Do you dislike Americans?

[Kismett]

I feel like I often read posts online that are insulting American people, culture, food, etc. In person people are generally nice to me in the UK, although I do get unsolicited comments about how our chocolate is shit or they'd never want to live in the US. It's not a great feeling, to be honest. But is this how most people really feel?

We have lots of places near us that make amazing chocolate.

And if I'm honest, the last few times I've had UK care packages with Cadbury's etc I've been heartbroken at how shit it is!

I think cheap chocolate is shit everywhere now.

I think i just don’t understand the culture. The every man for himself and cuk everyone else, but then in times of tragedy they pull together and raise millions! Can’t stand the obsession with guns and the general shrugging of shoulders after school shootings. Introducing clear bags and bulletproof panels for backpacks so the rights of Americans to own guns is not infringed.
I find the Americans I have met in my circle to be insincere and flaky. They’ll offer to help but when you try to nail them down, they’re far too busy doing something over there >>>. Flaky in trying to make friends and meet for coffee and actually build friendships. I’ve found it all very superficial, as have many of my expat friends. We all seem to come up against the same barriers. We live in a very multicultural place, and I do know some expats that have American friends. When I analyse the difference between us, I’m quiet, not brash or loud and the other expats are very in your face, opinionated and loud, and they’re the ones with local friends.

On my first trip here someone made an offhand, insulting comment about Americans in front of me. They hadn’t realized that I was American because I had reigned in my loud, opinionated voice and hadn’t spoken.
I had a similar experience in Lexington, while looking at a diorama of the Battle of Lexington. The man next to me was making very rude remarks about the British, saying how glad he was that the U.S. had nothing to do with Britain any more etc etc. I kept quiet, until he asked if I agreed with him. I said it worked both ways.. was his face red.

OP - how can I possibly dislike all Americans? Do you like all of them?

My DIL is American, the majority of Americans that I have met in the US have been friendly and charming, but then I take people as I find them irrespective of their nationality or cultural background.

Yes and not a lot of people can afford to shop at whole foods either.

No, I don’t dislike Americans. Disliking someone just based on their nationality is mad!

American chocolate is shit though and I also wouldn’t want to live there (due to idiot president and gun culture) but there are many countries I wouldn’t want to live in, doesn’t mean I dislike their inhabitants

Of everyone I know (and that's a lot) two have guns. Not one person I know is gun obsessed.

Shrugging shoulders after school shootings?! Please fuck right off. Did you see how many marched? I'm part of anti gun Facebook groups with THOUSANDS of members and that just locally.

And yes to some of the other stuff people have mentioned:

• overall a more positive attitude. Willing to celebrate success.
• And yes I do feel anxious about healthcare. As an expat on an excellent health insurance I shouldn’t, but I still do. I trust the NHS a lot more (and having had a small baby in NICU for many months I have had close encounters with the NHS). I find American health care very interventionist. I don’t want my paediatrician to give me advice about sleep training (and everyone sleep trains, it’s a national passion...I was some crazy British outlier). Nor do my children need constant weighing. But it’s just a different system. It bears no reflection on the country.
• yes to the diversity of America. San Francisco is nothing like New York which is almost a different country from Montana. I find the diversity endlessly fascinating. In fact there isn’t even an ‘American accent.’ For instance I find the Bostonian drawl really hard to decipher!
• as the broadest of generalisations Americans are on the whole slightly more conservative. So many Democrats in America would probably be, ideologically, Tories in the UK. And the genuine left is very much a fringe. The abortion debate is a red herring. Nearly 3/4 of the country I believe is actually pro choice but as an election issue it raises its head every time.
• Guns. It’s the one thing about America that has always terrified me. The availability of weaponry. I hang out in circles that is anti gun and no one I know has one (I also live in a state with strict gun laws) but when I think of Sandy Hook my blood runs cold because I have kids in primary school.

"Every man for himself and fuck everyone else"

What utter, utter rubbish.

I've never lived in a more caring community.

When someone has a baby or gets sick people that don't even know them donate money and set up meal trains to them.

When my Dad fell very ill and I had to rush back to the UK my neighbour who I'd met TWICE gave me the money for my airfare home.

We built amazing preschool building purely on donations and free labour from people.

