I am a Canadian who loves Americans but sometimes...

[Locut0s]

I can't stand them. Let me clarify I love the open, friendly democratic ones, not the others. I am an assistant manager of a busy 7-11 here in Vancouver Canada and see a lot of American tourists. By and large most of you guys are a joy to meet but every couple of days I get an ass hole or two. And I don't mean an ass hole in general, I get hundreds of Canadian ass holes an hour here, but something something specifically American. 99 times out of a 100 I take it in my stride but occasionally I meet a guy who drives me up the wall. Today I got a guy who didn't have enough Canadian money to pay for a purchase. Fine enough we except American money all the time. He gives me a 100 dollar American bill for a $17 purchase, OK I look at it carefully to make sure it's real and accept it, MANY places here don't even accept American money let alone a 100 dollar US bill. Then he says when I give him, the change, are you accepting that at PAR. Yes I say "sorry but most stores here accept American bills at PAR right now, banks will give you 3-5% or so but that's it". "So basically you're ripping me off". I don't know what to say to that. "Now you know why Americans don't treat you nicely" or something very close to that affect. I didn't say anything rude, just thanked them for their purchase and let them leave. But man was I pissed.

[screembloodymurder]

1. Assholes, we all have em, eh?

I love Canada and Canadians.

P.S. - send help!

[liberaldemocrat7]

11. I like Canada so much that I have a Canadian girlfriend.

So, thank you to Canada.


I cannot comment on the exact money exchange that this man wanted and whether he lost money or not but to offer a $100 bill in Canada with exchange rates someone will lose a little on the exchange. He could have gone to a bank and got enough Canadian money for his trip.

[Vinca]

2. How many Bush stickers did he have on his car?

Cheer up, you get 1 every so often, we've got them all over the place.
:rofl:

[Donnachaidh]

3. just think how many of those assholes we have to deal with daily

Our streets are running with those types. I know it sounds lame, but be thankful you don't deal with that sort of nastiness on a daily basis.

If it were me, I'd have probably asked him if he were in Canada legally. And then I'd ask for his passport. :evilgrin:

[sakabatou]

4. Who the hell keeps a $100?

Why not five $20? :eyes:

[tigereye]

43. a lot of travelers carry hundreds, don't they?

it all balances out in the long run, I can remember when the exchange rate was much in US favor...

[monmouth]

5. Undoubtedly a Repuke. Money and God (in that order I think) are the priorities...

[mwb970]

10. The Republican Priorities List:

1. Me
2. Money for me
3. Power for me
4. Me again

Everything else is too low-priority to register.

[baldguy]

6. If he doesn't like the service offered, he can go somewhere else.

Many places in America won't accept anything larger than a $20. Many places accepting Canadian money will charge a premium to do so - $0.75-0.80 on the dollar, then they go to the bank and get $0.97.

You were doing him a FAVOR by accepting at par something that really is worthless as legal tender once he crossed the border.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. I'm an American who loves Canadians

and have never run into one that was not nice. Sorry that person had such boorish behavior. There's plenty of convenience stores here in the US that won't even ACCEPT a $100 bill. Many places won't take anything larger than a $20. If you run into this problem again, keep that in mind.

[DrDan]

8. I love to vacation in Canada - headed to Victoria in November

and while there I enjoy asking how the Canadians feel about Americans . . . asking like the small-hotel owners, or just folks sitting around enjoying a beer. I don't know why you allow us up there, sometimes, with the arrogance the we Americans insist on displaying.

C'mon - we are not all like that jerk you ran into. But, perhaps you could put a curb on the "eh"s and "oot"s while my wife and I visit (kidding, of course).

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. When I lived in Europe and the UK...

(and there is a difference, just ask the British ;-) ), I tried my damnedest to blend in with the locals and not come off like a total asshole. You know, respectful to the locals and their customs, no loud and obnoxious displays, no loud opinionating on the manifold ways in which the US r00lZ0rZ and everybody else dR00lZ0rZ, especially towards closing time in the pub. Not complain loudly about the local viands. That sort of thing.

But for a while, I lived in Kensington, near the embassies and hotels, and the local pub would occasionally get a group of Americans in there. I would be sitting with my mates from The Baden-Powell House, as usual, and I would keep my eye on the Americans. They would come in and start trying to get pitchers of Alabama Slammers or Kamikazes, wanting to do shots, or they would have a couple of pints, start mouthing off and we would look at each other and say those quintessentially British words "Ohhhhh Faaaaaaahhhhhck!". You could see some of the more volatile locals heating up.

Luckily The Guv had seen this material before and would handle things with his usual gruff deftness.

I would mutter something like "fucking assholes", the brits would say "It's always bums with you Americans" and I would say "Sure is. We have so goddamned many of them".

Americans really need to get out more and get housebroken.

