“Part of the reason the natives disdain the very people who are the source of their livelihood, I think, is that their customer is there to have a good time,” writes Christopher Elliott in the Seattle Times.
“When your home is seen as nothing more than a playground, it’s bound to lead to misunderstandings and maybe resentment. I always envied the visitors I met when I worked for the simple reason that I had to work and they didn’t.
“Even when the tourists don’t break any laws, it’s not always easy to be nice to them. But like them? That might be asking too much.
“That doesn’t mean people in Orlando, or any other destination with a tourism-dependent economy, hate outsiders. I think it’s fair to say that we wish certain visitors would stay home, but when you’re the number one tourist destination on the planet, you can’t be too choosy.
“When I lived in Europe, we regularly made fun of our own countrymen. You could spot American tourists from a mile away: They were loud, dressed in bright colors and asked silly questions. No wonder people of my generation rolled their eyes when they talked about the Yankees they’d met.”
