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Comment by rcpt | Hacker News Reader

My parents cancelled their European vacation this summer because they're embarrassed

That's unfortunate.

We generally assume pretty much all of the Americans we meet in Europe vote Democrat, with the theory that Republicans can't find Europe on a map and wouldn't want to go there if they could.

It's presumably not true, but it makes it easy for any visitor to be accepted.

During Bush II, it was traditional for US tourists to simply pretend to be Canadian. Very few people can tell the difference easily.

People would be friendly and polite on the whole, a few standoffish and curious about your political leanings. Most places would just want the tourist cash in all honesty

That must be new.

I was an American in Austria during the first Gulf War, and people were pretty hostile to both me and my wife.

But then, Austria does tend to its own thing.

This is unfortunate.

Europeans tend to understand that it is not your parents fault.

Also, Europeans don't tend to put as much identity in what party you vote for.

I have a lot of US friends, a lot who voted for Trump.

I would never hold any grudge to them.

What I do find insane is the US two party system.

That's very open-minded of you.

The people who voted for Trump should be held responsible for what they've enabled. This could end with a lot of people dying (e.g. being unprepared for epidemics or cutting off welfare programs).

That's hilariously insulting lol. We will understand your parents aren't responsible for Trump

Plus, it's not like we saw Americans as god's gift to the world prior

Not a completely rational reason to cancel your vacation, to be honest.

You go on vacation to enjoy yourself. It's hard to enjoy yourself when you are embarrassed. Why don't you think this is rational?

Just get some of those Canadian flags for their backpacks ;-)

I try not to care what other people think as long as I know I'm being a courteous and respectful individual.

Plenty of US citizens are canceling their vacations because they are afraid of reciprocity of treatment by immigration and people in other countries. And some US citizens, yes citizens especially immigrants & minorities, are also worried about abuse by border patrol upon their return.

No one wants to go on a vacation where they have to deal with unnecessary stress.

My wife and I were in Greece while the inhabitants were angry at Germany for the freshly introduced austerity measures. We sometimes spoke Flemish to each other, which for them sounded like German. We got some anger directed at us a few times from random people around us, and a shopkeeper stormed outside and threatened us with violence, completely unprovoked . We were very confused, we didn't know what we were doing wrong, and never saw that on previous visits. When our penny finally dropped and we made clear everywhere we were from Belgium, not Germany, the mood lightened considerably and we got apologies.

It might not be wise to loudly declare yourself American in the EU or Canada right now.

I was in an EU country for a week as a tourist and an American last week, and I only got reactions ranging from neutral to positive when I told people where I was from.

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