I’m curious: Did you correct them?
It depended on what they were saying, and just how irritated I was at the time. Sometimes I did.
People who don’t do even a minimum amount of research about the place they are going, and go out of their way to fulfill that image as “The Ugly American”.
Sorry, but when you cross the border, you’re in another country, one with its own traditions and laws. Contravene the law and we’ll let you know, and your protests of “You can’t do that to me, 'cause I’m an Amurricun” won’t cut any ice at all.
Learn at least the basics when you come to Canada. Look at a freakin’ map and understand that our country is much bigger than yours, and that going from Winnipeg to Toronto is going to be at least the same distance as driving from Bismarck, ND to Detroit, MI, and no, you can’t get there in a day’s drive. Learn that we have Provinces and not States, and that all those stereotypes you’ve heard aren’t true – not everyone speaks French, and we’re not all engaged in lumberjacking or whaling, and that red-coated Mounties will only be seen ceremonially.
Of course, it’s also the same whenever Americans go elsewhere – for some reason, they like to look so touristy.
It’s twenty years ago, and I’m sitting in the basement bar of the Dergvale Hotel in the north end of Dublin, drinking a Guinness. In come this guy and his wife, both wearing brand new Aran sweaters.
I look over at them and say, “So what part of the States are you from?”
Mr. Aran Sweater says to me, “How could you tell? I hadn’t even said anything yet.”
“Just a lucky guess.” I said to him, “just a lucky guess”.
Of course, what I wanted to say was “You’d have to be an American, because only an American or a total doofus would wear a brand new Aran sweater outside today when the temperature is in the high 60s…”
Tourists eating all the local food. Ah, memories.
There’s a little town where I go to be a tourist for at least one long weekend per year. It almost feels like a 2nd home to me. There’s this tiny dilapidated shack on the main strip that has some of the freshest seafood you can get. Many times I’ve seen lobsters come off the boat and go right into a pot. There’s no seating inside (no room!), but in the alley out back there are maybe six tiny tables. If none of those are available then you’re stuck eating on the dock.
One day two buses pulled up about a block away and approximately one billion Chinese tourists got out. This was when we thinking “Hey, let’s get a couple of lobsters at that little shack and eat then out back.” Nope. No such luck. The entire population of China had beaten us to it. They not only got every lobster, but of course took up all the tables, and of course had no idea how to consume this exotic food.
Kind of annoying, but there were other places to eat.
This past year I mentioned it to the owner. He said it happens several times a year. They come all the way from Boston for the express purpose eating a lobster and then go right back. The owner has tried to get the bus driver to call ahead so he can prepare, but the bus driver never does.
Oh, another one about San Francisco. You do NOT need a car. Fleet Week is the worst - it seems like everyone rents a car then spends the weekend driving around expecting to find one of the available parking places, of which there are few. Then they give up and block my driveway.
You have my deepest sympathy, especially in the autumn.
Serious question: You find that Americans seem to be the only tourists that dress inappropriately?
I tend to be more confused than annoyed at the tourists who have to stop in the middle of the sidewalk to take pictures of pigeons. Really? they’re that unusual? This goes along with my amazement at how few people seem to know how to operate elevators, escalators or revolving doors (I sometimes get the feeling that the only place in the world with pigeons and revolving doors is Chicago, and that’s why people visit.)
Are you sure these weren’t Europeans? Any Americans who’ve done a cross-country road trip know full well how long it takes (seemingly decades to get through Nebraska). Europeans, on the other hand, don’t quite get that you can’t pop down from San Francisco to LA for lunch.
It wasn’t “inappropriate” as far as not being dressed right for the conditons, but it was the fact that they were wearing local costume that isn’t typically local but is typical of that sold to tourists. If it were County Mayo instead of Dublin, I could perhaps understand the situation especially if it was raining outside.
No, I’m sure that they weren’t Europeans. I do know what you speak of, the fact that it’s pretty mind-boggling for Europeans to find out that you can drive for hours in Northwestern Ontario, for example, and see nothing but trees, lakes, and rock cuts. In Europe, in the same distance, you can easily pass through twenty or thirty towns in the same distance.
I had a friend that worked Customs in Fort Frances, Ontario, which for all extensive purposes is pretty much the middle of the continent as far as border checkpoints are concerned. One guy asked him if he could get to Montreal from there before dinnertime.
The other thing that is amusing to the point of being stupid is those large numbers of Americans that show up at the border in the middle of July with ski racks on the roofs of their cars expecting to hit the slopes as soon as they cross the line, because we all know that Canada is the land of ice and snow, right?
Nonsense. Toursits not researching the weather is boon to the city. Shivering tourists buying sweatshirts is July may be single-handedly keeping all those little shops in Chinatown afloat. They ought to just add the cost to the airline fee and hand them out at the airport.
Fair point. But in the spirit of the OP, it still annoys me.
Even though I’ve never lived in New Orleans, I’m going to presume to speak for them: The French Quarter is not an amusement park. Actual people live and work there, and while they expect and appreciate your presence, they don’t appreciate your using their front door as a urinal or vomit receptacle.
Speaking as a Chicagoan who tends to go to San Francisco in February/March - I almost think I prefer the cold of Chicago at that time. That nasty wet chill in SF is really obnoxious.
By not spending enough money in my store. 
I’ve only ever been a tourist to DC, but I’ve lived in cities. Cities with escalators and subways. I am famaliar with “walk left, stand right” and I am annoyed right there with you when I visit.
During my first year in college, my dorm room was directly across the street from an architectural landmark. Every Saturday morning, the tour guide would be under my window. I can’t say whether the info was correct, because this caused me to never visit said landmark.
When I lived around DC, this was a bit of a problem, but for the most part people did follow the rule and stand on the right. Here in Chicago, EVERYBODY stands still and blocks the whole escalator.
Another DC native. Some of my subsequent homes were also tourist destinations: Boone, NC and, currently, Ft. Myers, FL. In all three places, my complaint was the same: stop clogging up every form of transportation! By foot, car, or plane, they manage to get in the way in every way. The DC stuff has been covered better by others. In Boone, the “Floridiots” (who are really snowbirds on the northern half of their life) clog up the narrow, twisty mountain roads at 35 MPH at best. The leaf gawkers in the fall were bad too, but they were for only two or three weekends a year and they dumped a lot of cash quickly into the local economy. Then I became a Floridiot and now spend my winters with these snowbirds. They still clog things up but it’s generally not nearly as bad since the Florida roads are wide, multi-laned affairs that allow one to pass the slow, elderly folk. It’s only when going to the beach that it’s a real bitch. So I avoid the beach in the winter.
New England here. Yes, the leaves are absolutely stunning in autumn. But the road you’re driving on is only one lane in each direction and most of it is no passing, Mr. Leaf Peeper. Can’t you see the line of 40 cars stuck behind you? For the love of Baby Jesus, please stop driving 35 mph in a 55 mph zone! Some of us have to get to work! Pull the fuck over and let people pass already!