I was reading another thread about wether people lock there doors or not, or something close to that. @Krissttina Isobe , mentioned that someoft her teachers had told her something about Americams as a child, but it was a false belief. This made me wonder what were some of the things we were told that are false, but we just don't know better. I remember listening to the adults as a child, and people would come up with the most outrageous things to say about other nationalities, contries, religions, even the way different ways people looked. I remember our TV programs depicting Russian women to look like football players. German's were always nazis, American Indians always scalped white people. What falsehoods did you grow up with until you learned differently.
Irish were drunks . Some still are, lol. I did realize or notice to be true that people in Eastern European countries that were communist drank a lot, I think they still do. Not uncommon to have alcohol in the morning. Also to give a little wine to young children.
Sure, all the drunks are Russian, Irish and Eastern European. Brits can't cook. Mexicans are lazy. French have no courtesy. Italians are criminals. Swedes are dumb. Canadians are boring.........there's probably more. It's all so silly!
I was sort of looking for things we really believed, and then learned differently. I not talking about nasty generalizations, but things that we really thought were true, like with what happened with @Krissttina Isobe. As a child I was lead to believe that most people in Louisiana believed in voodoo or black magic, but after meeting a few I figured out this was a falsehood. AS a child I didn't think this was a bad thing, just different, but I was curious. Santa Clause doesn't count.
We really get very tired of people saying that....it seems to be the thing people latch onto the most and it's just not true...( I think it started during the second world war when this country were living with severe rationing and the US army were shocked at the poor quality of the food.) We used to get told that All Americans were rich, lived in big houses, went to drive in movies every night, ate popcorn and hotdogs , called all their children junior..(lol) and knew nothing of the world outside of the USA ...
I seem to recall getting the impression that Americans were all obese especially their children, the news pictures that were shown in the UK seemed to support that. Of course obesity has now become a worldwide problem, so it's like that in the UK these days. A long time ago through travel mainly, I realised stereotypes are not reality, yet some do seem to be persist in my mind, one is people in the North of England are much friendlier than those in the South East, though I know friendly people in both areas. I guess there may be some truth in certain cases, because for instance the Mediterranean climate being often hot and sunny discourages work, so these countries populations are maybe more lazy. In colder climates people often work harder and spend a lot longer indoors, so less sociable and seem boring.
I think you had to drink to make communism bearable Chrissy and drinking and smoking is still a problem in Russia and Eastern European countries. Regarding wine being given to children that is traditional and I know to be true of France, the theory goes they get acclimatized to wine being a part of everyday life, so don't go wild drinking when they reach the legal age. Adults do generally seem to drink sensibly in France, though probably far too much healthwise. I did notice a fair amount of alcohol being drunk in the morning in both Spain and Italy when I was travelling there recently. Also quite a number of passengers on morning flights drink alcohol, though that may because it's free, I usually do
When I was younger, I read that several centuries back alcohol was a staple part of the general public's daily nourishment. It filled their bellies, cut their hunger, was safer than some water sources, and pacified the many that had so little. @Terry Page , I think many of you impression were right. I was amazed when I realized that America wasn't the whole world.
I was different in that sense, Ina. I knew America wasn't the whole world, for starters I wasn't even born here and had parents that were from Hungary. In fact as a young child I felt different and sometimes would be embarrassed that my mother didn't pack me a PB & Jelly sandwich and Kool Aid in my lunch. I had a salami sandwich with a big green pepper chunk on it. Silly now but as a child, embarrassing. Also the fact that my parents had an accent could embarrass me. I grew up in a very WASPY area. Not like maybe growing up in NYC which had lots of ethnic groups.
I think it was the south of England where my father was during WW2. He used to say how much he loved the people and the beautiful countryside. He wanted to bring my mom and me when he went back, but he died too young.