Feel free to ignore this post. I'm in one of those moods.
I see how easily the view of the American public can be skewed. We tend to get a bad name and are called: rude, pig-headed, fat, and lazy (just to name a few). Most us us don't fall into this stereotype, but the general rule prevails here. The few, almost always ruin it for the many.
Now all political reasons aside (I'm not here to discuss politics), the general public gets a bad name from the actions of a few bad apples.
Case-in-point 1
I'm at Disneyland with my family, there to celebrate my daughter's birthday. We sit down at the tomorrow land cafe. There is a small stage show getting ready to start. We took a seat at the edge of the cafe, so we could easily see the show.
One table over, a nice looking Asian couple must have had the same idea. They sat, eating their food, while looking over to the stage. The crowd around the area naturally thickened as time drew near to the start of the show. Without warning, a rather large (I'd estimate 400lb) man, walks up and yanks a chair out from under the table where the Asian couple is sitting. They look up a bit confused, and the man barks out, "You guys done eating?" They nod, confused looks still on their faces (I'm not sure they understood the man). The large man whips the chair around and point's at it. Seconds later large teenage boy (presumably the large man's son.) takes the chair. The large man starts yelling and making obnoxious waving motions for the rest of his family, to come sit at the table.
The poor Asian couple, who were still snacking on their french fries, ended up having to share their table now with a family of rather large, pushy individuals.
I could not believe the audacity of that family. I personally, would never attempt to take over a table that someone was sitting at. I don't care how close they were to being done with their food. That was rude beyond all belief! No wonder we get labeled as rude and pushy.
They weren't the only ones who got squished in by obnoxious people though. A group of chatty teenagers stood behind our table, mocking the stage actors during the whole show.
Case-in-point 2
Later that day, (actually make that all day long in every single ride we stood in line for. There were so many instances of this) we noticed how little parents pay attention to their children. They don't do a thing to teach them about personal space or respecting other peoples personal space.
The Disney princess line was a great example. In this example, I'd estimate the child's age at 8-9 and the mother's age at 35-40. The line was at least an hour long and I spent it getting knocked in the back, butt, legs, and side, while this kid behind me fidgeted. What is mom doing you might wonder? She's chatting on the phone the whole time, oblivious to the annoying actions of her daughter.
That was the longest hour of my life. I'm standing there watching out for my own kid, hoping she doesn't annoy the person in front of us. All the while, about one more 'bump' away from turning around and smacking the snot out of the kid behind me. I was very close to yelling at the mom. "Teach your friggen kids to stand still. Respect the people around you."
The kid in the princess line wasn't the first, nor the last of the day. By the end of the day I was ready hurt the next person who bumped into me. I can just imagine the view foreigners get of us, Kids running amok whole mommy and daddy are on the cell phones.
Lastly, In walking and driving, people really need to open their eyes and watch where they are going. (I'm no saint here either, so I should take a good dose of my own advice here.) In the park, we almost got run into too many times to count. An my poor little munchkin, she's just a nugget. A few people almost stepped on her. Grrrrr! I thought it would be over after we left the park, but no! On the drive back from Cali to Vegas, we almost got run off the road by a guy trying to merge into our lane without looking.
Thankfully we made it home safe and sound and, despite my gripes we did have a good time. I do see now how easily people can get a bad image of us. Disney is an attraction that welcomes people from all over the globe. Sometimes those foreigners only see America once. In that short time, think of the examples they are seeing. My examples come from just 1 day in the park. I think I would have a pretty bad picture of society after seeing a week or more of this.
Just my two cents.
If you made it to the end, thanks! I promise, I'll be in a better mood the next time I post.
