After spending all morning at the beach, America decided to go back to the hotel and just hang out for the rest of the day. (After all, walking from place to place for a week and a half would wear anyone out.) As he walked back into the hotel, he noticed that Canada was sitting on the other end of the lobby. Canada glanced over at him, and gave a wave. America gave his brother a thumbs up in return, and continued to the elevator. That's when he heard a gasp behind him. Turning around, he saw a very shocked Greece behind him.
"Dude, why do you look like you just Russia?" America asked with a frown.
"America, please excuse me if I'm prying in on a personal matter, but are you angry at Canada?" Greece asked in an unusually serious tone.
"Wha-No!" America said in complete confusion. "My brother and I are getting along just fine. Why would I be angry at him?"
"But you just showed him a rude hand gesture." Greece said.
"What, a thumbs up?" America asked. "That's not a rude gesture."
"Oh, well, in my country, when you give someone a thumbs up, you are giving them a rude hand sign. It would be like if I were to give you the middle finger." Greece said with a shrug.
"Oh, I see." America said with a nod. "You see, in my country the thumbs up means that everything is good."
"I think that the thumbs up means the same thing in Russia." Greece said with a yawn.
"Oh yeah, that brings up some Cold War memories." America said with a frown. "Russia still gets annoyed when I flash him the thumbs up."
"How has he not killed you yet?" Greece asked.
"Because I'm too awesome to die!" America said proudly.
A/N: As it turns out, the iconic thumbs up in America is not taken well in other countries. In fact, if you ever flash a thumbs up in Russia, Latin America, Greece, or the Middle East you might as well start running. Fast. No wonder the Russians think Americans are jerks. We keep giving them the bird by accident. Oh, and it's like 3:22am over here and I can't sleep. So, more chapters.