Brits: how much do you hate Americans

[Trilby]

speaking of which----did you see the Simpson's episode where Abe was the father of a female Homer only she was born of an English woman during WWII?
Homer said it all when he declared to the Queen that we are England's children and so is Canada---though, Canada has never had a boyfriend, I'm just sayin'...

[OnyxCougar]

Woohoo!! My family was born and raised Manchestarian, but my Aunt, Uncle and their children went to Paignton, and I spent several months there in my teenage years. It was gorgeous!! They owned a B&B in Torquay. I found the people MUCH friendlier in The tri-cities region than Cambridgeshire.

[DanaC]

Ahhh Manchester, my spiritual home. I am originally of Mancunian stock but have defected over the border to Yorkshire. I now live in the foothills of the Peninne Mountains.

Catwoman, that list of beers reads like my perfect saturday night :P Add a large glass of Waggledance and I am in seventh heaven. The area you visited is gorgeous ! If you ever find yourself on this side of the Pennines again I can heartily recommend a walk around Gordale Scar and a visit to Bolton Abbey ( 12th century semi intact and still used abbey)

One of the things I adore about Yorkshire ( and Lancashire come to think about it) are the placenames. You can really see the Danish heritage in the names.

Onyx, people in Cambridgeshire dont like foreigners .....by foreigners I mean people not from Cambridgeshire. :P Or perhaps I am being unfair.....maybe that's my own prejudice ...... Being born in the north gives one an innate disdain for southerners and vice versa:P Unless we're in the company of strangers at which point we unite in our xenophobia

[melidasaur]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Onyx, people in Cambridgeshire dont like foreigners .....by foreigners I mean people not from Cambridgeshire. :P Or perhaps I am being unfair.....maybe that's my own prejudice ...... Being born in the north gives one an innate disdain for southerners and vice versa:P Unless we're in the company of strangers at which point we unite in our xenophobia

The only people I know in Cambridgeshire are foreigners... in fact, most people who live in Cambridge proper are foreign.

[jaguar]

Phew, while since I've been here. Never seen anything like that article but I've seen plenty of full of it half pissed yanks getting verbally bitchslapped after mouthing off in some of the city's better bars, always a good laugh.

The amount of brits here seems to be going though the roof.

Originally Posted by jaguar

Phew, while since I've been here. Never seen anything like that article but I've seen plenty of full of it half pissed yanks getting verbally bitchslapped after mouthing off in some of the city's better bars, always a good laugh.

The amount of brits here seems to be going though the roof.

London or the Cellar? Good to see you, Jag!

[DanaC]

Yeah! Hi Jag!

[jaguar]

Cellar, I'm sick of London already and I haven't even managed to bribe a BT engineer to connect my phoneline before the sun starts expanding and swallowing the earth in a firey demise.

Originally Posted by jaguar

Cellar, I'm sick of London already and I haven't even managed to bribe a BT engineer to connect my phoneline before the sun starts expanding and swallowing the earth in a firey demise.

See? Switzerland wasn't as bad as you thought. I am eagerly awaiting a return reply on my asylum request from my Aunt just in case things go sour in November. So how do you get on the Net? Broadband? Cable? The University?

[jaguar]

Net cafes and uni for now, broadband whenever BT get sorted. London's good fun but the weather is going to get me down. Good luck with the asylum, there's a referendum about to come up over easing up citizenship requirements that looks like passing, I"m sure they'll be willing to take skilled political refugees.

[CzinZumerzet]

Not at all Toad to answer your leading question, phrased a bit like the infamous 'Are you still beating your wife?' I hooted when I read that article which is, and take it from a Londoner, tripe and onions from start to finish. People on London busses DO NOT JOIN IN ANYTHING. Ever. I was in London this past weekend and went shopping with a friend in the Greenwich Craft Market, five minutes walk from the Cutty Sark dry dock. We went for lunch in the Meeting House restaurant and shared a table with a delightful family on holiday from Chicago who told us they were having the holiday of a lifetime and only wish they had made it here before. They were bowled over by the friendly reception they have recieved wherever they've been. I was there having this conversation, I think the article you pointed us to Toad is bunkum. Prats writing and publishing trouble making crap like that, are trying it on. On a recent TV programme here an American comedian said that the moment it suits the people of the US to stop needing an English theme park the US will nuke the UK as practice. We know it's rubbish and it got a laugh. I personally suggest you ignore the other piece.

