by "Svend" (svend)
Published 03/24/2017 at 15:12
by "Svend" (svend)
Published 03/24/2017 at 15:12
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STARS: 0
I’m watching Treehouse Masters and there is a family in LA that want an Irish cottage treehouse. Because, ‘I’m 33% Irish by birth and 100% Irish by heart and used to go to Ireland with my grand-pa to learn our heritage’. Husband and child wearing ‘Ireland’ T-Shirts (because hey, nobody will know were Irish unless we write it on everything.
Oh and of course they want shamrock green inside and ‘water to come out because it always rains in Ireland and it never rains here’.
Do these people not know how it makes many Irish and Scottish people cringe when they do the, ‘I’m Irish/Scottish because my ancestors six generations ago were Irish/Scottish’.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/24/2017 at 15:17, STARS: 5
It’s always funny when the melting pot bemoans its homogeneity, while at the same time perpetuating stereotypes and scorning those who still have intimate ties to their unique cultures.
And by “funny,” I mean “fucking sad.”
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
03/24/2017 at 15:20, STARS: 1
This is almost a uniquely American thing, for some reason. I
’
m 25% Croatian, which is my nearest
“
old country
”
ancestry. I never in a million years would walk around saying
“
I
’
m Croatian!
”
But when you get a big expat subculture together somewhere (or even their children and grandchildren), it changes because people are tribal by nature. It
’
s the same as cheering for a sports team, IMO. But weirder. And it
’
s multiplied by 10 if you
’
re an extreme minority, like my neighbor flying an Irish flag outside his house. Which is especially weird because almost all of the long
-
time Southern Americans are from Scottish and Irish families. We just don
’
t even recognize it
—
that was 10+ generations ago for most people.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
03/24/2017 at 15:21, STARS: 2
it’s the lack of national cultural identity here in america that drives these people to cling to a sense of cultural and national heritage pride of their ancestors. I can’t stand the whole “I’m ____ american.” no you’re fucking american with ancestors from another country and half the shit you cling to as your heritage would probably make any one from you so called home land cringe. Unless your FOB or your parents where you’re just a fucking american. UGh. so rest assured it drives american just a bat shit as it does you guys. I know the pain first hand coming from an “ italian american” family.. My great grandparents came over and my grandfather was birthed on the boat.. But I’m not Italian, my mother might be able to claim Italian american since her parents were FOB my grand mother was board abroad but migrated at 2 years old.. but not me! I’m just american.
"Tekamul" (tekamulburner)
03/24/2017 at 15:25, STARS: 1
Eh, I would think a portion of that is being played up for the cameras and coming directly from the producers. Reality TV has very little reality in it.
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
03/24/2017 at 15:28, STARS: 1
America is a strange place. Everyone is American but we’re all something else at the same time. We cling to our roots just as tightly as other people and a large amount of traditions came from wherever we came from and continue on to this day so an association with heritage is all well and good.
These people are fucking crazy though. I’ve got more Irish blood than him and I don’t own any Ireland shirts and I only bring it up if I’m in a discussion about heritage.
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
03/24/2017 at 15:29, STARS: 1
Groannnnn..... It’s okay to be Irish on St. Patrick’s day but butchering the culture in the name of capitalism is kind of sickening.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 15:35, STARS: 0
Oh no. We see it all the time just north of the border in Scotland. Going to Gretna and other ell known places where they want to, ‘track their Scottish roots, because we’ve always known we were Scottish through and through’.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
03/24/2017 at 15:36, STARS: 2
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OMG soo much this. My grandfather gave us all Italian flags when he went a few years ago.. my fucking sister flies her’s but doesn’t fly an american flag. Mine hangs on the wall in my man cave in the basement because it takes up other wise bare wall space. I could never imagine flying that flag in front of my house though...
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 15:38, STARS: 0
Surely they can hear the eyes rolling back as they talk to someone about being Irish or Scottish s they stand there in their awfully made kilts and try and say some greatly over pronounced words that bare no relation to anything, anywhere, ever.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
03/24/2017 at 15:41, STARS: 1
Saddly I don’t think they do.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 15:42, STARS: 0
On this side of the pond it’s so cringeworthy.
