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Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe.

I'm going to get downvoted to hell, but I have to say this: I agree completely.

The reason why Americans believe that they are hating elsewhere is people transferring their strong dislike of American politics ("let's invade/interfere (with) countries and call it freedom") onto the American _people_. It's an emotional and intellectual shortcut.

Not to be a jerk, but I'm genuinely curious. Why did you feel the need to preface your comment with "I'm going to get downvoted to hell"? I can't see a reason why this comment would get downvoted.

Edit: I see you've been downvoted. I wonder if it's BECAUSE of your preface, rather than IN SPITE of it.

Yes, "I'm going to get downvoted to hell" belongs on reddit, where people actually downvote people out of spite. I've not seen the same behavior here on HN (might just be that I haven't posted too much here). A better and more constructive preface would be "You are welcome to disagree with me here" or something like that, something that would be used in ordinary conversation.

I've seen that behavior here. But then, I have some beliefs that sorely challenge many HNers world views.

" I have some beliefs that sorely challenge many HNers world views."

Many people come to HN precisely for that.

True, but many also can't stand to have their ideas challenged.

I never, ever upvote anything that says "I'm going to get downvoted for saying this..." If you're expecting downvotes, who am I to disagree with you?

You're someone who immediately disregards the content of the post of a user who recognizes the possible controversy of a statement.

HN's downvoting system enables cowards to drown you out with impunity, without providing a rebuttal or alternative view. This is one area where Slashdot's system is so much better. (Note, one area. HN brings things to the table that Slashdot doesn't. So no, I'm not just "going to go to slashdot and leave HN" like some people just thought about saying).

When I upvoted him, he was in the negatives. So maybe it was necessary.

I sort of agree, but a lot of us really are douchebags.

Could it be that the optimism mentioned by dazzawazza and nodata is admired when it is directed inward but not when directed externally? Nobody likes it when an ignorant person tries to solve all of their problems and it just so happens that the USA has a ton of optimism and wealth.

Thank you, and may all fellow Americans take this advice to heart. When it all comes down to it, the greatness of any nation is only the sum total of the greatness of its citizens. If we lose that, we lose what's great about America.

> If we lose that, we lose what's great about America.

How can you not only prevent this loss but also export this into other countries? How can we spark this in other cultures? How can we get rid of "negative greatness"?

Do the people who help out dave, know that they are being filmed?

They do, he frequently tells them he is making a documentary about small town America etc. So, yes, you probably should take some of it with a pinch of salt. The documentary is, after all, entertainment.

My personal experience of Americans does back up his experience though.

I checked for this DVD on Netflix but couldn't find it. Does anyone know if there's a way to see it other than ordering this DVD from Amazon UK?

Try contacting him on twitter @DaveGorman. He's pretty friendly on twitter.

cough bt cough

Lets make a huge distinction between a people (The American People) and a political power structure (The USA).

Look at the Irish people (generally a decent lot) and the Irish State (mostly a basket case morally and financially).

People are great. I love people, including nearly all the American I have met. I have yet to meet a state I can respect.

On. The complete opposite end of the spectrum check out Top Gear's show where they visited the American South. Obviously it was meant to provoke but it does bring up a few good points. I'd link you but I'm on my phone.

Yea, and I also learned how to become a doctor by watching House and ER, fish for Alaskan crab by watching Deadliest Catch, and learned all about how to have relationships by closely studying Friends and Entourage!

So no, that episode of Top Gear does not bring up any "good points" to draw legitimate conclusions about the American South. All it shows is that if you insult the average person enough, they'll get pissed off enough to deliver a few minutes of good footage. Meanwhile, back here in reality (not in TV land) -- if you visited down South you'd find that, given a broad sampling, Southerners are far kinder and warmer than us from New England. (p.s. I'm not from the South).

It gives me great concern that we as Americans assume so much truth from our 30 minute highlight reels.

Weird. I had a two friends get spat on their first day in the South, and it went downhill from there. They were an interracial couple. The local sheriff asked them when they planned on leaving, as if they were the problem. This was 2010, not 1950.

I'm sure the South is more welcoming for some people, but I wouldn't assume it to be the case for everybody. And I'm sure it depends on what areas of the south you go to (its still one of the most segregated areas in the US).

