Austria: an Ugly American post:

So I thought that I would make a quick post about the “Ugly American” stereotype and my thoughts on one incident I had in Austria. No pics on this one, folks!

We all know about the Ugly American stereotype, no need for me to go into it here. If you don’t know about it then Google is your new best friend! For me, I honestly can say that up until this trip I hadn’t really encountered much of it. I mean I saw the random 50ish male with a fanny pack as well as the loud groups of college students getting drunk (looking at you, Amsterdam!). But nothing really blatant. Until this trip.

I was walking around Vienna in the main “touristy” center of town, just checking things out and seeing the sites. Window-shopping so to speak. I went into one of the many little shops mainly to get out of the direct sunlight that was blazing down on me. I was looking around, generally minding my own business. Then I heard/ saw this exchange:

A young (16 to 19 year old) obvious American girl was walking through the shop with either her mom and grandma or perhaps mom and aunt. Mom was about my age and grandma/aunt was a little older. No distinguishable accent so I couldn’t say if they were from a specific area of the U.S. (i.e. the South or Wisconsin). Young idiot girl (her new name, BTW) was wearing short cutoff shorts (and they were short!) and slurping her obligatory Starbucks venti frappuccino and complaining to her mom that she didn’t want any of “these souvenirs” because they all said Wien on them and not Vienna. Young idiot girl (had she been paying attention) would have known that Wien was the German word for Vienna and actually the CORRECT name. Yeah, young idiot girl.

To be closely followed by older idiot mother and older idiot grandma/aunt. Who proceeded to badger the salesclerk (who was doing them a favor by speaking English) by asking how much this item cost in “real, American money”. Because apparently Euros are now not “real”.

I kind of hid in the corner while this was all going on. In of course the loudest voices possible because they are Ugly Americans. I so wanted to go up to the salesclerk after they left the shop and explain that we are not all like that. But I didn’t have the heart. I just kind of left, shaking my head as I went along.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am as patriotic as the next person. I am a proud American and all that we stand for. I only speak English (although I can understand to read a few words of Spanish). But I at least try to learn a few words of the local language (hello, good morning, thank you, do you speak English) to try and not appear to be a complete idiot. And I always try to respect the country that I am visiting. I never want to be labeled an Ugly American. This was probably this young idiot girl’s graduation gift from mom/grandma/aunt and all she was doing was complaining. Stupid Ugly Americans…..