[Kolesar]

12. ...r00lZ0rZ and everybody else dR00lZ0rZ...

html coding run amok?

I remember traveling to Spain and Italy in the military and later on business and getting the impression that they just fucking hated us and saved their rude behavior for me. Asshole in the train station ticket office slammed the window shut when I walked up to ask for information. Tribal behavior

[Colorado Progressive]

88. me too....I spent a year learning Italian

and then we went there, my god I couldn't believe how much some of them hated Americans. We did EVERYTHING to be polite, even my 10 year old spoke the basic phrases in Italian, could read the menu, etc. All that dreaming of Tuscany (and yes, it really is the prettiest place I've ever been) was rudely met with reality. There were some very kind and friendly people, but overall the anti-American sentiment is buried, probably for tourism's sake, and NOT mentioned in your Frommers.

[yardwork]

18. When I travel in England I am often mistaken for a Canadian

I consider this to be a great compliment, which is the way it is intended. Fellow Americans, take note.

[iverglas]

28. haha!

When my mum and I went to England, there was not one occasion when our place of origin came up that we weren't asked "and what part of America are you from?" (Back here, my mum even gets taken for Brit sometimes -- just generational and geographic variances in the Canadian lingo.) We finally took to saying "the Canadian part". Until a couple of Brits got too embarrassed.

The gardener at the close at Salisbury Cathedral was one. He was very embarrassed. So we redeemed ourselves by saying "as long as you don't take us for French!" He was immediately very grateful, and said, "You know, they tell us we're being" ... I forget, not racist, but along that line. We said no, no, the French tourists really were a thing of horror. We'd just been to Stonehenge, and there were French schoolchildren running around the monument on the wrong side of the rope barrier while their teachers sat in the tearoom ignoring them. When we were in Brighton and I suggested to another bunch of French schoolchildren that they stop shoving their way to the front of a line, they responded by mocking my accent (Canadian French accent, not French-second-language accent).

Of course, when we went over to Calais for lunch one day, and went to a bakery for some goodies to take home, I ordered in French, and the woman behind the counter took an interest ... since all the Brit tourists were behaving the way French tourists behave in England. She wondered whether we were really English; she'd probably never had an English customer speak French. I explained all about French-Canadians and English-Canadians, and how we were the latter but I speak French, but my mum doesn't. She got the idea; ah, she said, in an ever so slightly exasperated tone, comme les belges! Like those damned Belgians.

I think there are no good tourists. Well, maybe except us eager to please Canadians. ;)

Anyhow, I want Locut0s in the 7-11 on my corner. They wouldn't take a Canadian hundred if they'd known you, as they have me, for 25 years ...

[yardwork]

29. Well, you are from America. Canada is in North America!

I get irritated with the U.S. attitude that only we are "Americans." Most Americans aren't in the U.S.

[iverglas]

32. heehee

I'm the one who gets shit here constantly for saying "USAmericans". And there's états-uniens in French, and Estadounidense. (Of course, Mexico is also a "United States of" ...) In Cuba, when I used to visit, USAmericans were norteamericanos, so there, I got to annoy the locals by answering, when they asked whether I was North American: Yes, I'm Canadian. ;)

I and a couple of others here noticed how the beauty pageant contestant who spoke so bizarrely in response to a question did use the term "USAmericans", which suggested to me that she wasn't actually as stupid as she looked, er, sounded.


Some discussion:

http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=37&t=000581

[yardwork]

35. I noticed and commented on Miss Teen SC's response as well.

I appreciated her use of the phrase.

[iverglas]

37. ah, we meet again!

I hadn't remembered that it was you. ;)

[yardwork]

51. Hi there!

:hi:

[iverglas]

52. and I meant to say

I'll bet that in at least some instances, you aren't really mistaken for a Canadian. I think a bunch of people have probably just got tired of dealing with irate uppity Canadians tired of being mistaken for USAmericans, and decided to take the path of least resistance and pretend to think all North American types are Canadians, which a person who isn't is likely to find flattering or at least not be offended by, instead of doing it the other way and pissing off the person who isn't. ;)

I did hear that this is the case for Australians and New Zealanders ... when I assumed that one of the latter with whom we shared a tour bus was one of the former. New Zealanders apparently react like Canadians in the comparable situation, or maybe worse. So a lot of Brits just treat everybody who is potentially either one as if they think they're from New Zealand.

Doesn't say much for the whole lot of us, when you think about it. ;)

[yardwork]

54. Well, that's very deflating!

And here I thought it was my flawlessly polite behavior, as opposed to the tail I show here on DU from time to time...

[JVS]

46. UK pub closing times are certainly teh dR00lZ0rZ

[Broadslidin]

13. As a Courtesy to the Canadian Retailer, I always make sure I have sufficient Can Funds.

Otherwise, the credit card is put to use.

Very likely,
you were confronted with an example of a
"Evangelical Republican Authoritarian Follower".

