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A core part of being a traveler is being adaptable, flexible, and open-minded. When you go abroad, you can hardly expect everything—from the culture to the people—to be the same. Otherwise, what’s the point of ever leaving your hometown? You have to embrace the adventure!
That being said, some customs are so peculiar that your initial reaction might be utter confusion, even if you later end up getting used to them. Some internet users recently took to a thread on AskReddit to share what, in their opinion, are some widely accepted norms in the United States that baffle the rest of the world. Scroll down to see how a slice of the world sees American cultural quirks, including the positives and negatives.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Weird nobody mentions one of the biggest problems; that is is legal to buy politicians.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Nowadays Supreme Court justices are politicians.
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Billo66 10 months ago
I was not aware how blatantly easy it was until I saw the r****d in the ballcap and T-Shirt in the oval office.
Lew k 10 months ago
It's legal to do whatever you want if you can afford to out-spend the government in court. Our legal system has been corrupted to the point of non-functional. No one with money or power ever faces consequences for their actions. If you're middle class and poor however, it's most of the time impossible to win in court even if you're innocent. The system that was supposed to protect the average man from those in power has been fully dismantled.
The Darkest Timeline 10 months ago
That’s why we should have a loser pays system. It wouldn’t be perfect but it would be an improvement.
Load More Replies... Anony Mouse 10 months ago
Congrats to every other country who seem to have eliminated political corruption. I hadn't heard.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
The difference is that in other countries it's illegal. Since the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court has made buying an elected offical a constitutional right. Guess you hadn't heard.
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Kenneth Barns 10 months ago (edited)
And worse, that certain classes of people are--as endorsed by the Supreme Court--completely above the law, such that even open insurrection is unable to prosecuted ... which completely undermines the concept of "rule by law", if "the law" does not apply to all equally.
Joe Publique 10 months ago
That literally everything is a business: politics, justice, education, healthcare, social services, prisons, etc.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
And guns - although this can, at times, be a self-cancelling problem.
RELATED:
#2
Claiming they are the most free country / proud of freedom as a pillar of their society, but are no where near the top of indexes ranking international levels of freedom.
Graham_Illegal 10 months ago
That's not true. Many liberals and moderate conservatives still believe that the USA is the freest — or at least one of the freest — countries, even though it barely ranks in the top 30. And let's be clear, this isn't a new, MAGA related thing. The US hasn't ranked high in personal freedom for many decades.
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m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
That’s what is drilled into the heads of school children and taught with heavily biased and flat out incorrect history books. Some people go all of their lives not questioning it. MAGA rallies are full of people dependent on social services and those struggling to get by and they just shotgun their paps blue ribbon and obediently call everyone else sheep.
Bob Jones 10 months ago
You're free to do or believe whatever you want to, as long as it approved by me and in line with my belief system
The Darkest Timeline 10 months ago
The American right utterly rejects any objective measures of freedom. The only thing they care about is guns, private property rights, and deference to their religion (right-wing Christianity).
Graham_Illegal 10 months ago
Learn the basics already! A republic is a type of democracy, but not all democracies are republics. The two terms are not opposites, and claiming otherwise only reveals that your knowledge of politics is limited to the names of the two major US parties.
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Ann Kapoxeet 10 months ago
After 4 years of this current nonsense, no one will be able to claim anything "free" about the U.S.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
availability bias - if you only look in your own country, you think that everywhere else must be the same - or not quite as good. Every country thinks this, but most of us have learnt to be quiet about it.
Pferdchen 10 months ago
Hey, we're a failing nation state. Have a heart. Maybe go easy on us for a bit, eh? Besides, anybody that hasn't been brainwashed by conservatism's propaganda knows that the freedom and equality business was B.S. You have to remember that their definition of "freedom" is "within the context of established societal norms and traditions," which means we're free to do whatever they say is permissible.
#3
I always found it weird that Americans faint at the thought of nudity or a swear word, yet don't bat an eyelid at depictions of extreme violence.
IntombiyoMzulu 10 months ago
It's a country that created Kardashians The mother made the daughter perform porn on tape with Brandy's brother. The tape the world saw was edited. Only in America would a porn star or a rapist do better than hard working people.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
Define "do better". "Winning at politics" does not equate to "good". See "Brexit".
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Ron Man 10 months ago
I don't know any Americans that actually faint at nudity or swear words lol
Rick Murray 10 months ago
School shooting: Meh, arm the teachers. Some singer has a titty accidentally wiggle on live TV: Aaaaaaaaargh! Nooooooooooo!
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Steve Robert 10 months ago
Only in the US is it acceptable to show someone getting their heads blown off, but not getting head!
Jeen Akkerman 10 months ago
Jack Nicholson once said: "If in a movie I kiss a nipple everybody is going bananas but if I cut it of with a knife there's no reaction"
Nikole 10 months ago
Hilarious because there’s an article on BP right now about Brits freaking out over Sabrina Carpenter’s performance at the Brit Awards.
David Morgan 10 months ago
Only in the context that we still (unofficially) have a 9PM marker between family-friendly and pretty much anything goes content and Sabrina was pre-9PM. Generally we're fairly liberal now.
Load More Replies...It really does help to be open-minded when traveling abroad. Ideally, you should be willing to adapt to new cultures and customs, instead of demanding that the entire world matches your values and ideas just because you’re visiting.
A humble tourist who’s willing to learn new languages, treats the locals with respect, and actively listens instead of just talking, will have a much better chance of forming a genuine connection. And part of that means embracing whatever your travels throw at you. Going on an adventure means dealing with some discomfort, after all.
On the flip side, someone who is rude, entitled, demanding, and obnoxious won’t win many locals over. You can’t be critical of every little thing that doesn’t match your cultural norms. Otherwise, you’ll spend the entire trip being upset about how things “aren’t like back home.”
That being said, you shouldn’t turn a blind eye if you see someone behaving unethically, illegally, or in a way that goes against your most fundamental values. You want to be flexible without giving up your identity as an individual.
#4
Heath insurance. It’s weird that it’s tied to employment and it’s even weirder that you still have to pay out of pocket for things even when the insurance itself is super expensive.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
It's called, you-are-nothing-just-if-you-make-money. And despite of it, you are still nothing.
Charles McChristy 10 months ago
Don't forget, we have to pay taxes on the insurance if it is a benefit through an employeer, and again when we pay out of pocket.
Lew k 10 months ago
Even with my employer supplied health insurance my premiums are still like 800$ a month. Its literally my biggest bill. Only my mortgage is more per month. I'm ready to retire in a few years and I've got my passive income where I need it to be to gap the time until I can access my retirement savings but I still can't retire because I won't be able to afford insurance.
Steve Robert 10 months ago
Or you die because insurance companies, like United Healthcare, denied your lifesaving surgery.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 10 months ago
Oh, you mean all the waste of fighting Ebola and Bird Flue or Forest Fires.? Because that will help... (You do know why he's firing Forest Rangers, right? I'm sure you have always despised the nature of your country, considering an oil-drill is so much prettier)
Load More Replies... Warren Peece 10 months ago (edited)
Liar! It is not free. Getting health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace costs an average of $477 per month. https://www.healthmarkets.com/resources/health-insurance/health-insurance-cost-per-month
Load More Replies... #5
Elementary schools doing regular active shooter drills.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
I've seen something like that ... in films about daily life during the WW2 in european countries.
