Europeans Share "Hard Truths" About We Americans

Devi said:
As to the Beatles, don't forget that some of their popularity was in the U.S. — the huge American market, which was certainly one to gain popularity (and income) in.

I am going to take a break. Carry on ragging on the U.S. and showing us how "friendly" you are.
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doesn't matter who bought their records the fact is they're the biggest British band , who sold 600 million records... worldwide.. not just britain..or America.. but every country in the world... which included Japan, China, and Russia as well
 

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Devi said:
This is a sad thread. Members ragging on the U.S. Not friendly at all, is it? Thanks.

I am going to take a break. Carry on ragging on the U.S. and showing us how "friendly" you are.
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I too will leave this thread alone. Something that I learned is that the written word argument is nothing like that of the spoken word. There's no body language, no gesture and probably no thought for feelings. So when hackles are raised, best left alone.
 
horseless carriage said:
I too will leave this thread alone. Something that I learned is that the written word argument is nothing like that of the spoken word. There's no body language, no gesture and probably no thought for feelings. So when hackles are raised, best left alone.
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The irony of the whole thing is the Person who posted this is a peace loving American....
 

The world loves to dump on the U.S.. It's like a pass time. Don't even get me started on health care. I'm on their side in that department.

Also, meet a European and they can start totally dumping on you about the president. Even if you didn't vote for him. You're an American. It's your fault. Also bad movies...
 
I couldn't stand the Beetles. Hated Hard days Night. Only song I liked of Rolling stone was Brown Sugar.
Never bought or played their stuff. Had tons of AmFm radio stations, avoided the ones who concentrated
on British or Euro Bands. Ugh the pain of awful music.
 
Maybe it's where I live and have always lived, but I've always been surrounded by Americans trashin' on other countries; good grief, it never seems to stop: "everyone in that Eur. country are rude, everyone in that other country are inbred, you can't trust the Xxxxxxians, yada yada, it's sickening. Heck, I've seen it right here on SF. So I suppose it wouldn't be a surprise if other countries trashed on the U.S. sometimes.
 
papa tiger said:
I couldn't stand the Beetles. Hated Hard days Night. Only song I liked of Rolling stone was Brown Sugar.
Never bought or played their stuff. Had tons of AmFm radio stations, avoided the ones who concentrated
on British or Euro Bands. Ugh the pain of awful music.
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I have never been a fan of the rolling stones..nor the Beatles until more recently anyway.. that wasn't the point.. the point was that someone said that no-one else had rock bands who sold as much as 75 million records, when in fact that was easily disproved by showing that the Beatles have sold 600 million.. just a point, not anti -American just a simple point..

I'm a big fan of American people generally.. why else would I have been a member of this forum for the past 10 years in preference to British forums... we Brits have to put up with the same nonsense from over the Pond..... about our supposed rotten food..ditto our ''rotten '' teeth... our driving on the ''wrong side '' of the road, how we'd never have won the war without the US etc ... etc etc.. it goes on and on as has been said on this forum multiple times.. yet no Brits have got their coats and slammed the door behind them, because we know it's simply not true..

...however what is more irritating is that Europe has double the population of the USA... 800 million people... yet some person..somewhere who was very likely not even European going by the spelling in the OP... is being taken seriously on here...and even if it was a European it could very likely have been a German, or French, or Belgian.. or Dutch, or Norwegian, or any amount of other countries.. ..
 
If America is as bad as some would like to believe, I would have to disagree, but I am reminded of a tourist thing I once saw.

While on a trip to Mexico, my wife and I were dining in a restaurant. A couple of tables away another American man hailed the waiter. In a loud voice he said to the waiter, ”I want a glass of water, and I want it HERE NOW!” Then he pounds on the table, presumably the spot where he wants the water. So the waiter got him his water. Five minutes later he hails the waiter again and says rather meekly, “That was bottled water wasn’t it?”. (-8
 
officerripley said:
Maybe it's where I live and have always lived, but I've always been surrounded by Americans trashin' on other countries; good grief, it never seems to stop: "everyone in that Eur. country are rude, everyone in that other country are inbred, you can't trust the Xxxxxxians, yada yada, it's sickening. Heck, I've seen it right here on SF. So I suppose it wouldn't be a surprise if other countries trashed on the U.S. sometimes.
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There are stories of Canadians who travel to the US for a cancer operation that would be too delayed in Canada. And there are other stories of women who fly here to give birth — insuring their progeny will acquire US citzenship, and then there are the millions currently streaming across the border seeking a better more prosperous life. Obnoxious as some American tourists may be, this isn’t such a bad place.
 
