Americans lose #1 standing in yet another area

Americans are, according to this Time Magazine article, posted this morning on Yahoo! News, no longer viewed as the world's most obnoxious tourists.

That dubious honor, according to the article, belongs to the Chinese, the Indians and, of course, the French.

The French don't even like the French: According to the linked article, the French "finished second to last among nations ranking the popularity of their own tourists who vacation at home."

Even though Americans are still widely perceived as "the loudest, most inclined to complain, and among the least polite," we earn high marks for attempting to speak the local languages... and those of us who can still travel spend freely and tip much.

This just tells me that fewer and fewer Americans are traveling. And it's no wonder why:

• We can't afford the gasoline to drive to the airport.

• We can't stomach the oppressive and pointless indignities imposed in the name of airport "security."

• If we are willing to suffer the humiliation of airport security, we are likely to emerge on the other side and find our flights canceled, and/or the ticket price trebled, and a $3 fee for a bag of gravel that is represented to be airline peanuts.

We may still have theoretical freedom of movement... but movement is no longer free. We can't set the horrible example for tourists everywhere anymore because we can't get there from here.