Consider next time,
with an air of Supreme Authority,
(clearly stating your position only once...!)
make up
a new 711 corporate headquarters rule,
placing a $20 limit on US currency accepted.

Otherwise.
Point To The Video Camera, Lift The Phone
with the words:
"I Am Calling The Police...!!"

[mmonk]

93. Yes, use a credit card.

They handle the exchange rate. Saves time and everyone is happy.

[treestar]

14. Then at the exchange rate it was like handing you around a $135 bill

and expecting change for that!

What a jerk.

If I have hundreds I either exchange them for 20s or spend them someplace where the charge is higher. Certainly not a 7-11.

[TahitiNut]

42. Wrong. US$1 = Can$1.0572 ... Can$1 = US$0.9459

Therefore, US$100.00 = Can$105.72 ... when traded on the international currency market in large quantities.

A convenience store is NOT a currency trader and, in doing their periodic banking, will get a less favorable rate than the market rate. (That's the buy/sell spread factor that's set +/- 0.5% against the average of the buy and sell rates.) In addition, expecting the rate to stay the same is SPECULATION ... and that's not the business of a convenience store. They take a risk that the exchange rate won't get less favorable. The exchange rates change +/- 3% quite easily in a few days - the few days it'd take to get to the bank.

[RB TexLa]

53. "In Philadelphia it's worth twenty-five bucks"

Exactly right, what you have is worth what entities you have access to will pay you for it.

[Romulox]

72. It was $50. Great movie.

[Romulox]

73. Better off using a credit/debit card

and getting the up-to-the-minute exchange rate.

Oh, and it will cost the store 75 cents to process the charge for the $6 purchase.

So the store is likely still doing better by accepting the US currency and charging a 6% fee, even if it only keeps half.

[Greyhound]

49. Living in the past, 6 years of free-fall devaluation to hide inflation has

put the Greenback on par with the Loony.

[XOKCowboy]

69. Amazing isn't it?

When I first went to Canada in 2000 the dollar was worth 1.35 Loonys. Now pretty much dead even. Thanks GeeDub for our great economy.

[Greyhound]

89. Me too. I used to go to Vancouver even in the 90s and often said

"I do all my shopping in Canada, the whole country is 35% off, plus they refund your taxes when you leave". (there's a joke there, but it would not be taken in the spirit in which it is meant here)

I used to love those trips. The Canadians are so civilized and kind and the country is so beautiful, I even thought of emigrating there.

I'd still do it except that they are too close and too tied to us and when our fascism takes over they will be brought along.

[XOKCowboy]

91. Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world...

I also loved Toronto for it's many cultures and international feel. The people were always friendly and like ya said I always knew I could get a bargain with the exchange rate.

Well at least Vancouver is still beautiful and the people are still friendly. :)

[ljm2002]

15. Yes, Americans can be rude...

...but to be fair we don't have a lock on it.

I know a British expatriate who is capable, when drunk, of rudeness that would put any example in this thread to shame. Honestly, I think the Brits can outdo the Americans for outright boorishness every time, when they put their minds to it.

Closer to the subject at hand. My mom lived in a northern ski resort town about 100 miles south of the Canadian border. Canadians liked to visit this town. She had all sorts of complaints about their behavior while in town -- mainly them getting drunk and rowdy. This was a certain demographic -- the ski crowd -- but still, the Canadians were notably more rowdy than the locals.

But then ironically, I recall the short vacation trip that we took up into Canada -- me, my husband, my small child and my mom. While at a roadside restaurant, my mom managed to embarrass me by being very demanding of a waitress there, all over some hot tea. I wanted to crawl under the table -- she wasn't outright rude or name-calling, but she was demanding, and I could just imagine the talk among the staff after we left -- another demanding, overbearing American.

So there you go.

[Heidi]

16. My husband once was standing in line behind an American woman at a local

(Ticino, Switzerland) bookstore, and she wanted to put two postcards on her VISA. When the store declined (minimum purchase for credit card purchases), she pitched an enormous fit, throw the postcards down on the counter and stormed out of the store. Unfortunately, a few folks like that can quickly undo the goodwill earned by jillions of friendly, well-mannered Americans visiting other countries every day. :(

[CTyankee]

55. I was turned down in Sicily when I tried to pay for a purchase of under 10 euros

with a credit card (it was more like $7). It was in a smallish town, but was a very smart,upscale even, place. I merely put the item back and said "Peccato!" (what a shame)to the man behind the counter.

[yardwork]

17. We hate those assholes too

[yewberry]

19. Sounds like a jerk.

And I do do love Canada and Canadians...but can you please explain our tipping customs to them?

That'd be great. Thanks!

[Cha]

20. I love Canadians! You should

be a writer.

[marions ghost]

21. why are you so nice?

just hand him his $100 back without saying anything. If he tries to engage, say nothing. I could understand putting up, if we were talking about several hundred or something.

