The United States is the third largest country in the world with a population of more than 335 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Here, a child is born every 8 seconds.
In addition to Indigenous Americans who were already living there before the Europeans discovered it, the country was built on immigration.
Because of this, the United States is one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. It is sometimes described as a "melting pot", in which different cultures have contributed their own distinct "flavors" to American culture.
But as much as the distinctiveness fascinates foreigners, it also has them raising their eyebrows. This is especially evident in a recent Reddit thread, started by user 421continueblazingit, who asked non-Americans on the platform to share which of the local customs make no sense to them.
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Why is medical bankruptcy not at the absolute f*****g top of this list?
Kids beauty pageants.
Parents are willingly sexualizing their children.
It’s weird.
Why do politicians finish their speeches 'God bless America' and similar? It gives me shivers! Theocracy is not a good thing. Let's have separation between church and state and between religion and politics, shall we? I believe, in fact, that your country was actually built on the principle of that separation, was it not?
I also hate it when they call the u.s. “the greatest country in the world”. No it’s not, and I’m American.
Cashiers who aren't allowed to sit during their work
Like.... Why??
The rational is that customers will think they are lazy and just sitting around, which is dumb. You can still tell if they are working, even if they are sitting.
Calling a team "World Champions' of a sport that only your country competes in.
Home owner associations dictating the smallest details of your own home.
Having to find somebody to cover shifts when you're off on leave/sick.
Isn't that literally what the manager is there for?
Normally the manager does take care of it. I never worked a job where I had to take care of it myself. But low-paying jobs often don't have sick days or sick leave, so that would probably be where that would happen.
Gender reveal parties, I couldn't give a f**k what you're having and you shouldn't give f**k what I'm having. I hate that it's slowly becoming a thing in the UK.
Maybe if we start calling them sex celebration parties, they will die off
That should freak the Christians out enough to fight gender reveals.
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I have noticed this becoming popular here (UK) I have a 3 year old. Our gender reveal was her birth. We did not even know. Highly recommend waiting until the birth!
We have waited until birth with our 3rd kid, it was awesome. If we have another baby someday, I would definitely wait.
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Awh, I was hoping it would be a Dragonborn...
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In India, they made it illegal to know the sex because couples would terminate the girl child if known. Things still happening but has lessenned because the family goes to jail along with the doctor / hospital. licences are removed. So this is not possible in India unless you want to go the jail
I hate the USA celebrations leaking over to the UK and replacing our own traditions. Used to be that you would celebrate the birth of a baby with a christening. Nowadays people are doing gender reveals and baby showers.
The world will be a better place when religion is understood to be toxic, rather than celebrated as though it's a good thing. Christenings should have died off with other medieval garbage like bloodletting and the divine right of kings.
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And you could be wrong! Our beloved kid is nonbinary gender. We found out around age 14. I'm so glad we, as their parents, never gave a hoot about gender.
They are so destructive to the environment when confetti or dye is used, just buy a cake with the gender in it don’t pollute the earth any more than it already is.
I think new parents should accept that only they really care. If people mind what the gender is, that's sad. People don't react differently to the news, they congratulate them regardless. It's all so silly.
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Wait. You don't think it would be amazing to be able to tell people how a massive forest was destroyed thanks to a party your parents had to celebrate your genitalia?
The only appropriate time for a gender reveal is when a trans person transitions.
Yep. I'm middle aged, and I had only heard about gender reveal parties in passing, online. No one explained what they actually are, and I just assumed it was for trans people. Like I was all happy that people were so accepting that they had a party. Finding out gender reveal parties are just about babies was a real let down.
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Yes, many of us also find them absurd and frankly stupid. I can't believe it's still a thing that people do unironically.
https://www.popsci.com/environment/gender-reveal-party-accidents/
This!!! My parents made all 3 of our baby showers purple-themed. Purple is what you get when you mix pink and blue together, and it also is considered a color of love. My dad says they did this to show that it didn't matter if we were boys or girls, they love us anyway no matter what.
The 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 shouldn't give a f**k what they're having, either! They should be grateful they're being entrusted with caring for and raising a child; regardless of the child's gender,.
