Oh geez, yes. I’ve been asked multiple times if I would take a photo of complete strangers at various landmarks over the last couple of years, using their phones. The photo matters more than what the landmark is/means, I think.
I can recall my parents taking instamatic pix of other families with their cameras at landmarks and tourist attractions and them asking other parents to do the same for us in the early 1960s. This is not new.
Big difference between that, people wanting a memento pic for themselves, and people trying to earn money as “influencers” and TwitFace celebs by showing up at famous landmarks & getting the perfect shot of them looking mahvelous!! while overdressed for the occasion. With zero interest in the place they’re visiting as such. It’s just another revenue stream to try to capture.
These latter are the people the New England towns are pushing back against.
The last straw for me was 5 years ago in Washington DC at the Holocaust Museum. Gaggles of giggling girls (South Asian), going from exhibit to exhibit, taking selfie shots of themselves in front of displays detailing the most hideous thing humans had done to their fellow humans in a thousand years. Never reading the labels or looking at the display. Giggle, snap picture, toddle over to the next exhibit giggling, snap picture never looking at what it was trying to teach, giggle, toddle, snap ad nauseum. I finally had to go to the room of reflections to light a candle and try to empty my heart of the feelings I had towards those giggling selfie girls.
You really gotta give foreigners from radically different cultures a break.
I’m sure I’ve blasphemed an Asian temple or two when I was younger. And not from active contempt, but from passive ignorance. There’s a reason they call it “callow” youth. Plus, across a big enough cultural divide, almost everything is simply incomprehensible emotionally and morally. You might get it intellectually, but only if you spent the time to read up on the culture and the backstory. Which tourists ain’t doin’.
But I can sure see the source for the annoyance.
My Wife and I visited Buchenwald concentration camp. The guide was VERY serious about paying proper respect to the site. Somber and reflection where the words of the day.
You could tell he was sick and tired of people doing stupid shit.
SOUTH Asian? My experience has been this is more an East Asian thing.
Ok, so maybe it was nervous laughter, but
…its the Holocaust we’re talking about, so they shoulda known what it was about! I may have stepped over to them and just shook my head or wagged a finger, like “No! Just no.”
I feel like I should mention, we went to the Anne Frank Museum sometime back in the mid-80s, and there was a school tour group in there of little Dutch kids all running up and down the stairs shouting and laughing. I think I blamed the teachers way more at the time for that.
But, per the situation from the OP, would anyone here consider it fine if the Holocaust museums or Anne Frank’s house admitted only Jewish people?
That’s just a disgusting comparison. What the fuck is wrong with you?
The analogy would be for those places to only admit people who lived near the museum during certain times of the year. I would be fine with me if locals weren’t able to visit because of too many tourists.
ME? What the fuck’s wrong with YOU? It’s a fair question! Either case limits admittance to certain people. If you can’t see that, well, reevaluate yourself!
They are limiting it to locals, not excluding people because of their heritage. If you can’t see the difference, it’s hopeless to try to explain.
Well, THAT went sideways unexpectedly. Let’s get back to that street in Vermont, shall we?
but they won’t let us in
LOL 
Moderating
Hey, this is MPSIMS, not the pit. Knock off the personal attacks.
I think the issue is the rise of selfies. If you just want to see gorgeous scenery and colorful leaves, there are lots of public roads in northern New England, including several interstates, that will provide that. No problem with crowds. But it’s hard to get a good selfie while you are driving 65mph.
Agree. Likes, and whatnot, are like crack for some of these “influencers” (or wannabe influencers), and involve that sweet dopamine hit. Seeing and experiencing [insert thing] is not the goal, it’s being seen with [thing] and having others acknowledge it that’s important - like all the other examples mentioned here.
The cash hit from the ads they host is nice too. For them. “Professional influencer” is a business model with far to many negative externalities to even catalog. Nasty business.
Grandparents wanting to show vacation slides was a huge comedy trope in the 1980’s.
Giant shelves of picture albums with the sticky paper and the plastic was a large part of the 90’s.
The scrapbooking industry was valued at 2.5 billion in 2004.
How many of these people are actually influencers? How many make money? How many are just young people enjoying themselves in a different way and old people complaining?
If the public is maintaining the road for public use. Let the public use the road. If the public only wants the road for a two week period, that’s the most important time to make it available.