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Being a tourist can be a real headache. Sometimes people will judge you before they’ve even really got to know you, purely based on where you come from.
For Americans, that goes double — there seems to be a trend online in which people from the States are judged pretty harshly. One frustrating video on TikTok sees a woman receiving abuse from a bunch of teenagers in Dublin due to her nationality. From her other videos on TikTok, it’s worth noting that Regan, the woman in the video, is not a tourist, but is actually living in Dublin, although that probably makes very little difference to the children harassing her.
Anyways, according to her, the large group of younglings had even thrown a bottle at her prior to her pulling her phone out to record the situation. In the caption, Regan, the woman who posted the video, explains that the kids started calling her derogatory names after hearing her accent.
According to an article from the Irish Times, many Dublin locals have expressed concern over growing anti-social behavior in the city. Obviously this is unacceptable in any context, but the fact that Regan was just watching the sunset and minding her own business makes it worse. Don’t these kids have anything better to be doing with their time? What do they get from harassing innocent people who have literally done nothing to them? One user was so frustrated by the video that they vowed to go to war with Dublin over the whole thing.
Others questioned why people care so much where people are from, “Idk why other countries have a problem with tourists.” On the other hand, another commenter suggested that it wasn’t because she was American and if it weren’t her accent, the kids would have found something else to bully her for.
It’s not just a Dublin thing, kids all over the world can be like this. Just last month an individual was harassed while shopping in the U.S. by a couple of kids for being visibly gay. Some teenagers are just mean like that.
A phone camera scares the kids away
Regardless, Regan was able to turn the tables; the kids ran with their tails between their legs the second she pulled her phone out to record them, and can be seen scurrying off on foot and e-scooters. It’s almost funny how quickly they disperse. In less than 30 seconds the large group is pretty much gone, probably scared of the repercussions if any of them get recognized by their parents.
Meanwhile Regan was appreciative of all the supportive comments she received from others on the app, revealing that she had only moved there a few weeks ago and doesn’t “know the dynamics yet.” Hopefully this one bad experience hasn’t ruined her stay in Ireland.