Sometimes you have to deal with stupid people...
Jokingly, my dad said to me once, "For every smart person a company hires, they are required to hire at least two stupid people. It's a law." If you get it, you're one of the smart ones.
My "vant" today is in regards to Americans and global geography. I'll admit, I'm not an expert on where everything in the world is, but I don't pretend to know facts just to appear smarter. The problem with pretending like you know is that you come off as really, really NOT knowing. I did take a few geography classes in college (I almost had a minor in geography - that's useful in the real world, isn't it?). The classes were part of my desire to know more about the globe. Throughout my life, I've been interested in other cultures and other ways of life. I've been determined to understand the people I came into contact with. In high school, I took two different foreign languages, spent three weeks on an exchange to another country, our family hosted interns from the Post-Soviet states, and I liked to read about different parts of the world. I wanted a picture of what life was like for the average John (Ivan, Muhammad, etc.) around the globe.
Through my life, I've run into some pretty ignorant Americans. People who assume facts and share their inaccurate views with others, proving how little they know. I have four examples I'd like to share with the world.
Example #1: I have previously written about Alex. He visited our home from Ukraine. His visit may have been my first eye opening experience in how moronic Americans can be. Alex is a smoker and he did not like the fact that cigarettes produced from America are weaker than what he was used to in Ukraine. This led us to a tobacco shop, looking for European made cigarettes.
I asked the man behind the counter for help. "Do you have any cigarettes made in Europe? My friend would like an import brand from Europe."
What I got?
"Yes, we do. We have this brand. It's from Canada."
What? Canada? We're in Minnesota! Canada actually borders our state! I don't think this man had any clue where Europe even was. We left the store, shaking our heads in disbelief.
Example #2: This example is also from Alex's visit. While he was in the hospital (see the link from above), a nurse noticed his accent (ah, his accent...I digress). She asked him where he was from. Normal, everyday question right?
Alex replied politely, informing her he was from Ukraine.
Her response, "What country is that in?"
Here's the thing America. Ukraine is a country, it's a large country. Ukraine is actually the second largest country in Europe, second only to Russia.
He replied, "Ukraine is a country in Europe."
She took it to the next level. "Europe? Oh, I know that country!"
This was a nurse, an 'educated' woman unable to understand the difference between a country and a continent. It's times like this where I'm ashamed of being American.
Example #3: During my stint at the local college, I met a nice (hot!) young man named Rahul. He was from India. He was witty and extremely intelligent. We had three classes together so we chatted often. One day, he was explaining to me the stupid things people assume about him because he talks with an accent and is from India.
Laughing, he says to me, "Today someone asked where I was from. I told them I was from India. Their response was priceless in it's stupidity. 'Oh, have you ever seen a car before you came here?' I explained that, 'Yes, we have cars in India.' They told me, 'Well, they don't in those Indiana Jones movies.'"
This had us rolling for twenty minutes. First off, I'm pretty sure only one of the Indiana Jones movies took place in India. Secondly, those movies are set 60 years in the past! Thirdly, India is not populated by bushmen. Technology is a part of the daily life in India.
Example #4: About a month ago, one of the bankers at work took a call from a girl traveling overseas. She was calling to inform us that she'd be out of the country. The banker is filling out some information about the trip and asks the girl, "What country or countries will you be staying in?"
The girl replies, "Europe."
Yes, another one of those people.
The banker says, "Okay...Which countries in Europe?"
Irritated, the girl says, "I'm staying in Europe! That's where I'm going."
"I understand. Europe is a continent. Which countries in Europe are you going to be in?"
Frustrated, the girl replies, "I'll be in Paris and Frankfurt."
The banker says, "Okay, I'll put France and Germany on here then."
The nurse from example #2 may have been educated, but at least she wasn't planning a trip to the "country of Europe." This girl was actually planning on spending time in the countries of Paris and Frankfurt. Those poor natives of Germany and France. They had to put up with her.
9 Comments:
At 8:24 PM, CarpeDM said...
And then there's me, who took a test in geography in 8th grade and accidently wrote South America instead of South Africa. Ah, memories of why I never joined the Diplomatic Corp.
This was great!
At 8:40 PM, EB said...
And there you have in a nutshell why so much of the rest of the world fears the U.S. It's not just our military might and mindboggling national wealth. It's that we don't, as a whole, have any clue of the rest of the world or its peoples, so we can't be trusted to use that power and wealth wisely.
Nationalism + power + ignorance is a scary cocktail.
At 3:54 AM, rod said...
a couple years ago on my way to Moldova (between Ukraine and Romania) I was layed over in Brussels. While I was patiently awaiting my flight, I witnessed a very large man in Stetson and cowboy boots and extremely tight wranglers being escorted by two customs officials, one under each arm, and one carrying a large knife (at least 18 inches). As they passed my chair, I overheard the cowboy say in thickly accented English, "but that there knife was made in Germany, don't that count for nothing?"
