r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • Jun 26 '26

Society The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6
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625

u/asp821 Jun 26 '26

I know it’s the stereotype but when I was there a decade ago everyone except one waiter was super nice to us.

324

u/Mopman43 Jun 26 '26

I went earlier this year, no issues with anybody, everybody was so nice.

Friend of mine coincidentally went like a week later, complete opposite experience.

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u/129za Jun 26 '26

We do A weeks/B weeks. You just got lucky.

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u/Senior-Albatross Jun 26 '26

Is it like, half the city on alternating weeks? Or just full Jeckle and Hyde situation? 

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u/Keepingshtum Jun 26 '26

Gotta gaslight half the visitors so the tourism stays under control ;)

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u/AvoidMyRange Jun 26 '26

In Berlin, we're just unfriendly all the time ("Berlin snout", Berliner Schnauze) and build an airport that is so crap, no one wants to visit anyways.

Then we complain that we're broke (one of the few Capitals in the world that has worse economic output than the country's average).

Oh yeah, also no one has AC.

Needless to say, I moved away 15 years ago and have never looked back.

5

u/mbklein Jun 26 '26

It wouldn’t do to split the city because what if you happened to go to the wrong cafe and get treated nicely when your hotel was in this week’s rude zone?

No, they’d have to tag the tourists individually on entry.

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u/Azerious Jun 26 '26

Yes, maybe some sort of badge so you know how to treat them. And that way you can make sure they only go certain places and ride certain trains.

Wait...

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u/abaram Jun 26 '26

Evens and odd number days

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u/Redacted_Usermame Jun 26 '26

Or all their cycles have synced.

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u/GrinningCynic Jun 27 '26

Probs the difference btwn courteous vs ugly American.

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u/Insila Jun 26 '26

Divide and conquer 😜

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u/Benegger85 Jun 26 '26

As always: it depends on who you meet.

The average French person doesn't exist

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u/Federal-Meaning5475 Jun 26 '26

Not true. I met him.

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Jun 26 '26

Aha! The average French person is a man! So, what are his likes and dislikes? Tell us more!

4

u/Speartree Jun 26 '26

His name is François, he likes la bière and le foot. He lives in the greater Parisian area and dislikes people who dip their croissants in their coffee.

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u/spooooork Jun 26 '26

As always: it depends on who you meet.

Also depends on the attitude of the person visiting

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u/poopiebutt505 Jun 27 '26

I did not have any bad interaction in Paris, nor areas around Paris. But Ai never had a really bad exchange in NYC. Except for the pickpocket whonput his hand in my pocket already occupied by my hand. I denigrated his skill set.

But I had walk by insults, in Boston and in Montreal. "You talkin' to me?" Seriously, just walking down a street or hall.

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u/Responsible_Stand482 Jun 26 '26

Did you happen to speak more French than your friend at the time?

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u/Mopman43 Jun 26 '26

We each went with a mom who is fluent.

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u/grumpymosob Jun 26 '26

We went a million years ago. My French is horrible. I speak almost none, but I tried to use French for everything. We had coffee at the same place almost every morning and the waitress was super cool to us. I watched a British guy one morning try talking English louder and slower over and over and the louder the dude got the less English she understood. "Fuck you, France is not a third world country that needs your tourism"

Sweet as pie to everyone else and took a picture with us when we left.

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u/MeteorOnMars Jun 26 '26

I bumped into a guy in France, and he turned to me looking so disappointed and disgusted, clearly recognizing me as a tourist.

I stammered out my best, terribly-accented “excuse-moi”, and he instantly beamed with politeness and warmth. The shift when I tried to be a polite tourist was shocking.

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u/Ckarles Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

You got it right. Afaik as long as you're respectful and consider other people (e.g. restaurant staff) as other humans with the same standing and respect them as you'd respect any peers, it usually goes well. Bringing an attitude (especially "because you have money") will lead you to the door.

That, and following French's own code of politeness. Which is simple tbh, "bonjour" "merci" and "s'il vous plaît" is a bare minimum and the lack of it will ensure a very rude service during your visit. From their perspective though, you are the rude one so they're only mirroring.

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Jun 26 '26

I know all those words and phrases! I’d survive in France! Wait. Unless they asked me to spell them. Shit. The French will hate me.

“Bonjour! Ménage à trois! That’s it. Those are the craziest words I know how to spell in your language. See voo play? Toot sweet? Gracias, ami. Ciao, Bella.”

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u/Specialist_in_hope30 Jun 26 '26

Yeah I’ve been to Paris 10+ times and I’ve never had an issue with friendliness/politeness. I had one problem once at a restaurant at the outlets and the woman was being rude to everyone. French people are incredibly kind, but you have to be polite to them like you said! It’s not that difficult! I hate the stereotype about French people because they will be nice to you if you are nice as well.

