Are people idiotic globally, or is it just the United States?

[Jeremy]

Each country is different, and each country has its idiots and stupidity.
I have been to countless countries and lived in United States, Europe, and Russia.
There are pros and cons to each culture.

In France, for example, customer service is often horrible and the company is always right, not the client.
During my recent trip to Paris, everything was really nice, with two exceptions:
> At a museum, I bought a ticket, and its barcode did not work. According to them, the ticket was thus not valid, it was not their fault, and not their problem. After arguing, they finally let me through, but made it look like an exception and a favor.
> The hotel clerk barely said a word during check-in (I've never seen him again, so maybe he was fired).

During my recent trip to Scotland, I have been turned away by Fast-Track Security at Edinburgh airport because the clerk was too lazy to scroll down and make sure that I am not in the system before telling me off. I arrived a bit earlier than I specified in the Fast-Track reservation, but he did not properly check to see if that is the case. So I had to return with the Fast Track confirmation.

Earlier this year, I was going to go to Toronto for one day for sightseeing. The Canadian immigration refused entry clearance, because I asked for a souvenir passport stamp and happened to have a business suit in my luggage.

People are dumb everywhere.
Some day I will write a book about it.

By the way: I've known people in the U.S., who were never late to work. It depends.