Also. Should be called Sex Reveal. Gender is different. In theory, they’ll die out in a generation or two. Name reveals are swooping in instead. (Vomits)
Apparently the person who first popularized this s**t has issued a public apology for it.
Yes - and you can read about it here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jun/29/jenna-karvunidis-i-started-gender-reveal-party-trend-regret
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One more occasion for merchants to exploit to sell c**p to consumers.
Not to mention that gender and biological sex don’t always align, so revealing a baby’s biological sex by throwing a “GENDER” reveal party seems… slightly outdated, if I must say?
Oh please stfu until you actually understand SCIENCE 🙄
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If it's really a gender reveal party, you better have a brand spanking new gender to show me. I already know about the others that are already out there.
You gotta love the phrase "we're expecting" when talking about pregnancy. It makes it sound like there's more than one outcome: "Yeah, we're expecting a baby but it's possible it could be a Polar Bear cub or a 60 inch TV!."
Congratulations on being the first people on the face of the earth to have a baby boy/girl.
When my family started hounding me about what my babies were (2 pregnancies, both boys), I told them flat out that we weren't gonna find out until the delivery room and to stop pestering and pressuring me to find out ahead of time. After about the fifth time the same family member asked, I told them "If you're gonna pay the $15000 for an amniocentesis, I'll find out, cuz my insurance WON'T pay for it. Otherwise, back the hell off my case about it!" (First pregnancy, fall of 99, that procedure was still considered experimental, so it was STUPID expensive!) It shut down the questioning quick, and they all sent gender neutral stuff for the baby shower.
My daughter just handed me the envelope to say what the sex was, and the only reason she had a baby shower was cause her best friend organised it and combined it with her 21st birthday, other wise she didn't want a baby shower, how many gifts do they need, cause you buy for the shower then again when the baby is born.
Im afraid to comment here due to current mindsets in society, and thats not against anyone. All i wanna say is honesty I never understood these, i get its a fun tradition for those participating but gosh some people take it too far
They're actually a lot of fun but the ones you see online are waaaay overdone. A cake and some family are all you need :)
Parties are fun, and they really don't require a reason. Just eat cake because you want to eat cake.
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I'm waiting for the gender reveal parties that happen in the child's life later on when they decide to transition. Those are the only gender reveal parties I care about.
So stupid. I would never have one of these. A baby shower is enough and I want to know my baby's gender on my own terms by myself
Its a way to sell more stuff to people. Capitalise on people having kids.
I had one for my son, and I kind of wish I hadn’t. Now looking back, they are quite stupid 🫤!
The old fashioned gender-reveal was birth!! GR parties are only a thing since we can know the gender earlier. Have you noticed you can hardly find gender-neutral clothes for infants? It’s because people know before the birth and you don’t have to guess!
Infants do not give a f what color they are wearing. Once they're old enough to care, they can grab at the clothes they want--which might not "align" with stereotypes!
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I've never been to one. I didn't want to know the sex of my first born who ended up being a boy but I did find out the sex of my twins because I needed to prepare....I was already in shock that I was having twins. When I found out I was having two girls I just told everyone....no party involved.
Last weekend a neighbour threw a genderreveal bbq for their childs coming out as genderfluid. --- the bbq escalated to some kind of mini-street-fair of our block. --- this kind of genderreveal I accept :)
I believe that you can ask the couple if they are expecting this or that - but all answers are right. Even those "We are not telling it until it is born"
Wouldn't dream of asking. They might care, I hope they don't, but seriously why would it be of interest to anyone else? If grandparents care, they shouldn't. Just be grateful there is a healthy baby coming.
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Wow. Harsh!! I think they are lame too and simply called people to tell them what I was having but....I DO give a f**k what my friends and family are having and I feel like they gave a f**ck what I was having too.
Why? Do your feelings change between boy and girl? There's no need to treat them any different. Did they ask what eye color the baby will have? Because even if parents have the same color, it might come out different!
Load More Replies... The woman who first popularised it now regrets doing so. Her first child is non-binary
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As long as there’s no huge explosion of blue or pink powder, but it’s still stupid that you have to make a huge celebration
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Paid maternity leave not being legislated as a basic employment right.
The tipping culture. Working a job and then having to depend on charity seems extremely wierd. I don't understand how people put up with that, having employment but having to basically beg for money to survive.
