| Have you ever felt embarrassed to be an American?
This thread has probably appeared on this forum before, but I'll post this anyway: Have you ever felt ashamed of being an American?
I went to Spain recently and I felt semi-embarrassed about my American citizenship frequently throughout the trip. Whenever I walked into a shop or museum the clerk would address me in English. When I asked people on the street for directions in Spanish, they acted shocked that I could speak the language at all. Once, my group was denied entrance to an upscale restaurant because the hostess felt we were too rude and loud and would scare away regular customers.
America is a great nation and I appreciate the fact that English is a universal language, but we expect foreign tourists visiting our country to speak our language. I feel mildly guilty that Americans visit other countries expecting to be perpetually addressed in English. There is something paradoxical and wrong about that. |