The number of people who convince a haggis is an ancient wild Scottish rodent that you can hunt. We even make it easy for them to catch us out by telling them that most died out because they had one leg longer on one side than the other and often fell off the hills as they walked round the steep slopes.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 15:45, STARS: 0
It’s even worse when you see them try and recreate the activities and folks songs.
It’s bad enough seeing them do it on TV across the pond but when you see them near your house in a car park somewhere singing an old song that no one has ever heard of.
It’s embarrassing and you can only turn around and walk away.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/24/2017 at 15:45, STARS: 1
Counterpoint: my Pakistani lawyer friend whose bf is a born-in-Ireland, Irish-passport-holding Irishman.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
03/24/2017 at 15:46, STARS: 1
I remember hearing that story many, many years ago...in fact, most Americans today might know what haggis is (a bunch of crap boiled in a sheep stomach), but the old fairy tale is rare. I always heard it as “they easy to hunt because they can only run uphill — just chase them to the top!” I partially benefited from my parents’ living in NZ among lots of diverse US and UK expats in the 70s, right before I was born (back in the US). My childhood was an interesting mix of Commonwealth-based cultural blends.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 15:47, STARS: 0
So true.
I can’t imagine what other Americans think when they see them dressed up and singing songs but it’s embarrassing as hell to watch when they come over here to do it.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
03/24/2017 at 15:50, STARS: 2
But I
’
m sure you have an
“
I
”
sticker in an oval on the back of your car, right? RIGHT? (Italian
-
Americans are arguably the worst about literally saying
“
I
’
m Italian!
”
when it
’
s just their last name, thanks to their great great grandpa). Honorable mention goes to ANY person claiming 1/16 (or less) native American heritage, usually saying
“
I
’
m part Cherokee!
”
or whatever. Ask them the actual name of the nation before the name was Anglicized. Blank stare. Don
’
t really do this, it
’
s a dick move. In real life, I
’
m very calm about this, I just treat it like the sports team analogy. If you want a chuckle, go look up comedian Mike Birbiglia on what it means to be
“
An Olive Garden Italian
”
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 15:56, STARS: 0
Oh hell no. Lol.
If your trying to impress an Irish guy, take him to an Irish pub, that doesn’t have a neon lit Shamrock in the window or on the wall. That or take him to a pub where the beer is good and cheap. Lol.
But honestly, be yourself and don’t talk about U.S. or Irish politics, etc...
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 16:01, STARS: 0
I thought in many states you weren’t allowed to fly a foreign flag unless the American one was also flying and if only one flag pole, the American flag has to fly above it.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/24/2017 at 16:04, STARS: 1
She did that was for St. Patrick’s Day and meant it to be ridiculous.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
03/24/2017 at 16:08, STARS: 0
we burn flags for fun.. no one cares. about proper flag etiquette..
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 0
Cool.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
03/24/2017 at 16:13, STARS: 0
omg truth. they really are the worst. I’ll watch that later after work!
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 16:13, STARS: 0
Really. America is known for it’s flag pride and that burning one is a massive no-no.
In the U.K. if we see someone on the news in a foreign country burning a union flag, we go, ‘ look at that little shit, that’s our flag, actually, well it’s his flag, he bought it, that prick is burning his own money, what an idiot’. Lol.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
03/24/2017 at 16:15, STARS: 1
Oh no.. that’s just when it’s politically adventurous to shout that all over the news.. other wise it’s not true.. remember the media doesn’t really represent like 93% of people in this country at any given time. it does us no favors as a country really.. like the reasons people hate us are mostly bullshit our media shows, which again never represents the truth or actual facts of any situation.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/24/2017 at 16:15, STARS: 1
This will really piss you off. I took this photo in a neighborhood in Phoenix, AZ. I have no idea.
Maybe some old IRA hitman hiding out in the desert.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 16:21, STARS: 0
Actually. I find it very funny. Lol.
Dear god.
"PotbellyJoe and 42 others" (potbellyjoe)
03/24/2017 at 16:21, STARS: 1
Not to mention that 33% parentage is still not a reality. But idiot is as idiot does...
I find the less Irish ancestry an American has in them the more likely they are to be loud about it. The 2nd generation Irish kids I knew in Massachusetts said exactly zilch about where their parents were from, they just beat your head in and moved on.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 16:26, STARS: 0
Lol. That sounds absolutely right.