T'Mar of Vulcan 10 months ago
But schools in other countries do have "emergency drills". It worked out well because in (I think) 2022 there was a shooting at the house across from our school. A couple of gunshots... We were all like, "What was that? A car backfiring?" then more... And all I had to do was say, "Okay, get on the floor," and the kids dove under their desks and stayed there for TWO HOURS while the armed response and cops were trying to catch the shooters, who were running around the neighbourhood (our school is locked during class time so they couldn't get in by us). Cops killed one robber (turned out they were trying to rob the house... wife, helper and toddler had locked themselves in the bathroom; they were fine) on the roof of another house, and one more who tried to get away in a bakkie (small pickup). Two got away. I've worked at this school for 31 years and that's the first time anything like that ever happened. I live in Johannesburg.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 10 months ago
To be fair, it's better for the schools to do them than it is to not-do them. What is crazy is that (in a modern, well-developed country) it's necessary to have them.
Dawn Marie 10 months ago
Not normal, but at this time, mandatory. Until our congress and senate grows up and decides to do something about gun control and the 2nd amendment and tell the NRA where they can go and what they can do with it when they get there, plus schools MUST find a way to stop school bullying, nothing is going to change.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
especially the bullying - this is correctable - if the schools care enough.
Load More Replies... Steve Robert 10 months ago
You can't abort an embreo. You have to wait until it grows into a school aged child. Then you can abort them.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
a fire might be survivable, if you do the right things.
Load More Replies... Ann Kapoxeet 10 months ago
It's so much easier than actually making meaningful life-saving change.
#6
I am American but I wanted to add saying the pledge of allegiance with our hands over our hearts and looking toward the flag was weird af in retrospect. Every school morning for years I had to do that.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
Before 1989 ex-communist eastern-european countries were doing this, and the Soviet Union. However not all of them. Nowadays just North-Korea. Oh, the irony with the land-of-the-free ... they became that exact country, what they were afraid of in the Cold War.
Data1001 10 months ago
Just another example of how good the US is at government propaganda. Brainwashing millions of people to honor a freakin' flag, instead of teaching them to honor their principles.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
Especially the “…under God…” portion since, you know, separation of church and state
Lady Eowyn 10 months ago
That was added in in June, 1954, when Pres. Eisenhower signed a joint resolution with congress to add those words.
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Donna Peluda 10 months ago
On Spain under the dictatorship of Franco in schools and important events they had to sing the fascist anthem "Cara Al Sol" while doing the nazi salute.
Vermonta 10 months ago
wearing the flag like that is illegal. Better burn it because that is legal
superfluous 10 months ago
It is not illegal. "While the U.S. Flag Code is a federal law, guidelines are only stated within the voluntary and non-binding language such as, "should" and "custom," meaning there is no penalty for violating any of its provisions. This is because of the Supreme Court's act in declaring the law unconstitutional in United States v. Eichman." https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/what-is-the-us-flag-code-and-how-does-it-work/2649925/
Load More Replies... Billo66 10 months ago
Me too, didn't see it as the propaganda it was, just something we did before school. I was 5. Was I really going to grasp that I was saying I will take a bullet for my country? I do pledge allegiance, I am allied with the US. Born and raised. But I'm not gonna jump out there every time my government makes a stupid move. You cant warm up others by setting yourself on fire.
Beak Hookage 10 months ago
Enforced patriotism doesn't count. Anyone can mouthe a few inspiring sounding words while staring at a flag - that doesn't mean they're sincere about it.
kansasmagic 10 months ago
I teach at a community college, and our previous president would start convocation and other such meetings with the pledge. It is kind of amazing to me how many people automatically stand up and start doing it. Crowd dynamics are weird and a little unsettling. (I OTOH usually skip the meetings and get actual work done in my office.)
CIEE recommends that you do a bunch of research before going on a trip. Read some articles, watch some videos, and consume as much quality content as you can about the country or city you’re visiting.
You want to come to grips with what the culture is going to be like before you get off the plane or train. The internet is full of posts, guides, and clips that are free. Meanwhile, you can also head to your local library or cultural center for more material.
#7
Going back to work within days of giving birth.
WindySwede 10 months ago (edited)
Queue the "we have always done it this way"-people.. 🙃 Edit to make sense.
Load More Replies... Kkg 10 months ago
I hope you understand that in many other western countries, it's unimaginably short? Even the 3 months?
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kansasmagic 10 months ago
Or going back to work the day after your kid is born because you don't have any kind of paternal leave. I mean, my MiL was around, so I wanted to leave anyway! Hahahahaha...ah, hm. Nevermind.
#8
Taking your credit card away from you when you pay a restaurant bill.
My European coworkers thought they were being ripped off when they first encountered this practice! In most countries they bring the card reader to the table.
PenguinEmp 10 months ago (edited)
the rest of the world made this change about twenty years ago
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StrangeOne 10 months ago
In Canada we are very protective of our cards. News media has warned us to never let service staff take our cards, even for a moment and let them take it out of our sights. Some staff have put illegal card readers that can go over top of regular card machines, and these illegal ones take information off your card that an employee will use to drain your account, or sell the info to someone else on the black market. If I had a server take my card, I would have to cancel that card just in case. If I told a banking agent that I allowed someone to take my card out of my sight, and I noticed unauthorized purchases, I would be told I'm at fault and not have these purchases refunded back and there would be no further investigation. So, yes, this practice is astonishing to us.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
Having a credit card at all. We are running here mostly on debit cards.
Sarah Belt 10 months ago
Not sure if this is true outside of the US, but in the US you have more protections if your credit card gets stolen (it's on the bank until the fraud is investigated) versus debit cards (it's on you while the bank investigates).
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Jorge Gonzalez 10 months ago
That is because the banking infrastructure in the US is more primitive than in some third world countries. In many places in the US they don't have portable card readers
#9
3 out of 4 TV commercials are for prescription d***s.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
I don’t know about 3 out of 4, that seems a little high. Then we wouldn’t have room for the beer commercials, and the class action lawsuit ones, and the injury attorney ones and how can we forget about all the ads for food products with cancer causing chemicals and microplastics
Scott Rackley 10 months ago
Closer to 1 in 10 (which is quite higher than the zero it should be), but if hyperbole works for you go for it.
Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
I really like the side effects...Like sudden death...sudden pain of child birth..and minstrel cramps for all. ; )
Lady Eowyn 10 months ago
As an American, I hate this. And while they're listing all the possible side effects - death is a side effect? - all the people in the commercial are smiling and enjoying themselves.
Science Nerd 10 months ago
But you'll look good in the casket with your clear skin and full, shiny hair. 😊
Load More Replies...“When you go abroad, you are confronted with a new set of norms and new ways of thinking that may contradict your own ideas. Initially, we may think of these different ways of life as ‘strange’ or ‘wrong,’ without thinking critically and understanding that it is simply different,” CIEE explains, adding that you have to be willing to adjust your behavior to blend in and meet certain expectations.
