The American Character: How The Rest of the World Views Us

‘ I don't care if it's too damn late! I ain't gonna sit next to some stranger on a five hour plane! You gotta change may seat!'.A shrill voice filled a particular departure lounge in the Nice Airport. Following it was the crashing sound of a gigantic limb that pounded on the podium before it. The tranquility that had once permeated every crevice of the sun-filled room abated, and a familiar feeling of apprehension arose above the silence that followed the commotion. Tactless American mayhem was about to commence.A plethora of ‘mon dieus' erupted in unison. Askance glares were being shot at the tactless woman. No one could fathom what compelled her to change the seating arrangements of her entire family and herself when we were about to be shuttled off to the awaiting plane.Across from the generously proportioned woman sat I, unscathed by the ordeal but perturbed none the less. I had never dreamed that I would see the famous cliché in action, but there it was before me. With all of the attention being focused on the podium, no one in the room noticed that I, too, was American but was a living example that not all of us acted in such a manner.