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FAKE LETTERS
A Letter to My German Brother-in-Law
I hope this finds you well
Dear German brother-in-law, René,
You see, American sensibilities and the nuances of American English are a complicated matter. So the guy you met at your international work conference is nice, funny. Many Americans are, but they also are, for lack of a better term, bullshit artists. Their small talk, a superficial default setting, might charm you because it is, after all, their predominant style of communication.
And so, a guy like that, while cordial and funny with you in person, might be cold and impersonal toward me since I’m not someone with whom he has a rapport. But that you might say about anybody.
Still, Americans are great at being inauthentic and superficial to the point of being misleading. You might get the wrong idea about their character if you’re not perceptive. This is the land of Hollywood movies, don’t forget. Duplicitous Americans, as well, are a dime a dozen.
I don’t think this is a pessimistic view, either. It’s merely the truth of the matter …
There is a tendency among Americans to not actually say what they mean. Unlike Germans, for example, Americans are indirect in their communication. For an American, to be so honest and forthcoming would…