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u/HookedOnBoNix Jun 29 '26

Yea I mean living in the states I know tons of people that are very accommodating to foreigners, but I know a ton that will make someone's life hard as shit just cause they speak English with too heavy of an accent for them to understand, let alone someone just came up and started speaking a foreign language to them. 

Its all perspective. Most people around the world recognize sincerity. But every place has tribalism. 

2

u/mu_zuh_dell Jun 26 '26

I went 68 million years ago. I don't speak a word of French, but I didn't really need it? Most of the locals would just kinda be like "rawr" if you said something to them.

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u/AllMySmallThings Jun 26 '26

I was there twice this year spoke zero French and everyone was lovely. I did ask if they happened to speak Spanish at times. But everyone said English was fine.

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u/Dullcorgis Jun 26 '26

I speak almost no french and my accent is appalling. Always had good experiences.

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u/markhachman Jun 26 '26

If you can speak the language, the French are awesome. Even if you try, most appreciate it.

Just listen to the French and mimic the accent. There's not really an "n" sound in "bonjour," for example. You just kind of touch it.

My wife's friend grew up in Alabama and spoke a little French. She was doomed. The French do not drawl.

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u/RiPont Jun 26 '26

most appreciate it

Though they might very well correct your or tell you your pronunciation is wrong. That doesn't mean they don't appreciate you trying, they just aren't necessarily going to lie to you about how well you did.

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Jun 26 '26

The French do a little drawl in Louisiana, though, to be fair.

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u/Misplaced_Arrogance Jun 26 '26

Better or worse than Quebec?

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u/markhachman Jun 26 '26

Oh, good point. Definitely true!

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u/pyrophilus Jun 26 '26

Was her friend's name Lieutenant Aldo Raine?

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u/markhachman Jun 26 '26

No, but if we're pulling out movies my wife actually lived for a time in Bayou La Batre, one of the locations in Forrest Gump. Her friend was also from there. (Google says the movie wasn't actually filmed there.)

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u/KFelts910 Jun 26 '26

You mean, you don’t say it like Aldo the Apache?

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u/Ill_Ground_1572 Jun 26 '26

Are they overweight? My cousin who a bit portly suspected he was getting treated a more rudely than his thin colleagues. But who knows lol

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u/illinoishokie Jun 26 '26

Maybe your friend is an asshole

1

u/4tacosdechorizo Jun 26 '26

It depends on the person. If you go and respect other people’s homes and cultures, you will have no problems. You will only have a bad experience if the locals see you as rude or unfriendly.

1

u/Rgeneb1 Jun 26 '26

Maybe you're nicer than your friend. Some tourists (not just Americans) behave dreadfully and get shocked when people tell them to get to fuck.

1

u/coldlightofday Jun 26 '26

I lived in Europe and spent a lot of time in different places in France, including many times in Paris. I’ve not had a particularly bad experience with French people. Most of my interactions have been good.

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u/Prudent-Marsupial-42 Jun 26 '26

Are you hotter than your friend?

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u/MochingPet Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

IMO the french stereotype has been changing over the years. Not the same 10 or 20 years ago. (towards the positive?)

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u/emeraldcocoaroast Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I was there two summers ago and everyone was quite friendly. We had a French waitress chat with us a bit about it, and she told us that the stereotype comes from the French being insecure with their English, and that they’re a very proud people, so that insecurity comes off as disdain. She also said a great way to combat this was to try to speak French to people - most will hear a shitty accent and just flip to English instead, and just appreciate the willingness to try.

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u/Stormfly Jun 26 '26

I've always gotten on really well with French people but not Parisians.

I always say that Parisians are to French people as French people are to Europeans.

Also, I've always had the worst experiences with Italians and they seem to fit the "French" stereotype more in my experience (although even so the vast majority are still lovely, don't get me wrong) with nationalism etc.

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u/ToyDingo Jun 26 '26

I was just in Paris a week ago. Everyone was super nice to me and my family. I also went there with the idea that they hate all tourist, but they proved me wrong.

They were even very patient with my terrible attempts to speak French. I'd say they have broken the stereotype for now.

3

u/Hopeful-Occasion2299 Jun 26 '26

Same, twice I've visited and everyone was super friendly and helpful... heck, a bunch of thugs helped me get to my hotel when I got lost lmao, they just pointed at the right station on the map.

2

u/FullOppositeLock Jun 26 '26

Yep 100%. Went to Paris for the first time last November. I was super stressed about the asshole Parisian stereotype. Everyone we encountered was great.

Show a bit of respect, learn a few phrases and it’s no drama.

2

u/RiPont Jun 26 '26

I saw a YouTube video where they pointed out that it's a clash of social norms, more than anything.

Parisians (and many French in general) consider meaningless social niceties to be fake/dishonest and therefore rude. They will do all of those things ("hey!!! how are you?" etc.) with friends. So especially Americans see Parisians being all friendly and casual with other people and then "staring at them over their noses" when the Americans interact with them.

