Comments on Bannable Offenses: Damned Foreigners...

Reminds me of an old lady I saw recently. She cut...

2009-05-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Reminds me of an old lady I saw recently. She cut off someone who was turning and her car went into a yard or some crap. It was all her fault for being impatient. Yet she gets out of her car and starts yelling at the person she hit.

In the words of the great Forrest Gump: "Stupid is as stupid does."

We used to have a show like that in the UK called ...

2009-05-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

We used to have a show like that in the UK called Lost (and please note this was before the fictional drama series). The idea was a bit more evil though... Take the contestants and put them into two men teams. Blindfold them, drop them in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the world, don't tell them where they are, and tell them to get to Trafalgar Square in London. They have no money, but are given a tent and some survival gear depending on where they drop you. First one back wins some cash and gets to have another go.

I'm disappointed it got cancelled before I could try. Guess one team on the last episode made never made it back...

Lets all complete the stereotype that Americans ar...

2009-05-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

Lets all complete the stereotype that Americans are fat, disgusting pigs whom are shorttempered and can't hold their liquor.

Come on people, you know you have the that one guy down the street that you think is a fucking moron, too.

It's like that for every nation, you just haven't found the right person yet. Generally, Americans are viewed as more radical because we don't give a shit about what other people think (Bad I know, I wish we took a more foreign approach).

So stop being nationalists.

I think they're called "reality shows" because the...

2009-05-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

I think they're called "reality shows" because they're not scripted or staged. Most shows are scripted and staged, game shows are just staged, reality shows are neither.

At least that's my take on it.

And while I do agree that it's really dumb to spaz out at a person in a different country for speaking a different language, I'm fairly certain that every country in the world is supposed to teach their children at least a little bit of English.

Hey. I've been in the US a few times, I'm norwegi...

2009-05-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hey.

I've been in the US a few times, I'm norwegian, and I have to say that most americans have been very polite and nice towards me when I couldn't understand.
So maybe it's ok not speaking english in english talking countries? :P

I sure miss the days when Bannable Offenses was a ...

2009-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

I sure miss the days when Bannable Offenses was a video game blog.

I love TAR, and your blog too, been reading for qu...

2009-05-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

I love TAR, and your blog too, been reading for quite a while.

and yes, it's always the people inthe country, not the racers*, who are idiots.

*There are usually 1 or 2 good teams per race, but most of the suck.

None worse than the Weavers from the (already terrible) Family Edition.

I say their dad jumped in front of that race car to get away from them.

My girlfriend and I love Amazing Race and almost n...

2009-05-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend and I love Amazing Race and almost never miss an episode. We usually DVR it to skip the commercials but when that doesn't work we watch the repeat on the Travel Channel (I'm apparently not literate enough to do the torr.. er... other thing). Those redheads are a trip, but the shoving match two weeks ago was awesome.

You know you are on a show; you know that you are being filmed and that the editors will manipulate the footage to tell whatever story they think might entertain the viewers at home... doesn't it make sense to try to steer them into a heartwarming story like the Father/Daughter team from the last race rather than the "ugly American" that the redheads are getting? Or god forbid that guy who berated his wife the first episode.

he will repeat the exact same thing, just louder e...

2009-04-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

he will repeat the exact same thing, just louder each time.Sean, out of curiousity, did you point out to him how silly this is?

I had a co-worker who did this when a Spanish-speaking customer called in; I called her on it, asking her if she really thought they'd understand *louder* English.

Mind, the company had passed out little cards with such phrases as "Hold on, please, I'll transfer you to our Spanish line" on it, but it never occurred to that wench to use it...

When Square Enix started blocking chinese IPs RMT ...

2009-04-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

When Square Enix started blocking chinese IPs RMT activity fell by only 99% proving that not all RMT are chinese.

I don't watch the show, personally, but I'm never ...

2009-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

I don't watch the show, personally, but I'm never surprised at how stupid Americans can act.

After all, it's hard to be disappointed if you don't have any expectations in the first place.

So the latest episode took place in China, eh? You know what the funny part is, Dave? A good 70% of the people in the background probably sold gil in your game that night.

Now, I'm in no way saying Americans are unique in ...

2009-04-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Now, I'm in no way saying Americans are unique in this, but it does seem that the US has the highest percentage of people who travel to another country with the mindset that they're not the foreigners, the locals are. (Note that I said "seem").

Even the perception of American tourists by locals bears out the statement that they are the worst tourists. My parents once went to Cancun, Mexico on vacation, and when they stopped for a bite to eat at a restaurant, the staff were extremely dismissive of them, not quite rude, but clearly not wanting them there. At least until my mum started speaking in her clearly British accent. Once the staff realized they weren't Americans (we're Canadian in fact, with my mum a naturalized citizen), they were all over my parents giving them tremendous service and such. To top it off, they refused any tips because of their prior behaviour (and if you've been to Mexico you know that in general they work for tips in tourist areas).

Unfortunately I don't have any kind of strong accent, though my friends sometimes tease me that they hear an "aboot" every now and then (of course they lie...), so if I ever travel, I plan to wear some sort of Canadian flag evident on my clothing, like a little shoulder patch or chest lapel.

The funny thing is, I know some Americans who've done that when they travel too, wear a Canadian flag...

I don't travel much, so going to Paris last year w...

2009-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

I don't travel much, so going to Paris last year was difficult for me. I did find one person who spoke English (she was from England). When I told her I was from Toronto, she said, "Well, you're from really far away!" I did a double-take and thought "What do you mean, I'm from far away! I'm from up close, England is really far away!"

That's when it really hit me where I was. 8-)

If someone doesn't travel, it's hard to wrap one's head around the idea that really, yes, you are in a foreign country, away from home, and nothing is the way you expect it any more.

Obviously not excusing being a moron about it, of course. 8-)

2009-04-30T04:22:00.000-07:00

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I love language barriers. I've been to France, Chi...

2009-04-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love language barriers. I've been to France, China, and Italy, and I loved learning enough of the various languages to communicate.

I like the Amazing Race too. I likewise found it ...

2009-04-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

I like the Amazing Race too. I likewise found it funny and annoying. I'm waiting for that team to be kicked off....

Whenever I'm in a foreign country, I get extremely...

2009-04-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Whenever I'm in a foreign country, I get extremely embarrassed when I don't understand what someone is saying. I try my best to speak [insert language here], but I really, really suck at languages. Instead, I'm forced to bow my head and say the one phrase I always manage to memorize(I'm sorry, I don't understand) over and over.

My dad on the other hand, is a different story... if we asks someone who doesn't speak English a question, when they don't know how to respond he will repeat the exact same thing, just louder each time. As if speaking louder will make the language less foreign...

Most people who work in the travel business agree ...

2009-04-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Most people who work in the travel business agree that Americans are the worst tourists in the world for just that reason.