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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 27, 2021 12:32:01 GMT -5
I just ran into these. A couple just checked in and are on the deck waiting for their room. So far, they have bitched about the lack of hard alcohol, the lack of WiFi, the only pool isn’t huge and the fact that their room doesn’t face the sea. They have also bitched that apparently their cellular plan is not working here.
They are only here one day, a last minute check in. They got booted from their previous lodging where their son got married.
They make me embarrassed to be an American.
ETA: I just checked the room rates where they were. $500+/night, and includes nothing. We are paying half that and it includes breakfast and diving.
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Jun 27, 2021 14:26:36 GMT -5
When I have travelled to Europe I try to blend into the scenery and go along for the ride. Sad they don't realize they were visitors in the area.
With any luck, they will go home quickly.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jun 27, 2021 15:20:24 GMT -5
I just ran into these. A couple just checked in and are on the deck waiting for their room. So far, they have bitched about the lack of hard alcohol, the lack of WiFi, the only pool isn’t huge and the fact that their room doesn’t face the sea. They have also bitched that apparently their cellular plan is not working here. They are only here one day, a last minute check in. They got booted from their previous lodging where their son got married. They make me embarrassed to be an American. ETA: I just checked the room rates where they were. $500+/night, and includes nothing. We are paying half that and it includes breakfast and diving. Where are you?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 27, 2021 16:08:49 GMT -5
I just ran into these. A couple just checked in and are on the deck waiting for their room. So far, they have bitched about the lack of hard alcohol, the lack of WiFi, the only pool isn’t huge and the fact that their room doesn’t face the sea. They have also bitched that apparently their cellular plan is not working here. They are only here one day, a last minute check in. They got booted from their previous lodging where their son got married. They make me embarrassed to be an American. ETA: I just checked the room rates where they were. $500+/night, and includes nothing. We are paying half that and it includes breakfast and diving. Where are you? Belize.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jun 27, 2021 16:13:40 GMT -5
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 27, 2021 17:01:05 GMT -5
I agree. We have a room that faces the sea, but I booked it over 2 months ago. They were lucky they got ANY room, as when I booked in April pickings were scarce. They are leaving tomorrow, if they are still here.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Jun 27, 2021 18:41:29 GMT -5
I agree. We have a room that faces the sea, but I booked it over 2 months ago. They were lucky they got ANY room, as when I booked in April pickings were scarce. They are leaving tomorrow, if they are still here. They sound like a perfectly matched set of anchors. Just sayin'.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Jun 28, 2021 21:56:12 GMT -5
Sadly, tourists who act like that make all Americans look like entitled, spoiled brats. Hope you don't need to interact with these people. Vacations are for getting AWAY from folks like that.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Jun 28, 2021 23:00:51 GMT -5
Sadly, tourists who act like that make all Americans look like entitled, spoiled brats. Hope you don't need to interact with these people. Vacations are for getting AWAY from folks like that. There are lots of perfectly fine fun adventureous American travelers. Mitch & TD aren't the only ones. I've always met some when I was out of the US. But yes I hate the whiners, especially when they whine about things they should expect to be as they are.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jun 29, 2021 10:28:47 GMT -5
Sadly, tourists who act like that make all Americans look like entitled, spoiled brats. Hope you don't need to interact with these people. Vacations are for getting AWAY from folks like that. I'm unsure what happened. Who exactly are they bitching to? If it just to each other, I'm not sure what we can say about it. Are they complaining to desk staff or something?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 29, 2021 11:09:21 GMT -5
Sadly, tourists who act like that make all Americans look like entitled, spoiled brats. Hope you don't need to interact with these people. Vacations are for getting AWAY from folks like that. I'm unsure what happened. Who exactly are they bitching to? If it just to each other, I'm not sure what we can say about it. Are they complaining to desk staff or something? They were bitching to me, and each other…..but there was a lot of other people around to hear. They were loud. I was seated at one end of the veranda, them the other and I could clearly hear them. There was a good 20’ between us. What they were bitching about is lack of hard alcohol (it was 10:30 am), the fact that their room wasn’t ready (check in is at 1), the small pool (which is charming). This isn’t a big luxury resort, and we chose it for that AND they have an excellent dive operation.
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Jun 29, 2021 14:13:56 GMT -5
To be fair, no alcohol on vacation would make me kinda cranky too.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 29, 2021 14:38:59 GMT -5
To be fair, no alcohol on vacation would make me kinda cranky too. It’s not that there was no alcohol. No hard liquor and it was 10:30 in the morning. This is a dive resort, most come here to dive and you do not drink before diving.
