Why can't Americans say "Good morning"
 

A simple thing that really got me mad when staying in motels in the US.

Americans will not answer the "Good morning" when addressed at breakfast.
That's quite rude!

Mr Sarkozy is totally right about this.
I wonder why this is? Nowhere else I've found people to behave that strange.

Didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strangers?

I say it (in whatever language happens to be the main tongue of the country I'm in)... maybe you're just meeting the wrong Americans? There are a lot of us, and as evidenced by our last couple of presidential elections, we're pretty diverse.

Huh? And I always thought one said "Good Morning" at lunch!

So, may be Nicolas is on the left on this one?

;)

There is a TV show called Good Morning America, that does it for everybody.

maybe (just maybe) it was because you were the same friendly/cheery self you are when posting here. Just a guess ;)

LOL, janis:)

Nonsense !
I find American friendlier and open to contact with total strangers ( o.k. , except for a few New Yorkers) than almost any other nationality.

janisj, that can't be, I'm the most gentile and friendly person IRL :D.

I agree that alot of Americans can come off as rude sometimes. But that's mostly in the big cities like Los Angeles/New York. I live in L.A where it seems like everyone is suspicious of everyone. But people in the mid-west (I lived in rural MN for sometime)or from smaller towns are completely different. They are just as nice as can be.

It's simply because you continue to refuse to dress so you properly "fit in!"

Actually, when entering the US (NY) from Canada I wa asked about the arab visas in my passport.
"Which countries and why did you go there?"....
Where do they find those immigration guys. :D

I was dressed all and 100% genuine Walmart.
That can't be it!

I am always taken aback when I go to Germany and everybody always says good morning to everybody in the room when they come into the breakfast room and then they say goodbye to everybody when they leave.

While I think that Americans are mostly friendly, I don't ever recall walking into a breakfast room at a hotel and having everybody say good morning to me. I think people will say good morning if you approach them or have eye contact, but not just a broad "good morning".

I don't remember ever not returning a greeting in the US or any other country. Course, down here in Texas you might just hear "mornin". We tend to shorten some words.

janisj, we should have drink sometime......

One of the 1st things that I had to learn in Germany was to say "Mahlzeit" when entering a restaurant. It is not the custom of any place that I have lived in America. Likewise, I had to learn to say Auf Widersehen to everyone on departure.

Our daughter was born in Germany and as a baby learned those customs first. We were visiting Regensburg and went for lunch at the Ratskellar. Part of the way through our meal, an elderly couple started to leave without the usual "Auf Widersehen". Our two year old called "Bye Bye" to them as they reached the door. The elderly man turned and crossed the room. He took off his hat and bowed to our daughter and said "Bye Bye". He did it with quiet dignity. Our daughter nodded her head and said bye again. Unfortunately she quickly forgot this pleasant custom once she returned to the states.

Regards, Gary

Logos - GOOD MORNING!!! Could be a number of things going on here:

I wore my brand new Walmart outfit today and no one said "good morning" to me either. Guess there's a clue here! Although one person commented on my earings but they were not from Walmart.

One must respect the customs of the country. Saying good morning is a regional thing in the US. I notice when I walk in the mornings that most people I pass do not say good morning. There's not many people walking so I can't attribute this to folks becoming exhausted with too many good morning greetings. I usually say it first and many people looked surprised. I was brought up never to speak to strangers and had to unlearn that behavior.

You probably shocked people by saying good morning in an area where it's not normally said. Did you check to see if they were on their second cup of coffee? :)

One more thing - why do you care so much about saying good morning to people you'll never see again. Why does this anger you? Does it really matter?

And what does IRL mean?

When using a breakfast room at a US motel, like a Holiday Inn, it's been my experience that you're right, people don't offer a "Good morning." They get their food (if I must call it that) and take it to their own tables.

But when staying in US B&B's, where we are all seated at a communal breakfast table, we DO strike up conversations.

I don't recall this being any different during travels to UK and European countries, however. So I don't think it's an "American" thing, I think it's situational.

>saying good morning to people you'll never see again
It's civilized...(as Nicolas pointed out today). Why shouldn't they have a good morning.
IRL = In real life