Arrogant American

on Dec 21, 2004

Because I have been an American who has lived abroad most of my adult life, I have a very different perspective of the image of the "arrogant American" than most Americans would have. The American who has never stepped out of the United States sees such a label as an attack without reason, which I can understand. The American who has paid thousands of dollars to visit a foreign land who hears it might say the same, but he/she might not realize that he/she might seem ridiculous when he/she has paid all that money to travel halfway around the world only to say, "It's not like home!" Yes, most of them do just that!

When I lived abroad, I took the experience as an adventure to explore other lands and to learn how people lived. I learned how they thought. I learned their languages. Before long, they no longer saw me as an outsider because I didn't come to them as an outsider. I learned that it was all in the approach. If I showed some empathy, I did not alienate. That alone seemed to make the difference wherever I went. I remained an American everywhere, but the people didn't see me as an American first. They saw me as a friendly man who happened to be an American.

What makes that difference? Let me describe one scenario I can never forget. I was sitting in a club one evening with some friends when in came a man who was clearly drunk out of his mind. He was loud and staggering all over the place, shouting and falling on people, on tables, on everything. He clearly didn't have the sense to be embarrassed. Before long, he was wetting his pants. He was trying to hit on the girls, who thought he was a boor -- and he was. Of course, he was a drunken American. The others who were with me said, "He's one of your countrymen." I could only wince. For some reason, Americans who go abroad seem to think that they are invisible, that they won't be noticed when they act that way. They end up in foreign jails instead.

Not so different are the American women who go to parties who end up having sex with all the men there. I've seen that happen too. It's not so surprising that American women get a reputation for being sluts. Hollywood helps promote that image. It's very unfair and very wrong, as we know, but again, something happens when Americans travel abroad. I don't know what it is, but it happens. I know of American families who go abroad with their children and complain about how they have to protect their teenage daughters. I'm a father myself and don't like it at all. Of course, my children were all born abroad, so I did have an advantage. Besides, my girls all inherited their father's dominant character; I'd pity any guy who tried anything with them!

The arrogance that Americans have shown in the last election campaign is something that concerns me most, however. The behavior I saw during the Bush/Kerry election was horrifying. It looked like schoolyard bullies bashing one another, and that's what I see everywhere now. That's what people are seeing, and if that's the image Americans want to project, then I, for one, want no part of it. I've served in the military, have put my life on the line, am certainly no spineless wuss, but don't condone the image of a thug as being representative of my nation and never will.

2

Moderateman

on Dec 21, 2004

while asking about arrogant, how about the french that turned over the tombstones of americans that died there defending the french from there good buddies the germans? How soon they all forget the charity, help aid, defense of other countries. I am proud of being an american,,,,, and if viewed as arrogant, so be it.

3

Dr Guy

on Dec 21, 2004

Masterwriter,

I too have lived abroad, and I did not see what you did. I did see some bad americans, but they were the exception not the rule. And for the most part, the Europeans I saw were just as nice and curteous, except the French, who were rude to a man (woman).

I had no problem dealing with Europeans, and they did not seem to have a problem with me. So when I saw the title to this blog, I was intrigued, and I found it very well written and apt.

We are, as a people, considered arrogant because we rightly beleive we are good and decent, as most other people do. However, while they trace their sordid history back thousands of years, we only have a few hundred. So how dare we usurp the natural order of things! Yet we do, because we threw off the shackles of old Europe and stood up and said We are your equal.

And as a people, they dont like that. As individuals, most europeans dont view most Americans that way. It is when you stereotype a people you rarely see (for even the average European rarely sees Americans, and Americans rarely see Europeans), then it is easy to accept cliches instead of reality.

I am sure the people you describe do exist, but I never saw them. And I dare say most Europeans dont either.

4

drmiler

on Dec 21, 2004

Reply #3 By: Dr. Guy - 12/21/2004 6:17:11 PM

Hey Doc, Here's that recipe for chorizo. It's on the lean side the way I like it. You can make it closer to original by adding lard.

8 mild red chilies; dried
1.75 lbs ground pork or beef
1/2 cup onion; minced
2 tablespoon white vinegar
10 clove garlic; minced or pressed
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp oregano
1.5 tsp Salt
.5 tsp coriander; ground
1 pinch Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 30 degrees. take off stem from chilie pods and discard most of the seeds. Roast fo r 5 min, single layer on cookie sheet (DON'T SCORCH) When cooled place in blender and grind evenly. In a medium non-reactive bowl combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hrs. Keeps about 1 week in fridge. Freezes well.

Let me know if you get this.

5

Dr Guy

on Dec 21, 2004

Let me know if you get this.

Got it! and Mucho thanks! Been a b**ch of a day! Have not been around much and this evening is not getting better! Sometimes we have to work late! But I am off next week!