But, at the end of the day, you probably won’t fully understand a new culture by spending a few days or weeks immersed in it. To truly live like a local, you need months or years of immersion.
What are some cultural norms that surprised or confused you the first time you stumbled across them during your travels, dear Pandas? Let us know in the comments.
#10
Homeowners Associations.
Marnie 10 months ago
I understand it if you own a place in a multi-unit building. Someone has to be in charge, but otherwise it's insanity and very inefficient.
Betsy S 10 months ago
NO! For that you get a strata council and they have extremely strict rules about how controlling, narcissistic and nosey they are allowed to be. HOA's should be abolished yesterday. They are just opportunities for mini-Nazi's to control all their neighbours. Ugghhh!
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Mike D 10 months ago
Without an HOA people might paint their house the "wrong" color or they might let their grass grow 1/4 inch (thats 3.14 milliliters) too tall
Heras buddy 10 months ago
They are there so that municipalities don't have to provide public service.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Homeowners associations are to good neighborhoods what organized religion is to spirituality.
Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 10 months ago
HoAs aren't big everywhere. Only 30% of the residences in the country are in HoAs and they are mostly in relation to new construction for planned housing communities. Florida has the highest percentage of HoAs at almost 67% of all residences. Basically, Florida is filled with retirement communities.
Miriam Insidecor 10 months ago
Only 30% You realise that's still a big proportion?
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Zephyr343 10 months ago
They can be good or really horrible. Depends on who wants to have a little bit of power. Had the board of an HOA change over after they signed a contract for work with our company. The new board decided they didn't want to pay for the work so they canceled the $600,000 contract for structural work as well as the structural engineer
GirlFriday 10 months ago
I live in HOA community, and ours is fantastic. They don't tell us how to live. They keep the roads, pool, community center, and common areas maintained. They keep things running safely and in a timely manner. I love them and gladly pay my dues every month. They have yet to put one restriction on me or my lifestyle.
#11
Price on the shelf is different to the price at the point of sale.
Bugg 10 months ago
But it for some reason has an $820 billion defense budget
Load More Replies... Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
K-Mart got Reamed for this! Stores use to have to honor the price on the shelf and have a sticker on the item. I have even had a computer change the price before I got to the register! We are a giant conglomerate and the regulations were terminated and laws erased for those with the most money and military capabilities.
General Anaesthesia 10 months ago (edited)
The theory being that you declared and paid sales tax on the articles to your state of residence. Just like duty/tax free at airports doesn't mean you don't have to pay duty when you enter your destination country.
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 10 months ago
I go to my local supermarket and I know exactly how much everything costs because the price marked includes all the charges.
Load More Replies... General Anaesthesia 10 months ago (edited)
It depends on where you're speaking from. To, from and even than(!) are correct in different parts of the world.
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Ai 10 months ago
Only the whole rest of the World figured that out. In Europe we even have different currencies and somehow manage to make this work.
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Pernille 10 months ago
As usual you are woefully uninformed. VAT is already added on EU sites, you must be buying strange things from non controlled websites outside of the EU, maybe Belarus have 34% VAT.
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#12
Going to work while sick, and the possibility of getting fired for taking a sick day.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
In Germany you are sent home, when you are sick (You have 3 days for recovering without needing a doctor's note for it). I mean, if you are stupid enough to show up at all.
Caro 10 months ago
But companies are allowed to request sick notes from the first day on.
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Kkg 10 months ago
Let's add that in many countries when you're sick on vacation, you get vacation days back. Because vacation is for you to rest. If you're sick, you're not resting.
cerinamroth 10 months ago
This is true in Germany, provided you get a doctor's note. If you're sick on holiday, you're not resting - exactly as you say.
Load More Replies... Edward Loopyderm 10 months ago (edited)
We get 2 days uncertified paid sick leave 6 times a year. That's 12 days total if you only take 2 days each time, 6 occasions. Not US.
kansasmagic 10 months ago
Well, see, you won't get fired for "taking a sick day" - you get fired for "missing a scheduled shift" for the third time. The fact that you missed your scheduled shift bc you were sick is irrelevant. Oh, you are also expected to find someone to cover your shift, because obviously the people responsible for hiring and scheduling can't do it.
Joanne Earle 10 months ago
I always went to work full blown sick and get dismissed b/f ever taking a sick day. I needed to show them proof that yes, I was really sick, not taking a day to go shopping or whatever.
Dave Morris 10 months ago
A ploy to boost the profits of their so-called health care system. Sick? OK please make a bunch more people sick too.
Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
The goal is to spread the virus, so the Government can make more money off of the Tax Health Care System..( thank you Oligarchy)!
Miki 10 months ago
If you like to abuse it thats on you. Not "all" of us.
Load More Replies... #13
The age of adult responsibilities being 18, but adult privileges being 21.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
If you want to be able to go to college enlist in the military and if you aren’t killed or injured you get insurance with obscene wait times you can only use at certain facilities but absolutely not, you can not have that beer and it’s going to be a while before you can rent a car. But you can buy one, which you’ll actually need to do since most of the US doesn’t have public transportation and your job will likely be too far to walk or bike to. But happy birthday, yaaaay!
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Some privileges are more safely practiced after a period of exercising responsibility. But I'm not sure our current categorizations are optimal.
Earonn - 10 months ago
Yeah, and therefore American youths go out and get totally wasted on their 21st birthday on hard alcohol, ending in hospital. While in Germany you can start at 16 with beer and get some experience before you're allowed to drink the hard stuff. Yes, so bad to gently teach people how to handle things.
Load More Replies... Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
It is to teach you...Telling the truth is not rewarded for the rest of your life here!
Xiang the lie slayer 10 months ago
So, voting, driving, emancipation are not adult privileges? Literally one thing at 21.
#14
Cancer bankruptcy.
cerinamroth 10 months ago
Also a stain on American healthcare and politics...
Load More Replies... Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
We are taught to abandon and belittle the injured and sick on the dark side of this moon.
#15
Americans discover the country is a tad bit dystopian.
Oh man I wish I could go to the doctor but I got fired? Like wtf? People paid hundreds of billions of dollars to buy the president, in the open and thats just cool?? Prison slavery!? The death penalty? Secret little prisons to lock up people who the government can't prove are criminals? More prisoners than any other country on earth despite the population. Cops are just allowed to murder people. They have tanks?!
Some people are just not paid enough and everyone has to chip in, but only if they're good? There are medicine commercials... That's insane. It's all insane. .
Michael Largey 10 months ago
In fact, someday we'll remember that fully dystopian period as the Good Old Days.
Load More Replies... Billo66 10 months ago
This is fine. Im 58, I find it all very frightening and dystopian. However, I have cancer, so that keeps me grounded. See, I'm gone either way, so I will either miss all the horrible c**p, or I will have a front row seat to the beginning of perhaps the last chapter of our history. either way... Meh
Ann Kapoxeet 10 months ago
The "Go Fund Me" mindset has normalized the insanity of the horrible healthcare system. We act like it's so wonderful when we raise money for people rather than questioning why we have to keep doing this.
