So a funny thing happened when I was in Spain last week. If you want to see a fraction of the photos I took, check out my Facebook albums. Anyway we were on our way back from Sevilla, Spain (yes, from The Barber of Seville- Bugs Bunny). The driver had left the emergency hatch open on the bus for air while he waited and it was right above our heads. Well he forgot to close it before we got going, and the noise was very annoying. So we asked this guy beside us to close it. 
Within a minute or so we all realized he had no idea how to close it, and we started encouraging him to not worry about it or ask someone else. He kept messing with it though, and soon all of us started to have these worried looks on our faces and imagining this hatch flying open. I honestly didn't think it would happen though.
All of the sudden this thing flies off the roof and into traffic behind us (we're going probably 80 mph on the highway, mind you). A few of us gasp, some give a girly scream, and everyone stands up and looks behind us to see if it hit anyone. We couldn't see because there wasn't a window in the very back. So we told the driver what happened and he stopped a few km up the road at a gas station. He nervously called his boss and was instructed to go back and try to find it. So we made our way to the highway in the opposite direction, so that we could turn around and retrace our steps. 
As we drove back to the place where it flew off, everyone's faces were plastered against the window looking for this huge white and yellow hatch in between the bushes which were in between lanes of the highway. We finally saw it and yelled out to stop, so the bus driver slams on the breaks and pulls over---kinda, except we were probably 40% in the lane with just a little bit of the bus on the median. The driver gets out and starts running behind us to get the hatch. In the meantime we're being updated on a second by second basis by my friend Gina of what's happening! Haha.. he brings it back and we all start cheering for him. He took it surprisingly well, but maybe because he didn't know it was our fault! 
I'll tell you why. This question irritates me and I seem to hear it all the time. Yeah yeah, we're fat and stupid and lazy and we think we're all the best and English is all we need and whatever... ya know, there are stereotypes for every country and sub-culture in the world and YES, most of the time it's a stereotype because it's partially true--I will agree with that. Many Americans fit the exact mold of what I just said.
But I just want to stick up for us for a minute- cause I mean, I know that Americans aren't supposed to be patriotic or anything since that would make us ignorant fools.... but I don't care. I want to give you a few reasons why Americans don't find learning a bunch of languages a top priority for them in their lives.
Let's take for example Bob who lives in North Platte, Nebraska. If Bob were to drive 1,300 miles south, 1,600 miles west, 2,000 east, or 3,500 miles to the North (west), he would STILL BE in his own country who speaks English. One major language. He could even go further as Canada obviously speaks English, and as my step dad said, "You could go a few thousand miles south in South America but if you go to a tourist town or hotel they probably speak English anyway."
Take Europe for example. If Europe were a triangle, to get from one point to another it would be about 3,500 miles. Within that triangle there are about 230 languages. Only knowing one language in the midst of several smaller countries so close together would not be very advantageous. Let's say you're working in Switzerland. You have Italian to the south, French to the west, German to the north, and 2 countries to the east you have a junk load of other languages like Czech and Slovak. To be in business and only know German would result in lost business.
Another thing... English is obviously becoming an international language. It's not my fault- it wasn't my decision- it's just the way it is! So yes, I can go just about anywhere in the world and a lot of people I'll meet know their own language plus English.
So listen- here's the deal. Of COURSE I think Americans should learn other languages. There are plenty of benefits in learning languages and it's a good good thing. I'm not saying people shouldn't learn them... ok? But what I am saying is for you people out there who criticize us for being stupid because we don't learn a bunch of languages, find something better to criticize us for!
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