Appologies to Hitparade for subjugating his excellant thread!

6

hitparade

on Dec 21, 2004

Hey Doc -- furgeddaboud it!

BTW, Merry Christmas

7

Dr Guy

on Dec 22, 2004

Hey Doc -- furgeddaboud it!

BTW, Merry Christmas

Danke Shoen, und Frohe Weihnachten!

(Thank you and Merry Christmas)

8

Dr Guy

on Dec 22, 2004

I love/hate my country and would be killing to kill for it, if nessecary

???? Is that what we call a freudian slip?

Merry Christmas

9

hitparade

on Dec 22, 2004

MasterWriter wrote: "Not so different are the American women who go to parties who end up having sex with all the men there. I've seen that happen too. It's not so surprising that American women get a reputation for being sluts."

Sounds like some hell of a party ... You old dog, I hope you didn't limit yourself to just watching.

Thankfully, I have personally encountered many loose women abroad. While some were indeed Americans, I personally found the French & German women to be full blown nymphets. Indeed, they most especially seem attracted to young black bucks. All in all, I personally believe that the Brits are indeed a fine bunch of bloaks and I must confess that - back in my day- I frequently enjoyed sharking and mounting many of their finest Lilies.

A navy buddy of mine told me a story about one particular experience he had when in service abroad:

Before the gulf war in '91, my buddy was involved in a series of joint naval exercises with the British navy in the North Sea. One particular day, the ocean was unforgiving, resulting in several (acceptable) screw-ups. This caused some friction, however, because the Brits wanted to call off the exercises due to the bad weather. The American position was simply that war doesn’t break for bad weather.

A short time thereafter, my buddy had an incident with one of the British officers involved in the joint exercises. This fella was echoing the position of his superiors who had wanted to call off the last series of scheduled exercises due to the above-mentioned particularly nasty weather. Anyhow, all present were each as drunk as a skunk; things, needless to say, then got very heated, and my buddy managed to cleanly knock out one of the Brit’s front teeth; a beautiful overhand right, plus the poor personal oral hygiene of the Brit, did the trick. Hey, don’t blame my buddy, he wasn’t the Froggy one; all he did was beat the Brit to the punch. Any man's right! Get this; my buddy was required to pay for the Brit’s dental work, among other things. After that incident, the limeys backed off about supposed "American incompetence," and instead started showing some respect. God save the queen, but more importantly re-elect Tony Blair, who is indeed a true friend of the American people.

~Cheers & a merry christmas to all ~

10

Rightwinger

on Dec 22, 2004

It is not we Americans who are arrogant, but our ideals that are arrogant. Freedom is not only an arrogant thing, but is also a noble thing indeed.

---hitparade

Well said, hitparade, very well said, indeed. Excellent post.

The American who has paid thousands of dollars to visit a foreign land who hears it might say the same, but he/she might not realize that he/she might seem ridiculous when he/she has paid all that money to travel halfway around the world only to say, "It's not like home!" Yes, most of them do just that!

Masterwriter

Let me say this: after years of working with the public, i feel utterly qualified to say that people are stupid. What else can I say?

I personally have little desire to go overseas to see what they have; most of the older structures in Europe, for example, are long gone, virtually the entire continent having been rebuilt in the wake of two world wars. Besides, here in America, we have 3000miX1500mi of things to see and do, much more than could ever be seen/done in one lifetime. I might like to see England and Germany, though; my family name is English, and my bloodline is three-fourths German. it might be nice to touch the soil trod by my ancestors.

My high school football coach would always stand and remind us, before we got off the team bus for an away game, that we were here representing our school, and that we should act like it. In other words, behave yourself. Using this philosophy, were I to visit another country, I would realize that I am, in effect, an ambassador of the US, and would act accordingly. Perhaps some Americans forget this fact when they visit other nations. I will not apologize for my countrymen, though.....they have the Constitutional right to act like assholes, and many take full advantage of it.
However, were I to treat the people there with respect and courtesy, I would expect the same in return. Though I have myself never visited a foreign country (besides Canada, if you want to call that a "foreign country"), I have heard from others who have that this is not always the case. Americans are often treated with derision and rudeness right from the get-go. I have an aunt, for example, who once had a very bad experience with a shopkeeper in France (go figure). She vowed never to return to France for that reason.

I do agree that elections here in the US are getting worse and worse as time goes by; I half-jokingly predict drive-by shootings and molotov cocktails thrown through opposition party headquarters windows in the not-too-distant future. We're swiftly losing our decorum as a nation. Not sure what can be done about it, though. Perhaps if we just start agreeing to be respectful of each other again and, just to throw this in, bring God back to the classroom and to public life (it was when he was thrown out in the early '60s that things began to sour, and they've continued to rot in the last four decades).