Elchinero 10 months ago
NEVER EVER worked for any place that would complain let alone "FIRE" you for going to the "Doctor". You work at MCds?
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 10 months ago
I think you misunderstood. Or I did- but I read it like they said that "I wish I could go to the doctor, but I don't have a job so my insurance is gone". And that's really so incredible to me. We don't lose our insurance when we leave our job - the insurance stays with us. Either at the new workplace or, if we fall into full-scale unemployment, the state pays for the insurance fully. It's possible to end up without any insurance but it shouldn't happen and there are measures in place to mostly prevent it.
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Data1001 10 months ago
There's a big difference between "not being perfect" and "heading straight towards utter dystopia". But then I think I can guess by your comment who you voted for...
Load More Replies... Data1001 10 months ago
You may not have been paying attention to current events, but Trump has sent a bunch of immigrants to Guantanamo -- so while not exactly secret, it's not exactly legal for him to do so, either. Also, many prisons have forced labor, which sometimes includes pointless tasks just for the sake of punishment.
Load More Replies... #16
Being weirdly hyper sexualised and at the same time freakishly sexually repressed and prudish.
It creates a bizarre atmosphere.
Data1001 10 months ago
The reason hyper-sexualization is popular is exactly *because* of sexual repression. When something is taboo, there will always be a group of people who rail against that taboo by going extreme in the other direction.
Paulina 10 months ago (edited)
I don't think this is what the OP meant. I understood it as pointing out that girls even as young as 9-10 are sexualized by adults by, for example, being forced to wear covering clothes to school as to not "distract" boys with their bodies. Then, being catcalled as a "compliment" and used in media as "sex sells"-tools all the time, while at the same time being constantly chastised into acting like a virgin Mary...
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Ron Man 10 months ago
I think Europeans forget that the original settlers here were European prudes fleeing religious persecution in their home countries. This has never gone away in some areas, like the South. aka Bible Belt.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Some, like the Puritans, left Holland because of the religious freedom they saw there and came to America to practice religious persecution, not escape it.
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#17
GUNS. Guns easily available to everyone, with few restrictions.
Barbara Wilcock 10 months ago
In Europe we have cheese and wine vending machines
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René Sauer 10 months ago
And how cheap some guns are. I always thought they would at least be a thousand bucks or more. But then I saw a pic of a gun store with price tags, and the cheapest ones were only like 300$! That´s insane.
Billo66 10 months ago
Personally, I don't care for guns, kind of scared of them. My thing though is if we make them illegal, only the criminals will be armed. They won't turn them in, what do they care about law? The penalty for having one would have to be very very stiff. I don't know the answer, the whole thing is surreal to me. I have lived in Missouri my entire life, I dont hunt. I know there is an answer but I don't know what it is.
Michael Largey 10 months ago (edited)
Most gun deaths in the US are not caused by the guns of criminals. Over half the gun deaths every year are from suicides. And of the rest, actual murders - such as school shootings or spousal slayings - are commonly committed by people who have never commited a crime in their lives before.
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Sara Frazer 10 months ago
I'm gonna say that where I live in the Pacific northwest of America I hear gunshots nearby at least once a day, and it has become normal to me, but when I step back and think about it that shouldn't be normal at all, and is in fact horrifying....
Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
The problem stems from the Oligarchy take-over as the chisel away at the Republic and change to their Idiocy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I mean Democracy.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
There are many ways to get around the background checks, gun shows for example. Also there have been plenty of publicized incidents of people getting approved when they shouldn’t. Also, people with mental illness that make them prone to extreme violence don’t show up on the background checks. Then again, there are those undiagnosed and unmedicated psychos that don’t have health insurance and therefore don’t know their mental illness which of course wouldn’t matter anyway. Gun theft is a huge issue and provides a great boost to black market sales. Not to mention guns are so unregulated you can advertise and purchase them from other people without all of the paperwork or even an ID. Ron Man it’s admirable to love your country but willfully ignorant to argue against all of the genuine, legitimate issues without educating yourself at all. Based on your previous comments, you need to ask yourself “what if I’m wrong” and explore the alternative at least 3 times a day please.
Load More Replies... #18
Tipping.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
It's disgusting, that USA legally allows their citizens to be paid only like 2 bucks/hour. Even fast-fashion workers in China or Bangladesh are earning more.
CatD 10 months ago
Tipping originally started because waitresses were freed slaves and didn't get paid.
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StrangeOne 10 months ago
I find it weird that not only is tipping expected in the USA, but Americans expect others to tip in their own country or they're "cheapskates". Sorry, but not everyone, everywhere, shares the same tipping mentality.
Sparky 10 months ago (edited)
When in Rome. You'd expect me to follow your customs in your country, right?
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Donna Peluda 10 months ago
I don't have a problem with tipping but that doesn't mean that workers shouldn't get paid a living wage.
Mousey 10 months ago
I agree the server should get a living wage and tip should be optional for exceptional service.
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Michael Largey 10 months ago
American restaurant owners pay their workers on the Blanche DuBois system - “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
Rick Murray 10 months ago
I can imagine I'd run into problems in the US. I don't tip, unless the server has been extra special. Why? There's an automatic service charge added to the bill (that you can ask be removed if things were awful). So no need to tip, no need to feel guilty about it, and I know the server is making at least the statutory minimum wage.
Barbara Wilcock 10 months ago
The automatic service charge. Usually I would tip more,but if I see that then I'm done.
Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
Why do you think we teach them to lie, Cheat, and steal their way to the top? Once at the top, you can hire people and pay them nothing to make you more.
#19
I can't understand the American health system, nor why there is such vehment oposition to changing it to be more accessible to all.
Nikole 10 months ago
We are NOT opposed. Those who profit off of it are, and people need to stop voting for politicians who get on their knees for corporations.
StrangeOne 10 months ago
Capitalism and greed. Americans think universal healthcare would mean the end of insurance companies, when that is not true. They also think their taxes would go through the roof, when that's also not true. The ones who cry the loudest against universal healthcare, are the ones who are rich and don't want to share anything with anyone less than wealthy.
Ace 10 months ago
There's an underlying issue here, part of The American Dream, that people absolutely need to have somebody worse off then them, someone to whom they can feel superior. So yes, they do consciously vote against measures that would benefit them, because it will also benefit the other people they look down on.
superfluous 10 months ago
Say what? I do not agree that's part of the American Dream!
Load More Replies... Steve Robert 10 months ago
I think we need Europe to come over and destroy the Nazis that have taken over the government here.
Heras buddy 10 months ago
You just don't have enough money to pay the politicians to change the laws. The insurance industry does.
Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
Our politicians are themselves Corporations! Lawsuits and Insurance Industries killed America..Sorry, Greed killed everything.
