I’m an American and I am curious about what the ‘mainstream’ view of the USA is where you live. MSM seems to do a good job of keeping this from us here, other than when they want to push a narrative that so-and-so ‘hates our freedoms’.

  • KiG V2@lemmygrad.ml
    8·
    3 years ago

    Weird, because as an American I almost feel a weird subconscious pressure if I am not occupied with something to talk to half of the people near me in public. Like sometimes I just stare into negative space and I can tell people think I’m a psychopath. Like I don’t want to look at my phone but sometimes I’m just not in the mood to talk. Although sometimes you do have real, humanizing conversations with strangers forced into your personal space. I could totally see myself nervously talking to someone in a foreign country on a bus lol

    • ButtigiegMineralMap@lemmygrad.ml
      6·
      3 years ago

      Lol I’m an American too and I felt so awkward reading these comments. I was like “wait so if there’s like not many people around and it’s silent, I’m absolutely not supposed to small talk???😨” like I seriously didn’t know that was an American thing. I always thought that people that are completely silent and not moving are bored or something

      • Lenins2ndCat@lemmygrad.ml
        4·
        3 years ago

        In Britain the unspoken rule of public transportation is that you pretend everyone else does not exist. Those that break this unspoken rule are bad 'uns. The only thing worse is that shit with a speaker that thinks everyone wants to hear his music.

        • ButtigiegMineralMap@lemmygrad.ml
          1·
          3 years ago

          I’ll absolutely agree with speakers and music, that’s completely obnoxious and it’s quite self-centered. When I was briefly in Ireland, I talked to people on public transportation and a few(not all) seemed excited to talk to someone, but I also did hear from locals at a bar that I was chatting with that often times Irish people are good at feigning interest and being polite without giving anything of substance to the conversation or even giving a fuck about whatever the other person is going on about, so there’s a decent chance that they were just humoring me so they could be on their way. It was fun though, even if my American side shined through a little too much lol