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Jun 29, 2021 15:19:47 GMT -5
To be fair, no alcohol on vacation would make me kinda cranky too. It’s not that there was no alcohol. No hard liquor and it was 10:30 in the morning. This is a dive resort, most come here to dive and you do not drink before diving. I stand by what I said.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Jun 30, 2021 21:47:56 GMT -5
Around 5 years ago a colleague and his wife went to Italy. Wife shows up at the office to go to lunch with him a couple of weeks after they return and starts complaining to me about their trip. She was upset that everyone they came in contact with didn't speak English. This is the same woman that gave me an earful a year earlier about how people coming to the US should learn our language🙄
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2021 7:37:46 GMT -5
Around 5 years ago a colleague and his wife went to Italy. Wife shows up at the office to go to lunch with him a couple of weeks after they return and starts complaining to me about their trip. She was upset that everyone they came in contact with didn't speak English. This is the same woman that gave me an earful a year earlier about how people coming to the US should learn our language🙄 That is DEFINITELY a pet peeve of mine. It's pretty easy to find people who speak English in major cities in Europe but I never take it for granted. I can speak French and sort of speak German and can read a few other European languages since many of the words are similar but if course it's hard work! I also make an effort to ask in the local language if they speak English and than them if they say they do before continuing in English. Europeans put us to shame when it comes to languages. I used to visit the Brussels office of one employer where the clerical staff spoke to me in lovely English, to each other in Flemish and to other employees in French.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jul 6, 2021 8:05:58 GMT -5
for real. that one boss I hated, I got stuck travelling to France with him for a project. this was a major project that the only reason I was on the team was for my language skills - my 'job' was to listen to all the conference calls, specifically to translate the French chatter in the background and report back to management what was being said about them. I wish I was kidding. another colleague on the trip at least made the effort and would greet people with Bonjour! but my boss would just speak louder English. yes, we were in a big city, but make an effort.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Jul 6, 2021 8:46:53 GMT -5
Granted, I barged in on a tour for England with a local college. The vacation was fine. The issue was, I was told our calling card could be used at the hotels. Instead they asked for a credit card. I did have a harsh discussion with one of the hotel clerks. I didn't get to use that calling card that I paid for.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jul 6, 2021 10:55:40 GMT -5
Granted, I barged in on a tour for England with a local college. The vacation was fine. The issue was, I was told our calling card could be used at the hotels. Instead they asked for a credit card. I did have a harsh discussion with one of the hotel clerks. I didn't get to use that calling card that I paid for. So how was that the hotel clerk’s fault? You were told something that was untrue. Why didn’t you have this discussion with the person who gave you the misinformation? This is like getting mad at the hotel clerk when your credit card is declined. Yeah….this happened to me in Paris while trying to check out. It is now the reason why I will always have backup cards.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jul 6, 2021 11:02:22 GMT -5
Around 5 years ago a colleague and his wife went to Italy. Wife shows up at the office to go to lunch with him a couple of weeks after they return and starts complaining to me about their trip. She was upset that everyone they came in contact with didn't speak English. This is the same woman that gave me an earful a year earlier about how people coming to the US should learn our language🙄 That is DEFINITELY a pet peeve of mine. It's pretty easy to find people who speak English in major cities in Europe but I never take it for granted. I can speak French and sort of speak German and can read a few other European languages since many of the words are similar but if course it's hard work! I also make an effort to ask in the local language if they speak English and than them if they say they do before continuing in English. Europeans put us to shame when it comes to languages. I used to visit the Brussels office of one employer where the clerical staff spoke to me in lovely English, to each other in Flemish and to other employees in French. I speak a little French. I try in France and most times the people take pity on my butchered French and switch to English. We were going to Mont Ste Michele and got turned around. TD sent me into a store to get directions, and the clerk spoke less English than I spoke French. She called her husband out and he translated for me, and helped us out. On the wa6 out, I heard him call us stupid Americans in French. Yeah….we were. And I can easily see it happening in the US to foreigners too.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jul 6, 2021 11:27:58 GMT -5
Around 5 years ago a colleague and his wife went to Italy. Wife shows up at the office to go to lunch with him a couple of weeks after they return and starts complaining to me about their trip. She was upset that everyone they came in contact with didn't speak English. This is the same woman that gave me an earful a year earlier about how people coming to the US should learn our language🙄 That is DEFINITELY a pet peeve of mine. It's pretty easy to find people who speak English in major cities in Europe but I never take it for granted. I can speak French and sort of speak German and can read a few other European languages since many of the words are similar but if course it's hard work! I also make an effort to ask in the local language if they speak English and than them if they say they do before continuing in English. Europeans put us to shame when it comes to languages. I used to visit the Brussels office of one employer where the clerical staff spoke to me in lovely English, to each other in Flemish and to other employees in French. My German boss could speak German, English, French and some Spanish. He said in his experience only Americans took pride in and felt entitled to speak one language and demand others cater to them. I tried in Borneo I picked up a handful of words. Fortunately I found by being a decent polite human being most people switched to English or found someone. Quite a few people were excited to have a native speaker to practice with. I had several conversations with people about America. It's good to get outsider experience. I found to my disappointment most of my college age group did not feel or behave the same way regarding language barriers so I was tempted not to correct people when they asked if I was Australian.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jul 6, 2021 11:37:09 GMT -5
my European colleagues had a joke for us.
