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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Ruining American's Reputations' One European Country At A Time

As a general rule, I don't normally eavesdrop onto other peoples conversations. That being said, I was waiting for a class to begin when a really LOUD conversation between a guy and a gal was taking place. I was trying REALLY hard not to listen to them, honestly, if I could have removed my ears to avoid it, believe me, I would have. However, the guy had this loud booming voice that really carried across the room in a, “Hey-just -so-you-know-I-am-really-important-and-the-rest-of-you-poor-losers-really-need- to-hear-what-I-am-saying-kinda-way.” They were discussing study abroad in Europe the girl was sharing her experiences of being exposed to amazing people and their individual cultures. You could tell that it had made a huge impression on her and that she was trying to share with him what she had learned. Sadly he interrupted her and said,
“Well I went to London and I thought it was a complete waste of time, there was nothing of value there. I would recommend that you go to Germany. There the people are cool they look up to Americas and treated me like I was a God, I had a girlfriend in like only two days.”
I had not realized that you could dismiss an entire country like England because they don't know that the world revolves around us American's, I did not know this, did you? WOW! But thankfully Germany apparently got the memo that we are pretty important because after all we are Americans.
I am at this moment cringing to myself thinking, “Oh so your the idiot that ruins it for Americans like me, gee I should send you a thank you card or something!” Most Europeans find Americans to be self-centered and conceited thanks to jerks like this guy. My eyes are darting from side to side trying to discern if anyone else is overhearing this conversation and is feeling outraged. I am imagining that some Europeans looking at each other saying, “See they are all Jerks.”
Despite my complete horror and consternation, I can't help but feel a small amount of pity as I am thinking to myself, “WOW if this is your pick up line you really need some help buddy.”
I was completely sickened by the guy since he was a cocky jerk but the girls reaction made me completely ashamed and embarrassed to be a woman. Despite all of the ridiculousness coming out of the guys mouth she was totally eating what he was dishing out. I had to stop myself from gagging in my mouth! She had this reverence for him and all he was saying as if to imply, “Yeah you are totally awesome, WOW a girlfriend in two days, wish I was your girlfriend.” At that moment I wished for the power to freeze the room X-Men like and whisper to her, “He's a jerk, move on sister. You could do way better then this cheese ball.”
I have a theory; the bigger the jerk a guy is the bigger his following is. Why is this? Why do some of us value self-centered “ME monsters”?? You know the type, the world and everyone in it revolves around them! What is it about being treated like junk by a conceited guy that attracts some women? How is a man that thinks he is a equivalent to a God that had a women in two days as being someone worth admiration, sorry but I simply don't get it. When it comes to looking for a desirable match I thought the idea was to look for a man that would love you, treasure, value you and would listen to you as you express your thoughts and feelings. Besides I thought Study Abroad was so that you could expose yourself to OTHER peoples cultures and to cultivate a better understand of the human race as a whole. You know friendship and acceptance?? Hmm..apparently not for this dude. Makes me wish people like this would carry around a red flag so that the rest of us could avoid them!

8 comments:

Alexa said...

When we moved to the States from Canada, we had some interesting experiences. We were immediately put into remedial math and reading, because as you know, you only get a good education in America (oh, if they only knew). After a few weeks they finally bumped us up to the higher classes. My brother wasn't allowed to transfer any of his scouting badges, because they weren't done here, where they would have been done better. He was so frustrated by the attitude, that he never went back into scouts again. We moved from a country that accepted different cultures, and those cultures kept their unique identities. In the US the cultures just kind of melt together. It was really discouraging to get used to the attitude here. (It was a really good move for me personally though... and the attitude wasn't from every single person, but that was the general feeling we got when we moved here.) I can't stand the ME people of the world, but see a lot in the current generation that has developed a sense of entitlement. My mom and I talk a lot about where that comes from. It's some thing that I try to keep in mind while I'm raising my kids (along with the other millions of things that I try to teach....) Loved your thoughts.

MOANA said...

So glad I am not alone in my thinking, thanks Lex!

The Kooky Queen--Rachel said...

GREAT post Moana!! Having lived in other countries and drowning myself in their culture, really opened my eyes. I realized #1, I'm grateful for my country and my blessings. #2, most Americans are totally ignorantly oblivious to the world outside their own nation. And #3, even the poorest of us has been coddled with a silver spoon compared to the average person outside America. You're totally right, it's no wonder nations hate us. We have a lot of pride here and NOT the good kind!

The Fullmers Four said...

I think these are the kind of guys that make the rest of the world not like Americans, and leads the to believe that Americans are loud obnoxious self centered pricks (pardon my French). The only reason he could get a girl friend so quickly (if he was telling the truth) is because she could not understand him.

debzfinn said...

Great post sis...really loving your camera..miss you guys tons...excited to get home soon..

Michelle said...

I wish their were a few kinds of people that had to carry around red flags so that I could avoid them :)

C.J. said...

Moana, I love your blog. It's absolutely beautiful. And I'm equally disgusted with this guy. Is it a survival of the fittest kind of thing, that these kind of idiots love to breed little idiots. Thank heavens for men like we have, huh?

The Taylor Family said...

Amen to EVERYTHING! I have only been to a foreign country once for 5 days, but I get it. I completely agree with everything you said. However I may not have been able to state it so eloquently as you. :)