The United States has plenty of pros and cons, just like any other country. However, you can’t deny America tends to have more of each and some of them are turned all the way up to 11 on the weirdness scale. Like having the police patrol your school, writing the date in a weird way (let’s not even talk about the Imperial measurement system), and having full-on smear ads against political opponents.
Welcome to the Wonderland that is the USA. And what better way to learn about the bizarre things that Americans think are completely normal than by asking non-Americans for their opinions? That’s exactly what one Reddit user (who told Bored Panda that they wish to remain anonymous because of all the attention they're getting) did in a viral thread that got more than 50.9k upvotes and over a whopping 38.9k comments. Scroll down, have a read, check out our in-depth interview with the original poster, and upvote the weird things that happen in the US that left an impact on you, dear Pandas.
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Talking about their freedom as if they're the only country in the world who has it...
Gratuitous violence in entertainment is normal. But show one boob and people lose their s**t.
The redditor who posted the thread in the first place told us that they usually don’t hang out in the crowded default subreddits. “Either the thread gets too big for a conversation or it goes unnoticed in a sea of similar topics. In hindsight, it's not strange it got so much attention, Reddit is very diverse but a US-centric view is still dominant, and everyone wants to weigh in. Lots of people just wanted to vent, some had a strong political opinion, and some just wanted to ridicule the US.”
According to the Reddit user, they made the thread “on a whim” after they saw a comment by a redditor who was surprised to learn that not everyone has police officers at school.
“I did hope that starting this topic would end up in a couple of people sharing that kind of information among each other, because the US is going through some [crap], and it helps your morale to know that alternatives do exist.”
They continued: “Some people took it as a competition of which country is better, but it was intended without any kind of nationalist feelings, more with an idea of people defining things among themselves vs. how things are shown to be in schools and TV shows, in and outside the US.”
When you are 18 years old, you can be shipped to a foreign country to kill humans, but you are not allowed to drink alcohol.
I laughed when Will Smiths son wanted to celebrate his 18th birthday in the UK because he would be allowed to drink legally!
Ambulance rides costing money seems pretty absurd to people from other countries
Paying people less than minimum wage. How is it a minimum if it's legal to pay less than that?
One thing that the redditor did expect to see in the thread but was surprised to hear so many voices speaking against it was the “circumcision of infant males for non-medical, non-religious reasons but rather as a default procedure.” The redditor added: “Parents who decide against circumcising their newborn child but don't know how it works and what to teach their kid: there's a WikiHow!”
The thread shone a light on a lot of problems in the United States and suggested that these things need to change. “The things that got repeated most in the thread were division of ethnic groups, gun culture, military drafting and continuous warfare, cop culture, nutrition issues, corporate lobbying... and wearing shoes in the house,” the OP explained.
Wondering if you're sick enough to call that ambulance or if you should just risk ubering it.
Medical bankruptcy after you're charged $200,000 for a week long hospital stay and now you're homeless.
Being mentally ill and getting hospitalized by others for your own safety, but then getting a massive bill for it that you cant pay (which will totally help the suicidality right?)
Choosing between food and medicine.
Deciding that it's less expensive to just go into palliative care and die instead of fighting a disease like cancer.
As you can see I really hate the american medical care system.
The whole world hates the American medical care system too. Even 3rd world countries hate it!
Eva Bryson, I will and I will spare a sympathetic thought as you get charge $80 for a single aspirin and a band aid and $500 for the Ambulance to take you to hospital $400 to see a consultant $1500. If you can afford it after that you can shell out $150 for a nurse to put it on for you. Meanwhile, I just had a £40,000 pacemaker fitted by surgeons with 20 years of experience and an overnight stay in a hospital with breakfast and lunch for the grand price of absolutely nothing. Enjoy your Uber to your local A&E... I hear its cheaper than calling an ambulance
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To everyone who says: "If you hate it so much, don't use it." I live here, I don't get a f*****g choice, it's the only system there is.
This only applied to the 20 million Americans who have neither private insurance or are not poor enough to get Medicaid. A problem, but one easy to fix. Ironically before ACA this number was actually 12 million
I am a pensioner and have no private insurance. I will have a free ambulance if or when I need it and free hospital care knowing I will receive some sort of whatever I need to make life more comfortable with probably some sort of whatever to make living at home easier
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When I was younger, I stopped breathing (turned out to be a wracking panic attack) and I absolutely WOULD NOT let my parents take me to the hospital, because I knew how much it would cost them.
