When I travel to Europe I just say I’m Canadian. Then I get sympathy for having to live next to the US.
I’m Canadian, and I get super offended when foreigners assume I’m from America.
You forgot to insert the obligatory national sentence ender: “Sorry”.
You’ll have to be sent off for mandatory re-Caneducation training. Please be sure to arrive wearing your standard issue plaid shirt, and toque. Tim Hortons coffee will be served and there is a 3 three drink minimum.
Sorry.
Edit: grammer/clarification.
You forgot to insert the obligatory national sentence ender: “Sorry”.
That’s “Sorry eh”, you imposter.
Use of “eh” became optional in 1982 when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect and limited our obligation to use more than one Canadian stereotype in any given sentence, ya hoser. Sorry.
As a Vermonter, I also get offended when people think I’m from America.
They are correct and I’m not happy about that fact.Yeah, no need to be reminded all the time
But, that’s factual
People born in mexico are also from American(central america).
*North America
Depends on the culture, some consider America as a single entity. North Americans seem to prefer to consider themselves as a whole continent.
“America” as a single entity, devoid of qualifiers, is the entirety of North and South America. A massive and diverse swath of Earth with very little in common. I don’t see how that’s a useful definition, and most English-speakers have agreed so “America” instead is shorthand for the giant country with “America” in its name.
We use descriptors because they help. “The Americas” is the whole thing, “North America” is everything from Panama to Canada plus some distant colony islands because this is politics not tectonics.
That’s the common use in Latin cultures. That’s why I wanted to provide this different point of view.
There is only one country in the Americas that has America in the title. Everyone is aware of the continents, but only pompous douchers bring up the “technically, Canada and Mexico are American too” nonsense.
What if instead of the others being pompous douchers, some people are too self-centred (or nationalists, or imperialists ?) to realize that others may not understand or appreciate how some country-men are monopolizing the demonym of their continent. It seems South Africans are succeeding in not doing that just fine.
Yep
Canada is Diet America. Can you blame us?
Yeah, that’s how we feel, until we actually go to America and interact with Americans. There is a stark difference between the cultures that isn’t actually apparent until it’s met face to face.
Americans are a unique combination of arrogant, loud, and stupid. Not all of them of course, but it’s a large enough amount that you notice a difference when you cross the border.
I’d say that it’s a culture where if you decide to be arrogant, loud and stupid, it’s accepted. It’s one of the archetypes of how to be American that’s generally accepted. It doesn’t mean that every American is like that, or that those kinds of people are loved and celebrated by other Americans. But, if you’re a young loud, arrogant and stupid person, you’ll find a lot of role models. You even get a lot of loud, arrogant smart people who play stupid because people like that more.
I think Canada tends to emphasize humility a lot more than the US. Probably a trait borrowed from the way the upper classes were supposed to behave in the UK. So, you get a lot of skilled people who are humble: Wayne Gretzky, Ryan Reynolds, Keanu Reeves, Steve Nash, Georges St. Pierre, Christine Sinclair, David Suzuki, etc.
Meh, my family’s from upstate NY. Canadians have a rep there for being smug and very rude. Definitely not humble.
I don’t think the difference in culture is all that big but people want to feel unique very badly. I mean NYers also have a rep for being rude. They probably have more in common with Canadians than Texans
I honestly think some Americans aren’t used to passive aggression, indirectness or sarcasm. That’s why some of you don’t get Canadians aren’t particularly ‘nice’.
IME they’re always saying sorry and apologizing, but like the brits they don’t actually mean it most of the time. In fact, sorry can mean fuck you, depending on the context. From what I understand, the whole ‘bless your heart’ thing in the American South is similar. That whole thing is also incredibly condescending and smug.
Curious to hear where you went in the US that gave you that impression.
I have been to Seattle, Montana, Portland, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Las Vegas, New York, Washington, Arizona, I think a few other states or cities that are escaping me right now. I’ve also lived in tourist towns (I end up working in them when I have to work away, I work construction) and have met many Americans in those places too. Every time I’ve gone to the states I’ve had at least one super negative incident with an American or a group of Americans that’s left a bad taste in my mouth.
If you get the chance check out Minnesota or Wisconsin, the people there are pretty similar to the Canadians I know. Super nice people.
Yes because that’s where all the French people ended up
As an American, you should. We’re willfully toxic garbage all the way down.
Ah, the Lisa Simpson stratergy
I tell them I’m an American when asked.
People are fundamentally the same regardless of where they live, and anyone that judges anyone else based on their nationality is being an ignorant jackass. I handle it as such with the appropriate tact for the situation – most people are cool.
The ones that aren’t are morons and not worth wasting time on.
Swede here, I worked at an American/Global company’s internal IT helpdesk for 4,5 years, and I can’t say that I have ever met an american I have actually disliked, at worst I felt ambivalent, but for the most part I just felt generally positive towards them.
Worst users I have worked with based on nationallity tend to be people from UK, it was not unusual for them to act slightly superior to us lowly IT servants, don’t get me wrong, most Brits I have met are great guys, but when working with some of them, they seem to be stuck in a strict classist society and be very much aware of that we were below them, which does not work in Sweden.
