Mexicans, and I’m guessing people in many other countries, have a way of recognizing American tourists from the moment they are heard saying, “Hey, how ya doin’?”
As an American, I can vouch for the following behaviors often seen from many of my countrymen and women. (Observations taken from several foreign sources.)
1. When Americans abroad introduce themselves they never say they’re from the United States. More often, they start with the city they’re from. “Hola, señor, I’m from Charlotte’s Bend, just north of Clarenceville.” What? Americans think everyone in the world has heard of their hometown. (And surely visited Charlotte’s Bend.)
2. Americans readily open up to strangers and try to make conversation with everyone -- restaurant servers, cashiers, cab drivers, retail workers, even strangers on the street. Most cabbies abroad couldn’t care less about Americans jawing on about being unable to “find a sweater made of natural fibers or running shoes at 4E width-size.”
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