YEAH, WELL IF ENOUGH OF THE IGNORANT WOULD FIGHT FOR WHAT CANADA HAS, MAYBE WE WOULD BE IN A BETTER PLACE!!!!!!!!! TRY USING YOUR VOICES FOR WHAT SHOULD BE, AND LET WHAT WE BUY WITH EXTRA TAXES COVER ANY COSTS WE HAVE FOR MEDICAL CARE. OR MAYBE THERE ARE SO MANY ABUSING THE SYSTEM OF EBT AND MEDICAID, THAT AMERICA WOULD GO DOWNHILL, EXCEPT FOR THOSE PAYING THE INCREASED TAXES OF FOOD, AS EBT DOES NOT PAY TAXES, LET THEM GO DOWNHILL, CHANGE THE DAMN SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The American medical system might as well have been conceived by Satan.
This is so mind boggling to me. Yes some services cost, but they do not even COMPARE to what is going on in America. I'm literally worried for all of the people not being able to get the help they NEED
I live in Scotland and pay a portion of my monthly wage to National Insurance and my medical needs are covered even if I become unemployed I still receive free medical care and my monthly prescription charges are paid for by the Scottish Government I feel really sorry for the people in America who have to chose if they eat or go and see a Doctor in the year 2020 this is barbaric take care ya'll
And socialist talk like their health care is FREE! Wonder how it's paid for...hmmmm.
AGREE!! And I live here!! Having to pay extensive rates and outrageous co-pays and more $$ after your insurance only pays a smaller amount! And knowing that illegals get their medical for free! Our medical system needs help desperately.
You are NEVER denied life saving treatments. If you choose to die instead of fighting cancer that is your fault. Do you have any idea of the number of programs so people can afford their medication that doesn't involve medicad etc? Every drug company has to offer prescription coverage rebates and other programs.
Americans don't have a health care system. They have the health mafia.
I'm an American and our health system is c**p. If I get a disease my thinking is, can I beat this or should I save my money for my funeral?
After all this, I am a very small voice. I have a huge problem accepting the truth is all this. Who knew???
This is awful. So many must die because they have been unable to get healthcare. Perhaps this explains a lot about what has been happening in the pandemic. I feel lucky to have been born in a country where healthcare, prescriptions, opticians and dentists are all free. There is no excuse for us not to seek help..
Except you seem to have left out Medicaid, which is free health care for those who can't afford to pay their own way, for whatever reason that may be. Charity hospitals that take care of the homeless who can't have Medicaid because they have no fixed address. And tons of charitable institutions that will help the chronically ill take care of bills, transportation, and even family travel.
Most hospitals here have financial programs that can assist with the costs if you don't have insurance. When people are complaining about our system, they conveniently leave that fact out because they either don't know or have never bothered to ask if there's any help available. A few years ago, my son did not have any health insurance when he got severely ill and had to go to the emergency room. The hospital wrote off the entire amount instead of letting me make arrangements to pay them. That's how I found out that hospitals have funds set aside to help people with no insurance.
I was a hospice and hospital chaplain in oncology for 13 years combined. Nobody is told "to just go to into palliative care and die instead of fighting a disease like cancer." Most physicians do not like to give up on patients even when they are quite old. America's medical system is so very expensive because we often use "heroic measures" for a very long time because we are so very afraid of what is called end-of-life in this country. All patients with cancer (no matter the type of cancer) begin on one type of treatment for their cancer as set by best practices in the field of oncology. Patients are treated through rounds of treatment until those practices do not work. Then, you branch out into more experimental treatments, clinical trials, go to MD Anderson for something more innovative, etc. The younger you are, the more you will fight. The older you are the more your family will ask you to "hang in there." Palliative care comes at the end of that pain and that fight.
In Britain, ambulances are so slow and rare that if you can, get an uber or taxi, or friend to take you to hospital. When I was in the London Fire brigade in the seventies, we were there within a few minutes. The police were some minutes behind us. The ambulances were five to ten minutes behind them. Nowadays you can wait 30 minutes and more for an ambulance.
Is there another reason for this, other than "ambulance/NHS sucks"? For example, there are various interesting articles about who are the first responders and why, in different cities, e.g., https://news.wjct.org/post/first-responder-why-do-fire-trucks-often-arrive-ambulances-medical-emergencies
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Turning scientific information into a political discussion.
Archaic, unhelpful standard units of measurement.
In 1983 canadian airplane had a lucky escape when fuel was calculated in pounds not kilograms. 1 kg is 2,2 pounds. So more than half of the fuel was missing.
“It's not as if all those comments came from non-US redditors, a lot of the criticism was from US citizens with genuine concern and investment in their future and their surroundings. Combine that with getting active and finding each other, just as widespread protests are helping to create a framework of solidarity, I think change is already happening if you just keep at it,” they said.
