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When Americans make the trek across the pond and visit Europe for the first time, there are plenty of differences they might notice: a wide variety of languages, new foods, accessible public transit, paying to use a public restroom, and being made fun of for using the word ‘restroom’ in the first place.

One Reddit user was curious about what people from the US have observed in Europe, so they recently asked Americans to share the hot takes they think Europeans aren’t ready to hear. Readers did not hold back in the replies, from concerns about smoking to pointing out racist behavior, so we’ve gathered some of the most thought-provoking answers below. Enjoy reading what Americans have to say about Europe, and be sure to upvote the points you agree with, whether you’re from the US, Europe or anywhere else in the world!

#1

When I lived in Germany:

German Girl: “I’ve read that Mexicans in Los Angeles experience a lot of racism.”

Me: “Yes, Mexican people in Los Angeles do experience racism. Probably similar to the Turks here in Germany.”

German Girl: “That’s different. The Turks aren’t suitable here. They don’t fit in.”

Bisterwhip Report

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ColorEd
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, you found the one girl whose opinion represents the opinions of every German person. Well done!

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#2

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans We are actually pretty smart as a nation. The stupid ones are just the loudest and the most annoying

sielnt_assassin , Edmond Dantès Report

#3

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans You have a drinking problem. It’s not a thing to brag about.

The level of alcoholism in some areas of Europe is troubling. I’m amazed at how often people miss work as a result. The levels of colorectal cancer are also twice the rest of the world in countries with the highest consumption.

m1sch13v0us , Kelsey Knighs Report

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Pernille.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And yet the average life expectancy is longer in Europe than in the US! And we are generally happier and safer.

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#5

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Stop trading insults with us by saying "school shootings" and then dropping the mic. Many of us are also horrified by the gun violence in this country, but using dead children to win an argument about who has better food does you no credit.

Devi1_May_Cry , Zachary Keimig Report

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Ivan Stojnov
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Horrified by the gun violence in the country, but doing nothing about it - is not an insult.

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#6

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Tanning to that extent looks horrible stop doing that to yourselves (mainly for the UK)

nightly11111 , Karolina Grabowska Report

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spiritum avatar
Mixed Reality Portal
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As someone who spent a long time in Florida, I was shocked to see the number of sun damaged American folk there...I know some Brits worship the sun, but blimey these folks made me happy to embrace my paleness 😊

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#7

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans The way people drive in Italy makes me understand why they're so religious.

DividesbyZ3RO , Lachlan Gowen Report

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Akiba1907
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm a Test Driver for different Manufacturers. Italy, France and Portugal teached me to tell my wife "I love you" every time I get the chance. Because I was genuinely scared it could be the last time.

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#8

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Most every European I've met who hasn't been here before has been totally unprepared for the massive size of the US

jacobydave , Enric Cruz López Report

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Valter
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most american I've met in my town has been totally unprepared for the massive story about Europe.

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#9

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans When people say "Americans are ______" I feel like they don't realize how huge America is. We span 6 timezones which makes it hard to be consistent in anything and it's really impossible to lump us ALL into a single group.

cassato , Pixabay Report

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ColorEd
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The same goes for Europe. It's not that big, but there are many different cultures and 44 counties.

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#10

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans We don’t actually think about you as much you (apparently) think about us.

TaiKorczak , Raúl Nájera Report

#11

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Europe is more racist than the US in many ways, but it’s not politicized like it is in the USA. I have black American friends who have been told they can’t eat inside certain restaurants in Europe which would never happen in the US today. Not to mention the way the Roma/g*psies are discussed by Europeans. I was shocked to hear such casual racism there. Often while criticizing the racism in the USA.

quietlittlefreak , Life Matters Report

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Ivan Stojnov
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Really? When was the last time european police killed an unarmed black man in the middle of the day in front of countless witnesses?

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#12

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans The boring chit chat y’all hate is actually pretty great. Just because someone says hi doesn’t mean they want something from you.

WhodeyBrr , Zen Chung Report

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spiritum avatar
Mixed Reality Portal
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think this really does depend where you live as growing up in the Irish and English countryside, everyone was friendly and chatty.It was only going to places like London that I started to see the difference. Guess it really depends on the people and the place.

