American reacts to How Stupid are Americans? [part 1]

The stupidity is one thing, the arrogance is another...

I've come across 2 types of Americans generally. Those that are interested in WORLD history, and those that think AMERICA is the only history.

It's not the stupidity that is so bad it's the arrogance of the stupidity that is overwhelming.

Worked at a hotel in Denmark. I was asked by an elderly American lady: “why is there a sound that goes beep-beep-beep at the crosswalks in Copenhagen.” My reply:”So blind people can hear when it is safe to cross.” She thinking a bit: “That”s interesting. In the US blind people are not allowed to drive.”

The lions are on a vegan diet. They eat three of them a day

Italian here, some years ago an American colleague asked me help, he was staying in Milan and he really couldn't find an Italian restaurant in all the city (9000 restaurant in Milan). Then I understood he was searching for a restaurant that had "ITALIAN" in the sign. In Italy.

I was asked while living in the US if we had toilets in Norway, i told her that, no, unfortunately not, but the UN has promised to do something about it next year. That was 24 years ago.

I was on a business trip, in Perugia, Italy, along with three other Brits, a Canadian and a Murican. Some of us were staying in a hotel on the top of a Hillside with fantastic views over the valley, the Murican said, out loud, on purpose, " why didn't they put in an elevator?", it was a Castle built in the 13th century!!!! Our fantasic chaperone for the night was the business owners Son and informed us that he was taking us to the best and most authentic Pizzeria in Perugia and the Murican said, again, out loud and on purpose, "you needn't go to all that trouble for me, we could just go to a normal restaurant!" Inferring that our chaperone had gone out of his wau to find Murican cuisine! The three Brits just laughed, the canuck look at me and shook his head, the Italian said "No problem only the best for you!" The sarcasm was as thick as the Yank!

Do you know Ryan, this a bigger problem than you realise. As a regular visitor to the USA from England over many years, we were often asked how long it took us to drive there from England. We were once complimented on our standard of spoken English, and asked where we learned it, and what language did we speak at home. Very disturbingly, these last questions were asked by a pair of geography teachers ...... Consider the implications for the US educational system. Regards, and good luck

When I told an American that I was English, he asked in all sincerity if I knew the Queen. I told him " of course, she drinks in the same pub as me " which left him satisfied.

Had a girl from Seattle, which asked me what the numbers "1082" on the House would be. When i told her, the house in Salzburg, Austria is that old, she called me a liar. Nothing could be before 1492....

I’m Canadian and live in Vancouver. We generally don’t have as many problems as the West Coast seems to band together and we all cross the Washington/BC border a lot. A friend from Seattle visited and brought her “genius” child who was supposed to be completing her university applications (I was afraid to ask about SAT scores, we don’t have those but I know what they are). Mom is also in law, very intelligent and father is a professor at Uni in Seattle. Trying to make conversation and be a good hostess I asked the daughter what program she was applying too. She said that her parents needed to chill, she wasn’t sure if she would be a lawyer or a “really rich banker or stock person”. Okay. Then she said she needed to have some real world experience first and was going to take a year off to tour Europe. I was pleasantly surprised that that actually sounded like a well thought out plan, should have left it there. I said I always wished I’d done that and was she getting a Eurorail Pass. She looked at me like I had sprung a second head so I explained that Eurorail is an excellent network of high quality trains all over Europe and that a pass gives you unlimited travel for a specific amount of time. Apparently that is gross and only losers take public transit (it wasn’t worth trying to explain the difference), she wasn’t poor or tacky and real Americans drive. Completely avoiding the fact her whole ideology is part of the problem I asked if she was aware of the cost of rental vehicles and gas in Europe. Got another “are you stupid” look and was informed she was planning on driving the new beemer daddy got her for graduation. I may have looked stupid while attempting to process this. Finally I asked if she was aware that Europe was across an ocean. I got the “you are too stupid to live” look and a duh. So I asked how she planned to get the car there. I had to go outside a walk around laughing after she advised me “over the bridge of course”. Do they have a distance scale on US maps? You would like an expensive and prestigious private school might have mentioned oceans are big and not every body of water has a bridge.

When I lived in Chicago (I'm a brit) I was coming home for a vacation, an American lady I worked with asked if I was driving home. I asked her 'How on earth could I drive from the US to the UK' she got huffy and replied 'via Australia of course' Thank God there are intelligent Americans too.

I was talking to an American tourist in a bar in South Africa, and we were served some peanuts by the barman. The American said, "These are so tiny. In Texas our peanuts would be like your melons, cause everything is bigger in Texas". To which I responded, "Yes, including the a*seh*les!"

One good thing about this channel, you'll never run out of material.

It's frightening in the 21st century just how insular America still is. God help us all.

They used to say that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Then we invented America.

In 1991 we, a group of Germans visited the Niagara Falls. Because it was way before 911 we crossed the bridge to get our US-stamp in our Passports. On the US side we went to a restaurant for some lunch. There a waitress (College Student she said) overheard us speaking German and asked where we came from. When she heard that we came from Germany she wouldn't believe us, because "there is a wall all around and no one can get out." After showing her our Passports she went away and later came back saying: "I got you all an extra big Doggy-bag, because you have to drive so long to get home"... We didn't even try to correct her.

Scottish born and bred, but have been living in America now for 30+ years. When I first arrived in Pennsylvania, I was asked by one work colleague if there was a bus I could take home to Scotland FROM Pennsylvania. I was dumbfounded. A few years later I was chatting with some people at a party who were planning a trip through Europe. They had bought a European printed map, but were so confused because they could not find any of the cities they planned to visit on the map, only cities with names like Munchen and Milano etc. I think one of your commentators has it absolutely correct. Two types of Americans - those who are interested in the World at large and other cultures - and those who believe the World IS AMERICA (or it should be.) The SECOND category should really stay home - they will be much happier - as will everyone else in the World.

I’m an Aussie and was told by an American in south west Michigan that my English was very good. I asked why she thought so and she said that Australians spoke German (confusing Australia for Austria I bet). I told her that was not the case but she wouldn’t believe me. Given I can speak German anyway, I spoke to her in German and she went away with her dignity intact. Grüße aus Australien. Tschüss.