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RE: Article: "EXCLUSIVE: Help Wanted -- 'ArrogantAmericans' NeedNotApply" AND THIS IS FOR A TECHWRITER
Subject:RE: Article: "EXCLUSIVE: Help Wanted -- 'ArrogantAmericans' NeedNotApply" AND THIS IS FOR A TECHWRITER From:"Al Geist" <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com> To:"'Evelyn Lee Barney'" <evbarney -at- comcast -dot- net>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:45:29 -0500
Evelyn Lee Barney wrote:
>>>I missed the original article - but I have to say I'm a bit fed up with
the "Ugly American" stuff.
Yes - I'm well aware of where it came form.
Yes - I understand there were and are reasons for it.
HOWEVER - What about visitors to this country? Commentators on this
country? Many are great - too many are the definition of arrogant.
(Just my personal experience) I'm not talking politics here - I'm
talking aobut personal interactions. To listen to some people (from
most any part of the world - for some reasons China seems to be an
exception) Americans are ignorant, uneducated, have no class, no taste,
are crass, and oh - whatever it is we don't do it quite right. The
people I am thinking of seem to think it is there right to chide,
deride, dismiss and make fun of anyone and everything American on our
own soil. And, if we don't lap it up like a whipped dog then we have
only proven their point.
I have traveled outside this country. I helped secure a summer job for
my son in Asia while he was in high school as part of his education. I
am not, by any streatch of the imagination a "rah rah love it or leave
it - MY AMERICA" type. I'm not a fan of Glenn Beck. If I had to pidgin
hole myself I'd be most apt to say "middle aged hippie." I still find
these guests aggravating almost beyond words. One good friend (a
Welshman who now lives and works in London) seems to believe that any
argument can be summed up with the phrase "Oh, you YANKS!" - I usually
brush it off with with the thought "That's just Nick" but -
unfortunately - it isn't. While in a wide political and economic sense
- the US may still have much to answer for. As individuals - we don't
deserve this crap. Yet many of us continue to behave as if we do.<<<
Hi Evelyn,
Well put. I've found that a glass (or two) of good wine or a flagon of great
beer help ease the pain and move you from the dang them to who gives a rip
attitude. People are people and most follow the mob mentality 9this is both
sides of the isle). The key is not to allow it to affect your profession
work, which is what most of try to do even when were being slapped around
"'cause were Yanks."
We work in an arena where our co-workers are located all over this big blue
marble. Some are arrogant. Some are not. I once worked as a writer for an
Alaskan Native Village organization and as a member of a group promoting a
Native American Powwow. I am German-Hungarian, yet I had no problem because
I learned long ago that if you don't understand a different culture, don't
diss it, learn about it. I think most of us are that way. But, being nice
and respectful doesn't make headlines. Upsetting Americans for a perceived
slap does.
Time for a beer.....
Al Geist
Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
Cell: 802-578-3964
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
Website: www.geistassociates.com
See Also:
Fine Art Photography
Website: www.geistarts.com
"...I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking. Better to be a pilgrim
without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold each
day." (Sy Safransky)
Siiiiiigh,
Ev
On 2/18/2010 11:23 AM, Leonard C. Porrello wrote:
> I've had a much different experience. Living as a grad student in Belgium
and a technical writer in Austria, as well as during literally dozens of
months of travel in Italy, England, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, and France,
I don't recall encountering any "ugly Americans" (obesity and ill-fitting,
ugly clothing notwithstanding). The only place I have seen them is in
American airports--and to this group I feel indebted. Last time I went to
Rome, my flight was cancelled, and I was several places back in the line for
the attendant who was rebooking passengers. If it weren't for the several
angry and abusive customers in front of me, who ended up having to delay
their departure to the next day, my kind attitude toward the attendant would
have gone unnoticed, and I wouldn't have gotten a flight that same day.
>
>
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