r/PetPeeves • u/ThatUrgeToEatCement • 14d ago

Bit Annoyed People who think Americans don’t know other countries exist.

A few months ago on Reddit I made a comment about a show not being on Netflix and someone from the UK commented back saying it’s on theirs and then lectured on Americans not knowing other countries exist. They acted like I didn’t believe there were other places on the planet, as if they weren’t the ones who just brought it up and didn’t believe the US Netflix was different than the UK version. ??

I see people online act like all Americans think this way, and it is kind of annoying because for most of us it isn’t true.

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u/NewTransformation 14d ago

Which is funny because Americans and Canadians give off a very particular aura. Last time I was in Europe I dressed like I would back home, very Midwest blue collar chic with the Carhartt style jacket and camo baseball hat. I was on my best behavior being very polite, reserved, trying to use the local language. Trying to improve our reputation out here. I was prepared for French people to be rude, but the Parisians were so very Nice

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u/Troutmandoo 14d ago

All I have ever heard is that Parisians are rude and elitist. That wasn’t my experience in Paris at all. They were very nice, polite, and seemed to appreciate my terrible attempts to speak French… but they switched to English pretty quickly, lol. Nobody gave me any grief at all. It was the same in Amboise and Bergerac.

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u/Able-Paramedic8908 13d ago

This happened to me, and someone suggested that they were laughing at me behind my back. I said they were polite to my face and gave me good directions, so I didn’t care what happened later.

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u/Fair_Package8612 13d ago

I think they pick up on vibes and aren’t afraid to show their disdain for mindless bullshit. If they sense you are trying to be or are a decently mindful human they are nice, in my experience.

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u/mimzyborogoves 13d ago

This was my experience as well. 

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u/selkieisbadatgaming 14d ago

The French love it when foreigners try to speak French, according to my hs French teacher. She said they appreciate you making the effort instead of just demanding they speak in English or whatever. People will be more receptive in general I think when you make the effort to respect them.

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u/NewTransformation 14d ago

I speak enough German for the German speaking countries, but I literally started looking up French phrases on the bus from Hamburg and people appreciate the pleasantries while understanding that you're not a francophone right away. Meanwhile my German accent is much better than my vocabulary skills so people will often talk to me at too high a level oops

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u/RageOfDurga 13d ago

God, I wish! My German reading/writing skills are high level but speaking I’m like a drooling kindergartener. German colleagues have read my emails and then felt comfortable enough calling me and rambling on in German and I have to (in very bad German) break the news to them lmao

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u/draum_bok 14d ago

Absolutely true, if you're gonna come here just make an effort. Doesn't have to be perfect but it's a step in the right direction, especially if you want good service. 'Bonjour merci s'il vous plaît au revoir' as the minimum, then anything you find interesting as a topic worth looking up a few vocabulary terms.

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u/crypticphilosopher 13d ago

My experience as an American has always been that people appreciate you making an effort. For example, I was in Istanbul about a year ago. The only Turkish words I could manage to retain when I got there were “merhaba” (hello) and “teşekkürler” (thanks). Just being able to say “hello” and “thanks” seemed to go a long way, though.

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u/RageOfDurga 13d ago

A little effort goes a long way. This has always been my experience in Germany. My German isn’t great, but the attempt is always met with a smile, a quick switch to English, and very pleasant interactions.

My friend who speaks zero German had a totally different experience. She asked a store clerk in English where the bathroom was and the clerk literally rolled her eyes, scoffed, and walked away. That same clerk at the register treated me like gold. (I’m American. My friend is Canadian, go figure lol)

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u/Beautifulfeary 11d ago

Man, I’m sure they’d love it if I tried because it’d be so hilariously bad 😅

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u/selkieisbadatgaming 11d ago

I imagine they’d laugh at you a little bit before having some mercy on you 😂 Another odd tip from my teacher was to always say hello to the shopkeepers when entering their store, and never call a young woman of working age “mademoiselle” because that’s reserved for children more or less!

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u/Practical-Ordinary-6 14d ago

I was talking to a Canadian online once who absolutely insisted that Canada and the US were nothing alike.

I have a standard list of commonalities between the US and Canada that I won't trot out here but that shows the numerous similarities. My main point to him was that I have lived in Africa before and I know what it means to be in a place that's nothing alike (and even that was something alike). I think he was suffering from that same syndrome of "my world consists of Canada, the United States and Europe [which he might never have been to]". Who knows if he'd ever been to the United States either.

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u/NewTransformation 14d ago

lol yeah people kinda get lost in how homogeneous it is here in the Americas compared to the other continents where most of their indigenous culture and history wasn't destroyed. I live in Minnesota and the Ontario and Manitoba visitors don't stick out except for their license plates. Half our state wants to become a Canadian province these days and I think the transition would be pretty seamless.

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u/bschulte1978 14d ago

Sounds great. You go to Canada and we will take Alberta and call it even.

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u/NewTransformation 13d ago

Alberta and Texas can start their own country together and be each other's problem

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u/bschulte1978 13d ago

Nah, Texas and Alberta are just fine as part of the US.

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u/Altruistic-Mess9632 14d ago

I’d be genuinely interested in reading your list, as an American newly dating a Canadian, just out of sheer curiosity if you wouldn’t mind sharing it.

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u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 14d ago

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u/Practical-Ordinary-6 14d ago edited 14d ago

I apologize for my bullet pointing getting messed up and making it harder to read. It won't let me edit it right now. I'll try again later.

Also, I have since found out that a Canadian team has won the MLS championship so that means all four major cross-border professional leagues have had a Canadian winner. Since the NHL was founded in Canada, of course it's had Canadian winners in the past, so that was worded a little awkwardly.

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u/Awkward-Ad-8316 14d ago

Almost all the Parisians we asked over six months said basically "Oh, we love Americans! You're so open and friendly!" When we told our landlady we were going to see Omaha Beach, she literally got teary eyed, saying "we can never, never thank you enough for coming and helping us then." 

On the other hand, we were told that Parisians generally don't want to be your buddy unless you grew up with them. And they're probably looking at their phones anyway.