OLD STYLE CHINESE RESTAURANT

I have always found visitors from the US to be very polite and friendly so I was very surprised to meet what may be an “Ugly American” in a small Chinese restaurant in Waterford.

"Ugly American" is a pejorative term used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless, ignorant, and ethnocentric behaviour of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home.

For about 15 minutes I was the only customer in the restaurant and then an elderly American and his wife arrived. They both sat down at a table at the other the side of the restaurant. Soon after the gentleman said “sir, did you not hear me”. I said sorry, I was not paying attention. He then said in a very aggressive manner “do you have a problem?”. At this stage the waitress arrived with the menus.

The couple looked at the menus and then I heard him say to his wife “let’s go, I don’t like the sort of people that they serve in this restaurant”. They then called the waitress and said they they were leaving as they do not eat Chinese food.

On his way out he said something to me that could not be repeated here.