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30 Things That Are An Integral Part Of An American House, As Assumed By Non-Americans In This Online Group
Now that we live in such a global environment, there is nothing weird in admitting that we’re influenced by various cultures. Naturally, by being interested and learning about other countries' customs, habits, foods, and other things, we learn about their everyday life, and how it’s similar or different from our own. One of the most interesting, often talked about and compared places is the United States. Having this in mind, Reddit user @u/Ryrylx was curious to find out what are some of the things that non-American people have noticed and now are convinced that these items are in every American house.
Whether it’s picked up from shows or movies or seen in one of their travels, users online were quick to provide their answers to the question that received almost 48K responses. While some people reminded everyone of some American “classics” such as peanut butter or the variety of dressings and sodas found in one’s fridge, other users were fascinated by the garbage disposal installed in the sink and “washing machines where you put everything in the top”.
What are some of the things that you think every American has in their home? Leave your suggestions in the comments down below!
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Laundry dryer. In my country almost everyone dries their laundry on a wire outside, so the concept of a dryer is baffling to me. I only see them in American Movies & shows. Do majority of you have it or not?
Probably every house has both but it depends on where you live and the time of year whether you can line-dry or not. Where I live I can technically line-dry all year but can't do so when it's windy and dust is blowing.
Air conditioning
Depends on where you live. I grew up in WA state, and it's not common there. I also lived in Alaska; no one has it in their homes. Where I live now, you wouldn't survive summer without it.
Every American household have a drawer full with random s**t (died batteries, screws, shoelace etc)
That garbage disposal thing I always see in shows and movies
Edit/update: In ten 10 hours, I've gotten nearly 20k upvotes and 317 replies. Some of you dudes and dudettes have very passionate opinions about your garbage disposals, I love it
The proper use of a garbage disposal is for those food scraps that inadvertently gets in the sink during food prep or clean up. So convenient to turn on the tap. Run the disposal for a moment, and the mess is gone, theoretically won't clog the drain. Most food scrap should go in the compost at best, bin at worst, but it is nice to not have to muck about with cleaning a nasty drain strainer for the bits that make it to the drain.
Drywall....lots of drywall
I mean, it's not like we have stacks of drywall just laying around the house. They're usually hanging around the walls and ceilings.
Fridge with ice dispenser built in
We do like our cold drinks and our convenience. So, I guess I do resemble this comment.
Eggs *in* the fridge
Isn't it because in the US they wash the protective layer off before sale?
A gallon of milk in the refrigerator
Yeah, we in the U.S. never have warmed up to shelf stable milk, and milk does go well with the cereal mentioned in another post.
It's more the GALLON part that's a mystery to most of us, not the "in the fridge" part. That's a lot of milk.
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People have commented on the milk being in the fridge part, but for me, the surprising part is have over **3.7 **litres of milk in the fridge.
It goes along with cereal eaters and especially a house with a few children cereal eaters. That uses up a lot of milk. It not every household.
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The opened up packages of my (processed) milk stay in the fridge - the pure amount of milk, that's the strange part for me. I can't imagine emptying almost 4l of milk fast enough before it curdles (even in a household of 4 adults)
Haha, I drink 1 gallon of milk in 2 days myself. I could not live without it! Not literally.
My mind is blown (not literally. :o) ) That's 13 litres a week! Nope, that's not enough exclamation marks. Have another few !!! There's two cows milk users in my home, and they get through less than a tenth of the milk you consume. I am not a cows milk drinker.
Load More Replies... not in mine anyway. I don't drink it and if i need it for cooking I buy the pint.
If you don't refrigerate milk, it can spoil much quicker. A gallon of milk last me about 2 wks.
What???? I can't leave a cup of milk out past a hour or two without it being weird.... It will get chonky and look like. Cottage cheese if too long out of fridge.. where is it supposed to go 😭
There are different sizes, and it's usually families that get the gallon jugs.
We never have more than a half gallon of milk in our fridge, but when I was a kid, my siblings and I could go through a gallon of milk in two days.
Nope. I use milk so rarely I now keep single-serve boxes of ultra-pasteurized on hand. I keep 1-2 in the fridge just in case I suddenly and inexplicably decide I really want a glass of cold milk right now. This has happened 0 times since I started using the u-p 3 years ago, but it’s there if I want it. I do have a friend who loves to drink milk & he drank one once about 8 months ago. I prefer my milk in cheese form.
Some of the best writing on the interwebs is the reviews of a gallon/128 oz. of Tuscan Whole Milk on Amazon. Using the forms of Shakespeare, Poe, Hemingway, Homer, and others, as well as just humorous twists on the idea of writing reviews about milk, they're a hoot. They're mostly 15 or so years old but still fun. https://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/product-reviews/B00032G1S0
I don't drink milk. I love it, but it makes me too congested. I eat my cereal dry with a cup of coffee.
A dog !
