Anyway this political correctness is complicated for an european to deal with, because sometimes we say things that in our countries would be completely harmless but not in America.
That's exactly the reason, from an outsider point of view it's people getting offended for something that seems harmless. Sometimes I get why you americans find things offensive, sometimes I don't.
What sorts of subjects do you talk about where you feel like you're treading on thin ice and people are twisting your intentions? I get that feeling occasionally on GAF, but in person, I've never really had that worry.
The thing about twisting intentions comes from some of the threads I've read here. I haven't experienced something like that in person. What I'm always worried about in real life it's more about not understanding people. There's always another side to any story, everyone has a reason to act the way they act and I don't like to be judgmental. It's probably just social anxiety, but when I'm meeting someone, I feel like I have to be extremely careful. I'm trying to remember if I've offended someone while meeting him, but I can't. I don't know where this thing comes from.