Q : what do you call someone who speaks four languages? A : quadrilingual
three? trilingual two? bilingual one? American. 🙄
I mean, generalities and all, but they aren't wrong. 🤷♀️
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2021 12:04:04 GMT -5
My German boss could speak German, English, French and some Spanish. He said in his experience only Americans took pride in and felt entitled to speak one language and demand others cater to them. I once saw a sign in a souvenir shop in North Myrtle Beach: "This shop is owned by and staffed by Americans. Only English is spoken here." The area attracts a lot of Canadian tourists so I assume it was directed mostly at francophones. I was REALLY put off by that. I always think of the perfect response well after the fact but I should have told them, "If I knew only one language I wouldn't put up a sign bragging about it". I had a couple of proud moments form knowing a second language- years ago I was part of a professional disciplinary hearing and we were given BOXES of stuff to review- including some in French because the incident had involved a company in Montreal. The guy under investigation hired a nasty lawyer who looked around the room, which contained all Americans and one francophone Canadian and said, "I bet only ONE of you read the material in French". I raised my hand- I HAD read it all. I also greeted a couple of my colleagues in Zurich when I met them in person for the first time in French since their last names were French- told them that I hoped we could speak French during my visit because it was prettier than German. They just about fell over.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Jul 6, 2021 18:05:48 GMT -5
Around 5 years ago a colleague and his wife went to Italy. Wife shows up at the office to go to lunch with him a couple of weeks after they return and starts complaining to me about their trip. She was upset that everyone they came in contact with didn't speak English. This is the same woman that gave me an earful a year earlier about how people coming to the US should learn our language🙄 That is DEFINITELY a pet peeve of mine. It's pretty easy to find people who speak English in major cities in Europe but I never take it for granted. I can speak French and sort of speak German and can read a few other European languages since many of the words are similar but if course it's hard work! I also make an effort to ask in the local language if they speak English and than them if they say they do before continuing in English. Europeans put us to shame when it comes to languages. I used to visit the Brussels office of one employer where the clerical staff spoke to me in lovely English, to each other in Flemish and to other employees in French. I was a little surprised when she said people in Italy didn't speak English to her because when I was there most spoke English, except for those in remote areas and some of the waitstaff in small local restaurants. I always made the effort to speak Italian. Most appreciated the effort and would speak English once they figured out I was American. My guess is they did not speak English to her because she was an ugly American that thought everyone was supposed to conform to her needs. Honestly, most all those in European countries want is for people to make an effort to speak the language and to be respectful. You do those two things and a person will have no problems because, like you said, most know the English language.
