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Not to be that person...
I heard of Americans being bad travelers abroad, and just figured that it was talked up. It is not.
As an American myself, I saw so many horrid and mean people while we were traveling. Not all, mind you, but there were whole groups of people who just acted selfish, entitled, and just overall not caring about other customs.
I had one woman who was trying to use an ATM and just could not get it. Instead of casually asking for help, she screams in the ATM room "DOES ANYONE SPEAK ENGLISH?!" A poor couple behind them said "A little.." and she said "OH THANK GOD. This language...."
I had other people who just ignored customs when ordering food, or allowing people to walk around, pushing, shoving. The worst though is how they talk down to locals and their customs. Inherently they assume that different is bad, and that they are inconvenienced by having to do local custom things. Like ordering food, knowing that their pace is slower, or that their waiter isn't going to coddle them through ordering.
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I was shocked by it all, and felt disappointment. I also felt like I immediately understood why other countries hate us.
I'm curious where you traveled where Americans were like that.
There have been a few places I've seen, but in those examples it was Italy
I feel like Italy gets advertised as one of the "easy" international destinations for Americans but Americans still seem surprised that it is that different.
I've felt Italy is really easy for English speaking tourism, but it isn't going to bend over backwards like the Caribbean like some are used to.
It's so funny, I agree with you in regards to Americans in Europe or latin america, Americans (I am one) are boorish and disrespectful as fuck. However, they're not even close to as rude and boorish as Australians on Bali.