Tye s****y thing is if you protest this in the US, and you don't tip, it only hurts your server, and not the establishment that employs them.
Fear of anything 'not capitalist' being somehow 'communist' . E.g universal healthcare. Yet at the same time being terrified of 'big pharma'. It literally works in 100s of other non-communist countries.
Most of these people couldn't tell the difference. A comedian hit up a MAGA rally recently and started pitching ideas from Marx's Das Capital, without using the words, communism, socialism, or capitalism and found some very enthusiastic supporters in red hats.
American flags literally everywhere.
The number of people who keep large 'collections' of rusty cars & farm equipment in the garden.
The startling difference between the attitudes to sex & violence. Kids will see literally 100's of violent deaths on TV and no one bats an eye, but god forbid they should see a nipple.
Sex and bodies all perfectly natural bit hey let's not show/talk about it but violence, shootings yeah let's promote death and misery
Sales tax not being included in the price already. Wild.
I know - here (Aust) it's illegal to not include GST (sales tax) in the retail price.
How owning, buying and carrying guns is not more controlled and supervised.
mindlessly voting along party lines, even though the party's candidate is a complete fool
More the having to pre-commit to a party despite the rotation of candidates. The 'undecided' voter thing. Shouldn't that be everyone, each election?
Commercials for drugs. That you can't even buy yourself. But 'ask your doctor!'
I’d say the weirdest thing is how many side effects that are listed with them
People enthusiastically defending the health-care system that bankrupts people, sometimes even in reddit threads where people show off their horrendous medical bills
I like that the picture is from Breaking Bad. Another commenter in another thread pointed out that this show’s premise probably could not have existed in another country, and I can’t forget that
At 18 you can join the army, carry guns, f**k, drive car. But buy and drink alcohol only 21???
If I remember correctly it had something to do with reducing the number of fatalities from teens driving drunk. The statistics were pretty high. I could start drinking legally at the age of 18, but a few years later they changed the age to 19, then 21. My poor sister kept missing the boat.
The pledge of allegiance things at school. What in the actual f**k?
When I was in 5th grade there was a student who refused to pledge allegiance to the flag. He was made to stand in the hallway every morning because of it and was rumored to have detention once a week because of it, too. From what I remember, he never gave in.
The electoral college. WTF?
The opposite of democracy but the Republicans love it because Otherwise they would always lose.
Doing your own taxes, and being punished if you get it wrong by mistake.
Average UK tax paying person: 'Oh look, new financial year'. Carries on with their day knowing that the tax office will tell them if they've been paying too much or too little tax.
Televangelists springs to mind, there is one absolutely morally repugnant one with a massive house and private jets whose name I can't recall. I vehemently dislike organised religion at the best of times but why people actually listen to the ones that are very obviously money-grabbing lying scum is totally beyond me.
Edit: The one I was thinking of was Kenneth Copeland, seems to me he might be "worst among equals" as it were.
Oral Roberts was an evangelist from the '60's and '70's. My grandma sent him over ten thousand dollars. He sent her a Bible with our Lord Jesus Christ's words in red-- and Oral Roberts' name embossed in gold. Other than Roberts' name, I could have gotten Grandma the same Bible for less than ten bucks.
Black Friday. You spend Thanksgiving saying how grateful you are for what you have, and then have a massive free-for-all over stuff you want.
Putting quite a bit of sugar in things that don't require it, like bread and casseroles.
refusing to use metric
It is confusing for many of us too. A lot of our technical work does try to use metric instead
Having one week of paid vacation or sometimes not any time at all
Anything and everything related to belonging and participating in a Fraternity/ Sorority. ESPECIALLY the selection and hazing. ETA: actually, the selection and hazing are the problems
Absolutely. Fraternities and Sororities used to have a purpose, now it just seems like an excuse for bad behavior.
Baby showers. Here in Sweden it is generelly considered bad luck to give baby gifts before the baby is actually born. When the baby is born and the parents have gotten a few weeks alone with their newborn they usually start inviting people to meet them, but one or a few at a time, and then you bring a gift.
Pickup trucks as daily use cars. Of course I know that at this point most pickups are just SUVs with a small open bed in the rear, but it still boggles my mind how many people believe they absolutely need a pickup.
