Are Americans really that dumb?

by Jerry Guo on

Yes I know how easy it is to bash everything that is American these days. But I thought of something while browsing through the just announced 2007 Darwin Awards. For the uninitiated, these are “honorary” prizes given to those who’ve “eliminated themselves from the gene pool” through really stupid stunts. 2007’s winner was a 58-year-old man who gave himself a 3-liter Sherry enema–and of course, died from an alcohol overdose.

These awards are indeed very funny, if not a bit morbid. They also made me think about just how cartoonishly comical Americans can be. Out of the five top entries from this year, four were from the states. The other one was from Germany.

Now, is this just because the Darwin Awards are US-centric–or that the majority of Western media, from where the competition gets its news, is focused on the US? Or is this the perfect example of just how stupid Americans are getting?

Is that damn pizza done yet?

by Brett Atkinson on

When I was researching New Zealand’s Hermitage hotel a few weeks back for Lonely Planet, I had no idea of the weird no-brain stuff happening behind its flash doors. Maybe it was the altitude and mountain air – the Hermitage is right beside Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak – but a recent guest had a bit of culinary trouble in her room.

Hotel staff were called when an American guest in her mid 40s complained she couldn’t get her frozen ham and pineapple pizza out of the microwave. Turns out she’d jammed the doughy treat in the lockable room safe, hit a few random numbers she thought stood for 3 minutes on high, and waited for her meaty, cheesy snack to emerge.

Is the appropriate response laughter or sympathy in such a case?

Scary.

Thanks to feeb on Flickr for the pic of a pop tart retrieval process.

Reminder: Dumb Travel Mistakes = Prizes

by Willy Volk on

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of The Smart Traveler’s Passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers this week. The deadline for the contest is June 6, 2007, at 8 pm. That means you still have plenty of time to enter — but you need to get cracking!

All you have to do to win a copy of the book — which we reviewed recently and which will undoubtedly help you travel smarter in the future — is share your dumbest travel mistakes with us. Tell us your stories here.

Even if you don’t have any mistakes to share (which we don’t really believe), you should check out some of the stories others have shared. People have done some really head-smackingly dumb things.