I spy an American
Zachary Faria
A viral Reddit prompt asked foreigners for obvious signs that someone is an American. The answers were as patriotic as you would expect.
Among them, foreigners cited the American need to put ice in our water. Unlike our European brethren, we Americans don’t pretend to enjoy room-temperature water. Other users cited backward baseball caps, sunglasses on the top of one’s head, respecting personal space, and leaning on things when standing still. Americans are also recognizable for tipping staff.
Convenience, casualness, and common courtesy: Those are the three C’s of spotting an American overseas.
Another user relayed that an Italian once said, “Americans walk confidently in the wrong direction.” It’s a humorous picture and likely one that many Europeans agree with. But Americans also walk confidently in the right direction, regardless of the circumstances in front of them.
The jokes about America walking confidently into two world wars would be easy, but even now, America frequently walks confidently in the right direction. It is not America that is arresting people over mean tweets. We walked confidently into allowing freedom of speech over 200 years ago and have hardly looked back. Perhaps we walk confidently because we know we’re the ones on the right path, even if we take a wrong turn every so often.
That American spirit runs deep, and it is no surprise that the hue of red, white, and blue is visible to foreigners wherever they may be. If you were the standard-bearer for one of the greatest concepts in the world, your patriotism would be visible too. Ice water really is that good, and that freedom of speech thing isn’t all that bad, either.