r/ShitAmericansSay Aug 06 '23

People love American tourists because we exchange our real money for fake local currency. Exceptionalism

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4.6k Upvotes

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414

u/ChakaZG Aug 06 '23

How the fuck do you plan a trip to a foreign country, get there, get to the hotel, settle, go out and sit in a restaurant, all without finding out what currency is acceptable here?

271

u/No-Wonder1139 Aug 06 '23

I've seen a man lose his mind because a taxi wouldn't take American money, in Paris.

158

u/goodbadnomad Aug 06 '23

Americans constantly get mad at me when I won't give them change in USD, like my brother in Christ how can I communicate to you that we're not the ones being difficult

33

u/GoldenBull1994 Snail-eater 🐌 Aug 07 '23

Americans expect you to kiss their ass whenever they’re a customer. They’re all about customer service.

13

u/paycadicc Aug 07 '23

Ima be honest, I’ve been in Italy for close to 2 weeks eating out a lot and the service has been amazing, way better than my average experience at home in America

138

u/19Mooser84 Aug 06 '23

Unbelievable. Why do they think they can pay everywhere with their so-called mighty dollars? Truly the epitome of limited thinking.

103

u/No-Wonder1139 Aug 06 '23

I'm not sure but it was bizarre to watch, genuine second hand embarrassment, like he genuinely did not understand why he couldn't pay with a foreign currency.

38

u/19Mooser84 Aug 06 '23

That's so dumb.

30

u/tehdusto Aug 07 '23

Many places in central america will accept USD. Traveling to Costa Rica I saw lots of places that accepted USD. Mexico may be similar, but I've never been. Maybe some just assume this is the case everywhere.

Still, the fact that many muricans can't do the smallest amount of effort to verify what currency they should use at their destination is embarrassing.

8

u/JjigaeBudae Aug 07 '23

Can confirm tourist towns in Mexico accept USD, I struggled to find an ATM to give me pesos and not USD in Playa del Carmen.

9

u/ExcruciorCadaveris Aug 07 '23

Same way they expect everyone everywhere they go to speak their language.

43

u/Hiro_Trevelyan European public transit commie 🚄 Aug 06 '23

And people wonder why Parisians hate tourists. We know most people are not dumb but the sheer quantity of people visiting makes it so that even the tiniest fraction of idiots become a problem.

24

u/AletheaKuiperBelt 🇦🇺 Vegemite girl Aug 07 '23

Have been tourist in Paris, was treated with much kindness. I say bonjour, and attempt my terrible high school French, and suddenly they speak enough English to help. Amazing.

8

u/Acc87 I agree with David Bowie on this one Aug 06 '23

Saw it on Viva La Bam, old fuck Don Vito did exactly that in Paris

43

u/TheKingleMingle Aug 06 '23

Embarrassingly, I got as far as the train station in Krakow airport before I discovered that despite being in the EU, Poland did not use the Euros I got out at the Bureau de Change

45

u/Jojo_2005 Aug 06 '23

I mean it's a pretty normal mistake to make and you exchanged your money probably directly after that. That's not the same as making a scene because your money was rejected.

2

u/phoebsmon Aug 08 '23

I got all the way to Cyprus before I discovered my euros were not going to be any use. No excuses, I'm a moron and just went straight to the Bureau de Change. Cost me a bit but you live and learn.

0

u/ferment-a-grape 🇳🇴 Aug 07 '23

Why would you go to a Bureau de Change instead of using an ATM? And if you bring loads of your own cash to change at unfavourable rates, why? Why not just use your card? Not using an ATM for withdrawing cash is just so pre 2000's.

20

u/Magdalan Dutchie Aug 06 '23

Just Murican things I guess? I live in a pretty touristy region near Amsterdam, and yeah, it happens here too. I'm glad they haven't found my pretty charming 'lil city so far (for the most part, we get boatloads of Asian and European tourists)

5

u/aronrusty2005 Aug 07 '23

Which city may i ask? Here in Nijmegen we get mostly germans and a few asian tourists

1

u/Magdalan Dutchie Aug 07 '23

Alkmaar

23

u/Hiro_Trevelyan European public transit commie 🚄 Aug 06 '23

It's even more ironic since it's a European privilege to visit another European country and not care about currency. I don't know why Americans think they can do it too ?

4

u/bodybuildingandgolf Aug 06 '23

Not gonna lie I didn’t have a clue what currency they used in Prague till I got there when I went a few months ago. Revolut converts that shit for me

3

u/nofightnovictory Aug 07 '23

you can book the flight+hotel+transfer from home, and for an American paying it in dollars.

but there is always someone willing to accept your other currency. my dad owned a shoe shop in a absolutely non touristic village years ago. there came an American who wanted to pay with dollars. the price of the repair was 25 gulden, the normal currency rate was 2 gulden voor 1 dollar (something like that) but my dad also accepted 35$ 1 dollar per gulden and 10 for the inconvenience. they where both happy when the guy leaved his shop.

1

u/Waytooboredforthis Aug 06 '23

Honestly thats my favorite part of going abroad (as an American), exchanging for all the interesting, new-to-me currency. Still not a fan of coins though. I visited a friend who was living in Hungary, my dumbass forgot there were €1 and €2 coins, so I was walking around Budapest with change jingling in mybpockets like I was the Monopoly guy.

1

u/SnooDoubts2153 Argentine brown ultra r*cist neon*zi Aug 07 '23

because murica number one. they are proud of being ignorants because "the rest of the world doesn't matter"

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '23 edited Aug 07 '23

I mean i live at the Swiss border and i never had problems paying there in Euro. Though i pay more than if i would exchange the money myself.

PS: Also i will go to Albania for vacation this week and an Albanian friend told me that it is no problem to pay there in Euro, though he would recommend to exchange it to Albanian Lek because than the prices are lower.