Jonathan said:Actually, the observation that Americans prefer to see American riders more than several other nationalities prefer to see their own, is a conclusion that can be drawn from this thread. As for the part about two nations being similar, I cannot see how that is prejudiced. No two countries have been affected by the enlightenment in a more similar way, and this has deeply affected their people.
An exchange I saw, filmed in New York:
Interviewer: "What do you think of Amsterdam?"
Newyorker: "Great! Great country."
Int.: "Amsterdam is a city."
NYer: [Indignantly] "No it's not!" [Walks away]
Assuming you can deduce where I'm from just by reading my message shows more prejudice than I ever put forward to begin with.
Went to NY a few years ago with my Belgian housemate, we got talking to a NYarker in a diner, I am Irish, no problem there.
"Belgium!! thats part of Germany, right" He wasnt joking.
Although in fairness, its not just Americans, they just seem to be worse than most. I had some Argentinian colleagues at work in Ireland last year. Some customers were asking about them, "What language do they speak in Argentina?" a few of my Irish colleagues looked at each other before replying "Argentinian"
Ask most people, what language they speak in Belgium, Switzerland or even Austrian and you will get a lot of puzzled answers, "Belgian, Swiss and Austrian" right