"promoted by the color red" (whenindoubtflatout)
03/24/2017 at 16:38, STARS: 1
With this being LA, I’m sure that family plays up their various cultural heritage(s) during the holidays as an excuse to party. They’re Mexican on Cinco de Mayo, Asian on Lunar New Year, etc.
But god forbid “those people” move into their neighborhood.
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
03/24/2017 at 16:42, STARS: 0
Only positive thing about having not traveled overseas much, I never get to see other Americans that don’t know how to act like normal people.
I imagine that would be peak embarrassment, being a NORMAL American person and seeing idiots like this out there.
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 17:03, STARS: 1
To be honest if some Americans were like that and we saw you being embarrassed by it.
We’d probably walk up to you and start chatting then ask where your from and where your staying and then probably show you some of the sites.
"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
03/24/2017 at 17:14, STARS: 1
Things some Americans say wrong:
Patty’s Day
Radar Mulcahy of MASH fame’s surname
Thinking that Colleen is a name
The name Caitlin
"Svend" (svend)
03/24/2017 at 17:23, STARS: 0
Saying the word ‘crack’ over and over again.
Saying something they think or have seen is Irish but over pronouncing it like LL Cool J does when he says some Arabic on NCIS LA.
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"Nibbles" (nibbles)
03/24/2017 at 18:36, STARS: 0
Father Mulcahy
Radar (O’Reilly) was this kid:
"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
03/24/2017 at 19:00, STARS: 0
Him too (it was a long time ago!)
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
03/27/2017 at 09:44, STARS: 1
Ha, the “American Tourist Stereotype” is my nightmare and I’d do anything I could do avoid being it while overseas. I plan to make a trip to Scotland and Ireland at some point so we can do distillery tours (emphasis on a tour of the highlands).
Don’t worry though, I won’t be trying to locate/knock on the door of my grandmother’s cousin, who is my nearest relative in Ireland. Oh, and if I rent a car I’ll happily drive the stick shift while the next American in line behind me will freak out over there not being automatics available. I also will not be wearing a giant american flag t-shirt.
"Svend" (svend)
03/27/2017 at 12:56, STARS: 0
Lol. When Piglet went into the body shop to get her rear bumper done after an accident. Enterprise came to pick us up in a bloody Jeep Renegade to take us to the hire shop. Thankfully the woman said she gave us an upgrade as we were going to get the Renegade ourselves.
Ye’, it was supposed to be like for like hire, they gave us a Hyundai i30.
There idea for ‘like for like’ for a Superb was an i30.
I digress.
Anyhow. There was two American couples who unfortunately got the Renegade and I nearly burst out laughing when one of the women shouted in through the door, ‘it’s a stick shift, is that alright?’, the guy turned around quickly and replied, ‘that’s okay’, at which point she said, ‘are you sure?’.
It was classic.
I like many Americans. My step-father and my sister are Mormon, and the only Elders we never got on with was a couple of Texans who were given a Vauxhall Corsa (they called the ‘bug’) because they were in their forties and needed a car rather than like the other younger ones who used buses, and constantly said, ‘our roads are bigger than yours’, ‘our streets are longer than yours’, ‘our cars are bigger than yours’, etc...
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
03/27/2017 at 13:15, STARS: 0
I find non-American Mormon’s to be a fascinating group. I just see it as such a uniquely American religion. Funny to have any thoughts on that subject giving I’m a Roman Catholic.
Anyhow now I’m digressing haha.
I wish more Americans would go overseas and instead of “our roads are bigger” “our streets are longer” can we just go overseas, take in the environment and just experience it instead of just comparing to “home” non-stop.
"Svend" (svend)
03/27/2017 at 13:31, STARS: 0
I think it’s the expense and the travel time (saying that we get a lot of Aussies and Kiwis come to the U.K. and then tour Europe).
I’ve heard geography and history aren’t such a big thing in the U.S. I believe it was something about language and science skills letting 30% of students down and so further emphasis was put on those than geography and history.
There is an episode of Qi where Rich Hall and American comedian says, ‘we drive on the right because we invented the car’. Lol.