnam, were in those 2 wars they killed between 3 - 6 million people in Indochina & Korea, and then Pol Pot killed another 2 million in Cambodia, and when the Vietnamese invaded & kicked out Pol Pot, America sanctioned Vietnam hard for ending Pol Pot's genocide, then the US gave Pol Pot diplomatic immunity.

Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, funding Israel's genocide of the Palestinians, funding Saudi's genocide of Yemen, and bombing Libya into a four-way hell hole.

But the young Democratic Socialists there give me hope for the future. I forget her name I think it was Cortez & she was from Puerto Rico and she won a stunning victory in a New york primary last year.

It's an imperial power but most Americans appear to believe the U. S has the right to interfere in the business of other nations

Fr_Dougal

Angel1971 wrote: »

Oh that makes me happy.
I've told me friends I may never come back.
I'll find a lad who wants to marry me and get a US citizenship.
:-D
(Kidding!!!!!!!)

Well if you’re anything like that Norwegian visitor we had recently you won’t.

Make sure you have life insurance.

Scarinae

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

The American tourism industry is over developed. Everything is planned. It's like the really don't want to let you do anything yourself.

Go to Nevada etc or NY. Every business is highly aware of catering to tourists.

Las Vegas is a city totally revolving around your experience as a tourist.

Whatever you think about that quality of service etc.

Irish people prefer to sort things out themselves etc.

This is a really interesting point... I was in Las Vegas for work earlier this month and people there are accommodating to the point of being a bit over-the-top. I was wandering about by myself a lot when I wasn't working and was regularly approached asking me if I needed directions or recommendations for restaurants etc. There's nothing wrong with being helpful of course, but it happened so much it felt a bit strange and I don't think they were all angling for a tip either.

ILoveYourVibes

Scarinae wrote: »

This is a really interesting point... I was in Las Vegas for work earlier this month and people there are accommodating to the point of being a bit over-the-top. I was wandering about by myself a lot when I wasn't working and was regularly approached asking me if I needed directions or recommendations for restaurants etc. There's nothing wrong with being helpful of course, but it happened so much it felt a bit strange and I don't think they were all angling for a tip either.

Its just a cultural difference. And yes they do like and need tips.

Scarinae

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

And yes they do like and need tips.

I understand the tipping thing - I live in Canada where tipping culture is quite like the American tipping culture - so I understand that someone offering to take my bag up to my hotel room, for example, would expect a tip. However I don't think a random shop worker offering me directions would be looking for a tip.

It just feels a bit weird to have people offering me unasked for help when I'm just walking around, I much prefer feeling anonymous the way you would walking around a European city.

ceadaoin.

Scarinae wrote: »

This is a really interesting point... I was in Las Vegas for work earlier this month and people there are accommodating to the point of being a bit over-the-top. I was wandering about by myself a lot when I wasn't working and was regularly approached asking me if I needed directions or recommendations for restaurants etc. There's nothing wrong with being helpful of course, but it happened so much it felt a bit strange and I don't think they were all angling for a tip either.

If you mean people randomly approaching you out on the strip, they were trying to scam you in some way. All of them. Whether they wanted a tip or to direct you somewhere shady or sell you a timeshare lol. Regular people don't just walk up to people offering help for no reason, even (or especially) in Vegas.

Assetbacked

Shallow, simple, greedy, vacuous, obnoxious and fat.

ILoveYourVibes

Scarinae wrote: »

However I don't think a random shop worker offering me directions would be looking for a tip.

It just feels a bit weird to have people offering me unasked for help when I'm just walking around, I much prefer feeling anonymous the way you would walking around a European city.

I would think they might be looking for one. I could be wrong.

I agree I prefer feeling anon. I love France. Oddly I actually made friends there but i was there for a couple of months and working. But even before when I was just on holiday the experience was just wandering alone no one knowing you.

con___manx1

It depends on what part of america they are from. Callafornians didnt vote for trump either did whashinghton state. That says alot about them : ) alot of Americans are not very well travelled.
I think thats party due to them having hardy any hollidays from work. I think on average they only get 10 t 12 days off a year.

jim salter

In one word - Fake

corner of hells

The OP must have fcuked off.

pauliebdub

Some of the nicest people I've ever met were American particularly from places that would be considered very conservative and rednecky like Oklahoma. They can also be very shrill and speak at a higher level than we do. They can also be very individualistic and rather brash.

MuffinTop86

It’s the loudness. I was recently in Madrid and 4 of us struggled to hear each other with 3 Americans at the next table shouting at each other. The way they drag their voice and start every sentence with “ I feel like” is nails on a chalkboard.

Angel1971

corner of hells wrote: »

The OP must have fcuked off.

Nope.
Had to actually work for a bit then mow my lawn.
Had to adult for a minute.
Shall I remain on this message board 24/7 as not to be accused of 'fcuking off'?

TuringBot47

Assetbacked wrote: »

Shallow, simple, greedy, vacuous, obnoxious and fat.

Simple and vacuous? Like someone forming that sort of opinion without ever actually living over there? A weeks holiday in Florida doesn't count.



As with anywhere, it depends on where you go and who you interact with.
You'd get a vastly different experience interacting with people outside the dole office or bookies in Ballymun to going on a wine tasting course in the country.


I'm a middle class professional and worked and socialized with 30 or so Americans when I was living over there.

The only one you might consider a brash/arrogant American was the CEO of the company. The rest were down to earth, very friendly, not as drink orientated as us. One was very obese, but still utterly sound.
He said he used to drive his pickup truck to school, and it had a gun rack on it.... different times !
The rest, came from mixed backgrounds, Italian American, adopted Korean.

A lot had stories of migrating across various states for jobs, relationships, opportunities etc. A lot had much richer life experiences than we do with so much change in their lives.