“I am now in Japan. And when I say that I am American, people look at me with contempt and disgust."
Video link -> https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/2051652368530362374/pu/vid/avc1/640x352/u56hlLN9Hh-E0OkR.mp4
Source -> https://xcancel.com/capemalay3/status/2051652400776118406#m
even like 15+ years ago I remember common travel advice for people from the u.s. was “pretend to be canadian”
I think this has been a thing since at least the late 1970s, perhaps starting during the Vietnam war. I remember hearing it in the ’80s.