Thousands may have marched, but millions didn’t, nothing has changed!!!!

choli out of curiosity what is it you don't like about the midwest? I had never been until our last holiday (we drove from New Jersey to Idaho, then up to Michigan, Toronto and upstate New York, mostly camping) and I found the people very friendly and helpful. I appreciate we were just scratching the surface. And rural Michigan felt odd to me - NRA tshirts and no fresh food.

Dh and I enjoy visiting what I call B and C cities (no disrespect meant, just that they're smaller and I think more essentially American than NYC, LA etc). in a couple of weeks we're setting off for Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo.

Whole Foods is a LOT more expensive in the UK than the US. Here, no one I know would do their daily shop there. In the US it’s the equivalent of Waitrose, I think. Expensive but not so expensive that you think WTF. I live within walking distance of a Trader Joe’s and a Whole Foods so that covers my essentials.

I get a more specific version of this when other Americans hear I'm from NJ and then I'm meant to join in the 'armpit of America' banter.)

Tell them to fuck off. Jersey is the birthplace of Springsteen.

As other have posted, I see a lot of generalizations about Americans on MN and anything that is disliked is dismissed as a tacky American import. It irritates me particularly because if someone generalizes about the UK or England they are usually called on it.

As a Canadian I'm not thrilled with American cultural imperialism, (if you guys think you have it bad, you should see it here!). But I'm not going to blame the average American for that.

I think WtF at whole food prices. Even when we had 2 incomes.

And yes America is very very far from ‘every man for himself.’ The state is run on that principle (ie it’s not a socialist state) but because of that, conversely, the people are very community minded. In the UK the safety net of the state means that actually people don’t rely on their neighbours and communities in the same way.

That's why it's called whole paycheck

It is way cheaper than WF In the UK though.

I’ll tell you what I am WTF at: cell phone contracts. A basic all you can talk/data thing is some 70 dollars plus the cost of the phone. That’s nuts.

I could never say I disliked a whole category of people. I like everyone until they give me a reason not to like them I suppose.

I find most Americans humourless though.

thefirstmrsdewinter

I don't like the food in the Midwest, and the distances that you need to drive. Having said that, our office there is way outside of town, and that is part of the problem.

Trader Joe is very good, but I find the produce better in Whole Foods, and the fact that it is not pre-wrapped so I can choose the best. Both have Kerry Gold butter :-) Trader Joe is brilliant for things like their fresh Pico De Gallo, and the chunky guacamole. Their California olive oil is very good, as is the chocolate (imported Swiss and Belgian) and the sea salt caramels.

Most of my friends use a combination of WF, TJ and the farmer market in season. People who live outside the city tend to use Costco or other big box shops, but those who live in the city rarely have the storage space to buy in bulk.

No, not at all. I married one. It didn't work out, but that's not to do with his nationality. I wouldn't live in the US if you paid me - gun culture, too much religion, rolling back abortion rights - it's definitely a nation going in the wrong direction - but that doesn't mean Americans can be judged as a people. I know some great ones and some awful ones (both part of H's family) but that same thing applies to everyone else I know, irrespective of nationality.

And not all the chocolate is shit, some of it is OK.

No

I love America and Americans. People have an opinion about the US because it's the dominant culture. The Roman and British empires are still studied and written about. The predominance of American junk food and mass food production is making people obese...of course we are going to critique stuff like that, it's not about the people though.

I actually think that Trump is the beginning of the end of American imperialism. The capitalist dream is dying.

I understand that people will have opinions but is that the sort of thing you'd say to an American? If you weren't already having a conversation about these issues? It also feels overwhelmingly negative online. I think what surprised me the most is how these comments come out of nowhere.

Someone mentioned Trump as a catalyst and I agree that he certainly has made things worse. But I visited and moved here before he was elected and people were as negative then.

Interesting to see the different perspectives here. I realize that my OP is coming across as asking for generalizations. Really I was looking more to see if people already do generalize. Obviously I'd prefer if they don't.

@Grumpasaurus don't discount the attitudes of other minorities in the US! We're all American too. Unless you meant that you didn't interact with any.

Anyway, maybe I'll feel better tomorrow. Feeling down about living here right now, but I'm sure most people go through that at some point.

Every American person I have met has been incredibly friendly and so lovely. So I love American people!!

kismet See my comments earlier about England/London. It hurts, it's rude and it's tedious. I hope you feel better and more positive (more American!) tomorrow