But for $17, I'd just give it back after the "you're ripping me off" line and turn away.

You're enabling these jerks otherwise.

[Romulox]

22. If you mean you offered him $83 Canadian as change, you were ripping him off

It's completely lame for a US/multinational company in a border town that thrives on tourism to charge a 5% premium for the use of US currency. It's taking advantage of the situation at a time when you figure you have the customer over a barrel.

[DaveJ]

24. Aren't Canadian dollars worth more?

It's a mute point anyway. The guy was still rude.

[yardwork]

30. Welcome to DU. How kind of you to insult our neighbors to the north on your first day!

[Swede]

31. There is only one kind of poster that does that almost immediately.

They just can't help themselves.

[yardwork]

33. Wheeeeeeee!

[Romulox]

57. Ummm, where was the insult?

And it's not my first day.

[iverglas]

36. there's a point there

and it really isn't answered by suggesting that anyone who is so stupid and/or arrogant as to assume that his/her local currency is universal tender and so s/he has no need to acquire any of the funny-looking foreign stuff when travelling abroad deserves what s/he gets. Particularly when retail outlets in the country from which she comes wouldn't generally even touch the funny-looking foreign stuff (unless the particular business depends on foreign custom right near the border, sometimes). And that while US currency can be exchanged at the bank on any corner in any Canadian community (and of course Cdn currency can be obtained from any bank machine, all of which will do transactions on US bank cards ... and just wait to see what the US bank charges for the transaction on your statement), it is next to impossible to exchange any currency anywhere in the US ...

Of course, there's the fact that when the retail outlet in Canada exchanges the foreign currency it accepts, after separating it from the local currency and engaging in a completely separate banking transaction for it, it isn't going to be making a really big profit.

So yeah, there's a point. A small one, but a point.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. If you go to the downtown branches of most banks, they

have a foreign exchange department.

When I travel to other countries, I get about one day's "walking around money" at a bank here and then use my ATM card for the rest.

The ATMs actually offer the best exchange rate.

[iverglas]

48. heh - downtown banks

I was just having a hard time finding one in Rock Island, Illinois. ;) I couldn't even find one in Atlanta. Had to get a Cdn diplomat I was lunching with to drive to his bank and get some local money to trade me for some Cdn ... because I'd only discovered when I was crossing the border that I had left all my ID and all my credit cards and such like in the pocket of the jacket hanging on the back of my office chair ...

As I was pulling up to the border crossing booth, I discovered the absence of anything useful. No proof of identity, no proof of funds, about $200 in cash. I steeled myself and prepared to be extra nice. So the US border guy says where are you from, where are you going, I tell him. Then comes the random question you're not supposed to be expecting that might get you to blurt out something incriminating. (Last time, they asked my partner "how many times have you been arrested?" Hah, couldn't fool him; correct answer: "None.") This one asks me: what kind of work do you do? I say: I'm an immigration lawyer. (Yeah, yeah; a really stupid one.) He says something I didn't understand a word of, bursts into laughter, I try to look highly amused and laugh loudly, and he waves me on. I figured he must have said something like "Going down to drum up some business??" ... and thought he was being original. ;)

Ah, the good old days.

[Romulox]

58. You can exchange currency at any bank

Furthermore, if he had paid with a debit/credit card, he would have been charged the going exchange rate at the time of the transaction.

7/11 just figures that it can prise an extra 5-6% off the top, well, just because it can.

[iverglas]

65. yes, that's what I said

Banks may be regulated in the exchange rate they can charge/give. Banks are quite heavily regulated in Canada, generally. Exchanging currency is a service that falls within the set of services universally provided by banks in Canada. That is not the case in the US, of course. Banks in Canada may or may not make much money on the deals; they tend to make their money by nickel and diming on large numbers of transactions, so they likely make very little on each currency exchange transaction, and make up for it in volume, customer loyalty, etc.

Exchanging currency is not a service provided by convenience stores. Neither in Canada nor in the US. They don't do it as their business, so if they do it at all, it entails costs that transactions in local currency do not involve, and for which there are no economies of scale like the banks have.

The 7-11 (for which I hold no brief) may have charged 5% of the value of the transaction for providing that service. It sold the tourist some money, and grossed 5% on the deal.

It undoubtedly charged a fair bit higher margin on whatever else it sold him. I wonder why he didn't pitch a fit about the 33% above cost or whatever he got charged for his potato chips?

Convenience stores really aren't there for the convenience of people who want to exchange currency. They are businesses, which provide specific services at a price, which they calculate based on the costs of providing the services they provide, not on the costs of washing cars, or providing childcare, or exchanging currency.

If he thought he could get the service somewhere else at a lower price, he really was entirely at liberty to go and do it.