Cereal
There is not any cereal in the photo. One a bag of 'Cereal Toppers', not sure what it is
A garage fridge. Filled with beer and frozen boxes of c**p from Costco.
A dishwasher.
A dishwasher cycle can often be more conservative of water than hand washing and rinsing. A gallon or two versus quite possibly many more!
Oh oh, the washing machines where you put everything in the top! This fascinated me when we visited the states. They’re huge!
and they suck too...because they frequently go off balance in the spin cycle.
Just a literal block of cheese just chilling in the fridge. I'm certain they woke up randomly at 3am and go 'Omg cheese sounds good right now.'
Always have cheese n the fridge and peanut butter in the cupboard
A musket for home defence, just as the founding fathers intended.
I’m convinced almost every american has a mountain of pillows on their bed
We have a mountain of stuffed animals instead of pillows. Much more cuddly.
Apparently americans are rather fond of Pickles and Peanut Butter. Is that a fair assumption to make?
Edit: I meant either or not both at the same time. ☠️
Those f*****g red disposable beer cups
Plastic bags
Alternatively, an ever increasing pile of reusable and paper bags when people forget certain places have banned plastic bags.
Something that is individually wrapped that doesn’t need to be individually wrapped
Compared to Singapore?? LOL They would individually wrap grapes if they could LOL
One of those giant containers of orange ball food.
Note: this post originally had 35 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
HUH??? What kind of people wrote this thread? Where do they come from? It's like saying most USA houses have a toilet. DUH. Most of the things mentioned here are available in the modern western world. They may look a little different but that's about it. Oh GOSH ... you have a washing machine? I mean really. Sheesh
Since turnabout is fair play: I watch a lot of British crime dramas. From these I've learned that every house in the UK has a collection of transferware dishes displayed on a china hutch. Also, everyone is having an affair, and it leads to a lot of murders.
And a butler. I’m fairly sure. And, possibly, a massive candle stick.
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I feel like most of the things on this list could be in any house in any country. The only one I would consider "American" is the waste disposal in the sink, not that I think every American has one but more I have not seen or heard of one in any other country.
I'm from america I only have about a quarter of those things that the entire rest of the world has. So here is my assumption based off tv and movies that every house in Europe has. Turnips
Unless these are answers from the 3rd world this is a ridiculous thread.
A handegg that father and son can play catch whilst having a father/son talk.
Ahh yes, the American hand egg as opposed to the European testicle boing boing that can neither be thrown nor kicked with any accuracy. Also, let's not forget the futballers who deserve an Academy Award every time someone hurts their feelings and they end up rithing in pain on the pitch until they're healed by the magic sponge...or a yellow card.
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I would like to point out to a lot of the commenters here that the list does not say that these things are ONLY found in American homes.
I have 24 from the list (live in the US). Edit: gotta get me a musket
I'm American and have very few of these things in my house. It constantly baffles me how people can understand that diversity exists within their own country, but simultaneously believe Americans are a bunch of clones who think, behave, eat, drink, etc. exactly alike.
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Other than the gun, the waste disposal, and a sofa facing a studio audience, many homes in Europe have these
HUH??? What kind of people wrote this thread? Where do they come from? It's like saying most USA houses have a toilet. DUH. Most of the things mentioned here are available in the modern western world. They may look a little different but that's about it. Oh GOSH ... you have a washing machine? I mean really. Sheesh
Since turnabout is fair play: I watch a lot of British crime dramas. From these I've learned that every house in the UK has a collection of transferware dishes displayed on a china hutch. Also, everyone is having an affair, and it leads to a lot of murders.
And a butler. I’m fairly sure. And, possibly, a massive candle stick.
Load More Replies... I feel like most of the things on this list could be in any house in any country. The only one I would consider "American" is the waste disposal in the sink, not that I think every American has one but more I have not seen or heard of one in any other country.
I'm from america I only have about a quarter of those things that the entire rest of the world has. So here is my assumption based off tv and movies that every house in Europe has. Turnips
Unless these are answers from the 3rd world this is a ridiculous thread.
A handegg that father and son can play catch whilst having a father/son talk.
Ahh yes, the American hand egg as opposed to the European testicle boing boing that can neither be thrown nor kicked with any accuracy. Also, let's not forget the futballers who deserve an Academy Award every time someone hurts their feelings and they end up rithing in pain on the pitch until they're healed by the magic sponge...or a yellow card.
Load More Replies... I would like to point out to a lot of the commenters here that the list does not say that these things are ONLY found in American homes.
I have 24 from the list (live in the US). Edit: gotta get me a musket
I'm American and have very few of these things in my house. It constantly baffles me how people can understand that diversity exists within their own country, but simultaneously believe Americans are a bunch of clones who think, behave, eat, drink, etc. exactly alike.
Load More Replies... Other than the gun, the waste disposal, and a sofa facing a studio audience, many homes in Europe have these