Mainly in certain parts of the country, and often in rural areas. To be fair, in rural areas they have their uses, but it has also become a status symbol in parts of the country, like the South.
The level of monitoring expected around children is wild to me. Over here, six-year-olds walk to school alone. (Of course within reason.)
It’s not usually anything the children are doing that causes this. ☹️
A lot of the High School stuff, like all the formal dances, Football, cheer leading. They’re such a big deal in the USA.
College sports. Why are they so popular, especially among fans who never attended any university, let alone the one they cheer for?
Not sure if it's a custom but i hate the fact that all children are expected to leave their family's house and live on their own by at least their 20s.
I come from the middle east where it's very common to live in multi generational houses. You'd probably never leave your family's house unless you are getting married or they literally just kick you out or something lol.
Actually many people choose to remain in their family's house even after marrying and having kids and what not. It's very normal here for a house to have like 3-4 different generations of the same family in it.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each system. The kind of system described here works well for a communal society, but it can also be stifling. I wouldn't have wanted to continue living with my very dysfunctional, overprotective and critical family far into my adulthood.
The whole "building credit" thing. Not sure it's a custom or just plain stupid. The amount of money that I can borrow is a reflection of my income and what it is that I want to borrow money for. The idea that you can't get a mortgage because you didn't pay for groceries with a credit card 10 years ago is absurd.
I suppose part of it is how the housing market works, it weird that if you can't pay your mortgage, then you can just drop the keys in the mailbox and it suddenly becomes a problem for the bank. Here if you can't pay your mortgage it's still your house and your problem. Sure the bank can use the law to make the government force you to sell to pay of debt, but that's different.
Paying your rent or your normal bills doesn't show up on your credit report is stupid.
Everyone is unbelievably so patriotic but also incredibly proud of their Irish or Italian roots. It’s fun to be American until someone mentions your natural tan.
An American lady once said to me '...of course, i'm Swedish'. She had been born in the US, no-one in her family had lived in Sweden since the late 19th century, she'd never been to Sweden, and spoke no Swedish. But, she maintained that she was 'Swedish'.
Putting ice in every drink no matter the temperature, season, or anything.
Whenever I can I actually avoid getting ice because it just waters down the drink
Ah, thank goodness! Another America bashing thread. I was worried since its been 5 days since they posted the last one
We should always boycott them - only way they'll stop. Trouble is people went to comment and defend, not unreasonably. Ignoring it completely would be the only way to deal with it really. BP only care about advertisers and want clicks and comments.
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yaaaaay the weekly America sucks to foreigners article. such talented writers at bp
I had a small break from the internet, it was rather nice, now I’m back and BP hasn’t let me down. An article listing all the things I already knew about tiny bits of life in the U.S. that are both predictable and repetitive. FFS BP move on, let’s have a 50 things in the U.S. that’ll make you smile.
Yeah, why not something positive for once? Why not include good things from all aver the world?.
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My god has this site become a hate filled cesspool. So Rokas, you think it’s funny to constantly stereotype you readers?
That you are more likely to be shot attending school than being in the armed forces
Sadly, this one is heartbreaking and true. It deeply saddens me and I know so many people who are trying to change this and are receiving nothing but pushback from hyper conservatives in the government.
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I am getting oh so f-ing tired of the abundance of America bashing threads on this site. One of these days will be the last straw, and I"ll decide this site is no longer worth my time. There must be plenty of other things to write about.
Stupid gross generalizations. The US is pretty large and diverse regionally and state by state.
Maybe there are so many American bashing posts because this country is quickly turning to hell in a handbasket and people want to rant about why the U. S. sucks 🙃
The differences are in some cases legitimate, some cases stereotypes maybe based on watching TV? Most of the comments are pure snark from ignorance.
Come on you two, you can do better. Your stuff is typically good now you're going for low hanging fruit.
Pffft, BoredPanda has been good since the pandemic. All they do is repost listicles from Reddit about angry Karens and AITA posts. Plus, they have some of the worst censorship I’ve seen. What other site censors the words die, prostitution, blood, twat, c**p, and w***y in their “listicles.”