Now, if the exchange ratio had been US2:Cdn1, and it was a US resident trying to buy baby food at 3 a.m. when all his bank cards had just been stolen, and the 7-11 manager offered to take his money at par, yeah, I'd be disapproving. That's exploitation.

This customer had a favour done for him. In my experience, 7-11s have signs posted saying they don't accept anything larger than 50s -- Canadian. And, like I said, from customers like myself of 25 years' standing. He was a foreigner trying to use foreign currency in a denomination double the value of what the store accepts from local customers in their own currency. He was actually extremely lucky that he ran into someone with a bit of authority (an assistant manager) and thus discretion, and willingness to exercise it in his favour. He didn't likely have a gun to his head -- every 7-11 I know has bank machines and accepts both debit and credit cards, just for instance. And for pity's sake, he could have handed back whatever would have brought the cost within the amount of local currency he had.

On reflection, with careful instruction, he might even realize that he should be sending a thank you note to poor old Locut0s.

[Romulox]

70. Look, I'm from Detroit. I've been to Canada dozens of times

Canadian stores and restaurants do not accept us currency as a favor. They do so because it is good business.

And even when the exchange rate is $1.25 Can: $1 US, unscrupulous bars and restaurants will attempt to cheat tourists by offering change at a 1:1 rate.

It's a long-standing scam, and its dishonest. It has nothing to do with nationalism. (Of course, none of this excuses the customer's idiotic comments.)

[iverglas]

78. "It has nothing to do with nationalism."

I guess someone must have said it did. I think you'll find I didn't.

Canadian stores and restaurants do not accept us currency as a favor. They do so because it is good business.

Uh huh. But apparently not for a neighbourhood 7-11, which really probably couldn't give a shit if no USAmerican darkened its door from one year to the next. The 7-11 is not part of the tourist industry. It is NOT good business for a 7-11 to get involved in currency exchange if it means not covering the costs of doing so.

I'd think that if it were good business for retail outlets or restaurants that are part of the tourist industry to engage in foreign currency transactions at bank exchange rates, they'd be doing it ...

By the way, I might point out that the casino in Las Vegas very much was part of the tourist industry, and wasn't taking my yankee dollars as a favour to me, either, in case you maybe thought that was the case and I should have just been grateful for the atrocious way I was treated. I should maybe have thanked them profusely, instead of just saying nothing at all, as I did. Not that I had a chance to say anything to the server who dropped the red stuff and ran. (You know, saying "sorry, we don't have any vinegar" the first of the four times I asked would have been really quite acceptable. Although not likely true. Just imagine if a hotel restaurant in Montreal told you they had no ketchup ... or made you wait until you were finished eating before bringing you tomato soup ...)

It's a long-standing scam, and its dishonest.

And people like you know about it, and all the poor victims of it either don't know, despite it being common knowledge, or didn't think it worth planning ahead for, I guess.

Seriously. Bank machines in every 7-11, banks on every corner, where local currency can be obtained. Why would anyone disregard that fact, and just assume s/he was going to be able to spend foreign currency at retail, let alone at bank exchange rates?? Let alone get snotty when it didn't happen???

(Of course, none of this excuses the customer's idiotic comments.)

There ya go.

[AllieB]

82. The exchange rate is $1US=$1.04 Canadian

I was just in Canada visiting relatives for the past four days.

[XOKCowboy]

87. I'd heard that recently...

Isn't that a total reflection of how Shrubbie has decimated our economy? I remember when travel to Canada was an incredible bargain.

[in_cog_ni_to]

38. What a crock of shit! It's THEIR COUNTRY! They can exchange money at ANY RATE THEY CHOOSE! Sheesh!

The arrogance of some people!:eyes:

[Romulox]

59. 7/11 is not a country. nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

63. The 7/11 is in Canada. Read the OP.

:eyes:

[Gormy Cuss]

40. It's been that way for as long as I can recall on both sides of the border.

Either the store offers less than the bank rate value or doesn't accept the foreign money at all. Retail stores aren't international money exchanges. Any halfway decent tourist guide cautions against exchanging money at a retail shop, and not just in Canada.

[JVS]

47. Except for the fact that 7-11 isn't a bank. You want currency exchange go to a bank

[Romulox]

60. Fair enough.

Convenience stores may also have the "right" to sell single cigarettes.

It's still exploitive.

[mudesi]

64. Wow.

I one can't be bothered to change their currency when they are in another country, I don't see why they shouldn't be charged a premium.

[DaveJ]

23. He sounds more like a dipshit than an asshole

He's just a dumass, and probably stapped for money (prob. as a result of his stupidity) is he's counting every dime.

First of all, the statement that "you" are ripping him off is inaccurate unless you have the power to decide those type of policies where you work.

Secondly, he should take the problem up with 7-11 which was founded in Dallas TX, and I guess is now owned by the Japanese or something.

