Why Americans Have A Bad Reputation Abroad, A First-Hand Toxic Experience

Have you ever met someone that makes your blood boil?

When words come out of their mouth, your jaw drops, and you think, “are you serious?”

I have been on an adventure for the past four years. I meet a lot of people from a lot of different countries. Most of the time, when they find out that I am from the USA, they give me a look of surprise.

I get comments such as “you are not what we expected.” I can take this in a handful of different ways, but you will already know this has got my wheels spinning if you read any of my stories.

I already know the answer, but I have to ask it anyway.

Of course, I do. Curiosity killed the cat.

• What do you mean?
• What did you expect?

I love this question-and-answer session. It has taught me so much about my own country, and hopefully, I can represent it in a positive light. Whether I want to live in the US or not, I am from the US, born and raised.

The answers can range from “Americans are loud, obnoxious, and rude,” “everyone looks like a character from a TV show,” “Everyone has a gun,” “everyone has plastic surgery,” and “everyone is rich,” “obnoxious, entitled.”

You get the picture.

The list can go on and on; that is not the point of this article. These are just questions I usually answer to the best of my ability. You can answer these questions in your way.

So it got me thinking. I have only met two people who fit the stereotype of “rude, arrogant, egotistical, loud, entitled” Americans in my years of traveling. I am also as shocked as you.

They have both been men. I met the first one four years ago in Ecuador, and the 2nd one I met yesterday. So this one is the freshest and who I will be speaking of today.

I should warn you that some of what he has said to me and my friend is beyond our understanding, and we disagree with his actions.

When I meet someone from my home country, it’s always interesting. We talk about why we left, what we are doing here, and just life. So as we were talking, he slowly started to get more drunk. I’m sober, as a jaybird just taking in this entertainment or trainwreck.

I was talking about living with my Colombian boyfriend, our life, and the next thing I know, he said, “just take what you want, you are American,” and “that is what we do best.” My jaw dropped to the floor; I said, “ Well, that is not what I do, and I said that is not right to say and tried to explain respect.”

I also said why are you living here if you think this way? I will be honest; I did not know what else to do or say. I said I am not in this country to rape and pillage it for what I can get out of it.

The subject changed, except it didn’t mean he kept going back to saying, “we do what we want, we are American, we colonize, we take over .”At this point, I had gotten up and left. This sort of disrespect for people is not something that I can handle.

LUCKILY, when I came back, he was too drunk, so he stopped talking; I was grateful. Yet it bothered me; I said something to my friend about it, since it is someone she knows.

I asked her about this exact situation, she said she has had to say stuff to him about his attitude and his “privileged attitude” she said “I don’t know what else to do, he does not listen to me, and the only thing I can do is get him out of my life.”

She said at one point; he said, “there have to be poor people to serve us; it’s the hierarchy, and we are at the top; people with money can do what they want .”I am at a loss for words. I thought this type of person was just a myth since I had never met someone like this.

The first guy I mentioned above was candy compared to what I heard. I guess my very naive approach to the questions that I ask must stem from one person someone met like this.

It breaks my heart that there are people in today’s world that still think that they can treat people and talk down to people because they have less money than you, yet it appears that it is still happening. In my head now writing this, and even after the situation occurred, I know that I could have said and done more, and I did not, so maybe that makes me part of the problem, not the solution.

Yet, sitting here writing this, what could I have said?

Walking away is not a solution to stopping the hate in the world. I wanted to say something, but I was a deer in headlights, and then I spoke with my friend; she said she had spoken to him at length about his attitude to the point of nearly causing an argument with him.

Also, I never want to argue with someone; I do not know where he is at in his life, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

It helped me realize two things; this is why when people find out I am from the US, I get the types of questions listed above. I also realized that I did not know what to do or say in this situation.

What would you have done?

Did I handle it in a way that makes me part of the problem? I am open to learning how I can be better.

XOXO

S