#20
Insurance denies medical treatments.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago (edited)
Should read: insurance companies that employ people with no medical training to deny treatments and medications recommended by your actual Doctor
tameson 10 months ago
Nope. The people employed by insurance companies are pressured to deny claims. And if their approval of claims is too high they get fired. And that includes those with medical training.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 10 months ago
Insurance of any kind denying funding aid is stupid. But I don't see this being just an American problem. It happens elsewhere in one way or another.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
Apologies for contradicting, but I don't see this happening in any country with a centralised National Health system
Load More Replies... kansasmagic 10 months ago
My experience with useless "insurance" ended with the insurance company sending a note saying that their decision was final and could not be appealed. Awfully convenient that *they* get to decide.
#21
Male circumcision.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
I'm fine with this if an adult requests it for himself, but - child genital mutilation? No other act on the genitals of an under-age child is even faintly permissible, but hacking bits off is? Consent is not available.
Display Name 9 months ago
Yeah, it's literally part of their p***s, not an extra part that's optional upon purchase. Imagine the reality of never getting to know what it feels like to have an entire p***s because your parents had part of it removed. It has feeling and function, female circumcision is illegal, but it does the same thing to males.
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m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
I am ashamed to admit that I never really gave this one a lot of thought when I was young and never thought it odd or just outright wrong. Luckily I don’t have any sons to regret my ignorance for life.
Kim Steffen 10 months ago
Check out an adult circumcision video on YouTube. It's not just snip snip.
Nathan Lewis 10 months ago
And I've never met a woman who said she wished i was snipped. child mutilation for the sake of another person is a wild take to have.
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Forrest Hobbs 10 months ago (edited)
Joanne, the fact that you're revolted by the natural appearance of men is your problem. Routine infant male circumcision kills and mutiliates some baby boys and has no benefits. If you prefer modified penises, fair enough, but your personal sexual preferences are no excuse for chopping bits off babies.
Load More Replies... #22
The north korean level of pride. Flags everywhere, pledge of allegiance in school every morning, national anthem at every game. Only in dictatorships do you see that level of pride.
Data1001 10 months ago
We're almost at the point of dictatorship, going by what Trump & Musk have been up to so far this year.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
MAGAs are willfully blind and they’re going to be shocked by the state of the free country they live in in a few years because they have selective hearing and they always fall for the news tricks-look at this big news story so we can prevent you from noticing the little one which is infinitely more important but look! A transgender person wants to use a restroom in Congress so pay no attention to the kid that dropped out of college and now has security clearance and fired the people that maintain our nuclear weapons!
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JessieJ&LilyLovebug 10 months ago
"I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system." ~ Noam Chomsky
General Anaesthesia 10 months ago
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross" - often attributed to Sinclair Lewis
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Huddo's sister 10 months ago
I was at a ice hockey game in Canada and when they played the US national anthem all the US fans stood for it. I don't think they even played the Canadian one at all.
Bi.Felicia 10 months ago
I went to an ice hockey game about a month ago and one team was from Canada and the other was from the US. They had 2 groups of kids on the ice, where one group sang the Canadian national anthem and the other group sang the US national anthem. They were all too cute.
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Michael Largey 10 months ago
I am not makling this up. A GOP congresman has announced that he is going to introduce legislation to make a national holiday of the birthday of the Great Leader, Kim Jong Trump.
#23
Unpaid maternity leave.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
Hm, than it's not a maternity leave, it's practically unemployment....
StrangeOne 10 months ago
Not wrong. Women report finding themselves demoted or put in a different position when they go back after maternity leave.
Load More Replies... Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
My male colleague had just their first baby-girl. He is currently on parents-leave for a month. In Germany you can choose which parent would be the stay-at-home for the 2 years. Mostly is the mother, but it's not unheard, that the father is staying home for 2 years with the baby. However, the other parent has also a 1 month paid parent-leave.
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Janeybent42 10 months ago
Totally agree here! You only get a percentage of your salary in some states if at all under short term disability. Both mom and dad, but my husband is using his vacation because we can’t afford just a percentage of his salary for paternity leave. This is only in a few states most get nothing. It’s so messed up, feels like you’re being punished for wanting a family.
#24
Going into massive debt for education.
Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 10 months ago
Let's also discuss a little discussed racket. All of the state universities where I live, students are required to live their first two years on campus. If you live on campus, you have to have a meal plan. For almost every state university here, the dorm and meal plan is more expensive than the tuition and you can't get around it. Now that I'm think about it. I wonder what would happen if I signed my kids up for classes, but never signed the housing agreement..... wld they get kicked out? mmmmmm stay tuned.
Zephyr343 10 months ago
???? If you live within 60 miles of the state university I graduated from you were not required to live on campus or have the meal plan.
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Lyone Fein 10 months ago
Sorry, but I would rather K-12 education was fixed first, before we start making higher education free. The free education system we do have in the US is broken . I taught college for 20 years (1990s-2010s) and was astounded at how many students could not read or write at even a 9th or 10th grade level. Their teachers just passed them on. And those teachers were probably told that they weren’t allowed to give certain grades to low performing students. Both grade inflation and a serious gap in parental/teacher partnership has left massive numbers of Americans only semi-literate by the time they reach adulthood. Going to college is inappropriate for most of those who are there.
kansasmagic 10 months ago
This is a sadly accurate statement. I teach at a community college. We a) accept everybody who can pay (or qualifies for a fee waiver), and b) insist that we can make everybody "college ready" and ship them off to university in two years. But we also can't offer "basic skills" (i.e. remedial) courses in math and English. No one to my knowledge has explained how a student who barely struggled through Algebra 2 is ready for a full year and a half of calculus.
Load More Replies... David 10 months ago
Its a choice people make to go to expensive colleges that are about the "experience" rather than focus on education, or go to a place with a elite name. Public Colleges are there to be affordable. My Alma Mater is $7,100 a year after all fees, and other public colleges are cheaper. And even private colleges (private means not govt run, they are still non-profits and very different from for profit schools) can be affordable. I know of one in NYC that charges 18k a year, and it has a very good reputation, with fast tracks towards their graduate programs, especially in the Health Sciences (they run 6 medical schools, 7 different PA programs, Plus many others, though grad schools are expensive)
Tams21 10 months ago
To be fair, tuition fees in the UK are on average more expensive than the US. The bigger problem is the predatory loans students have to take out to pay them.
Andrew Keir 10 months ago
Student Loans in UK are not predatory, they're tightly defined with a cut=off date and low pay-back rates
Load More Replies... Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
Welcome to the machine...Nothing Free about the Land of Freedom anymore.
#25
Working multiple jobs to not be able to afford rent.
Ace 10 months ago (edited)
No, it's really not at all common for people to have more than one job. In France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK anyway, I can only be certain about them but I think it extends to most other European countries as well.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 10 months ago (edited)
This is not just a USA issue. In Canada, you either have a spouse, a roommate, stay living with your folks, or your struggling to pay rent in the lowest, crappiest abodes.