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#13

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans We know other countries do it differently. I am sick of how everytime an American explains their problems, someone pipes in with "well in my country we do it this way". We know. We know our healthcare, politics, and media are f****d, there are a lot complicated reasons for why and simply saying that your country doesn't do it that way isn't helping anything.

xtrakrispie , Steven Abraham Report

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XenoMurph
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You explain how your country does it, then gets annoyed when someone does the same.

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#15

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans There are actually more states than Texas, New York, and California.

Bladesman08 , John-Mark Smith Report

#16

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans In the USA there's a ton of people that actually wear pajamas in public.

Internal_Security_44 , Kristina Petrick Report

#17

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans We're not "uncultured" it's a 10 hour flight to a foreign country. We can't just drive over to another country for a weekend getaway.

SamAxolotl123 , Andrew Palmer Report

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Brittania Kelli
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1 year ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#18

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Your population is getting older on average and there aren't enough young people to keep your economies as large. There will be a long period where the quality of life will be stagnant at best.

sephirothFFVII , Pixabay Report

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artturf avatar
XenoMurph
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a worldwide hope. Population is too high, we need few generations of very low childbirth. Education for women is the best way to achieve this,

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#19

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans As a country of immigrants, people will talk about what ethnicity they are. Don’t get mad at me for saying I am of Irish, polish, French and Italian ancestry because I am not ethnically native to this country, unlike a whole other group of people who are. Also yes, native folks do still exist. It’s not like European Americans are the new natives now.

renigadegatorade , AussieActive Report

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XenoMurph
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Irish ancestry yep perfect description. But born in Kentucky, never been to Ireland, grandfather moved to US in 1910, but you say "I'm Irish".... well we appreciate the love for our country, but you'll get raised eyebrows.

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#20

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans You’re gonna need air conditioners in your homes pretty soon.

Ambitious-Kiwi-1079 , Chromatograph Report

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censorshipsucks
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Given that USA is the biggest or second biggest carbon emitter, can we say "thanks for nothing" to that?

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#21

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans The KFC Double Down will both disgust and delight you.

animeyescrazyno , wikimedia.commons Report

#22

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Our ideas of foreign cuisine are basically products of the immigrant experience.

KeysmashKhajiit , Samuel Regan-Asante Report

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Laura Lett
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I specifically try restaurants ,whom the owners are from the areas they claim. Moroccan,they are immigrants,from Morocco. That's an example..

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#23

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Biscuits and gravy is delicious

BVoLatte Report

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Sara Cros
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What you guys call biscuits are known as scones in other English speaking countries. Biscuits to us are cookies.

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#24

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Public toilets being free should be a standard

JeremyMo88 , Yena Kwon Report

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Winnie the Moo
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But this is to have clean toilets. Our public restrooms never look like yours…

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GoGoPDX
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hear me out though, you all pay a lot in taxes, maybe they should use some of that money to cover cleaning and maintaining public restrooms. I have lives in an areas where our tax dollars go to maintaining public restrooms, so they are free to people who may not be able to afford it, and they are very nice. I have also been to Publix restrooms in Europe, where I paid, and they were still disgusting,

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Jill Rhodry
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd rather pay and have privacy than free and have the US gap around the door.

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Sonja
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will gladly pay if it means clean toilets. But what makes me furious is when I pay and the toilet is so...disgusting that I have to go somewhere outaide rather than there

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Ana Ferreira
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A lot of public toilets are free. It's usually the ones in high-traffic and touristy areas that are paid.

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R Dennis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As an American, I am okay with pay toilets... the free ones are usually disgusting.

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Chris
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Go to Scandinavia, free public restrooms which are clean… Europe is not always the same

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Stardust she/her
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Over here in India some of our public restrooms are paid for because it helps in maintaining as well as building new ones

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oktopus
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why I love living in Japan: public toilets are free, mostly very clean and have fully private cubicles.

