Why are Americans put so much emphasis on courtesy yet the rudest people on earth?

Question

I am living here in America. If not for something important to tackle here, I wouldn't behere for long . I want to go home to my own country. Not only I feel alienated and discriminated here, but I encountered the rudest people on earth which are the Americans. And I keep wondering their media is so infused with character building like courtesy and respect and still the American populace don't get it. Are they stupid not to understand it? Or just too stubborn? Or just naturally and inherently rude?

If ever they give someone a courtesy or respect, they do it with so much hypocrisy and fakeness. I encountered a lot of miserable experiences here in the US which involved Americans being so nasty, arrogant, proud, rude but hypocritical and fake. At the firs encounter, you would tthink they are nice and then when something upsets or bothers them or you can't give in to their demands, they try so hard to be polite but it comes out fake and in the end, it comes out really rude. Why?

Answer 1

This has got to be one of the dumber posts I've read.

You think Americans are rude because they're overly "polite" and you take this overly politeness to be rude, because you deem it fake?

My God man.  Lighten up a bit.  In the U.S., we're taught to be polite to people we don't know, and to try to accommodate them in any way possible.  It's not fake.  It's a sign of courtesy, respect, and a general acknowledgement of someone else that you pass by in society.

I guess wherever you're from, everyone's rude to each other and has no manners.  But I guess it's alright because it's not fake, it's real, isn't it.

Gimme a break!

Answer 2

Dont be surprised but our cities are populated by immigrants and I agree that they are rude. To see what made america great visit the country.

I have travelled quite widely and have noticed that if you are not white you are treated better in America than in any other country. If you are white you are treated well everywhere.

Answer 3

You probably got what you gave.  Don't let the gate hit you in the *** on the way out.

Answer 4

I do  not agree with you that Americans are the rudest people on the globe.  Outside of your own nation, how many other nations have you sampled for rudeness?  Respect is not guaranteed.  If an individuals actions disqualify them from being respected, if they want respect, they have to earn it. Rudeness is unacceptable to me.  There are no reasons I can find that necessitate rude behavior.

Productive interaction is the responsibility of everyone involved.So, are you always respectful and polite?  Maybe you could use an attitude adjustment.

Answer 5

Maybe you are an annoying person.  What is your role in the interaction?  Why are so many people reacting negatively to you.  Are you putting out negativity, anger, frustration?

Answer 6

I guess you know different Americans than I do, I'm sorry to say.

I'm curious as to what cross-sample you use to call Americans the rudest on earth, though. Might it be possible that you are only seeing a reaction to your own negativity?Just a thought.

Answer 7

I'm sorry if you ran into a rude person from or country.

I'm an American and I'm not rude.

Most Americans really are not.

I think it's really rude when people from different countries talk about me in another lang.

You shouldn't be judging a whole country based on maybe 10 people.

By the way if you live in the south the people are alot more friendlier.

I live in the south.

=)

Answer 8

We love contradictions, after all we invaded a country and then said we don't want to be there, but hey were still there.

Answer 9

I think rudeness lies in your own perception. You attract what you project.

Ghandi said: Become the change you wish to see in the world.

I've traveled around the world and I've met nice people and less nice people in every place I've visited. I don't let it change the way I behave though. Sometimes not giving in to the rudeness of another will make them realize what they're doing.

Answer 10

I'm Canadian.  I attended a field school in Africa that was done through an American University.  As of such I was surrounded by Americans 24/7 for the duration of the two month field school... They seemed wonderfully friendly and we had great times for that two months.  I decided to stay in Africa for a while after the field school and whenever I heard that one of my classmates was back in Africa I invited them to my home with arms wide open, showed then the scenes in Nairobi made them feel welcome all over again, but hey I'm Canadian and that is how I was raised to be, a charming host.  I recently moved to the US right in the middle of all those people that I had welcomed into my home without worry for how it interfered with my schedule, yet once on their turf these same Americans who I would once have claimed loudly to be my friends suddenly have a completely lost their sense of priorities.  I would call them  up and they would say that hooking up and catching up would be a great idea... but it's all talk absolutely no action.  They get consumed in their completely non-important lives and treat people, who they treated as friends when it was convenient for them, with complete contempt and disrespect.  This complete shallowness in personal relationships is somewhat tollerable to me because I have always known this nasty aspect of Americans because of my proximity to them living in Canada for most of my life.  But my African friends are always utterly disgusted by this behaviour because to disrespect "friends" like this is completely unnaceptable in their cultures.  Anyways, the average American seems great for about 5 minutes, then once your friendship is going to impact on their time they take a complete 180 and they lose face and become a**es.  Needless to say, since I'm at a university here in the US, I will continue to mingle with the international students because Americans just don't get it.