Third, even though there are many Canadian assholes, his statement "Now you know why Americans don't treat you nicely" was totally out of line as a visitor to your country. You should have said, "And people like you are why Canada has selective immigration rules."

[LondonReign2]

25. It's not just in Canada

Americans have learned to be assholes everywhere!

When my wife and I lived in the UK, we blended. When we traveled, we tried to blend. But I recall a trip to Norway where the typical Angry Loud American was demanding to know why the local ice cream vendor wouldn't take his US dollars. Dude, do you take kroners at your business in the States? Times like that, we claimed we were Canadians.

[Evoman]

26. I think Americans in general are super friendly.

Whenever I've been down there, I have met almost exclusively nice people. They tend to be a little louder, perhaps, but overall good people.

[NeedleCast]

27. Terrible Tourists

Last year I was in Buffalo for work and crossed over to Niagra for an evening with some co-workers, several of whom I didn't know. We went to a nice steak-house over looking the falls, had a good dinner and some drinks and got ready to pay. One of the ladies with us who I didn't know pays with US cash and gets Canadian change and pitches a big fit about it. Our waitress handles it so well too. She just calmly looked at the lady and sadi "Ma'am, this is Canada, you may have heard of it. We use Canadian money here."

I spent most of the month in San Juan, Puerto Rico for work and was talking in passing to a lady at the bar who said she thought Puerto Rico was very pretty but wasn't really having a good time because everyone kept speaking Spanish. I had to extract myself for the area.

Can't stop tourists from being assholes it seems. One bad apple and all....

[in_cog_ni_to]

34. I'm an American and have been embarrassed many, many times by other American when on vacation in

other countries. One time was when we were in Mexico. We were having lunch and there was a very LOUD and OBNOXIOUS American sitting at the bar. OMG...I wanted to crawl under the table. He couldn't talk in a normal tone of voice and thought everything he said and did was YUK, YUK funny and it wasn't! You should have seen the face of the bartender. He HAD TO BE polite, but looked like he wanted to get the hell out of there. I know I did. We encounter this crap everywhere we go outside the U.S. They (Americans) think they own the world. They think other cultures think they're wonderful JUST BECAUSE they're Americans and nothing could be further from the truth. As an American, I'M EMBARRASSED by those people! They all remind me of GEORGE BUSH. They have no social grace AT ALL. NONE.

Anyway, for the jerk you had to deal with, that's a typical republican. Those are the kind of people we Liberals have to deal with on a daily basis here. They always think someone is trying to take their "hard earned money" away from them! It's ALWAYS about them, never mind what happens to YOUR business if you screw yourself with the $$$ exchange....they don't care about YOU. It's all about me, me, me. It's awful and I AM SO SORRY YOU HAVE HAD TO ENDURE ONE OF THEM. Aren't they assholes? Please don't think we're all like that because we aren't! Some of us are NORMAL and SANE.

[tigereye]

44. there seem to be a lot of obnoxious Americans here in America, too

;)

I have been on vacation many times here in our country and been embarrassed by big-spending, rude and obnoxious people showing bad manners in their own country, as well.

[in_cog_ni_to]

62. True, true, true, but it's REALLY embarrassing outside our own country. Kinda like airing your dirty

laundry in public.:( Ya really don't want the world to know the bad stuff. Those people are "the bad stuff" in the good old USA and I would just prefer the rest of the world doesn't see them...they reflect badly on all of us normal people.:(

I think I'm just going to start saying I'm from Canada!:)

[angstlessk]

39. I have no idea what the exchange rate is in Canada, but he expected

YOU to know the exchange rate? or maybe he was hoping you would give him back more than he deserved? What an idiot!

[iverglas]

45. Heh -- we know the exchange rate, trust me ;)

It's a source of sort of misguided national pride when our dollar is up to or over the value of the US dollar.

In fact, we do much better when the value of ours is way down as compared to yours. And not just because a low US dollar indicates a crappy US economy, which isn't good for anybody.

When our dollar is low, US tourists flock north -- and we like that as much as anybody with a tourist industry. Florida, on the other hand, likes it when the US dollar is low. ;)

And when our dollar is low, we can export more of our stuff, because it's cheaper, relatively, for the buyers.

Having a high dollar may be fun up here for a while, but it's already hurting some industries.

Now, not every 7-11 clerk might know the exchange rate (but they'll have a regularly updated corporate advisory) -- but one of our own Cdn DUers sure will!

[iverglas]

50. my little brother's encounter with US tourists in Montreal

He and my mum, who was visiting him, took a scenic three-hour cruise on the St. Lawrence. They were joined at their table by a retired couple obviously from the US ... wearing matching NRA ballcaps. My bro proceeded to give them the guided tour, pointing out the landmarks and explaining what they were seeing, and they were very appreciative and pleasant.