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LK
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

European loos actually screen the person using the facility. You can't peek in to see them pee. This is worth a few euros.

itisdarkestbeforedawn78 avatar
Beck
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The bathrooms in the us belong to the stores they are in or the place you are visiting. The store pays their people to clean them. Sometimes they do not do a good job. But I am not paying extra to use the bathroom in target.

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Brittania Kelli
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know people will say it is to pay for cleaning, but they're still dirty, and really it's a measure to keep the homeless, drunk, and high people out...

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Madster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Healthcare being free (or at least not eye-wateringly extortionate) should be standard. I'm sorry to answer an argument with an argument but honestly....I can't imagine being unable to afford basic treatment.

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Bgray450
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My niece just got back from a couple weeks in Italy. She was surprised at the charge of 1 Euro to use a public toilet, but said they were very clean. I get it.

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Leekier
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How is this something we’re not ready to hear? Off hand I can’t remember when I last had to pay for a public loo

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Tugg Ster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the public toilets in Europe are DISGUSTING. plus in many counties business owners are required to allow anyone to use their bathrooms... so they don't bother with cleaning them up. And in many parts of Europe they still allow men to pee outside in the troughs that run right along the walls of buildings and sidewalks. In broad daylight. It smells so awful

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Nikki Sevven
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

CLEAN public toilets should be a standard. Shame people who don't clean up after themselves.

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Captain Awesome
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Having to pay to take a p**s keeps the junkies and perverts out. This is not a bad thing!

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Burnt Bagel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can pee just about anywhere I’ve ever been for free. Just got to get creative sometimes!

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David
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this isn't a moral high ground. They are only free in the USA because of a court case about how it was sexual discrimination. If not for that, we would probably still have pay toilets as well. I have personally used pay toilets in places like the Seattle Greyhound bus station before that legal change. EDIT: to say - it was not all toilets in the US. It was a mix. But for me it was also a mix in Europe. I can't speak for now. Has been many years since I visited European countries and even back then not all of them. Things may have changed.

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Petra Schaap
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe on the streets or parks issued by the city but not in pubs/shops/ etc

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MMcD
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember pay toilets. They were a dime. This was up until the 70’s. I was born in 1967 so my experience was short. According to old articles Chicago (my location) banned them in 1973. Other places were still banning pay loos in 1977 and on.

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#25

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Americans have big portion sizes in restaurants because we have a big leftovers culture. While some people will eat their whole meal, it’s completely normal if you don’t and you’ll be offered a to-go box to take it home. There isn’t really a big expectation to finish your meal at restaurants.

ctortan , Matthew Moloney Report

#26

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans Racism isn’t just an American thing.

hwy61trvlr , Clay Banks Report

#28

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans There is genuine isolationist vibe happening in the US which only being held at bay by people who feel we should still stay engaged with the world and of course our military industrial complex. Anti European sentiment is seeping into both sides of the political spectrum and even the center.

The question "why should we get involved in yet another European war?" Is being asked a lot right now.

If the US goes isolationist and leaves the EU to deal with the RU China alliance on their own you won't just have some retirement age issues to worry about.

somedoofyouwontlike , David Everett Strickler mktgmantra Report

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spiritum avatar
Mixed Reality Portal
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, but walking away won't ease things for America, only delay the inevitable in that if RU China alliance takes out the EU, then America will be its next target. You do know that this whole isolation thing is being pushed by RU China to stoke division because its easier to take control when countries stand alone? It might sound paranoid, but as a cyber tech the propaganda war is fought in cyberspace.

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#29

30 Things Europeans Are Just Not Ready To Hear, According To Americans British people mock us for using Imperial measurements and then still order pints at the pub and use “stones” as a measurement of weight.

Isthisworking2000 , Josh Olalde Report

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Ivan Stojnov
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But still, UK switched to metric system. Only USA and Libera are using outdated imerial system now.

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#30

A very large mixed race country that has guns written into its constitution is a lot harder to govern that any country in Europe. A lot.

SmellmyfingerTodd Report

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censorshipsucks
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, you could also just ban guns. I mean they are called "constitutional amendments" meaning "Changes", not cast in stone dude.

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Note: this post originally had 33 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.