Online conversation, impossible for non Americans

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I'm starting to think that unless you're American, English or find your right bit of the net, conversation online is impossible as they really don't get the cultural references.

When you bash them over the head with them, explain in really blunt terms, they still refuse to listen and want to talk about old blokes in kilts eating haggis...

I do respect old guys but that's as far as it goes. And I love my granddad and stepdad (my stepdad is old like over 70)

I don't mind.

I don't need friends online and I don't need Yank friends beyond the one I have with whom I talk poetry and very generic things like that. I'm talking realistically here lol, not bringing up a certain crush of mine... (Timothy Weah which would be obvious elsewhere)

There are two guys who are the exception to this. Beyond the Waves and some other guy. On Twitter.

But everyone else - forget it. At least unless you want very vague, generic conversations. But there are certain things you can't talk about. If I can't talk about football and soap operas with people, I don't want them as friends.

Anyone else find this? It boils down to - you have to be their stereotype or pretend to be a Yank or they will deliberately misunderstand you.

Also if you're successful in anyway, forget it. People only want to talk to losers. I'm fed up of advice about poetry which assumes I'm a new or amateur writer.

My exceptions to this is if you find your own corner of the net. Then you have to be careful in what you're saying cos you're used to talking to Yanks and suddenly people understand.

I thought you liked me

You're another exception In fact I was thinking 'what's that kk guy called on here, saying kk sounds wrong but I can't remember if it's Kris Kristofferson or who... he's another exception'

Not that I'm 100% sure you get me but I love that you try to get everyone.

It's just certain people. And the notion that I can't be understood 100%. I don't really get that anywhere, though.

I'm thinking back to who really, really gets me. There's one woman who does. Outwith my family obviously. She gets my geeky side and she gets my sporty side and she gets my shallow side. I'm not talking about a girlfriend here just a colleague. Only one person in the whole world and my parents. Thank god I have three parents thanks to adoption.

And no I don't 'like' like you, sorry pal... Purely platonic

Purely Platonic on my part, too.

I can't get nobody "100%." Not even native New Yorkers who grew up in the Borough of Queens---like I did.

I feel like you're sort of a "Beat Generation" writer in a sense. More experiential/stream-of-consciousness than, say, a Victorian writer. Obviously, not totally "Beat." You have your own way. You like to "get down to the nitty gritty," so to speak (in general). I'm not so much that way myself, though I enjoy reading that stuff.

Then again, is anybody "totally" anything?

I confess that I'm not into soap operas at all.

I am familiar with world football. I used to play it as a kid (not very well). I played American football a little better. Sometimes, I'll look at the Scottish Premier League standings. I know some of the sides by heart.

The only people I saw wearing kilts in Edinburgh were related to the tourist industry. I was there two days once. Never been to Glasgow, though my wife has been there.

Have you read "The Basketball Diaries?" It's about a guy who got into the culture of basketball----and the culture of drugs and many kinds of sex. The author is Jim Carroll (who has passed away).

So basically, the OP hates over 90 percent of the members of this website.

Nice to know.

You cant expect people in the USA to relate to fitba or Corrie

My daughter in law loves Corrie! She Corrie fests on the weekend, catching up on what she’s missed.

I hate fitba. Haven't watched corrie for years. Wait... I suppose I've just demonstrated I relate to them...

Not hates.

Finds impossible to relate with.

And is aspie enough to say so.

Me and you jibe so I'm really am speaking stereotypically. And it's not just 90% of the website. It's 90% of the internet in general. At least that's how I feel. I was wanting reassurance on something and I got ignored. Gonna stick to my own set of principles then...

No I haven't but that sounds interesting.

Exactly my point on the kilts thing, it's like expecting Americans to be cowboys or something. But because America runs most of the media and the internet, nobody would do that. People expect America to not look like it did in previous centuries.

I must admit that some ethnic groups in America surprise me though, like Indian Americans (not native Americans). Before a decade or so ago, only media representation I got of them was Apu from the Simpsons. So I do stereotype it as a very white, black and Native American place.

I really like that about you. I really like Americans who take interest in Scottish football, like I said BTW is another guy who does. I can't remember if he's a New Yorker too. Very Irish American. The Yanks tend to have taste too, once they get into it.

Wow that's so cool that I remind you of a Beat because that's my favourite era. I don't bother with what I write on here. I just write. Most of my real stuff takes 10 drafts or so.

And note I didn't say I hated anyone, I just said it's impossible to relate. Some people feel the same about a whole opposite sex which is around 50% of the world population.

I think he's right about USA and he said USA not America When my dad was studying Spanish lit, he never allowed me to say America for USA. I had to say USA. Because America is two continents with many countries.

Is it like me and Ros Na Run that your daughter in law gets to watch up to date if she wants to? Because I heard that Canadians suffer from being a bit behind in it. No shame in that though, I'm the same with a lot of soaps and that's by choice.

^ Canadians do appear to be less insular in my experience

They really do have Corrie over there. And regular fans.

They have worse taste in fitba than the Yanks who follow it, though. You can get some proper CSCs in places like Boston and New York. The Irish American connection. It's all RSCs in Canada.

I don't know if they have EastEnders.

I, predictably, hate to say it but maybe they're closer to us cos they're not fully independent from the crown.

They're also a bit French esp in Quebec.

This isn't a hate rant this is a loneliness rant and an anti stereotypes rant.

I'm maybe insular myself in my own way, just when you grew up with 6 nationalities (or 5) in your family then your sisters go off to have kids by guys from three separate foreign countries, it stops you from feeling very insular.

At least in NYC, we have EastEnders.

What is shown quite a bit, recently, is "Father Brown," a mini-series named "Victoria," "Keeping up Appearances," and a show called "Vera," about some matronly detective who is hard on the outside, but soft on the inside.

There are other British programs shown on Channels 13 and 21. Masterpiece Theatre is an old standby. There is something called "BritBox" which Americans can subscribe to.

Wow, that's good I really didn't expect Americans to get UK soaps Mum went over there and someone was surprised that we all (back then) used to watch the same shows at the same time of day.

Sometimes I worry that all that the BBC in America programmes that get exported are Jane Austen type period dramas. Cos that's what everyone talks about. That and Dr Who.

You don't really get a proper sense of a culture from stuff like that imo. I mean a modern day, contemporary culture.

Anyway Scottish Twitter hate me, Scottish Reddit are ignoring me so it isn't an American problem it's a 'I suck' problem.

Who cares about Twitter and Reddit? Who cares if they "hate" you? Most of these "haters" are punks, anyway (the old definition of "punk," not "punk rock").

All you should care about are your buddies in your locales. About your family. Not some schmucks on the Internet.

I heard that "Steptoe and Son" was really popular in the 1960s. That was what "Sanford and Son," the American TV show about junk dealers, is based on.