But he couldn't resist. Bill Clinton was out of office, and riding a wave of international popularity. He remarked admiringly how well their president was doing, with the new book and all. They mumbled, and continued to be very polite. They were good tourists, even in the face of provocation. ;)

[seemunkee]

56. I will do my best to counter balance things when I head north next month

I did appreciate the hotel telling us ahead of time that paying with cash will be at PAR.

[XOKCowboy]

68. Please do...

When I travel there's no doubt I'm an American. The boots and the accent are dead giveaways. :) Thankfully my parents and grandparents taught me manners and respect for all people and I always do my best to dispel the "Ugly American" stereotype. It's really very easy. Adjust to THEIR culture instead of expecting them to cater to you. That doesn't mean being fluent in their language, English is understood by most businesses around the world. Just memorize a few phrases and be willing to learn more from those you meet. Most waitpeople I've met in Europe and Asia love Americans so they can practice their English. You are a visitor in their country. Act like you'd hope they would act if they came to visit your part of the USA.

I've seen SO many examples of the kind of behavior the OP posted. Once while in Paris I'd called down the night before to reserve a taxi to the airport the next morning. After I checked out I was waiting on my cab when an obviously very important American business man came down and demanded a cab to the airport. There were myself and 2 other parties waiting for our scheduled cabs but this asshat starts loudly berating the poor doorman (he was desperately trying to explain to the guy that cabs were limited at that time of day) about how he'd have his job if he missed his flight and how many millions of dollars he was going to lose because of the doorman's incompetence. My cab came up and I gave it to the Asshat and told the doorman (in a voice that the Asshat would hear) that I just wanted him to know that not all Americans are like that. The doorman smiled and said "Merci monsieur".

I got a hateful glare from the Asshat as he got in my cab. I also got a free ride to CDG in the hotel's private car a few minutes later. :)

[iverglas]

74. great story

I can only hope that Mr. Asshat saw you getting out of it when you arrived, but that would probably be too much to want. ;)

I think the boots and accent are just fine, btw. We all are what we are, and I think sometimes we try too much to blend in when we're somewhere else. I used to try in Cuba, but I'm too close to blonde, and my idea of dressing down just made me look gringa ... I just couldn't get with the skin-tight polyester jacquard pants in midsummer.

Now, the NRA ballcaps on my brother's cruise companions in Montreal (other post), they might well be left behind. There isn't any call for intentionally offending the locals, and really, anyone leaving the US might imagine those hats would. They might not have been expected to know about the Montreal massacre, when 14 women engineering students were shot dead only a couple of years before, and the feelings of the vast majority of Montrealers about things like the NRA, but still, some things are just better left at home.

What I find disappointing, as a formerly frequent tourist / business visitor in the US, is the growing absence of local culture. Local restaurants, stores, products; not so readily accessible these days. Even local attractions, disneyfied. So you keep your boots and your accent, and get your Texas neighbours to make that roadside tamale place somewhere on the road between Dallas and Austin an historic site ...




Local flavour familiar to any Canadian who drove south before the I-75. ;)

[XOKCowboy]

79. Local culture is dead in America...

Only in places like around Copley Square in Boston, downtown NYC or a few ethnic centers in cities like Miami and Los Angeles have any real local culture. Mostly it's Crapplebees, McDonalds, Taco Bell and big box stores like WalMart, Home Depot, etc that define most American "culture". It's really a shame. Even in my old home town in Oklahoma we have no downtown anymore. If you need to buy anything, ya gotta go to the WalMart Supercenter since they put the last local grocery store and drug store out of business.

Give me Europe or Canada anytime. Psssst. Don't tell anyone but I had a blast in France! Great food, great scenery and great people. I guess they thought I was a "western" Canadian! :)

[AllieB]

81. New England cities still have a lot of local culture

Burlington VT, Providence RI, Portsmouth NH, Portland ME, Provincetown MA, and many other smaller cities and college towns have maintained downtowns or areas where there is plenty of local color. Eastern Mass. definitely contains many of these types of cities. The exurbs are places where we see strip malls going up. I live in a 17th century town north of Boston with a vibrant town center and non-chain stores and restaurants. The only chain on the main drag is Starbucks.

[XOKCowboy]

84. I love it around Boston...

I only mentioned Copley because it's where I normally work and stay in Boston. I've also done shows in Marlborough and Worcester and on the Cape. Woosta was very, very cool and I really liked it.

I really appreciate places that still have locally owned stores where you can get all of life's necessities within walking distance of your home. It's a shame that it's disappearing from the American landscape.

[Megahurtz]

61. I Hear Ya

and I agree. The majority of Americans are rude assholes. They have a real arrogant attitude. I lived in Canada for three years, so I know the difference. Oh and you can thank our latest selfish ReThuglican Administration for really foistering that self-centered attitude upon the masses here.

So no need to be polite about it! :)

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

66. LOL

I think many waitresses in the US feel the same way about Canadians.

