# Approaching foreign tourists- rude? helpful? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approaching-foreign-tourists-rude-helpful/497484 "2009-05-24T19:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approaching-foreign-tourists-rude-helpful/497484/21 "2009-05-28T05:24:00Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Right idea, wrong message; there’s a good chance these “French” tourists are from Québec, so welcoming them “to America” could come across as somewhat arrogant (Québeckers like to accuse everyone else of being arrogant; it’s kind of assholish of us!). I wouldn’t be insulted by being welcomed “to America”. That’s how Americans call their country. In French, “en Amérique” is less common, but apparently that’s what the French call the US. I still probably wouldn’t consider it arrogant if the person is friendly. I don’t consider myself an asshole, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approaching-foreign-tourists-rude-helpful/497484/22 "2009-05-28T10:45:57Z")
I work just a couple of blocks away from the National Mall in DC. I often encounter tourists who have wandered the wrong way and I help them, because then they go away more quickly. Of course, nothing makes them go away more quickly than mowing them down with an machine gun as they waddle off the bus. 😃 (folks who live/work in heavily touristed areas will probably get this) Seriously, I like to be helpful and meet people. No, really. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approaching-foreign-tourists-rude-helpful/497484/23 "2009-05-28T19:28:02Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > I wouldn’t be insulted by being welcomed “to America”. That’s how Americans call their country. In French, “en Amérique” is less common, but apparently that’s what the French call the US. I still probably wouldn’t consider it arrogant if the person is friendly. > > I don’t consider myself an asshole, sorry. But Québeckers don’t call it “en Amérique”, they call it “aux États-Unis” (IME), and I certainly do know people that would, at the least, have a “WTF?” reaction to being welcomed to “Amérique”. I wouldn’t be insulted, but it would still come across as somewhat arrogant, or perhaps just a little clueless - which means that I’d be judging the well-meaning person, and that’s assholish, IMHO. Perhaps I went too far in generalizing that to all Québeckers, but based on conversations/travel stories with friends and family, it’s something a lot of us are guilty of (and my poor writing skills didn’t convey the sarcasm that I intended - I think any group of people can be guilty of this!). Sorry if you took that as an insult, as it certainly wasn’t meant to be one. Just a little self-deprecating commentary, really. This is why I lurk :smack: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approaching-foreign-tourists-rude-helpful/497484/24 "2009-05-29T04:15:58Z")
Oh, nothing personal, **mnemosyne**. I’d just been debating on another board and I was a bit annoyed. No, I don’t take it as an insult. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approaching-foreign-tourists-rude-helpful/497484.md?page=1)