Mar 12thWhy Are Americans Rude to Others

First let me say that I am an American and very proud to be from America, as I believe it is the land of the free and it’s the one country you can accomplish anything if you want to. If you are not successful in life in the USA then you didn’t try hard enough. I came from a small logging town of 1200 people and have been very successful in life and retired at a very young  age with no help from anyone but my own determination.

However, since I have spent so much time over the past two years traveling both in the United States and abroad. I have to say of all the people I meet and see, Americans seem to be the rudest people I have ever met.

I realize that this is stereotyping American’s and I don’t mean to do that, as there are some great people in America and some will go way out of their way to help you if you are in need. However, as a whole, they appear to be higher number of rude people per capita than anywhere else I have been.  Below, I want to point out some things that help me come to this conclusion. Hopefully pointing some of these things out will have you thinking about how you do things during the day and possibly change some people’s attitude towards others.

Jobs:

There are many ways when it comes to jobs that I can point out that show my point. However there are 2 in particular that I want to bring up.

1)      Customer service jobs.  These people must have the toughest job in the world. I wonder sometimes if they ever get a call during a day that they are not yelled at or called names because of something that there company is doing. Customer service jobs can be some of the lowest level jobs in a company and most likely they have very little decision making in the direction a company takes. So why yell at them, as they have no control over how things are done in the company. They get blamed when people call them like it’s there faults something doesn’t work or you got over billed. I find talking nicely with this group of people gets you a lot further with your issue than yelling.

2)      Hotel workers. I have met many American’s that when I point out there are cleaning jobs at a local hotel, there first comment is “ I am not cleaning someone else’s toilets”  The funny part of all this is this most of the time is coming from someone that doesn’t have a job and is complaining that there are no jobs out there for people. I always believed you do whatever it takes to survive but American’s think it’s just easier to stay on unemployment because it pays better. I sure am glad of immigrants, as they seem to be the only ones willing to do the jobs many Americans feel are below them.

Aruba:

Now let’s take the country of Aruba. One of the major industries on this small Caribbean island is tourism.  Of all the tourist visiting this county, about 75% of them are American’s. When the American’s are there they just seem to think it’s the United States and complain when they are not treated as kings. When they have to pay for drink refills or the drivers on the street don’t drive like in the United States , it’s the fault of Aruba. Americans have to realize that every country does things different and nothing says that the United States way is the only way things should be done.

Let’s also talk about Aruba and the two missing  girls. There you have a 19 mile country that has had two deaths in a 5 year period. I wonder if there is anywhere in the United States that has a 19 mile area with only 2 deaths in 5 years. I am sure there is but not many. They also are probably small communities and not the 100,000 that Aruba has before any tourist show up. You may not like how the police acted but it’s how they do things in Aruba and that doesn’t mean it was the wrong way. You expected them to act as if they have all the same tools they do in the United States, but they don’t, and they also are not a country that owes money to China and then complain that China is taking over. With the latest missing lady, I don’t see a lot of Aruban’s killing other Aruban’s but there sure is a lot of American on American murders. Only in America can you be shot on the Highway because you cut someone off and they didn’t like it.

Road Rage

Road rage is almost a separate topic on itself. However, in all the countries I have driven in, America seems to be the only one that you can drive down the road and get the finger from someone. Either you are driving too slow in the fast lane , even if you are driving at the speed limit and not speeding or breaking the law. It’s also one of the few places I have driven that most people don’t have the habit of letting others into traffic because it might slow them down 5 seconds from getting to where there going. A lot of this is because Americans are always in a hurry to get somewhere due to their fast paste life. However, if there are so many American’s unemployed in the United States I am not sure what there is such a hurry to get to because it’s obviously not to a job.

Shopping Stores

This issue exists in almost every store on every corner.  I want to talk about the rude people in stores. It seems the person in front of you is never getting through the line fast enough for the person behind them. If someone uses coupons or writes a check, all of a sudden it’s the end of the world. You may just have spent two hours in the store shopping but as soon as you get up to the line to check out you are in a hurry. If you want stores to open up more lines for people, then you should just tell the manager you’re willing to pay more for the products you are buying so that you can pay for more employees to have on the line. You see this more at the discount stores because they do make less profit and have less employees.

Those of you that say companies make enough profit and it’s not fair. Well then just tell your realtor you’re willing to sell your house for less, because making a profit on your investment is not important to you and you want to make sure the next person buying your house gets a good deal. As a previous owner of a couple companies, I am here to tell you if you want to make the money then take the investment to start the company. Work 7 days a week, 15 to 16 hours a day and on vacations still have a cell phone tied to your hip. If you’re not willing to do this, then don’t expect the profits that come to those that make this sacrifice.

In closing: I think the main reason Americans are inconsiderate of others, is that most of them are in such a hurry in everything they do. We need to learn to slow down and enjoy life and enjoy the things around you. One thing to always think is “Treat Others Like You Want to Be Treated”. I will admit that I use to be one of these rude people, but over the last couple years I have realized how I was treating people and the effects it has on them. I may at times still get out of line but I am at least thinking about it and trying to be more considerate. Americans are not going to change overnight but if we each try and change it could be a better place.

Related articles

• Why do the crazy, rude people win? (notperfectme.com)
• Lawyer challenges Aruba officials in tourist case (cbsnews.com)