[iverglas]

67. it took a while

but there it is. I'd expected it sooner.

Funny how no one I have ever known has ever expected to be able to use Canadian currency to complete a retail transaction in the US, let alone berated the clerk when charged a fee for the service anywhere it was actually available ...

But I know. You're just talking about rudeness of some other variety. I gather Canadians are known as bad tippers. Kinda like USAmericans are up here. I tend to think that maybe tourists are bad tippers, myself.

Of course there are always the rowdy teenagers and university students. Who gets them depends on what the drinking age is where at any give time. In my day, they went to Buffalo. These days, they flow in the other direction I think. And of course there are no beaches to have fun at in February in Canada, so Florida takes the hit. And the very very large amount of money it brings with it.

But I give up. What do Canadians do? Ask for vinegar for their chips? I loved how one time on Lake Champlain I didn't even have to ask; it came before the chips. Maybe local taste, maybe I just looked Canadian, but if I'm ever passing through again, I'll go back. In Las Vegas, after I got seated by the swinging kitchen door, having stupidly left my male travelling companion somewhere else, I asked four times for vinegar (give me a break; hotel kitchens have vinegar, and I very much doubt I was the first Canadian they'd ever encountered, or even the first person who'd ever asked for some vinegar), just because I felt like it, and when my chips were nearly gone, I was presented with a flask of red wine vinegar. For those who don't know, you can put cider vinegar on chips, or malt vinegar on chips, or most commonly plain old white vinegar on chips, but you just don't put red wine vinegar on chips. I wonder whether I didn't tip really well that day ... I don't really remember, but I imagine that, being self-effacingly Canadian and all, and also not generally thinking that someone's income should depend on my whim, I probably did anyhow.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

71. oh hon

take that chip off your shoulder, eh? It isn't a serious thread but your vinegar distinction illustrates how demanding you canucks can be for the wait staff.}(

[iverglas]

75. very cute, very cute indeed

I'll bet most wait staff would think they'd died and gone to heaven if the biggest demand they ever had to deal with was for a vial of vinegar ...

I dunno. Perhaps the people who seated me beside the swinging kitchen door and ignored me the whole time I was there really really expected a big tip, eh?

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

77. dunno

seems to be a mutual aversion. I know from family members who work in the hospitality business that there is some animosity towards Canadians because of tipping issues. After reading what you have experienced, it seems to go both ways. I don't appreciate unhelpful wait staff either.

[Cleita]

76. So that you feel better, Canadians used to say the same thing

to me when I worked on the Canada/USA border and had to take Canadian money. They were always happy when we took par, since at the time the American dollar was worth more than the Canadian dollar, but when the boss decided he was getting ripped off and we had to do fair exchange, the Canadians accused us of being greedy. I don't know the answer but human nature I think is the same on both sides of the border. :-)

[Lisa]

80. another BCer here -- I bought two US visitors lunch ...

... because I was behind them in the cashier lineup and they had only US money. They looked so utterly shocked that it wouldn't be accepted (even at face value) that I felt sorry for them. I know there are obnoxious or overbearing Americans -- and some of them are that way even if they aren't tired/cranky from the long drive or jet lag -- but the nice ones more than make up for it. I hope that you have some of the latter come through your store soon, Locut0s.

I didn't inquire whether they had voted GOP -- and I didn't want to know!

Though if one of them had been George W. Bush, he could have done without lunch, for all I care!

[iverglas]

86. you fuel

What you were supposed to do was buy their yankee dollars from them at an exorbitantly unfair exchange rate, and *then* pay for their lunch. Jeez, all those lessons in how to treat US tourists to keep them in their place, wasted.

(Seriously, nobody suggested that? I mean, they did have money, even if it wasn't real money, and if I'd been them that's what I would certainly have proposed. Maybe you turned them down. Maybe it was a cheap lunch. ;) )

[BlooInBloo]

83. Yah, we're largely a nation of assholes, but keep in mind that you're comparing them with....

... *Canadians*, who are the nicest people in the world. Hence, we come off looking a little worse than we might otherwise.

I gotta get up to Vancouver soon - too long since I've been to Gastown, Grandville Ave, etc.

[JeffR]

85. I am an American who lives in Canada...

These past few years, I try not to draw much attention to my nationality. Fortunately, my Southern accent got sandpapered off years ago, so I can mingle anonymously.;-)

[sandnsea]

90. When I served Canadians in Montana

Many years ago, we always gave change at the exchange rate. Just a dumb old motel clerk, and we were required to know the rate, and do the math with our own little heads.

And we would have been treated quite rudely if we hadn't.

No excuse for it all the same. Just sayin'.

[XOKCowboy]

92. Well Montanan's are "that way" ya know?

Honest and usually trying to do the right thing has been my experience with people from Montana. Especially "many years ago".