Things people assume for some reason that drives you nuts

[DRes82]

Do they actually teach Geography in in the U.S.A?

No, we don't really have time for geography. I mean, between polishing our assault rifles and each one of us personally interfering in oil-rich countries' politics, we really don't have much time for anything else. Oh, except maybe taking a stroll on the prone bodies of poor immigrants down to the local McDonalds to buy a few bigmacs.

On topic:
I hate broad assumptions and generalizations directed at entire continental populations. They make my blood just seethe.

Don't invade my country and nuke us. > Insert Trollface here <
I was curious as to just how pertinent every other country is in comparison to America, are they worth teaching a class about. I was being a bit general and using a hyperbole to get an answer (to which I've gotten a few).

Broad Generalisation are broad and made not knowing that everyone fits the criteria.
It's just that my families first hand experience with American culture (G'day USA programs and my own personal company trip to GDC in San Fran) is, how to say, troubling.
It seems like a culture obsessed with needless excess. Big Houses, big cars, big roads, big sidewalks, big food, big money (in a physical sense, you use a one dollar note, we made that shit into a coin yonks ago), big drug use, big guns and ironically not big people (at least in San Fran, probably beacause of all the hills)

Pertinence of other countries to Americans is so varied per individual, it would be silly to say that EVERY American feels a certain way about it. We are a country of over 300 million people, after all. Granted, our most vocal citizens are usually the ones that are heard by our neighbors, and unfortunately they tend to be the most extreme. Let me assure you, however, that most Americans are very moderate and not gluttonous materialists, and would love nothing more than to see a strengthening of bonds between our fellow humans in other countries. As for geography, I pride myself on at least a workable knowledge of other countries and cultures. I can say with a good bit of certainty that most reasonable folks around here can do the same. I'm sorry that your experiences in this country were troubling, and I hope that in future visits you can find something that you can relate to and find enjoyable. If you go back to San Francisco, I might recommend Muir Woods. One of the most beautiful and primordial places that I've ever seen.

 

[MetalDooley]

That people always think my name is William. My given name is Billy, and everyone always assumes my name is actually William.

Well seeing as Billy is a commonly used short form of William it's a pretty reasonable assumption to make.My fathers name is William but he's been called Billy for most of his life

OT:That I'm some kind of anti-social loner because I don't use Facebook/Twitter/whatever social media is flavour of the month.No I just don't feel the need to constantly see what everyone I know is doing all the time or update people on the most mundane activities of my life

That I'm a biker because I have long hair and a beard.If I had a euro for everytime someone's asked me "what kind of bike do you drive?" I'd be able to afford a Harley

 

[Dallas-35]

When people assume that Canadians pronounce "about" "A-boot" I have never, ever heard anybody pronounce it "a-boot" in my life.

As for other Canadian stereotypes, I actually tend to say "Eh" a lot

 

[Legion]

Because I have OCD, many people assume that I?m obsessive about cleanliness. No, OCD can manifest in other forms, and on the contrary, I?m quite a messy and unorganized person. It?s just that I like to keep things straight, or have fixations on certain numbers, etc. It?s less simple than ?oh, you like stuff to be clean?.

It really does irritate me when people discuss psychological/neurological things that they know nothing about. Like people who think having schizophrenia is the same as having multiple personalities or that depression means you are suicidal.

That said, I dislike it when people act like they know anything about subjects that they clearly don't.

 

[Dangit2019]

Do they actually teach Geography in in the U.S.A?

They teach it, the students don't pay attention worth a shat though.

The generalizations burrrn. They BURN! This doesn't make you sound smart, extruding baseless assumptions from your thought-anus. This whole thread is about how stupid assumptions are obnoxious. I know! Lets post stupid assumptions! Makes perfect sense.

I do say this as an American student. So if anyone's being generalized by the statement, it's me as well as everyone else.

 

[DRes82]

Do they actually teach Geography in in the U.S.A?

They teach it, the students don't pay attention worth a shat though.