oldaunt said:
Australia got the criminals, America got the rebels who were persecuted out of the countries, most of it over religion.
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Before the British began transporting convicts to New South Wales they had been sending them to the colonies in North America. Transportation of convicts to American colonies ceased with the American Revolution. Then transportation of slaves from Africa was ramped up.

The descendants of the convicts and the slaves were/are among the finest citizens of USA. So are the descendants of European refugees. I make no comment on descendants of First Nations people because I don't know any.

What I do know is something I once told my class of 13 year old girls. When people come to make a home in Australia they give us their most precious gift - their children. In that class were daughters of Lebanese and Vietnamese people who had fled war and persecution in their home countries. They were struggling, trying to live within two cultures. Why make life harder for them? As a native Australian (not indigenous) I regarded it my responsibility to help them feel at home by teaching them things their parents could not.

I took them on bush walks so that they might see the Australian environment as it really is. The school included learn to swim programs because most of the daughters of migrants had never had the opportunity to learn water safety. Just for fun, I introduced them to rhyming slang because first generation children often fall between the cracks when it comes to subtle humour in English and their parents' first language.

What is my point? Rather than demonize refugees and immigrants, why not reach out to them and help them to fit in to our culture that may be very different to that of their parents and grandparents?
 
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ElCastor said:
If America is as bad as some would like to believe, I would have to disagree, but I am reminded of a tourist thing I once saw.

While on a trip to Mexico, my wife and I were dining in a restaurant. A couple of tables away another American man hailed the waiter. In a loud voice he said to the waiter, ”I want a glass of water, and I want it HERE NOW!” Then he pounds on the table, presumably the spot where he wants the water. So the waiter got him his water. Five minutes later he hails the waiter again and says rather meekly, “That was bottled water wasn’t it?”. (-8
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You should never anger the chef or the wait staff. You cannot see what they do to your food in the kitchen.
 
Having traveled many times to Europe I would agree with the points made and I don't find anything surprising or harsh. I would also add that Americans always presume everyone in another country speaks English and don't take the time to learn even a few words in another language prior to visiting. I once was in a cab in Athens, and I couldn't speak Greek because I found it very hard to learn. I ended up speaking to the cab driver in Spanish, which he understood and spoke.

As someone else mentioned, Americans spend little time thinking about other countries but that is primarily because our news media for the most part doesn't cover international news unless we are somehow involved. We tend to be selfish that way. The ability to experience Europe and learn about other cultures makes me appreciate both what they have and what we have.

I love the history, culture and architecture in the European cities, and the fact that many are walkable. From my experience, the people in Greece, Turkey and Croatia are delightful and welcoming. The people in Spain and Italy celebrate life, which creates a lively atmosphere. The people in the UK are more reserved, but we have so much in common and they have a wicked sense of humor. The people in France... well, they have a beautiful country. ;)
 
horseless carriage said:
Interesting points Diva. My wife and I spent most of our vacations Stateside. We travelled there almost once a year, I had a schoolfriend, married to an American whom we would visit regularly. We just loved America,

Then one day, an incident with a firearm changed all that. We were not involved, didn't even witness anything. Later we heard that a thief dragged the driver from his car whilst the car was stationary at the traffic lights. The thief then jumped into the car and drove off. The victim did no more than pull a pistol out and fired at the thief, hitting him in the shoulder. That didn't kill him, but in losing control of the car causing him to collide with one of those monster eighteen wheeler trucks, that killed him.

It was the reaction of those who thought that the thief got his just desserts that distressed us so. Here in the UK you don't see a weapon, ever. It's true that our police have a firearms unit but their weapons are only used as a last resort, they are never carried openly. Our security companies are not armed, nor are anyone else.

We still love America and reminisce so many happy times spent there, but the gun culture is something that we have called time on.
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You don't think the thief got his just desserts?
 
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