Please tell me that this is just the thinking of one English citizen?

Question

Okay, so my daddy's bosses were England on business. They were in a bar--and lets face it, you can see an American from a mile away--and some guy came up to them--not intoxicated at all--and asked them how many people he kille.d that day.

I've gotten the impression that Americans are not welcome anywhere and that countries, as a whole, tend to base their opinion of the average American on our terrible president (seriously, his approval ratings on everything are below 20%).

So what I want to hear is that you really aren't like that. I've always dreamed of going to London, possibly living there for a summer, but I am discouraged of that if that is how I am going to be treated. I want to think that we are friends but it is the things like that that make me think otherwise.

--An American

I am not raising any anti British questions. (Cae)

I just know that many counties don't like the U.S. and just wanted to be sure that not everybody does

Answer 1

I want to say my daughter went to Oxford and Cambridge to study for a few months. She hated every bit of it. The people were very rude to them just because they are Americans.

Answer 2

You’re right to a point; Americans are not very popular at present. The British in general feel that our involvement in Iraq went against the will of the people, because our Prime Minister at the time was trying to be a 'big shot' with your President.
Political feelings run very high when news of yet more deaths of our soldiers are reported, the US Army regardless killing of Iraqi citizens, and the farming out of former Iraqi state companies to US businesses for US profit - it just does not go down well on this side of the Atlantic. The British also remember that the US Government did not stop Sinn Finn from fundraising in America for the IRA during its terrorist campaign until 9/12 happen. So when someone shoots his mouth off, that the reason why, but on the whole the British are too polite to be openly rude to anyone, and see the difference between individual Americans and American foreign policy.
However, when I was in US I really got sick of being called a ‘Limey’ (which British people find very offensive) and told how the US had ‘saved’ our butts in World War II – which we always find odd, because if the Japanese had not bombed Pear Harbour, the US Government would have remained on friendly terms with the Nazi German Government, ignored the Holocaust, and allowed a democracy to be defeated.
What I’m saying is, that no matter what country you go to as a foreigner, you are always going to run into someone who has something rude to say of you or your country; at least you’re not thinking of going to France, they would eat you alive.
London is a great city to live and work in; it had its good and bad points, but it’s still a wonderful city to visit, so if you go, enjoy it – the people are friendly, lots to see and there is history steeping out of ever stone.

Answer 3

It's ignorance, plain and simple.

I was in London on vacation when Israel started bombing Lebanon in July 2006.
Let's just say the general opinion of Americans dropped to a new low, more so because The US refused to condemn Israel for their actions. And not just among Brits, but also among other Europeans that I met while sightseeing.

It never came down to comments like your father received, but the animosity was there.

I got a unique perspective on the situation, because I wasn't "spotted a mile away" as an American.... people asked if I was Swiss, Polish, Danish, Nordic, Australian, or from New Zealand.

After hearing their views on the matter, I told them where I was from.
Quite a few were in utter disbelief when I told them I was an American.

I took the opportunity to tell them then, quite scoldingly, that very few Americans supported Bush or his policies, nor were we a nation of narrow minded, unintelligent, gun toting, war-mongering oafs. And never to presume that the leader of a country is an accurate representation of it's people, or their mentality.

Answer 4

Maybe the British have an inferiority complex. They were a superpower for centuries over and dominated the seas. This is why so many countries have English as their official language. Today Britain is going down the tubes, and cannot seem to control it's immigration and social issues. And in the interests of political correctness and appeasement of certain groups is watching it's very fabric of British culture disintegrate.

Yes America has it's problems too, and many Americans also believe that America is just too damn aggressive and is always looking for a reason to go to war.

Yes, some British folks look down on Americans for talking funny, just as the French look down on French Canadians (Quebecois) for sounding different, but is today's British accent really all that much nicer or more proper than an American's, Canadian's or Australian's.

Answer 5

He was a tosser, every country has them. I've met up with lots of American friends in London and Wales (where I live) and they've never had any problems.

Then again, judging by some of the dickheaded anti-British comments this question has raised, it's easy to judge a country you know nothing about.

Answer 6

Just the thinking of one person.

I might add that during a chat with a bunch of Americans, they said, in a very hostile manner, that any Brit shouldn't be allowed in the USA without very stringent security checks because one or more of the 9/11 bombers was British. It was a social situation, so I managed to bite back my retort about American funding of the IRA, but it just goes to show it's a two way process.

NO I don't have any plans to visit the USA any time soon. lol

Answer 7

I'm sure that they were probably only joking, we do tend to have a very sarcastic sense of humour in England. I'm sure like me, most English people think the majority of Americans are pretty normal.

Answer 8

Im from the north of England, and ive got absolutely nothing against Americans. I think your president is a total @sshole but so is our Prime Minister so we have no cheek!

Answer 9

Being a London girl myself i can honestly say that we do not all think like that!!!

Jeesssuuuusss.... That is like me asking you if all Americans take the pis* out of English accents!!!

It just depends on the person hunny!

Come on over so we can all prove it!!

x

Answer 10

No London and Londoners are like that so come and enjoy your holiday. Bush is making the USA very unpopular with a lot of the world but he isn't the only politic an to do that.