At 4:27 PM, Anonymous said...
Feeling a little racial?
The problem here is that they don't know where places are, not that they pretended to, as you attest-- unless you're reporting your stories inaccurately.
I think it's a good idea to can anti-Americanism, and call it what it is: RACISM.
~Jason Silver
At 6:15 PM, The Lioness said...
EB, absolutely right. In Europe we do fear Americans and a lot of it has to do with what you said. Jason Silver, I don't even know where to start. You have your sociological and anthropological concepts all mixed up. And Beth was pretty clear. The problem indeed IS that these people did NOT know. So basically you were bothered that she portrayed Americans in a bad light. Shame on her. People are entlited to their own opinion, even if it means belittling their own country, or feeling ashamed of their countrymen. It's one of those 1st Amendment things. Your implying she made things up is pretty weak. Especially considering I've explained to many an American, while in Portugal, that yes Lisbon is a capital, no, we are not part of Spain, no, we are not a colony of Brazil, yes we do have our own language (called Portuguese), and yes it's Cornflakes they see. I have met some interested, interesting, well-informed Americans all over Europe. But trust me, they are by far the minority. And now you'll force me to say that some of my best friends are gay and black (actually, only one gay and I don't really have black friends but I once had a crush on this black guy, does it count?), I'm Jewish, female, I live in a 3rd-world country so no, I am not feeling racial. Funnily enough, I never really do - unless you count stupidity as an ethnic trait.
At 9:09 PM, Anonymous said...
Hi Beth,
I misunderstood, because I didn't read carefully enough. I found your like from a Canadian blog and wrongly assumed you were Canadian like me. Canadian's are all too quick to rant against Americans, and since I've spent some time in the US, I feel like it's partly my responsibility to assure Canadians that all Americans are not loud, arrogant, biggots.
I see I've started quite a tidal wave. My apologies again.
~Jason
At 9:29 PM, brooksba said...
Jason -
Do you have a blog? I'd love to read it. Thanks!
Beth
At 6:55 PM, Anonymous said...
I'm a little gun shy, but okay...
Can I do HTML here?
CrookedBush.com~Jason
At 1:36 AM, Thrillcekr said...
I'll start out by saying that, as an American, I have encountered tons of the same type of ignorance that you speak of. I've travelled to numerous countries all over Asia, Africa, South and Central America etc.. In these travels I've ran into numerous idiots from those countries and travellers from Europe who don't know shit about anything outside their own continent. Obviously, if you aren't American you most likely wouldn't know about a lot of the ignorant statements and questions your own countrymen and women make when they run across a visitor from the U.S.. I welcome it myself though. Nothing is more fun to me than carving up some loud mouthed Frenchman in front of his friends when he tries to engage with me in a political or geographical debate. Often times they aren't nearly as knowledgeable as they think. I can't tell you how many times I had one of those morons speechless when I quoted some events of their own country's history that they didn't even know.
I had the pleasure of shutting up an Englishman just about two weeks ago that I ran into in a nearby restaraunt. He started in on the "dumb American" crap. I overheard this and pulled up a chair next to him and his friend. He then thought he would freak me out with a reference to the Crimean War. That was a big joke. He didn't even know what a Crimean Tatar was and had never heard of Sevastapol much less be able to identify it on a map. Things only got worse for him from there until he realized he'd bit off more than he could chew. Carpathian mountains? He didn't know where those were either. Then I had a good time making fun of how the sophisticated English snatch those stupid tabloid newspapers up like a fat lady in the candy aisle. After I helped him get over himself and his arrogance we actually ended up having a good time.
Last week I had to help a guy from Pakistan find Tasmania on a map because he couldn't locate it and was preparing for a test. It helps when you start looking in the correct ocean. I had a real interesting conversation with a Scotsman in L.A. after the Oklahoma City bombings. He was a self proclaimed expert on the subject yet he didn't have a clue where Oklahoma City was. Then he said he was going to Detroit and that, since Chicago was only a few miles away, he was going to rent a car and drive there for a weekend. When I told hime Chicago was over 300 miles away from Detroit and that he should go check out Canada instead because it was right across the bay he told me I was full of shit.
If you ever get a chance, go visit a site called Mates Up Over. It's a message boards for Australian expats here in the U.S.. These people have mostly lived in America for years yet their information posted on their site and their knowledge of this country is way off the mark.
There are definately some Americans that don't know their geography but I can guarantee you that there are an equal amount of fools elsewhere around the globe. At least, in the case of the guy from India, the person who asked him the dumb question most likely has never been there. Many of the stooges I've encountered have been residing here in America for years and still don't have a clue.
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