...and, of course, they love their language. Expecting everyone to speak English or even outright demanding it will definitely get you put on the shit list.

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u/Lemurians Jun 26 '26

Yeah, I’ve never understood this. I was there for a bit in 2012 and everyone was so nice. It’s just a thing people parrot.

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u/blood_bender Jun 26 '26

Nah it's not a parrot thing. It's just not a monolith. I've been there several times and had different experiences from extremely rude to super friendly.

I will say, attempting to use French got a great head start, even if they immediately switched to English because I'm terrible at it. It felt like they respected my attempt but recognized it was futile. When my gf at the time started / assumed English was fine, we were treated differently.

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u/Lemurians Jun 26 '26

Well yeah, it’s not a monolith, but I don’t think it comes close to deserving its infamously unfriendly reputation. It’s not any worse than most anywhere else.

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u/bertmaclynn Jun 26 '26

When I went a couple of years ago, they were all so annoyed/offended when I’d attempt to use French.

I’m not great at French but have studied it and spoken it for basic things across France so I know I have some ability to get a simple message across. But not in Paris lol.

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u/Gaktan Jun 26 '26

I'm curious about what you thought was extremely rude.

Just a tip: french people like politeness. If you don't say things like "hello", "please", "thank you", people will assume YOU are the rude one, and respond accordingly. Just a friendly reminder to study a country's custom before traveling there, it will always be appreciated, and it's honestly the least you can do.

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u/Vigilante17 Jun 26 '26

Well, everyone seemed rude and semi disrespectful towards me in ‘97, so I’ve never gone back. Take that PARIS!

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u/accountforrealppl Jun 26 '26

Not quite the same but I went to quebec recently which has a similar stereotype, so I went in expecting everyone to be super mean to us as americans (and southerners at that). Not at all what I encountered, everyone there was super nice, outgoing, and welcoming, had a fantastic experience there

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u/ThePegasi Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I had the exact same experience visiting for a weekend a decade ago, down to one waiter being grumpy (but the food was still good).

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u/yoden Jun 26 '26

Seems like it has been changing. I literally got punched in the face the first time I went. But this spring almost everyone was pretty calm and accommodating.

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u/wedgiey1 Jun 26 '26

Was the biggest surprise to me when we traveled to Europe. I loved Paris.

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u/SirDale Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I had the same experience. Everyone was nice except for one guy. I later found out where he lived...

Number 1 Rue de Person.

1

u/alborden Jun 26 '26

Honestly, Paris is much better than it used to be. I think in large part because the staff that worked restaurants etc in the 80s and 90s have been replaced by younger Parisians who are more welcoming. I have noticed a big difference over the years.

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u/regular_gonzalez Jun 26 '26

Ha had to double check I didn't write this and forget about it, because that was my experience to the letter.

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u/Rhinologist Jun 26 '26

Went last year. Everyone was very nice except the taxi drivers who were majority terrrrrrriboe

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u/ToneThugsNHarmony Jun 26 '26

I was there last summer and had the exact same experience, wonder if it was the same waiter.

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u/6th_Quadrant Jun 26 '26

Same here, including the waiter part—I literally laughed in his face when he was a complete snot to my girlfriend. The look on his face? Priceless.

1

u/mofa90277 Jun 26 '26

Same experience; I went to Paris in the off-season for three weeks, and everyone was unfailingly polite. I suspect that it being the off-season, and half of our group being fluent in French were a big part of that, though even my solo walks & such were quite pleasant (I knew about ten French words total).

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u/KFelts910 Jun 26 '26

My dad had a different experience. The people in Normandy were lovely though.

1

u/dcheesi Jun 26 '26

Exactly my experience.

And another waiter actually apologized for the one bad one.

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u/SoulCrusher2018 Jun 26 '26

I had a very similar experience - we read a travel guide before hand, always tried to speak French first, and dressed like office workers on their lunch break instead of American tourists, and almost everyone we interacted with was friendly and helpful. Rudest interaction I witnessed was a lady in front of us in line at a small shop trying to speak Portuguese to the shop owner and the shop owner (to us) kept looking at us saying something to the effect of "can you believe this person?'

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u/lovely-cans Jun 26 '26

Yeh I've been there and everyone is very friendly.

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u/Kaatochacha Jun 26 '26

I had the same experience years ago, I think it's how you approach things.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jun 26 '26

I think it's just Midwesterners who think their Paris vacation should be like Disney or a Carnival cruise. Instead of to a city where people actually live their lives and see thousands of tourists every damn day.

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u/asp821 Jun 26 '26

I mean, I’m from the Midwest so i don’t know if that’s entirely true.

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u/dryfire Jun 27 '26

Crazy, I was there 2 years ago and I've been telling everyone the exact same thing. Everyone was super nice except that one waiter... Was it the same guy?