Reply #113: I go to Greece every summer [View All]

[leftynyc]

to the islands where there are many Americans and many Europeans. We've made many friends there over the years and they're very open about how SOME Americans have a sense of entitlement and when things aren't exactly the way they are here (like, on the islands you can't put toilet paper in the toilet), they complain....loudly. But they (the Greeks) also complain about the Germans and the French, love the Italians and find the Brits a lot of fun. I do know that all those countries object to how many Americans just assume everyone speaks English. So I guess every country has their biases about others.

I live in NY and work in Manhattan so I see a lot of tourists here as well. I've had to remind some American tourists that the reason they're not hearing all English is that the UN is down the street and the city is filled with tourists - their assumption is that these are immigrants (probably illegal) who just refuse to learn English. So much of the biases are based on ignorance and a sense of superiority.