A friend of mine who is a waitress shared an observation with me.  We’ve all heard the stereotype of the ugly American traveling abroad: loud, rude and uncultured.  Lately, however, these words more fittingly describe the European tourists who have recently been visiting her well-known West Village restaurant.  I’ve also noticed many European tourists in Midtown, and they can most often be found on the sidewalk in front of the Main Library carrying multiple shopping bags and taking pictures of each other.
European tourists are supposed to be cultured, elegant and polite.  What happened?  My friend attributes this change to the fall of the formerly mighty dollar.  In the past, the average American who was good with her money could afford to go abroad and gaze at the Eiffel Tower, raise a pint of Guinness or ski the Swiss Alps.  Now we can’t afford to go away, but Europeans have been crossing the Atlantic in droves. 
With so many foreign travelers in New York, some of them are bound to be rude.  And maybe being a good tourist takes some practice, which many of the recent tourists seem to lack.  My friend and I are happy that the more people around the world are able to come to New York and see it first-hand.  But we would also like it if they realized that it’s impolite not to tip in a restaurant, and that we need our precious little sidewalk space for getting around.