The generalizations burrrn. They BURN! This doesn't make you sound smart, extruding baseless assumptions from your thought-anus. This whole thread is about how stupid assumptions are obnoxious. I know! Lets post stupid assumptions! Makes perfect sense.

I do say this as an American student. So if anyone's being generalized by the statement, it's me as well as everyone else.

Oh ok. So I'll just attribute your silly generalization to your lack of life experience. See how I can assume since you're a student that you're young and have no experience? Obviously, that assumption is baseless. I am a student too...just finishing up my BS at University of Maryland, and I'm certain that I didn't notice a majority of my peers not paying attention in middle school Social Studies, or in high school Western Civ. It doesn't matter what context you're coming from, you can't generalize such a huge demographic. Well you can, I guess, but its meaningless and abrasive.

 

[SlamDunc]

To those complaining about people assuming everyone is American I understand the issue with that but even though I am Canadian when I interact with people online I tend to assume that they are American until I see something that makes me think differently. Mainly because the places I am on the internet tend to have Americans and Canadians as the largest demographic.

 

[TwiZtah]

As a foreigner living in Japan I have to deal with a lot of assumptions. People assume I am american just for being white (I am Swedish). If you dont know where someone is from, dont assume a nationality, ask!
Also people always assume that I dont speak Japanese and that my native language is English. In Europe there are LOADS of people who's native language isn't English. Sure I speak English fluently, but for all they know I might just as well have been from a country in Europe where people often dont become that proficient in English, and in that case Japanese may very well be the language I am more proficient at, thus speaking English to me could very well have been a language I simply did not understand. This of course boils down to being assumed as being an American. When, around new years, everyone thinks it is extraordinarily funny to say "happy new year" to me in broken English, I get so tired of it after a while. I realize they are just trying to be nice, but English isn't my native language any more than Japanese is, so either learn to say it in Swedish or say it in Japanese /Rant over.

Gott nytt år, lite långt dit än dock.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

People assume that because I don't have a license, I am a lazy. Not like I have legs or anything, herp. Though I am going out to start the process of getting my license this Sept.5th. Because my husband and I want to move to a different state in about one and a half years time and under the complicated circumstances of the move, I'll have to do all of the packing and driving on my own. I'm actually organizing and getting rid of stuff we don't need now, for the sake of my sanity on the day the moving starts.

People assume that because I force myself to be out and about among other people, that I am very social. They always invite me out and ask me to go to parties and when I constantly say "No" they think I am being 'mean'. I've actually been called a snotty ***** for it. You know, I force myself to go out and do things, because things have to get done. I don't enjoy leaving my comfort zone, or talking to people (especially strangers), or even making prolonged eye contact. Running errands amongst other human beings is an absolute necessity if I want to continue to live - do you see?.

People assume that I know everything about every Native American tribe that ever existed because I have Native American blood. "Oh, what tribe are you from?" "I have Yaqui(Yoreme) blood, but I don't belong to a specific tribe. I don't even really speak the language." Then they proceed to ask me questions about Cherokee, Black Foot, Apache, etc; I don't know okay? I DON'T KNOW. Go to the library or Google that shit will yah? Geez. If I knew they wouldn't spread it around and offend a lot of people, I'd just start making stuff up.

There's more, but I tend to over-explain myself and I think I've typed enough words in this post.

 

[Kekkonen1]

As a foreigner living in Japan I have to deal with a lot of assumptions. People assume I am american just for being white (I am Swedish). If you dont know where someone is from, dont assume a nationality, ask!
Also people always assume that I dont speak Japanese and that my native language is English. In Europe there are LOADS of people who's native language isn't English. Sure I speak English fluently, but for all they know I might just as well have been from a country in Europe where people often dont become that proficient in English, and in that case Japanese may very well be the language I am more proficient at, thus speaking English to me could very well have been a language I simply did not understand. This of course boils down to being assumed as being an American. When, around new years, everyone thinks it is extraordinarily funny to say "happy new year" to me in broken English, I get so tired of it after a while. I realize they are just trying to be nice, but English isn't my native language any more than Japanese is, so either learn to say it in Swedish or say it in Japanese /Rant over.