We Americans are a proud lot. We proudly fly our flag, which is often a permanent fixture on the fronts of our homes and businesses. I've spoken to Europeans over the years who find this to be "nationalistic" and distasteful.
Europeans only seem to embrace their nationhood in time of crisis; they only turn out for flag-waving, patriotic slogan-chanting demonstrations in times of trouble.
They existed, as individual nations, for centuries before us. Is this what happens after centuries of nationhood? That you become tired of patriotism and lose the passion for your country and its people, only to have it replaced with a sort of resigned, world-weary, jaded cynicism? If this is, indeed, what awaits America centuries in the future.....I'm glad to be alive today, and will be happy to have passed on long before it comes to that.

11

thatoneguyinslc

on Dec 22, 2004

I think a lot of the so called "Arrogance" has to do with the euros associating the citizens of the US with the policies of our government. Combined with the actions of some of us who act like idiots at home and abroad.

I have traveled through Europe a few times, and for the most part i have never had any problems (with the exception of France) with the locals. Most of them are well aware that we are not represenative of our countries politics. I think the frenchies just dislike us out of jealousy.

They would love to see their country as a superpower. And it's never gonna happen.

jealousy + envy = hatred

12

Dr Guy

on Dec 22, 2004

I have traveled through Europe a few times, and for the most part i have never had any problems (with the exception of France) with the locals. Most of them are well aware that we are not represenative of our countries politics. I think the frenchies just dislike us out of jealousy.

Basically the same thing I said! Glad that it was not just me (a frog by ancestry, but American by birth). I agree with your assessment of Europe as well. Guess you dont have to live there to get the same impression.

13

Rightwinger

on Dec 22, 2004

Most of them are well aware that we are not represenative of our countries politics. I think the frenchies just dislike us out of jealousy.

Oh, but we are........if not our politics, our culture and people. This is where the "Ugly American" thing got its start. Too many people acting like morons and not behaving themselves, like masterwriter's drunk in the club. Expecting the locals to speak English and getting pissed when they couldn't. And I agree that France is just jealous. Not to beat the same dead horse, but we did bail them out of two world wars saving their nation in the process.

14

Rightwinger

on Dec 22, 2004

MasterWriter wrote: "Not so different are the American women who go to parties who end up having sex with all the men there. I've seen that happen too. It's not so surprising that American women get a reputation for being sluts."

Sounds like some hell of a party ... You old dog, I hope you didn't limit yourself to just watching.

Thankfully, I have personally encountered many loose women abroad. While some were indeed Americans, I personally found the French & German women to be full blown nymphets. Indeed, they most especially seem attracted to young black bucks. All in all, I personally believe that the Brits are indeed a fine bunch of bloaks and I must confess that - back in my day- I frequently enjoyed sharking and mounting many of their finest Lilies.

A navy buddy of mine told me a story about one particular experience he had when in service abroad:

Before the gulf war in '91, my buddy was involved in a series of joint naval exercises with the British navy in the North Sea. One particular day, the ocean was unforgiving, resulting in several (acceptable) screw-ups. This caused some friction, however, because the Brits wanted to call off the exercises due to the bad weather. The American position was simply that war doesn’t break for bad weather.

A short time thereafter, my buddy had an incident with one of the British officers involved in the joint exercises. This fella was echoing the position of his superiors who had wanted to call off the last series of scheduled exercises due to the above-mentioned particularly nasty weather. Anyhow, all present were each as drunk as a skunk; things, needless to say, then got very heated, and my buddy managed to cleanly knock out one of the Brit’s front teeth; a beautiful overhand right, plus the poor personal oral hygiene of the Brit, did the trick. Hey, don’t blame my buddy, he wasn’t the Froggy one; all he did was beat the Brit to the punch. Any man's right! Get this; my buddy was required to pay for the Brit’s dental work, among other things. After that incident, the limeys backed off about supposed "American incompetence," and instead started showing some respect. God save the queen, but more importantly re-elect Tony Blair, who is indeed a true friend of the American people.

~Cheers & a merry christmas to all ~

Don't know how I missed this post the first time around; good for your buddy; just too bad it took coming to blows to get them some respect.
As to the women....I've always heard that Europe was far more "sophisticated" and "open" in matters of sex than us poor, sexually repressed Americans (with our thriving porn industry in California and hundreds of porn mags hitting the shelf every month). In other words, sluttier. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself, anyway.....and very eloquently, too, I might add.

15

hitparade

on Dec 23, 2004

Rightwinger wrote: "Sounds like you enjoyed yourself, anyway.....and very eloquently, too, I might add."

I enjoyed the BRitsih women so much so that I married one and took her home.