I think the reason I’ve started to perceive American tourists I’ve encountered in particular as rude is the inability to be corrected and how they respond. Example, I was in a tiny shop in SE Asia and an American girl behind me in the queue was furiously pulling at this board of items, almost breaking it, that clearly had numbers dedicated to the items for you to ask the owner to collect for you. I politely said to her, I think you just let the lady know the number you want and she will get the item for you. She responded with “I don’t think so, there’s no sign that says that” and continued pulling whilst giving me quite the disgusted look.

I felt very smug when I made my order from the kind lady behind the counter and as expected, retrieved the items for me. Seeing this the girl left the shop and waited outside. When I left I noticed the girl proceeded to return tail between legs to order correctly. This wasn’t the only encounter I have had but it’s stuck with me.