Do you care when people speak another language around you, other than English? Some people do—not a lot, but enough that it’s a peculiar attitude. One former Texas man took to TikTok to express a bit of culture shock he had after visiting to Spain. While shopping, he was astonished by how welcoming locals are when you try your best to be a part of the community, even if you’re just on vacation.
“The people in Spain are so nice, especially if you’re an American tourist and they can see you’re really, really trying to speak Spanish,” says James (TikTok/jamesisnotverynice) in his video. He continues, stating “They appreciate it, even if you’re bad at it,” then shares a lovely experience he had shopping for a belt.
After walking 35 minutes to a leather store, and struggling with saying ‘belt’ in Spanish, James was assisted by a seemingly enthusiastic “old lady.” First, she helps him with the word, then bring him back to try on all sorts of belts. Meanwhile, the old lady is making small talk, like asking where he’s farm. When James tells her Texas, she pretends to fire a gun in the air, accompanied by a “pew, pew,” which gets a laugh out of James.
When James finds a belt, the old lady gives him a thumbs up and a “muy guapo” (very handsome). As he’s checking out, James see a nice bag, which he also buys. In total, he should’ve paid around €55, but surprisingly, the old lady sold them together for €15. In USD, that’s just shy of $20!
But it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. James does admit he had one itty-bitty problem when he was in Barcelona. “Everybody walks slow as [expletive],” James says. “Everyone here walks like they have absolutely nowhere to be. It’s insane.” Of course, James is clearly being funny, but I totally understand—at least in the U.S. If I’m overseas though, I’m taking my sweet time.
The comment section was abuzz with others really happy about James experience and reasoning for the general friendliness.
“No I love it when tourists actually try and go out of their way to speak Spanish, it’s adorable,” said one, along with hearts and a crying dog image.
“Extra points for going to a leather store instead of a big clothing store,” read another comment.
One commenter claimed the ones walking slow are “tourists,” though another person claimed it was because they’re somewhere “actually worth taking their time and enjoy being.” At least in the U.S., people get pretty impatient, so it may just be perspective. Regardless, James’s experience shows people outside the U.S. are far more friendly of tourists than tourists coming to U.S. Some people don’t even like when you speak Spanish around them. Not to mention the hate people get for even speaking poor English. They’re trying. Come on now!