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
Happening in Australia too at the moment, if you can even get a rental in the first place. My mum has had two acquaintances (friends of my late stepbrother) living with her for 1 and 2 years because they just can't get a place to live.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago
If this is really the situation, than I don't get the USA-prople present on many social platforms, including BP, saying, they want to leave the country, but they don't have money for it. Like dude, you are anyway living in your car, or you are like 2 months away from it, Save up for leaving your sh.ithole, not for trying to get a house in it. And don't say, you can't, when ten of thousands middle-eastern guy did this in the past years.My colleague is syrian, from a middle-class family. It costed him about 60.000 euro to reach Europe 9 years ago. Fleeing on human traffic routes, passing some borders ilegally. If a middle class 3rd world country dude could manage to save up for this, you sure can in your best-country-in-the-world society. If you have the will. But do you really have it?
Rick Murray 10 months ago
Did your Syrian dude claim asylum in his new country? Because, trust me, walking into another country takes money. It depends a lot on the politics of the country but many can turn a blind eye if you're able to pay your way, or as they'd put it, not become a burden. But if you weren't able to pay your way then they'll tell you to leave as soon as they can (depending on visa and visitation arrangements, but the last thing you want to do is annoy immigration or your passport might be stamped for further entry automatically refused).
Load More Replies... Sarah Belt 10 months ago
Redfin just published a study showing that the average worker has to work 106 hours per week to afford rent in the US. And that's down from their 2022 numbers.
Charles McChristy 10 months ago
He hasn't been POTUS for over 8 years and you're still blaming him? Common sense isn't your strongsuit.
Load More Replies... #26
Flags. USA flags everywhere. Houses, cars and CHURCHES.
Ron Man 10 months ago
It's common for vets to have a flag. If your church has a flag, that's a different story. It's not really a church. Like you would never see a Catholic, Lutheran or Synagogue flying a flag. The only ones that do that are the giant mega churches that aren't really about God so much as they are about white supremacy and Christian Nationalism.
Joe Publique 10 months ago (edited)
I've often wondered what Jesus would make of those mega-churches. I'd watch that Netflix special! They'd probably try and deport him.
Load More Replies... Heras buddy 10 months ago
Mega churches are there to make the pastor rich. Nothing about them is Christian.
Warren Peece 10 months ago
I got a US flag from the VFW at my father's funeral. They put it folded inside a triangle-shaped case with glass front. I have never displayed it. It has been in a closet for years.
Lost Panda 10 months ago
I flew the flag when living stateside, but not so much for the country as it was for the service men/women I served with and served before me. To this day, I would still lay down my life for them; the government? Not so much
Michael Largey 10 months ago (edited)
Patriotism is about what you want for your country and what you do about it. Flying a flag has no connection with either.
Elchinero 10 months ago
ut, you flag decal won’t get you Into Heaven anymore. They’re already overcrowded From your dirty little war Now Jesus don’t like Killin’ No matter what the reasons for. And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore.
UKGrandad 10 months ago
Don't know why people are downvoting song lyrics. I can only assume that there are a couple of people here who actually believe that Americans really are God's chosen people.
Load More Replies... Michael Parsons 10 months ago
It's the ultimagte example of trying to look like a good person instead of being a good person.
#27
No paid maternity leave
Terrible infant & maternal mortality give the wealth of the nation.
Jenn Smith 10 months ago
Well it really only affects women..so..doesn't count. 😪 not here in the States Get back to work ya lazy bum!
Beth Wheeler 10 months ago
Not everybody has unpaid maternity leave. Unfortunately it's mostly black or Hispanic women and babies that die during birth.
#28
Large, larger and largest food portions.
Beth Wheeler 10 months ago
Agreed a lot of places give way to much food. If we go out a plate is 3 or 4 meals for me.
GirlFriday 10 months ago
Finally! A picture that is a true representation of a pork tenderloin from Indiana!!!!
Barbara Wilcock 10 months ago
Sure. You probably ate it a few hours later 🙄
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#29
Writing month/day/year for dates. I still have to figure out what a date is in the US, even though I've lived here for over two decades.
nottheactualphoto 10 months ago
I write the date using letters. Not 2/9 or 9/2, but October 4.
JoNo 10 months ago
Which may work except (a) for filling out a form with boxes for each number/letter, and (b) the correct way to write it is 4 October - remember, the day-month-year.
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Joanne Earle 10 months ago
Because you don't say 'today is two march' it's 'march second' or whatever.
Earonn - 10 months ago
You say "Second of March", though. Honestly, is your education system THAT bad?
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 10 months ago
Many moons ago I had a job that involved dates and never ending headaches about what was what. That's when I decided that, in my personal life, I was going to standardise on year/month/day. While I've had some people comment on my writing dates weirdly, nobody has ever had to ask what a date was, the order is self evident. Unlike, say, Americans celebrating their independence on the 7th of April. 😉
Rali Meyer 10 months ago
For once I defend the month-first format (I work in metric and imperial): Giving a date what do you look up first in your calendar to allocate it? Yes, the month. However, to avoid confusion 2.3.2025 I write as: 2 March 2025
#30
One I haven’t seen yet: Storage units.
We have some of the biggest homes on earth, but still need space for stuff.
Warren Peece 10 months ago
George Carlin talks stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x_QkGPCL18
Data1001 10 months ago
I've got a couple of units because I lost my job and my apartment several years back, and while I sold off or gave away a lot of my stuff, there was still a lot of it that had to go into storage. Then I was halfway across the country, staying with relatives until I was able to get work again, so I had to keep paying on the units. Now I'm finally in a place that's *just* big enough for me to get my things out of storage. There are a lot stories like this, I think.
#31
Not taking vacations.
m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
*not being able to afford vacations. Especially international travel. Want to make sure Americans don’t get out of the country and find out that they don’t actually live in the greatest place on earth.
Earonn - 10 months ago
To be fair, for many of you the next border is not "half an hour by train", like I had it in Germany. :D
Load More Replies... Trailblazer Studios 10 months ago
You can't afford rent or some dirt bag breaking in...You have to insure everything.
Verfin22 10 months ago
It's cheaper for the rest of the world to come here, than it is for us to even leave our state. Not saying we can't vacation, but most of us have already been there, done that, where we live.
Mousey 10 months ago
Gotta agree. My coworkers, who are from Italy, say the plane to ticket from USA to Italy is more then going from Italy to USA.
Load More Replies... Donna Peluda 10 months ago (edited)
Just took 3 days off because of overtime I've done so far this year, still got 30days to take when I want plus about 10 bank holidays Viva España!!
Load More Replies... #32
Pledging allegiance to the flag every morning and truly believing they are the best country in the world and no one compares to them.
Scott Rackley 10 months ago
Took a page out of religion's playbook on that one.
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Detroit Citizen 10 months ago
Im 48, i still remember the pledge of allegiance from grade school in the 80s, smh.
#33
American standard measurements.
Rick Murray 10 months ago
Not entirely. A lot of your Imperial measurements are smaller than the British ones. Couple that with a fascination for using abstract values like "cups" and it makes it interesting trying to make sense of an American cookbook.
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Janos Schumacher 10 months ago
We're taught both. We use Feet/inches for most things construction. Miles for distance traveled, yards for estimating shorter distances. Metric is for science and data cable lengths. We switch back and forth comfortable in general. Metrification was a big deal when I was a kid so we had to do everything with both units. Baking in metric is for communists. I will not bake in metric. I categorically refuse. I measure by volume, not weight because that's what a good American does. Save your metric baking for East Germany.
