Pet Peeve: Tourists With Touristy Attitudes
As a library staffer, I don't personally run into many of these, but on various trips I've taken in the past, it's been nearly impossible to get away from Tourists With Touristy Attitudes. In Amish Country?
Tourists With Touristy Attitudes.
Going around Sturbridge Village or Old Williamsburg?
Tourists With Touristy Attitudes.
Niagara Falls?
Nassau, Bahamas?
The lunch line of my college cafeteria?
Tourists With Touristy Attitudes.
I can't even get away from them at home! I'm mostly a pedestrian, so I travel on busses for disances greater than a mile or so. This includes my morning and evening work commutes. Normally, this is no big thing except my connection stop between work and home is directly adjacent to the hallowed halls of a Major US University. The new students aren't so bad after a month or two, but the peace never lasts long.
Every few months, Privileged Tourists With Touristy Attitudes decend on the streets I love. Along with viewing the campus which they or their progeny might soon attend, they ask for directions to buildings I've never visited, park their cars on the street where my bus needs to stop, and make the orders line at my local Starbucks longer than the time I have between busses; like, "it's only ever longer on Election Day" long.
Okay, maybe the Starbucks thing can't be helped. Still, I think the world would be a better place if Tourists With Touristy attitudes tried to act more like guests.
Flash-Dash Tourists, you who take pictures of anything and everything, stop. Slow down, at least. You're so busy taking pictures that nothing your tour guide says will stay in your brain. Trust me. I used to be one of you. Not only that, but some people and objects are considered taboo photo subjects-- the faces of any Amish citizen, for example. Know what the taboos are in the area you're visiting, and respect them.
Loud-Brash Tourists, shut up. You may be an expert on a specific subject, but let the tour guide explain the situation to everyone else in your group and save the monologuing for during or after the Q&A session. If you're the type who just shouts nonsense, like "Hey! That stalagmite looks like a penis!", keep your comments entirely to yourself. Please.
Big-Cash Tourists, people like the Privileged persons I mentioned earlier, stop and think. The University you're visiting is a major part of the city, but not the only one. Follow the local traffic laws and signs. Better yet, park your car for the day and hoof it, if you can stand the physicality. If a stranger doesn't know where a specific building is, ask a Downtown Ambassador your question or else find the local tourism office. Better yet, ask a student, if you see one. And ask as a guest, not a Tourist.
As for being a good guest, just act the way you would the house of a friend's friend. Have a good time and don't be afraid to speak up, but obey the local laws and customs. You're visiting someone else's world, not the other way around.
And please, tip your baristas?
Tourists With Touristy Attitudes.
Going around Sturbridge Village or Old Williamsburg?
Tourists With Touristy Attitudes.
Niagara Falls?
Nassau, Bahamas?
The lunch line of my college cafeteria?
Tourists With Touristy Attitudes.
I can't even get away from them at home! I'm mostly a pedestrian, so I travel on busses for disances greater than a mile or so. This includes my morning and evening work commutes. Normally, this is no big thing except my connection stop between work and home is directly adjacent to the hallowed halls of a Major US University. The new students aren't so bad after a month or two, but the peace never lasts long.
Every few months, Privileged Tourists With Touristy Attitudes decend on the streets I love. Along with viewing the campus which they or their progeny might soon attend, they ask for directions to buildings I've never visited, park their cars on the street where my bus needs to stop, and make the orders line at my local Starbucks longer than the time I have between busses; like, "it's only ever longer on Election Day" long.
Okay, maybe the Starbucks thing can't be helped. Still, I think the world would be a better place if Tourists With Touristy attitudes tried to act more like guests.
Flash-Dash Tourists, you who take pictures of anything and everything, stop. Slow down, at least. You're so busy taking pictures that nothing your tour guide says will stay in your brain. Trust me. I used to be one of you. Not only that, but some people and objects are considered taboo photo subjects-- the faces of any Amish citizen, for example. Know what the taboos are in the area you're visiting, and respect them.
Loud-Brash Tourists, shut up. You may be an expert on a specific subject, but let the tour guide explain the situation to everyone else in your group and save the monologuing for during or after the Q&A session. If you're the type who just shouts nonsense, like "Hey! That stalagmite looks like a penis!", keep your comments entirely to yourself. Please.
Big-Cash Tourists, people like the Privileged persons I mentioned earlier, stop and think. The University you're visiting is a major part of the city, but not the only one. Follow the local traffic laws and signs. Better yet, park your car for the day and hoof it, if you can stand the physicality. If a stranger doesn't know where a specific building is, ask a Downtown Ambassador your question or else find the local tourism office. Better yet, ask a student, if you see one. And ask as a guest, not a Tourist.
As for being a good guest, just act the way you would the house of a friend's friend. Have a good time and don't be afraid to speak up, but obey the local laws and customs. You're visiting someone else's world, not the other way around.
And please, tip your baristas?