good one

bro I've been married for a while and I've been hired from most of my jobs literally because of my smile. It's a bit of a curse, though, looks fade with age and that's an adjustment for sure

Oh wow, a random youtuber AND the bbc. lol

I am not saying it with any type of malice for the USA, if you travel you know that's what conscious Americans used to do. Don't get upset with it. Do I think anyone should feel that they have to do it because of their country / actions taken, no, most people are just average people who will act just fine in another country and and pre-bias should not exist. But unfortunately that is not the case and humans are always quick to judge a book by its cover.

The fact you reacted the way you just did, suggests though that some times general assumptions could be generally right...

In the whole of my life, travels, and the travels of others, I've never heard of someone doing this. If they did, they'd be rightly mocked. Most people just want to get to their destination safely and have a good vacation, want their kids to behave, etc, and don't think about these things.

Depends what you are doing. If you're just an all inclusive beach goer, yeah no one does this. If you're backpacking through parts of the EU, or over in Malaysia its pretty common.

Same with the nomading the fad, its super common to disguise being American.

Also just known as flag jacking.

This post was edited by SBD on Apr 25 2025 09:19am

If indeed people in other countries both fall for it and put stock into it (as in, they're invested in the idea that Canadians actually live up to the politeness/kindness stereotype) then so it goes. I've never heard anyone do it, say other people do it, express a desire to do it, etc. Sounds pretty insecure and pathetic and exclusive to granola hippie leftist Americans. When I go to Japan, Europe, or Hispano-America and know the local geography and history better than the locals, and frequently get compliments on my accent in Spanish, I doubt it matters that my English starts with an American accent. There are scumbags and dumbasses from everywhere. I wonder, if it's so bad to be American, why have I literally never been mistreated abroad, and why does the US have the highest tourism income on Earth?

Honestly I believe that, it is neither because of your intellect nor your character at least.

To stay somewhat on topic: it is huge news that two german girls got detained so long for no reason, which will certainly lead to less travel to the US - especially combined with the travel warning issued a few weeks ago.

You're asking the wrong question. You should be asking why it's a very known thing and still done today frequently. You should not be asking the anecdotal question of why has it never happened to me.

It's not something I am making up, you can feel free to do your own looking online.

And in all honesty, I suspect we will see a significant increase in it again. You can call it leftists, granola, but that's not it. You're a minority when you travel elsewhere, and some countries do legitimately hold negative views of Americans, its just easier to avoid it as in precaution. It's honestly not that different than conforming to local customs, you just go with the flow in the country you are in, and if the view of Americans is negative you pretend to be something else. That's all it is.

And if you cant see why travelers are doing this I could be you are the exact type of person people don't want to be perceived as. Not saying that's true but probably food for thought, it's likely that nuance and social recognition are your strong suit if you had no idea this was a thing.

To each their own, I am not suggesting anyone has to do it, I am just merely saying its a thing and likely to rise again. And to try to dismiss that its not something, well that's a lie.

This post was edited by SBD on Apr 25 2025 10:51am

I’m from Canada, I am not any more “scared” to go to the USA than I was before. I just refuse to go and spend my money there (not that I expect anyone from USA to care). Our closest friend has attacked us on pretty much false information. I will spend my money in Canada and on Canadian products. Trump keeps referencing tariffs Canada has put on USA in the past. They are quota tariffs and have never been met or paid once ever.
Also to talk about the “trade deficit” Trump talks about is a misrepresentation of facts. Of course USA will buy more total dollar value from Canada than Canada does from the USA, there is 10 times more people. Meaning there are 340m americas importing from Canada and only 40m Canadians importing from USA. Of course the total dollar value of imports will be bigger from the 340m people importing. If you look at the trade deficit per capita, Canada is at a massive trade deficit to the USA. Meaning the average Canadian pays more than the average American on imports, way more.
Our economy is so reliant on the USA because of this (we always thought the leader of the USA would be reliant on facts). Not the case anymore, our most trusted friend betrayed us on nonsense. Which is why Canada has to become more self reliant (a good thing).

I’m for healthy debate but people just seem to spout nonsense and just take Trumps words at face value, but are complete nonsense (the attacks on Canada are nonsense anyway)

Have to disagree, No it's not, not when it's negligible in the statistics. It's not there yet