What's (pardon me) American

At least once a day someone starts to say/do/discuss something they consider American, stops to apologize directly to me, and then continues with their thought. These things are not necessarily American, but they give us insight into the image we've been putting out into the world over the past decade. Here are a few of the things that have been attributed to America in my presence:
  • Loud, boisterous, and vaguely uncultured behaviour
  • Entrepreneurial, aggressive sales techniques
  • Wordy explanations
  • Quaint, old-fashioned opinions
  • Uptight reactions to bawdy subjects
  • Closed-minded judgments
  • Joey
  • Cultural self-centeredness
  • The phrase "the dog's dinner" (not a phrase I know, but maybe it's southern?)
  • Savvy marketing
  • Sexy marketing
  • Pretty much all marketing
  • Slapstick, unnuanced humour (see Joey)
  • Showy, extravagant spending
  • Over-produced, sensationalist news coverage
  • Panicky hatred and/or isolationism as a reaction to terrorism
Sigh. I have some PR work to do.

Comments

VaughnV said…
Sounds spot on to me. :-P

V.
4:36 pm
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