10 Things Most Americans Don't Know About America

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150. I have encountered such criticism once or twice at DU...

Not so much generalising about us as a people, but holding me personally responsible for the racism that was deeply ingrained in our society and to a lesser extent still is. It was irritating, but I didn't get cranky. The only time I've gotten cranky was when a natural disaster hit the city I live in, and while most were sympathetic and help came from all round the country, there were a few very vocal calls to leave us to fend for ourselves and we deserved it for having a city where massive fires hit every couple of decades, because the stereotype of us is that we're a bunch of affluent, lefty, latte drinking bureaucrats (Canberra's the seat of govt and the public service is the major employer here). That was hard to take and I fumed.

There are stereotypes when it comes to most nationalities. A few are that the British are a bunch of whingers who don't wash much, the Germans are dour, highly efficient but soulless and Germany is gloomy and dark, and the French are arrogant and refuse to talk English at you if you go to France. None of those are particularly true, but because we develop these stereotypes, we look at the rare ones we encounter who fit the bill and go 'Aha! I knew it!' I recently went on a cruise from Sydney to Cairns on an American cruise ship and we were standing next to some Americans when we were dropping off our baggage. They were two elderly couples wearing matching tracksuit tops and bottoms, tennis shoes and sun visors. My sister snickered and whispered to me that she'd guessed they were American even before they started talking, but they talked to us and they were lovely and friendly, and the other several hundred Americans on the cruise weren't suffering from fashion failure like them, but they did fit into a stereotype I'd held for a long time so they sort of stuck out for me...

The stereotype I held for Americans and America developed from watching telly and listening to others was that there's lots of people shooting each other, and cars explode when they crash. That if I were there and got sick I'd need to get the first flight home otherwise I'd lose my house and all my savings when I got the hospital bill (that one's somewhat true). That Americans are loud and obnoxious and don't know anything about the world other than how exceptional the US supposedly is. When I met Americans both here and travelling overseas, and listening to my brother gush about the US and how friendly he found Americans after his return from there late last year, I know that stuff is a generalisation. There are many Americans, including here at DU, who clearly are aware of the world around them and take a real interest in it, but the ones that don't are louder and fulfil that particular stereotype...

But, yeah, I get what yr saying about it being like you can criticise yr family, but it's different when an outsider does it. That's only when it comes to stereotyping, though. When it comes to things like guns and reproductive rights and especially the series of misguided war adventures the US embarked upon where my country followed, I do criticise and sometimes quite loudly...