Forrest Hobbs 10 months ago (edited)
I bake using weight, because it's precise and you need precision for baking - measuring by volume only works properly for liquids. Oh yeah, metrication wasn't talked about when I was a kid: Imperial units did not exist at school. Metric only. Thankfully, I'm not any sort of American, and only visited East Germany once. 😉
Load More Replies... JessieJ&LilyLovebug 10 months ago
The metric system is taught in school, and used in scientific fields, the military, and such.
Apatheist Account2 10 months ago
If it's big enough, we usually go with "the size of Wales".
Load More Replies... Forrest Hobbs 10 months ago
Well Beth, it's a shame all the world's scientists and engineers disagree with you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units. 🤣
Load More Replies... #34
Doing your own taxes.
StrangeOne 10 months ago
I was shocked that there's no income tax season in UK. What I find weird that North Americans have to do our own income taxes is we have to rely on the IRA or CRA definitions, and those definitions can seem very specific but are very vague all at the same time. For example, if you are claiming a disability credit, they use "infirm". Infirm means a severe disability that impacts one's daily life. A physician fills out a form of questions with you, then you hand it into the revenue agency, where they decide whether or not you qualify as being "infirm" to get the credit. An Intellectual Disability, despite being high functioning enough to work, with some accommodations and some daily help with cleaning, is enough to qualify for disability, even though you may not be as severely disabled as someone who cannot work and needs constant basic care. But you'll still be entitled for the disability credit. Every tax time, I fill this out and feel like an imposter. The wording should be clearer.
Debby Keir 10 months ago
UK *does* have a tax season. Tax is automatically deducted from wages and pensions, but if you have interest on your savings or are self employed, you are supposed to fill in a self assessment tax return by 31st January (for the previous tax year). It can easily be done on line, but if you leave it too near the deadline, the system jams up and you are fined for late returns.
Load More Replies... Detroit Citizen 10 months ago
As a 48/M American I thought everyone, like everywhere did their own taxes. BP actually showed me no, decent countries do it for you. And btw when i was in school they did not teach us anything about taxes, credit, credit cars, or personal finance. But we did have home ec where we carried around an egg to know what having kids is like. smh.
Sergio Bicerra 10 months ago
Yeah, they're 'We know how you own to us, but we profit on your mistakes'
Michael Largey 10 months ago
The American tax system has to be complicated. If you're going to let a corporation with a six billion dollar profit pay zero taxes, you need plenty of smoke and mirrors to disguise that.
Limey 10 months ago
IRS: you owe us money Ok cool. How much? IRS: not gonna tell you. You have to figure it out yourself. But you do know how much I owe you, right? IRS: oh yes. What happens if I get it wrong? IRS: compound interest, we take your stuff, we MAY lock you up.
Lyone Fein 10 months ago
The IRS does not know how much you owe, because it doesn’t keep track of every single transaction you make. It does not know how many jobs you have, or how much you gave to charity, or how much you had in medical bills or school expenses, or whether you had a baby, or if someone died or got divorced, or whether your long lost uncle left you a small inheritance, or whether your house was hit by a tornado, or whether you bought or sold individual stocks, etc.
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Neb 10 months ago (edited)
Definitely not everywhere. Europe country, if I am an employee, I can login to government portal and confirm my officially earned tax information (if I don't have any other specialized earnings or expenses). In US insofar the main difference is that the portal I use is not government one. But then, I discovered that US general internet security and communications online is starting to increase only now. While in Europe I used code generators and even phone for logins, in US the major bank requested only simple password to login and did not even require to change it once in a while. That said, it is improving, two factor authentication is being introduced.
Michael Parsons 10 months ago
As an American, I would love a flat tax. No tax if you earn under $50,000. Everyone else pays 17% or whatever, and there are like 3 or 4 deductions, like kids, mortgage, maybe 1 or 2 others, and that's it, period.
Lyone Fein 10 months ago
The Federal Government would not collect enough revenue with a system like this. It would have to be something more like: no tax if your income is under the official poverty threshold. Then everyone else pays a certain percentage up to $100,000. Then a higher percentage up to $500,000. Then a higher percentage every 500,000.
Load More Replies... Cuppa tea? 10 months ago
Lived in Ireland for 14 years. Each year you log in into your Revenue account, claim certain expenses and they will sent you tax reconciliation. If the owe you anything, it will automatically go is to your bank account. Now live in Slovakia, once a year I fill out tax form - single A4, mostly personal details. I do it at HR at work. They send it to tax.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 10 months ago
Uh... I do my own taxes, too. I hate it, but I can't afford an accountant so I do it myself.
Sarah Belt 10 months ago
If you're in the US, consider finding an AARP free tax prep service. They are often at your local library. They have no age minimum for assistance, just an income cap. I used it years ago and highly recommend. Your taxes are prepared by a certified professional.
Load More Replies... Scott Rackley 10 months ago (edited)
I believe the gist is that the government knows exactly how much you should/did pay, but you have to do your own and if the numbers don't match you go to jail. Sorry, threatened with jail and have to pay fines on top. Don't get me started on how it could be done on a postcard.
Load More Replies... #35
Weirdly what im most fascinated about is the insanely large drinks they get to go and carry around?! Huge bucket sized sodas (and almost any other drink coming in huge containers, even the milk and juice jugs are huge).
The Doom Song 10 months ago
I guess it's thirsty work carrying all that excess weight.... ah I can already feel the downvotes....
Zephyr343 10 months ago
Nah, i will just report you (joke!!!) 🤣 it's a lot quicker.
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m6nbtfpx7q 10 months ago
As a lifelong US citizen I don’t think I’ve ever intentionally purchased one of those drinks. But if you get fast food and order a medium, they give you a drink big enough for four people that doesn’t even fit in the cup holder.
Science Nerd 10 months ago
You have to order a medium. No place offers a small anymore.
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#36
Heartbreakingly, ice in drinks
Why, Europe, WHY do you hate cold drinks.
Petra Peitsch 10 months ago (edited)
We love cold drinks. We just hate watering them down with ice. Instead, we are cooling the drink itself. Ice is for cocktails. In a small amount.
Miki 10 months ago
Small.. In every place I have beet ice is at least 60% of a drink.
Load More Replies... 9bsvjryr62 10 months ago
We don’t, we just don’t want watered down drinks (and chlorine taste like in the US)
The Doom Song 10 months ago
Ice machines are a cesspool of who knows what. Why oh why would I want that in my drink?
#37
Tipping as standard, so that they can be paid less.
General Anaesthesia 10 months ago
The law stating that "tipped" labor may be paid less than minimum wage!
tameson 10 months ago
The law states that tips plus wage must equal the minimum wage. If it doesn't the employer must make up the difference.