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Jul 6, 2021 18:36:48 GMT -5
I will absolutely admit that I cannot have an off the cuff conversation in French or Spanish but give me something to read in either language and I can keep up. Now I need to go find my French copy of Le Petit Prince for a refresher. In my case, it's not because I don't want to speak the languages but I can't hear the words. Especially when they talk a million words a minute. I took French for 6 years and Spanish for 6 or 7, not sure since some of it was in college.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jul 6, 2021 19:22:05 GMT -5
That is DEFINITELY a pet peeve of mine. It's pretty easy to find people who speak English in major cities in Europe but I never take it for granted. I can speak French and sort of speak German and can read a few other European languages since many of the words are similar but if course it's hard work! I also make an effort to ask in the local language if they speak English and than them if they say they do before continuing in English. Europeans put us to shame when it comes to languages. I used to visit the Brussels office of one employer where the clerical staff spoke to me in lovely English, to each other in Flemish and to other employees in French. My German boss could speak German, English, French and some Spanish. He said in his experience only Americans took pride in and felt entitled to speak one language and demand others cater to them. I tried in Borneo I picked up a handful of words. Fortunately I found by being a decent polite human being most people switched to English or found someone. Quite a few people were excited to have a native speaker to practice with. I had several conversations with people about America. It's good to get outsider experience. I found to my disappointment most of my college age group did not feel or behave the same way regarding language barriers so I was tempted not to correct people when they asked if I was Australian. I have given some thought to why we Americans usually speak only English while most Europeans speak two, three, or four languages. I came to the conclusion that the reason is likely a matter of geography. Consider this. The distance from LA to Washington, DC is about 2,700 miles. If you drove from LA to Washington, you’d experience some regional dialects and regional idioms, but only one language. On the other hand, it is about 1,900 miles from London to Istanbul. Or 1,800 miles from London to Moscow. With a myriad of languages in the countries you’d cross traveling from one city to the other. While we grow up expecting to live our lives in a single language, except for maybe during a vacation every decade or so, European students know that they will probably work with people who speak another language, or regularly vacation in foreign countries. When you can spend $125 to hop the TGV in London and in a couple of hours be in Paris for the weekend, you get a chance to hear and use another language. Second language opportunities are not as readily available in the US.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jul 6, 2021 20:03:14 GMT -5
My German boss could speak German, English, French and some Spanish. He said in his experience only Americans took pride in and felt entitled to speak one language and demand others cater to them. I tried in Borneo I picked up a handful of words. Fortunately I found by being a decent polite human being most people switched to English or found someone. Quite a few people were excited to have a native speaker to practice with. I had several conversations with people about America. It's good to get outsider experience. I found to my disappointment most of my college age group did not feel or behave the same way regarding language barriers so I was tempted not to correct people when they asked if I was Australian. I have given some thought to why we Americans usually speak only English while most Europeans speak two, three, or four languages. I came to the conclusion that the reason is likely a matter of geography. Consider this. The distance from LA to Washington, DC is about 2,700 miles. If you drove from LA to Washington, you’d experience some regional dialects and regional idioms, but only one language. On the other hand, it is about 1,900 miles from London to Istanbul. Or 1,800 miles from London to Moscow. With a myriad of languages in the countries you’d cross traveling from one city to the other. While we grow up expecting to live our lives in a single language, except for maybe during a vacation every decade or so, European students know that they will probably work with people who speak another language, or regularly vacation in foreign countries. When you can spend $125 to hop the TGV in London and in a couple of hours be in Paris for the weekend, you get a chance to hear and use another language. Second language opportunities are not as readily available in the US. That's fair and my boss did concede that point. It's not a given here to learn another language. I know people who have been quite belligerent over the idea it become so. His point was more Americans seem to take it as a point of pride and expect the rest of the world to cater to us. It's especially hypocritical after "you" just got done ranting how America is an English speaking country then bitch in another country that they can't accommodate you. Rude tourists exist in every part of the world and have their own stereotypes. But for whatever reason Americans have emerged as the uber Karens.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jul 6, 2021 20:12:21 GMT -5
I will absolutely admit that I cannot have an off the cuff conversation in French or Spanish but give me something to read in either language and I can keep up. Now I need to go find my French copy of Le Petit Prince for a refresher. In my case, it's not because I don't want to speak the languages but I can't hear the words. Especially when they talk a million words a minute. I took French for 6 years and Spanish for 6 or 7, not sure since some of it was in college. I am pretty good at reading French menues. Bon appétit!
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Jul 6, 2021 20:31:37 GMT -5
My foreign language skills are terrible, but I try...most just take pity on me and speak English if they can. Like Drama said, being a polite person will score you points in most parts of the world.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Jul 6, 2021 21:14:55 GMT -5
I will absolutely admit that I cannot have an off the cuff conversation in French or Spanish but give me something to read in either language and I can keep up. Now I need to go find my French copy of Le Petit Prince for a refresher. In my case, it's not because I don't want to speak the languages but I can't hear the words. Especially when they talk a million words a minute. I took French for 6 years and Spanish for 6 or 7, not sure since some of it was in college. I speak some French but not fluently. Sitting in a meeting with my international colleagues was a Spanish speaker who did not speak English but spoke French, so he spoke French to a colleague who translated to English for him. I understood the Spaniards French almost perfectly. Finally figured out it was because he spoke slower and without slang. My French colleagues, on the other hand, really struggle with southern American accents- but I tell them that a lot of English speaking Americans can’t understand Southerners half the time.
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