"Speak Softly, Don't Argue and Slow Down"
 

Apparently concerned with the image of U.S. citizens abroad, the State Department and a group of U.S. corporations have joined to publish a guide on how to behave abroad.

http://tinyurl.com/zwvml

Have they been following the discussions here on Fodor's?

"However, a spokesman for the National Tourism Agency for Britain said last night: "Americans have a certain reputation which, for the majority, is undeserved. These guidelines sound like good common sense but they're not something the majority of our American visitors need"

That sums it up pretty darn well.

Degas. A spokesman for a tourist board is hardly going to say "Well, in general, they are a bunch of Ignorant, overbearing oafs" are they!

and before I get accused of being Anti American, I would say that the vast majority of Americans I meet as Tourists to the UK, or as fellow tourists in Italy are interested, polite, knowledgable people. And those Americans who are loud , ignorant or rude are no more representative of their country than the loud, ignorant and rude of any other nation.

Here is a link to the World Citizens Guide: http://www.worldcitizenguide.com/index2.html

I have noticed loud american in europe, and the behavior of american child is so out of control that it is pitiful.

I was commenting on the sentiment, not the source. All nations have rude, loud and spoiled people.

Bad behavior is not a problem of any one country. All have their share. In the Picasso Museum, there were two French speaking families with the wildest, noisiest children I have seen in such a place, chasing eachother, bumping into someone who's trying to enjoy a painting and one child lying on the floor blocking our way into the next room and the parents saying nothing.

Slow down :) The only time I received 'looks' in Paris was when I was strolling busy streets and got in the way of speeding French men and women. I learned to 'keep up with traffic' or get out of the way!

Here is my favorite missive from this document.

"Save the lectures for your kids. (Whatever your subject of discussion, let it be a discussion not a lecture. Justified or not, the US is seen as imposing its will on the world.)"

Gee do ya think so.

Well - I'm not surprised. There are a lot of American who behave this way. Also a lot of folks from other countries.

Unfortunately the ones that behave the worst are the least likely to read any of this - or anything else - or be aware that there bahvior is rude at home as well as abroad.

(What ever happened to the rule that it's rude to discuss religion or politics in social situations? That's what literature, theater, sports, science, general news topics are for.)

I'd darn sure rather have the US impose its will rather than Iran or Syria.

I have to say that in my travels, the loudest tourists were not Americans, they were of the Eastern European countries. VERY loud and no concept of waiting in line or awareness of others....having said that, I'm not saying that everyone from the Eastern European countries are like that...also, it's probably more politically correct to pick on Americans than any other country. :)

lyb, you are so right. Those Bulgarian old ladies will knock you down in a flash when boarding a bus.

Degas, when you've actually sent one of your own kids to Iran or Iraq then perhaps we'll be more inclined to listen to your breast-beating sentiments.

The people who should be reading the State Department "recommendations" are some of the people who WORK for the State Department IMO.

Intrepid, that was a very cheap shot and if you knew anything at all about my family situation you would not have taken it. That is all I'm going to say on the matter.

I hope our tax money was not used to publish this silly publication.

I have come across a few noisy know it all visitors and they stand out because of the way they behave. The normal ones don't stand out simply cos they blend it well! I met one man from the US last summer trying to reorganise a long bus queue simply because he thought it was forming the wrong direction. Why he thought he knew better than 30 other people I just don't know but everyone in that queue including many different nationalties were all muttering "stupid American"! Pity because its not represetative and only the loud in your face types draw attention to themselves publicly.

I think that loud and/or obnoxious people are just more memorable to one when they are from a foreign country or a different region of our country. We're more used to our own region's brand of obnoxious behavior.

Last year when we were at Disneyworld it was some kind of British school break, so there were lots of British families with their kids. It seemed like the most obnoxious kids were the British ones (the kind that not only step on your toes, but then kept standing on your toes intead of moving). With the hoards of American kids at WDW, the British kids were probably not ACTUALLY the most obnoxious ones...they probably just stood out to me more because they were foreign. (Plus, a British kid demanding something sounds like Varuca Salt to the American ear.)

lyb - I find that nouveau-riche tourists from Eastern Europe are the most arrogant and obnoxious of them all.

Americans are a mixed bag. The young ones are usually "tolerable" - they act like young people anywhere. I don't care for the older, especially retired ones who think they're so special just because they're able to travel to Europe...

The worst Americans don't beat the worst Brits either...

Yes, the idea that American kids are the worst behaved is ludicrous.
Last year, my mother and I had to leave an Orlando restaurant because the British kids there were acting so horrendously--shouting, throwing things at each other, running up and down the aisles--while good ole Mum and Dad obliviously slurped down cocktails. Their table area had been turned into a pigpen. The server was distraught and as we were leaving, the manager apologized profusely (she had been away on break for most of the time we were there) and offered us free appetizers if we would make a return visit.