Very similar experience with Americans. I’ve spent about 6 months in the country over my life so far. Lovely folks generally. We get loads of American tourists here and they’re all lovely.
Obviously there’s the occasional cunt but sure everywhere has those.
Americans think everyone else hates them when in fact it’s usually just all the countries they’ve lost wars to.
Europeans literally couldn’t care less what the Americans think of them because our day to day lives are so much better in almost every sense, and all they could come up with is “Europoors” 😂
Europeans literally couldn’t care less what the Americans think of them
Ah that’s a bit harsh. I like Americans. Americans like the Irish. I like that we like each other. Makes the world a nicer place to have other nations friendly to you.
That’s what I mean. Everyone likes the Americans. Unfortunately it seems the Americans sit and think about what others think about them, but what’s the point in that?!? Life’s too short
No no, I think everyone else is lurking in the dark and wringing their gloved hands as they salivate and plot to take my precious freedoms.
Not my freedumbs!
Not even sure about that first part. Vietnam is quickly becoming a US ally against China.
That has been my (limited) experience as well. For me as an extremely introverted European, visiting US was quite a culture shock.
All the American people I’ve met have been very kind, easy to approach and hold a conversation with, and ready to help out a stranger in need. Honestly the last part was what stick out with me the most. Here in my country, I have no doubt that if I collapsed on the street, there would be 10 people stepping over my body before someone decided to check if I needed help.
America has horrible social services, but the reality is that everyone needs help now and then. Since we can’t count on government to help out, we minds have to fill the gap with private non-profits and personal giving.
In a way it’s great so see people willing to help others, but the problem is that we can’t help but discriminate in how we help each other.
And we’re shockingly conflict-averse on the individual level. We value being friendly and non-confrontational over pretty much anything else. And that brings a host of problems.
One of the big ones is our desire to stay civil creates a false echo chamber for many people. They think that everyone agrees with them because nobody openly disagrees. And that can get dangerous.
When someone tells a racist joke, you nervously smile and nod to avoid staring a fight over an “impolite” topic, and you’ve accidentally encouraged bad behavior. That behavior is repeated until it becomes normalized, and then it escalates.
We’ve somehow managed to be so friendly and kind we’re sliding backwards on civil rights. We’re weird.
I’m going to Spain again next year, and mostly what I’ve read is that the Brits are the least liked tourists there, and I’m so thrilled. I mean, I’ve never had issues anywhere because I know how to behave myself and don’t really travel with the intent to party, but it’ll be nice not to to be starting from so far behind this time.
Spain is one of the cheaper holiday destinations for brits. A lot of our worst holidaymakers are making their holidays in Spain.
We truly are cunts as a group when given a warm evening and decently priced alcohol.
I have had similar experiences on a personal basis, but my American colleagues have such an unhealthy attitude about work that working alongside them becomes very trying. No hate to them - they’re trapped in an awful employment system that leaves them little choice.
The protestant work ethic is one hell of a drug. It was eye opening to learn just how much more vacation and time off European coworkers had. It would make me jealous when I needed a response from them on something but they were on holiday yet again. The joke at the office was that nothing could get done in the summer because all the Europeans were on vacation.
Personally, I would much prefer the European system, and it seems that’s something young Americans generally agree on. If people prefer to make more money/pay less in taxes but have less time off , then let them. Just give us a choice.
That’s why it’s gotta be all or nothing with these corpos though. If they gave you a choice, it would be just like “unlimited vacation” now.
“Oh yeah sure you can go on holiday, you’ll just be passive-aggressively punished and passed over and looked down on for it.”
If it’s forced on the company where simps and tryhards can’t refuse vacation in order to suck up to their boss, then refusing vacation won’t just become the new norm.
Hmmm. That’s a good point.
Hmm I’ve worked several customer service jobs (I am american) and always felt like the non-americans were nicer to me.
Aww. All the Swedes I have met have been somewhat preternaturally nice people with somehow a better grasp of English than me.
This made me remember a call I had with a American VIP at the company I worked at, he had put me on speaker as I helped him with his laptop while he was working at home, and his wife broke in at the end of the call complementing my English.
They were both surprised to learn that I was Swedish since I have managed to train myself to loose much of the classic Swedish accent when speaking English.
German here.
I dislike the US government and their imperialist politics. The focus on being a “superpower” just makes you look like super-assholes.
I like the people from the US. They are generally honest and friendly, albeit a bit loud. Your concept of private space and mine differ greatly.
I would have agreed with you 20 years ago but seeing the current alternative to the US being team America, superpower of assholes. I kind of want to go back in time.
Americans being loud and shouting private stuff in the cafeteria for everyone to hear is a thing, but what would life be without these comedic moments?
So, you’re essentially saying that Europeans have the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy?
Fantasy?
It’s based on the daily life of Florida Man. Just like Far Cry 5 used real life footage from Montana.
If I don’t get to use a baby alligator as a weapon I’ll be deeply disappointed with rockstar, I want to relive my favourite Florida man story.
This the wendys story?