[BobfromAmerica]

Hello to all the good people of Britain. So sad to see so much hatred on this and other u.k. boards I have read. Regarding the London Guardian e-mail campaign in Ohio and the nasty replys by many people I can only say please do not judge all americans by the statements of a few idiots. Safe to say that despite our many differences over the Iraq war(I am a republican and support the war ,while most brits do not) the majority of americans,myself included, have always felt love and respect for the british people. Bush will probably be re-elected for reasons other than the war.(taxes,farm policy, jobs,etc.) so please don't think we americans have all lost our minds.While Bush is far from perfect, John Kerry is an absolute joke. As a member of the u.s. senate for the past 20 years he has done little to nothing and during the campaign has changed his position on every issue almost daily,and don't even get me started on his loud mothed wife! Imagine what the Heinz family must have thought when John Heinz brought that piece of work home to meet the family! Well,I've rambled on long enough,just wanted to let you all know that not all americans are jerks,most of us DO realize what a great and true friend we have in Britain,and we thank you for your friendship. I hope to visit your beautiful country someday. God bless and peace to all in the u.k.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by BobfromAmerica

I can only say please do not judge all americans by the statements of a few idiots.

For those citizens of the UK and other nations who frequent this (American based) board, I would like to second this sentiment.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by BobfromAmerica

I am a republican and support the war ,while most brits do not) the majority of americans,myself included, have always felt love and respect for the british people. Bush will probably be re-elected for reasons other than the war.(taxes,farm policy, jobs,etc.) so please don't think we americans have all lost our minds.

I'm too tired to rant. For someone oozing love and respect, he certainly has a thoughtful opinion of Senator and Mrs. Kerry. He sounds like Rush Limbaugh when he's off his meds.

[Catwoman]

Originally Posted by BobfromAmerica

So sad to see so much hatred on this and other u.k. boards I have read.

What hatred? I don't know a single brit on this board that has spouted hatred. Frustration is probably a better word. Can you not understand our contempt at your support of an unashamedly homophobic, trigger happy president that justifies war with rhetoric and does not understand the crucial paradox of a 'war on terror'? And your reasons for voting Dubya? Tax cuts? "Homeland security"? God that's selfish. You support war? You wouldn't if it was happening in your back yard. Your childrens' heads blown off because Iraq is scared of you. The only reason you support the war Bob is because you believe it will make the world safer, you've fallen for the rhetoric. It's not safe in Iraq. Or does that not count as 'the world'? Is America the world?

I would say the same to any Brit that supports the war. I would say the same to Tony Blair. Unfortunately Brits can't vote against Bush, but you can. That's why I may feel more frustration towards you than a fellow Brit.

Now, the above is not directed towards all Americans, but to you, personally, based on your post. By supporting Bush you are helping to perpetuate that stereotype you so protest - that American's are selfish, scared, patriotic, ignorant.

But hang on one second. Who can blame you for being ignorant if all the information you have access to is spun sugar from a president bleeting the buzz words of success and safety? And you are no different to us here in England that are fed exactly the same lines, just through a stiff upper lip rather than rousing hyperbole.

I think what the British don't like is that you are honest about your pride in your country, your desire for more money/less tax, your American dream. We're just more discreet, we vote Tory sorry New Labour because it provides the best deal for ME. We're all the same.

So how can I accuse you of being ignorant, selfish? I am just the same. I don't know anything about war yet I oppose it; I've never been to America yet I think I know it's people. I have a lot to learn.

But at the same time, there is something that just feels wrong about war, about pain. Of course, survival of the fittest - you would kill rather than be killed, we all would. But what if the threat is not real? The other guy's gun is not loaded, he just says it is. What if he just wants your attention, wants to be heard, and this is the only way he knows how?

Do you still shoot, even though you don't know?

I think, sadly, the answer is yes. Which is why we will always have wars, unless we start listening to each other. The words peace and understanding are over-used but I think applicable here.

So we don't hate Americans. I don't hate Americans. I hate war, fascism (for want of a better word) and people who do not listen. Your government has a habit of all of the above, and your implicit support of this is what some Brits (and other countries) may protest. Do you understand?