𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗗 𝗝. 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗟 "𝗨𝗚𝗟𝗬 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡"

                           

In 1966, as a young man of 18, wearing a new suit I'd just purchased at Mr. John's Men's Shop, I walked nervously into the Texas Bar, just off the zocalo in Matamoros, the finest restaurant I'd ever entered.  The waiters were all in starched white. Chandeliers hung over the long dining tables.

All I could think of was to not be the stereotypical "Ugly American," the loud, arrogant, thoughtless know-it-all with total disdain for other cultures. 

In 2018, in southeast Asia, I was careful to avoid that mindset, whether eating barbecue on a stick at a park in Cagayan de Oro or sampling the home  country's tequila at a rooftop bar in Cebu City.

A few days ago, at the Pope's funeral and, just yesterday, during Canada's national elections, Donald J. Trump clearly came across as the quintessential "Ugly American," not just because he was inappropriately dressed in a blue suit, but because of his overall demeanor.  Then, a few days later, so distasteful did Trump become in the minds and hearts of Canadians, that a Conservative candidate who identified with Trump, well ahead in the polls two months ago, was absolutely crushed in yesterday's election. 

We could all learn from the late Anthony Bourdain, who, sitting on a plastic stool in Vietnam, ate what he described as his "best meal ever."  No "Ugly American" was Bourdain, but a man comfortable and appreciative in any culture, any setting, with any group of folk.