Timeline for Is it rude to ask tourists where they are from?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
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| Aug 13, 2017 at 14:19 | comment | added | user1760 | @brw59 In a restaurant, you show them to a table, give them a menu, fill their water glasses, take their order and bring them their food. All this can be done without asking them where they are from, why they have come, is this their first time here, where they are staying and how long they are staying. And so on. If I need something, I'll let you know, you don't need a printout of my genome. :) | |
| Aug 13, 2017 at 5:33 | comment | added | brw59 | @ab2, you mentioned that you see 'where are you from?' as a personal question, do you also see the question 'what brings you to [here]?' as personal? To me it's the same thing, they're all personal questions. I think it's rude to not be asked any type of personal question when you're a guest. Guests, properly treated, are catered to the individual. But how do you cater to an individual when you don't know anything about them because you never asked a personal question? | |
| Aug 12, 2017 at 21:23 | comment | added | user1760 | @el.pescado Because on this site it Is almost compulsory to give at least the country one is from. I explained later why I don't know what answer is relevant, and gave five examples of what could be a valid answer to the question. | |
| Aug 12, 2017 at 20:08 | comment | added | el.pescado - нет войне | You say you "genuinely don't know how to answer the question", yet the very first thing you wrote was "person from the US here"... | |
| Aug 12, 2017 at 6:17 | history | edited | NVZ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 12, 2017 at 1:49 | comment | added | Maja Piechotka | @Vylix While I don't think it is rude to ask it can quickly turn into dive into identity question (where I was born? where I grow up? where I spent most time? which culture I identify with?). At this point you can get quickly downhill into discussion of 'going native'/'not integrating'/'betraying culture'/... and surprisingly complex set of interleaving ideas about culture, nation etc. more suitable discussion in some kind of safe space rather then with random stranger. So I'd treat such answers as a polite way of saying 'it's complex and personal'. | |
| Aug 11, 2017 at 22:24 | history | edited | user1760 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
changed "no one wants to know how you really are" to "no stranger or casual acqauintance....."
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| Aug 11, 2017 at 2:01 | history | edited | user1760 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added three short paragraphs in response to comments
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| Aug 10, 2017 at 19:05 | comment | added | JMac | @ab2 If someone pries for more information, then that's rude. Asking in the first place is just regular conversation. I agree that if they want to get more specific than you do, it is rude; but I know plenty of people who ask that question and don't demand a fully detailed response. | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 16:36 | comment | added | user1760 | @JMac In my (fairly vast) experience), they really do want an answer. For awhile I tried saying "The East Coast", and it was always followed up by "But WHERE on the East Coast?" Now I just say "Why does it matter?" | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 10:55 | comment | added | JMac | Boring question, I understand. Rude, I don't really understand. Perhaps it's really that different in Eastern Canada, but I've even been asked where I'm from (or if I'm from around the area) in my own town. It seems no more rude than asking "How are you today?" No one is forcing you to answer; it's just common conversation. People like to know if someone is from around or not; often times here it is to offer advice on good places to travel, or just to check if they are having a good time. It makes less sense to ask a local person if they are enjoying their stay at home. | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 9:52 | comment | added | user1760 | @Andy I would be short with anyone in the US who asked personal, intrusive questions. (And I'd never go to Vegas.) In a foreign country, I would be more tolerant; I wouldn't like it, but I'd be polite, at least for awhile. It is their country and they deserve a modicum of politeness from the hordes of tourists (however free-spending) they have to put up with. | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 9:09 | comment | added | Frank Hopkins | While you have different "origin" states in the US to pick from, some heavy travellers consider themselves world citizen without feeling they belong to any particular country. So the same problem can be applied one level up and then I would think they don't mean any harm by saying they're "from Earth", for them the question of origin is simply pointless. | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 7:50 | comment | added | Andy | Wait, the ending has me confused. You would be offended if another USA citizen asked where your from when on a trip to say, Vegas, but not when a local person asks when traveling to india? am i correct in assuming that? | |
| Aug 9, 2017 at 21:13 | comment | added | BunnyKnitter | @Vylix for a native English speaker, there is little ambiguity to me either. I would respond with something like "born ___, raised ___, currently living __". If I was someone who wanted to live elsewhere in the future, I may even include that "... but I'd love to live ___ someday." | |
| Aug 9, 2017 at 18:54 | comment | added | Vylix | For a non-native English speaker, "where you folks from" can only mean your country of origin. | |
| Aug 9, 2017 at 18:16 | history | edited | NVZ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 9, 2017 at 18:10 | history | answered | user1760 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |