50 Ridiculous American Internet Comments That Deserved To Get Roasted

Learning to respect other cultures doesn’t happen overnight. It requires dedication, open-mindedness, and a willingness to acknowledge your own biases and knowledge blind spots. Traveling abroad, doing research about other countries’ histories, and talking to people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives can help broaden your mind. As a rule of thumb, if you can recognize that you’ve said some dumb things in the past, it shows that you’re maturing and that your self-awareness is growing

When traveling, it’s not enough to put on a silly tourist hat, grab your camera, and enjoy the sights. It’s best to go abroad with empathy and curiosity, instead of demanding the rest of the world conform to your expectations and assumptions.

It’s very likely that you’ve personally witnessed some awful, disrespectful tourist behavior in your home country. Meanwhile, it’s probably also safe to say that you’ve also met foreigners who were kind, friendly, and respectful of both your culture and other travelers.

According to Go Abroad, you should strive to minimize the amount of bad tourist behaviors. In short, you have to be mindful of the local community, as well as the environment and wildlife.

For example, this can be as simple as not being noisy at night or respecting local religious traditions.

It should be common sense, but seeing as it’s in particularly short supply these days, it’s important to remember not to litter or damage landmarks. Not only is this immoral behavior, but depending on the country, you can get in some serious legal trouble, too.

Furthermore, during your travels, try to avoid taking part in activities that exploit other people or animals.

Meanwhile, becoming a better tourist is definitely possible with a bit of effort. You might not change how others perceive you, but you can ensure that you’ve done everything that you can to be respectful.

The first thing you should do is focus on research about the place you’ll be visiting. Read up on the local culture, customs, traditions, laws, and religions. Go through other travelers’ accounts about the challenges they faced. The more time you spend on research, the better prepared you’ll be. Of course, we all make mistakes eventually, but at least you’ll have a solid foundation for your trip.

Go Abroad also suggests eating, shopping, and staying locally for a more authentic experience. On top of that, you’ll also end up supporting local businesses and, potentially, save money.

In the meantime, broaden your horizons and visit other places aside from must-see, super popular touristy destinations.

“When possible, try traveling more off-the-beaten path or visiting a destination in the off season. Slow travel also helps one discover a place and its culture more meaningfully.”

The Guardian also stresses that slow tourism can be a great idea.

“Slow tourism is about spending more time in a destination, engaging in the local culture and getting to know local people,” Dr. Peter Robinson, the head of the Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management at Leeds Beckett University, told The Guardian. You could mix things up and go to the countryside instead of only visiting major cities.

Some of the screenshots that we’re featuring today have been shared by members of the popular ‘[Stuff] Americans Say’ subreddit. This is an online community that was founded all the way back in early 2013.

At the time of writing, this group boasts 391k members, or, as the moderators jokingly and ironically call them, ‘commie socialists.’ Meanwhile, currently online members are wittily referred to as ‘hating freedom.’

These are both sarcastic comments about how some Americans have incredibly biased, non-factual, bizarre perspectives about life in European countries.

As the ‘[Stuff] Americans Say’ moderators point out, the entire point of their community is to focus on satire and humor. There’s no room for hate. “This is not a place to bring your hatred of Americans or America – we like to keep things friendly and toxic attitudes are not welcome.”

Meanwhile, you shouldn’t post any online conversations that you’re a part of. Similarly, you shouldn’t bait or troll other internet users just to get fodder for screenshots.

On top of that, the mods stress that you shouldn’t automatically assume that someone is an American because they “said something silly or they messed up geography.”

They also encourage their members to avoid low-hanging fruit. Certain topics are only allowed to be discussed in a weekly thread. Furthermore, it’s best to focus on more lighthearted posts.

Which of these comments made you cringe and facepalm the hardest? Meanwhile, which of the roasts did you find to be the most satisfying?

From your perspective, what could be done to improve education, no matter what country we’re talking about? Meanwhile, what do you think your biggest knowledge blind spots have been in the past? Tell us all about it in the comment section at the very bottom of this list.