This has nothing to do with "stress" or "work" or any other number of excuses that these people come up with. Everyone else I associate with have intense careers as well.  It has to do with culture.  Americans pretend that they are the most generous people in the world, but their generosity rarely goes past their wallets.  They think thaty if they donate some token amount of money to some cause at arms length that this makes them worthy on a global scale.  Really they are trying to justify their inability to completely mesh with people emotionally and this donation is really just buying them a ticket to be greedy, selfish individuals in every other aspect of their lives.  It really makes me sick to see such disregard.  I, the Canadian, stayed on after the field school and thoughtlessly donated my time and energy to development projects in Africa while the Americans ran home to become consumed in their shallow lives, how typical.  If it is any consolation to you Americans, when I was volunteering in a hospital in the S. Pacific I met many New Zealanders who had this same complaint about Australians.  Another chauvinistic, proud, arrogant, obnoxiously heartless group of people.  So out of the 40+ people that were so fraudulently friendly at the field school... 1 panned out to be a lasting friend, and I'm not hard to get along with.  So the US is puttering along at 2.5% sociability from what I can tell.  

PS that is not a good score!

For comparison sake, I met 6 New Zealanders and am still friends with all of them, including warm welcomes to all of their homes when I visited NZ a few years back... that is 100%!  Whenever I go to Africa the people who I have become friends with there will absoutely go out of their way to remodel their time to fit me in no matter what little notice I give, they are an amazing people in this regard as obviously frindships run deep there.  I have yet to not be accomodated by any of my African friends as well, so they are at 100%!  Of the 40 Americans, I have attempted contact with an estimated 20 of them.  One of them told me to come hang out with them during their break, they worked at a pub.  It was a nice 20 minute chat, but since then I have never heard from them and I'm not going to be the sole initiator every time.  Another replied to my outstretched hand by inviting me to a party that they were throwing, but made only a superficial amount of personal time for me at their party.  As I mentioned one has become a lasting friend and we do things with each other frequently.  The other 17 or so just let it all slip away because of their inability to follow up on my initiations.  So many of these shallow people sat down in my home, enjoyed the meals that I prepared for them, enjoyed my hospitality as we joked into the night... where is the reciprocation?  Plus, if these Americans are just "friends of convenience", then how can they feel comfortable coming into my home when they know that they will never reciprocate the gesture?  Anyways, I can't wait to finish what I'm doing here as well, although I must say that I have had one good experience.  By living in international graduate housing I have met many foreigners that will provide lasting and reciprocal relationships.  It's funny that when I leave this country I will have made great friendships with so many who are not from here and so few with those who are from here!

________________________

To the guy below me... I have been to France and yes they can be rude.  But I prefer their genuine rudness to fake friendliness.  At least then you know where you stand and that there is no point in wasting your emotional resources on such an a**.  By Americans "posing" as friends they become leaches until it is their turn to provide the blood, then they conveniently skirt away.  Pathetic really.  I think that these Americans are mostly republican voters!

Answer 11

i have lived in america all my life and have never seen americans put a strong emphasis on courtesy so i am not sure where you get that from. as far as the rudest people on earth, have you been to every country and isand on earth? do you know without a doubt that america is the rudest nation on earth?

Answer 12

im sorry u have come across such rude pple! America is not all that horrible i promise..i think it depends on what state you are.(sounds weird, but very true)

it also depends on the city.

bc. where i live, everyone is respectful and genuinely good. it may be bc/ i live in southern CA and where i live, go to school, play vbal- mostly Catholic.

hope you have better experiences..:)

Answer 13

Fake niceness is really disgusting.

Nothing is more phony.

People do it all the time here in Canada too.

It is the breakdown of goodness and civility in our society now, where people have gone from actually being nice to mocking it in their behaviour.

Such a thing is not human, but it is real now.

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