You ever been with someone with a strong southern accent in the north? I heard them called "hick" and "redneck" any number of times, and a black man said (direct quote) "I ain't helping no racist" when he was asked (politely) for directions.

Reminds me of the time I was visiting South Carolina from Montreal. I was in a gas station waiting to pay when I overheard two guys talking in the thickest southern accents imaginable. I couldn't hear what they were saying and I chuckled to myself at how much they sounded like dumb hicks.

It was only when they got closer did I hear that they were talking about nuclear physics.

It was a good reminder about judging books by covers, etc.

I was in a shop when I heard the lilting strains of a woman with an Irish accent at the next table over.

Being quite partial to an Irish accent, I decided to eavesdrop and sate my desire.

The first words I heard her say once I 'tuned in' - and I swear this is true - were "potato potato potato". I had to leave the shop quite quickly for fear of losing my composure :)

On a thread about how Americans are good and kind people, you attempt to justify the behaviour of the Southerners but only show that there are rotten Northerners as well.

In any case, these negative comments are a bit irrelevant, because it only takes one person who's willing to spit on you to say "we got spat on there, so people are rotten", but the vast majority has to be kind to you for you to say "we were treated well there, people are kind".

I went to San Francisco and saw many helpful people, I saw a few people who didn't care either way (the bus drivers didn't bother to reply to my "thank you"s or "hello"s) and a guy on the bus shoved me and shouted because he judged that I wasn't giving him enough space.

On average, people have been much nicer to me in London, but I wouldn't say people in SF suck because of that one guy on the bus. There were kind people there as well.

You ever been with someone with a strong southern accent in the north?

Not sure if DC is considered the North or not, but I had some friends from Florida visit me in DC. No one called them "hick" or "redneck", but honestly their accent was so strong that I don't think it would be identified as southern. Sometimes I literally couldn't understand what they were saying. But they also dressed about as sharp as anyone I know... that probably fights some of the stereotypes.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the North is the most welcoming place in the US either. I simply think your perception of the hospitality of a region is not something uniformly agreed upon.

For example, I'd find a Confederate flag or Swastika offensive, and not welcoming. Whereas I'm sure others would rationalize the postive aspects of their respective histories and not find them offensive in the least.

One of the best experiences I've ever had was dressing up as a Confederate general with very prominent Dixie flags for Halloween in NYC.

I spent the day walking around Manhattan. People (mostly white middle-aged women) went out of their way to tell me how offended they were. I told them to "think of the heritage." I'm not American (well, I sort of am, long story), so to me it was both instructive and hilarious.

What was really interesting in hindsight is that none of the Brooklyn hipster transplants at the parties I went to that night thought anything about it.

I am consistently amazed at how many people think that episode is a genuine unscripted documentary.

A lot of that show is scripted, and they intentionally provoked people to get a reaction for the sake of interesting TV.

As an American born and raised in the south, that was provoking the worst of the worst of the worst.

It was an entertaining episode, but I can guarantee you can get that reaction in pretty much any country if you try hard enough (in many countries you'll likely end up in a far worse situation).

I am from Europe as well and I can wholeheartedly agree with this.

I know it has become so popular to be laughing about the States over here but let me tell you something... each and every time I had to deal with people from the States over here, they were nothing but friendly and down to earth, good hearted people who enjoy and appreciate company and small talk - even more so than lots of Germans who often give you the feeling they are just waiting for you to rip them off or wave some sales contract into their face next - just because you said "hi" and "how you doing?".

You can be friendly to people in Germany, but most people are rather more introverted than in America. So the common case of somebody being overly outgoing is the salesman. That tends to colour impressions.

If you're meeting Americans abroad, you're generally meeting a special self-selected type of more open-minded American. I tend to find Germans I meet here at home much more enlightened than the majority of Americans I deal with.

I spent three months crossing the US and what struck me is how outgoing the Americans are. Back home (Australia) if you're standing at a bus stop, no-one will talk to a stranger unless it's a sardonic comment about how late the bus is. In the US, total strangers just started talking to me apropos of nothing, just to talk and pass the time. I think that this is my favourite aspect of the American character.

The stereotype of the American who just wants to hear their own voice didn't hold up either - almost all of them were genuinely interested in conversation, though that may have been partly coloured because I was a foreign tourist a little off the beaten track.