Honestly I don't meet the Yanks all that much regularly. I have a couple friends who I see semi frequently, and they're obviously ok. The Americans here at Hexbear are super cool. Since Covid lockdowns are breaking, I've been seeing more of them randomly. And in the conversations with them, I'm seeing a lot of mean-ish comments along the lines of "haha, you did something I'm not used to".

For example, in the past month, I've gotten called out for:

  • asking a guy at a literal commie beer event if he was a "comrade"
  • using the metric system
  • moving away from a boring conversation topic by asking a person what their job is, without a good convo transition
  • saying colonisation changed African countries
  • saying conservatives care more about aesthetics
  • joking that I pray to Lenin every morning (thank you lib for pointing out that this isn't what socialism is)

Honestly sarcasm is good and fine with friends. Like, if the love is clearly there, then ya tease me a bit. Dunno, but it feels like these people treat conversations as a competitive sport. Oh ya, these people are all massive libs as well.

  • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    moving away from a boring conversation topic by asking a person what their job is, without a good convo transition

    can you expand on this? like the american(s) gave you snark for doing this?

    **edit: i ask because i (american) find myself incapable of "normal conversation", so i try to be amiable to talk about anything. i mean, unless you want to complain about minorities or whatever. then i'll be curt and excuse myself. i have been told, anecdotally, that americans are "job obsessed" and think asking someone what they do for work is normal, when, apparently, it's not outside the U.S. admittedly, i think asking someone what they do for a living is normal and i'm curious if it's really that strange or presumptuous or sad.

    alternatively, if the americans are the ones that gave you a hard time for asking about their job, i have experienced that a few times among americans as an american. there are a few types of americans who don't want to be asked what they do:

    • people who hate their job but do not want to admit it to themselves
    • rich people who have a completely bullshit job they don't know how to explain, usually through nepotism or social connections
    • extremely rich people who have never had a job or even a vanity project and live well off passive income
    • ButtBidet [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      We were talking about relationships during covid. It was interesting enough for 20+ minutes, but there was a lull in the convo for five seconds. So I tried to change the subject.

      I think she was an OK enough person. It was just so out of place to call someone out on the rhetorical faux pas.

      Edit: changed minutes to seconds

      • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        my guess would be one of those above options, or her career is stalled in a way that she's uncomfortable talking about and decided to be hostile about it.

        in any event, 100% a them thing, not a you thing.

    • SaniFlush [any, any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      It’s the first one mostly. Neoliberalism measures a person’s worthiness to live based on how successful they are by capitalist and heteronormative metrics, so an American with a shitty job or no girlfriend is going to get hostile because they think you’re judging them.