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Uncommon Boston 10 months ago (edited)
To all those people who reject the tipping culture: Will you protest when prices rise? Higher wages means increased expenses. Do small business owners make enough money to cover higher costs without raising prices? Many tipped food service employees who receive the lower hourly wage don't want to change their wage structure. The folks at the Starbucks counter are not considered tipped employees, even though they rely on tips. Minimum wage should be enough to live on, do you support a higher minimum wage so counter employees don't need tips? Will people continue asking for tips even if minimum wage is increased? I have no idea.
Lyone Fein 10 months ago
Most of the people I have worked with who are paid with tips have told me that they prefer it. They earn far more from tips than they would with a fixed salary. This includes both wait staff and folks like bar tenders. With tips, wait staff usually earn a minimum of $30/ hour. It goes way up from there if you work a weekend shift, into the hundreds per hour.
#38
How open public restroom stalls are.
kansasmagic 10 months ago
Just wait until you see your first urinal trough. Those make stalls with no doors look like monastic cells.
Janos Schumacher 10 months ago
I've never worried about this. No one is looking. If the reason for wanting totally sealed stalls is because you're having bathroom sex, that's on you. Otherwise, I feel lucky when the stalls have doors. Not all men's room stalls have doors, depending on how sketchy the place is. At a dive bar you're going to find no doors at all.
#39
Driving everywhere, even if your destination is only blocks away.
Robert T 10 months ago
In many areas there just isn't the infrastructure for pedestrians. I tried walking in Adison, and it was horrible trying to scramble from one parking lot to another. Crossing a 4-lane road was also a nightmare, as the junctions were set up only for cars. It was about a mile walk to get half a dozen doors down!
Joe Publique 10 months ago
Most of America isn't built for pedestrians. It's not as easy to walk from place to place, or sometimes even to use public transport, as it is in Europe.
Firstname Lastname 10 months ago
It is weather dependent for me. We have had a frigid, icy winter and I am tired of falling on ungroomed sidewalks or losing feeling in my gloved fingers. Come spring I'll be on foot again.
Michael Parsons 10 months ago
Americans are lazy. I live in a big city, and I can't imagine moving and having to drive anywhere to do anything.
Heras buddy 10 months ago
Walking in Florida can be hazardous to your life. No sidewalks and people driving while on their phone, plus they're usually eating or putting on makeup at the same time. Plus a lot of drivers think that they have the right of way at all times.
#40
Flying flags at your house.
Pernille 10 months ago
In Danmark we only fly the flag if it is someone's birthday, it is illegal to fly the flag if it isn't someone's birthday. Whenever I see a danish house with a flag I want to go ask if they have cake.
Beak Hookage 10 months ago
Now there's an idea! Maybe we should create a new flag that just has cake on it.
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Nikole 10 months ago
Can we please talk about how trump and Vance ambushed Zelensky so disgustingly and disgracefully (although this is par for the course for them)?? That was HORRIBLE.
Beak Hookage 10 months ago (edited)
Bullying an ally and a brave man everyone except the Russians sees as a hero (well okay to be fair there's a good number of Russians who don't support the invasion). What a class act. I'm very proud as an Australian that our guy has publicly said we're still on the Ukraine's side. At this rate America is just going to become more and more isolated and without friends; there's no way Trump and Co aren't going to keep on alienating more and more allies.
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Babs McGurk 10 months ago
It's been a few days since we had an AMERICA BAD post, so I guess we were due.
ninjaTrashPandaBoom 10 months ago
BP rolls out an "America bad" post like clockwork every weekend. It's their bread and butter way to ensure user responses and interaction.
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StrangeOne 10 months ago
I swear this list is made up by Americans just wanting to lament over their weirdness. A real foreigner would have more to say about the mundane details Americans would overlook. I knew a family who moved down to Kansas for a couple years. Their kids were mocked by the class and corrected by the teachers over how we say "roof", and Spongebob Squarepants was deemed a really bad show for kids that should be avoided like it was created by Satan. Even Halloween was deemed too Satanic. We have Bible belts in Canada, too, but they're made up of the smallest towns. Not so much larger cities.
Sergio Bicerra 10 months ago
The one I always found unbelievable is taking loans or credit cards on your relatives names with ease.
Ron Man 10 months ago
I was worried a week might go by without BP putting their divisive US/Europe article up.
Annik Perrot 10 months ago
You could as well get used to it. Your current government has p*issed off à lot of European people, who now feel dismissed and betrayed. And there are quite à few of them on this forum, including the Lithuanian BP writers. Free expression, huh?
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik 10 months ago
One thing I#ve noticed through youtube: the insane usage of paper-plates and plastic-cubs instead of normal plates and glasses! No wonder there's a tad of a garbage-problem.
sweissh 10 months ago
Oh good! Another article about America! Finally! We haven't been in the news for awhile so, it's good BP posts about America, lest we forget about how f**ked we all are. Thank you!
MP Deco 10 months ago
if i were a billionaire.....i would hire hitmen.....fill in the blanks.....
Load More Replies... Nikole 10 months ago
Can we please talk about how trump and Vance ambushed Zelensky so disgustingly and disgracefully (although this is par for the course for them)?? That was HORRIBLE.
Beak Hookage 10 months ago (edited)
Bullying an ally and a brave man everyone except the Russians sees as a hero (well okay to be fair there's a good number of Russians who don't support the invasion). What a class act. I'm very proud as an Australian that our guy has publicly said we're still on the Ukraine's side. At this rate America is just going to become more and more isolated and without friends; there's no way Trump and Co aren't going to keep on alienating more and more allies.
Load More Replies... Babs McGurk 10 months ago
It's been a few days since we had an AMERICA BAD post, so I guess we were due.
ninjaTrashPandaBoom 10 months ago
BP rolls out an "America bad" post like clockwork every weekend. It's their bread and butter way to ensure user responses and interaction.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 10 months ago
I swear this list is made up by Americans just wanting to lament over their weirdness. A real foreigner would have more to say about the mundane details Americans would overlook. I knew a family who moved down to Kansas for a couple years. Their kids were mocked by the class and corrected by the teachers over how we say "roof", and Spongebob Squarepants was deemed a really bad show for kids that should be avoided like it was created by Satan. Even Halloween was deemed too Satanic. We have Bible belts in Canada, too, but they're made up of the smallest towns. Not so much larger cities.
Sergio Bicerra 10 months ago
The one I always found unbelievable is taking loans or credit cards on your relatives names with ease.
Ron Man 10 months ago
I was worried a week might go by without BP putting their divisive US/Europe article up.
Annik Perrot 10 months ago
You could as well get used to it. Your current government has p*issed off à lot of European people, who now feel dismissed and betrayed. And there are quite à few of them on this forum, including the Lithuanian BP writers. Free expression, huh?
Load More Replies... Marlowe Fitzpatrik 10 months ago
One thing I#ve noticed through youtube: the insane usage of paper-plates and plastic-cubs instead of normal plates and glasses! No wonder there's a tad of a garbage-problem.
sweissh 10 months ago
Oh good! Another article about America! Finally! We haven't been in the news for awhile so, it's good BP posts about America, lest we forget about how f**ked we all are. Thank you!
MP Deco 10 months ago
if i were a billionaire.....i would hire hitmen.....fill in the blanks.....
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