Yeah if that’s the drive-thru one.
This exchange made me realize the Florida Man is an American mythos older than the Karen. The Internet is writing its own mythology lmao
Florida man and Florida woman are my 2 favourite superheros. There’s nothing they can’t do.
I want to make pancakes in the middle of a busy intersection.
Honestly, it almost feels like the main characters are more normal than the common Floridian.
That’s the thing I hate about the trailer. It feels more like saints row, but one actually based on reality.
What made GTA great was it’s parody of Hollywood tropes of the eighties/nineties. A parody that was a hyper statement of normality.
This GTA is taking actual Florida men/women notheonion stories and aggrandizing them in fiction.
Saints row used to be the over the top ‘Murica Fuck yeah’, trashy culture glorifying spin off.
I hate how the parody is slipping and saints row and real life are more and more indistinguishable. That’s not fun to me, it’s deeply disconcerting and I will not partake.
Sometimes when you stare at a mirror, the mirror stares back at you…
I hate how the parody is slipping and saints row and real life are more and more indistinguishable.
I think that’s the fault of real life, more than the game.
I’m not assigning guilt here. I am personally more apt to indulge in a lovely corney 80’s storyline with moustaches and such, rather than reality.
But yeah i think parody ihas disappeared, reality is weirder.
because it’s hilarious, letting go of social rules for once in your life in a space where you can hurt no one but some bits in your RAM. haha handheld minigun go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Just saying there are places you can pay to fire a mini gun.
Not at cops, but it’s pretty fun.
Yes… in the US.
That’s kind-of the point. Europeans get to play at being a slightly-exaggerated version of an American, living out their fantasies about letting go of all their inhibitions. But, they wouldn’t want to actually live in a place like that. Americans can put down the game, but then have to live in a place where an average Joe can go pay to fire a mini gun, then go to Wal*Mart and buy an AR-15 just for funsies.
How is this a political meme?
Everything is politics. Everything.
I vote for this guy
How is it not?
It doesn’t appear to contain political content (at least to me, how is this political to you though?)
I am not the arbiter of what is political or not though, I’m just also curious as to why this isn’t in c/memes, but it deserves the upvotes imo
Nations and states are inherently political bodies.
Ahh you’re going based on what seems to be a textbook definition rather than the vibe definition.
Typically there’s a certain vibe to political cartoons, and I think the original commenter and I are just used to that vibe to tell whether a cartoon is “actually” political. This cartoon is missing that vibe by a lot. It seems to be a gta meme more than a political meme, vibes wise.
That said, you’re not wrong by your own definition, and that makes enough sense for me! Thanks for the clarification, much appreciated!
I understand the vibes feel, and think you’re right. I just tire of incisive, antagonistic political memes. GTA is relevant and I thought it was fun. I get it though.
I get that, nothing wrong with that!
Tbh I was wondering if that may have been the case and it was seeming to get pretty fight-y in tone, so I figured I’d get my own clarification in case other users want to also understand without getting into a fight
Sometimes it’s nice to have a break from all the hardcore political stuff, and the upvote rate on this post pretty much proves that point lol as far as the user base cares, you did good!
Reading the comments on this meme reminds me why I love Lemmy so much. People from all over the world having an interesting and reasonable discussion about cultural misconceptions.
Thanks for making this a great place to visit.
As someone who lives in Europe, this is accurate.
We smugly lambast Americans for having lower standards; but it’s because they’re not Florida Man and we Europeans yearn to be Florida Man.
We’re all Florida men
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj-th81xdZwitfvsxpNIB_AZ9UF6eAMPt&si=mhmOdqpdtJQFC18H
Basically this but in video game format.
The majority of us eat hamburgers, watch NFL, fly to NY and know the American pop culture better than the history of our own countries.
Is this majority in the room with us right now?
Are we really back to this, essentially, video games cause violence.
The joke is that they embrace the behaviour they otherwise look down upon when they play the game. Nothing to do with games causing people to become violent.
Side note: Johnny?
When you boil down “video games cause violence” it’s purporting that people embrace that behaviour.
There are worlds of difference between “immersed in a game where you play as a violent character” and “video games cause violence.”
It suggests that Europeans embrace the behaviour when they play the game. The people who purport that extreme behaviours in media (games, TV, movies, books) translate into real life behaviour are making a false equivocation that such behaviour will carry over into reality, which has been shown to be false.
Look, I am not arguing with you that video games do not cause people to behave poorly in real life. But I will push back on the idea that that is what the meme is suggesting. It only suggests they embrace it when they play the game for the first time, nothing more. We shouldn’t extrapolate further meaning beyond that from a silly joke.
Johnny?
Edit: fixed wording
That’s why I said “essentially”. It’s a silly conflation of video games and real life.
Oh hey man! Here, try some of this.
You could argue it’s the opposite – video games provide a healthy outlet for aggression. When I’m angry at the state of the world I’ll go shoot space rhinos and space bugs and hivemind robots. I’ll roleplay a feel good setting where I’m the indisputable good guy with all the power to kill the indisputable bad guy.
And sometimes I just want to see shit blow up and break
Untrue
