Des Essientes wrote:
So what?
but you gotta admit....it gets a bit annoying when you see the Italian kid from Staten Island, driving his Mitsubishi Eclipse with the Italian sticker on the back bumper, wearing a wifey and the big gold chain, slicked back hair, tawkin' wit dat New Yawk accent, going to clubs and pumping his fists, talking about how he's sooo Italian, dropping the vowel at the end of every Italian food name (pepperon, mozzerell) on top of saying words that he thinks is Italian but they're really just made up words like "gabbagool".
I mean.....I get it Des Essientes, people in the USA, especially in the tri-state area (where I'm from) have a bit of an identity crisis and at some point you see it necessary to at least mention that you aren't the descendent of a family of pilgrims from the 1600's so you tell people where your parents or grandparents or great grandparents came from "so I'm 25% X, 25% Y and 50% Z" but at times Des Essientes, Americans sound a bit ridiculous talking about their heritage......which they generally know nothing about in the first place.
It's a weird topic in the USA because you grow up in a country that basically has no true blood line.....unless you're American Indian. Everything traces back to another country.
When I'm abroad, I tell people I'm American. When I'm in America, I wouldn't say "I'm American" because like DE already said, that part is obvious....so I give people the "percentage" speech because there's really no other way to explain it.