Gott nytt år, lite långt dit än dock.

Haha tack. Jo en stund kvar. Ska hem två veckor över julen dock så lär få höra det på Svenska iaf

 

[AgentLampshade]

For some reason, people assume (and this includes people I've met about 5 minutes ago) that I've wasted my potential. I don't see how, I'm not especially talented in anything, nor particularly intelligent (I'm pretty average in that regard, if I ain't interested, I ain't gonna bother learning about it.) I left school with average grades and have done nothing that shows I have the ability to do these special things I'm told I could do. So why do they consistently tell me I've wasted potential?

And why do people assume I'm "half a man" because I don't like Football (That's the UK version, where football is actually played with feet)? It's a damn boring sport that would be made a lot more interesting if the players were on fire.

 

[Shuguard]

I really hate how people view me as something i'm not(Wide range of things).
I've been called Jewish(far from it),
a drug dealer(no where near it),
a soldier(since i did ROTC in high school),
really smart(not really),
mistaken for being gay(actually hit on by other gay men(interesting conversations ensued(nothing against it))).

What happened to just being a white guy with no affiliations except being a gamer...? I hate judgmental people...

 

[GeneralFungi]

People assume Canadians are polite, nice and civil. We are not.

I thought assuming you aren't an asshole comes as a part of being a human being. If it makes you feel better we could start spreading the message that Canadians are rude, mean and uncivil.

I think rather then saying 'We are not' you should probably instead say 'I am not', because then you'd be the one stereotyping. And that wouldn't make you any better then the people who had convinced everyone that all Canadians are nice.

On topic; I'm a guy who's often seen as a techie, and I hate it when people assume that I cannot do anything athletic. I'm not overweight by ANY means, and I can hold my own pretty well when it comes to sports. Of course, I'm not exactly the best at sports, but I can do them just fine. People are always shocked when I'm not panting and wheezing within the first five minutes.

Captcha; Sleepy Hollow. Are you making fun of my athletic ability, captcha? That's cold.

 

[Dags90]

People assume I'm heterosexual. It ranges from being annoying to really, really awkward.

Another thing is, people assume that because I recently graduated with a Biotechnology degree, that makes me some sort of free healthcare personnel.

 

[SlamDunc]

People assume Canadians are polite, nice and civil. We are not.

I thought assuming you aren't an asshole comes as a part of being a human being. If it makes you feel better we could start spreading the message that Canadians are rude, mean and uncivil.

I think rather then saying 'We are not' you should probably instead say 'I am not', because then you'd be the one stereotyping. And that wouldn't make you any better then the people who had convinced everyone that all Canadians are nice.

On topic; I'm a guy who's often seen as a techie, and I hate it when people assume that I cannot do anything athletic. I'm not overweight by ANY means, and I can hold my own pretty well when it comes to sports. Of course, I'm not exactly the best at sports, but I can do them just fine. People are always shocked when I'm not panting and wheezing within the first five minutes.

Captcha; Sleepy Hollow. Are you making fun of my athletic ability, captcha? That's cold.

I am not saying that all Canadians are rude. My point is that just because someone is Canadian does not believe that they are more polite than anyone else. There are no more or less rude Canadians than Americans or any other nation for that matter.

 

[Bomberman4000]

People assume because I'm a bigger guy that I'm lazy, or don't ever want to do anything that involves moving. Quite the contrary, I greatly enjoy going out and playing basketball, flag football, golf, baseball, really any athletic sport.

On the more superficial side of things, I have horrible hair genes, and I hate that people assume I'm older than I am. I'm only 24, but everyone that doesn't actually know assumes I'm at least 10 years older.

ALso, that because I'm from the south I'm a racist, homophobic, bible-thumping moron. I'm none of those things.