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It's funny the amount of defensive people on here. Such small minds. What BP wrote another article pointing out absurdities in America!?! No way. You mean they write this that got clicks and then repeat the concept. No way it like that's how entertainment businesses work. Doing things to get attention. Mind blowing. Oh no BP doesn't do "yay American yay"... oh wait it does! Oh no BP only picks on America... oh wait it doesn't. Sorry to burst your bubble but your bubble is tiny and misses a lot.
An English language website that supports hatred of the country where over half the English speakers live. Maybe generates the clicks that attracts advertisers, but not if they look closer.
How is stating facts "hatred"? And I'm sorry but just because BP is in English doesn't mean only English speakers visit it. Typical American viewpoint.
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@Emma S, it's a religion here. I've never understood it myself. I live in Michigan and the newspapers are lousy with stories about the college teams.
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Yeah, sure we 'forget' despite having history lessons making it possible for us to see where you've got it wrong. Actually, most Europeans don't think about America much at all, certainly not to the extent BP would make it seem.
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No, you can't get hormones at age 5 or own a gun at age 2. You're an idiot if you actually think that, especially about the hormones.
Load More Replies... Ah, thank goodness! Another America bashing thread. I was worried since its been 5 days since they posted the last one
We should always boycott them - only way they'll stop. Trouble is people went to comment and defend, not unreasonably. Ignoring it completely would be the only way to deal with it really. BP only care about advertisers and want clicks and comments.
Load More Replies... yaaaaay the weekly America sucks to foreigners article. such talented writers at bp
I had a small break from the internet, it was rather nice, now I’m back and BP hasn’t let me down. An article listing all the things I already knew about tiny bits of life in the U.S. that are both predictable and repetitive. FFS BP move on, let’s have a 50 things in the U.S. that’ll make you smile.
Yeah, why not something positive for once? Why not include good things from all aver the world?.
Load More Replies... My god has this site become a hate filled cesspool. So Rokas, you think it’s funny to constantly stereotype you readers?
That you are more likely to be shot attending school than being in the armed forces
Sadly, this one is heartbreaking and true. It deeply saddens me and I know so many people who are trying to change this and are receiving nothing but pushback from hyper conservatives in the government.
Load More Replies... I am getting oh so f-ing tired of the abundance of America bashing threads on this site. One of these days will be the last straw, and I"ll decide this site is no longer worth my time. There must be plenty of other things to write about.
Stupid gross generalizations. The US is pretty large and diverse regionally and state by state.
Maybe there are so many American bashing posts because this country is quickly turning to hell in a handbasket and people want to rant about why the U. S. sucks 🙃
The differences are in some cases legitimate, some cases stereotypes maybe based on watching TV? Most of the comments are pure snark from ignorance.
Come on you two, you can do better. Your stuff is typically good now you're going for low hanging fruit.
Pffft, BoredPanda has been good since the pandemic. All they do is repost listicles from Reddit about angry Karens and AITA posts. Plus, they have some of the worst censorship I’ve seen. What other site censors the words die, prostitution, blood, twat, c**p, and w***y in their “listicles.”
Load More Replies... It's funny the amount of defensive people on here. Such small minds. What BP wrote another article pointing out absurdities in America!?! No way. You mean they write this that got clicks and then repeat the concept. No way it like that's how entertainment businesses work. Doing things to get attention. Mind blowing. Oh no BP doesn't do "yay American yay"... oh wait it does! Oh no BP only picks on America... oh wait it doesn't. Sorry to burst your bubble but your bubble is tiny and misses a lot.
An English language website that supports hatred of the country where over half the English speakers live. Maybe generates the clicks that attracts advertisers, but not if they look closer.
How is stating facts "hatred"? And I'm sorry but just because BP is in English doesn't mean only English speakers visit it. Typical American viewpoint.
Load More Replies... @Emma S, it's a religion here. I've never understood it myself. I live in Michigan and the newspapers are lousy with stories about the college teams.
Load More Replies... Yeah, sure we 'forget' despite having history lessons making it possible for us to see where you've got it wrong. Actually, most Europeans don't think about America much at all, certainly not to the extent BP would make it seem.
Load More Replies... No, you can't get hormones at age 5 or own a gun at age 2. You're an idiot if you actually think that, especially about the hormones.
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