“I saw a lot of people from outside the US who feel racism or racist police brutality are a typical US thing. It sure looks like there's a structural issue, but please don't use the US as a way to shift blame because ‘they're worse,’ to get out of examining the same structural issues in your own locality,” the redditor added.
Gun ownership.
Many Americans are afraid all the time. It's a horrible habit, and our media/politicians reinforce it. It stems from the fact that our country was founded on genocide and slavery, IMO. White people fear BIPOC revenge that's never going to happen, and gun companies own the right wing of the government.
Having only two parties: Republicans and Democrats. I know there are some smaller parties, but the system is stacked against them.
When you think about it, this turns out to be the root cause for so many other problems. If not all of them.
While the US thinks a lot of weird things are normal, the one that isn’t giving us any peace and quiet is that Americans write the date as mm/dd/yyyy. So, why exactly do Americans write the date by putting the month before the day?
Of course, it seems completely logical to somebody who’s grown up with this system and uses it every single day of their lives. Nothing could be more natural, in their opinion. But from an outsider’s perspective, it looks downright weird and illogical. And the US is the only country in the world that does things this way.
There are several theories about this. One of them is that in certain cases, it’s more convenient to know the month first rather than the day. For instance, when somebody asks you when your birthday is, it’s more useful to know the month first to get your bearings right before zoning in on the exact day.
Not putting the final price on the tag. I'm not sure whether it's still like this, but a few years ago one never knew whether the $1.00 item in McDonald's or Burger King is actually $1.00 or maybe $1.08.
It is absolutely ridiculous that not the final price tag is put on products. The European Union now rules that any taxes and mandatory fees need to be put up front. Thing like flight ticket = 30 EUR but then having to pay mandatorily for seating are ruled illegal. The opposite in the US. I have literally seen: hotel room: 200 USD/night. + mandatory resort fee, 30 USD, + mandatory service fee, 40 USD, + mandatory gratuity, 12,5% + local tax 4,1% + state tax 3,7% (number from my head). Thus, this really is a ~325 USD hotel room. No comparison possible.
Date Order (MM/DD/YYYY)
YYYY-MM-DD, please. Its an international standard, unambiguous, and sorts alphabetically. And equally uncomfortable for everybody :)
Portion sizes.
While living in Texas (I am Finnish) I saw huge people and huge portion sizes, rarely a healthy option available. It was unbelievable how big the portion sizes were!
Another theory is that American colonists inherited the monthly date format from the British Empire. In time, the British moved over to the European style where you put the day first, then the month, then the year. While Americans stuck with the old-school format.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the International Organization for Standardization claims that putting the year first, then the month, then the day is the internationally accepted way to represent the date. To make things even more confusing, the US military uses the dd/mm/yyyy format for correspondence but it switches to the mm/dd/yyyy format when corresponding with civilians. Does that sound like a lot of info to take in? You bet! And that’s just one of the weird things that Americans think are normal.
The plot of Breaking Bad being about a science teacher getting cancer and worrying about leaving his family with massive medical debt when he dies.
My maternity leave was an unpaid 6 weeks, and I had to fight them on not shorting me because I went past my due date and didn’t keep working until the day I went into labor.
Not to mention the hospital bill after having your baby. Like children aren't expensive enough without having to either pay for an at home doula\midwife, or a hospital birth.
American flags everywhere. I traveled throughout Europe and the Caribbean and I usually only saw their flag on government builds and here and there. Where as here in the USA the flag is like Franks Red Hot. We put that s**t on everything. Magnets, churches, cars, condoms, every front porch, and street lamp. #murica
Identifying as your heritage instead of your nationality. Americans will say that they’re Italian, German, polish, etc. when they don’t speak the language and have no real connection to those countries anymore.
In other parts of the world people just identify with the country they were born in or have lived in for a significant amount of time regardless of their ancestry.
Had some American colleagues in Norway asking us how we celebrate 4th July
Happens a lot. America seems to think the world is separated into 2 parts. America and Not America, yet.
Big glasses of water WITH ICE at restaurants. I live in Texas usually and I drink ice water like 24/7. It’s a good habit here, especially in Summer. When I was in Europe I would get the smallest glasses of luke warm water that I had to ask for more every ten seconds. I felt annoying! Aren’t y’all thirsty?! Or am I missing something?
Yes, we are just as thirsty as everyone else;) But why should ice-cold water (especially) help against thirst? I have never understood (so do many people) why there are tons of ice in every drink. Especially when it is hot, it is totally counterproductive to drink such ice-cold drinks. It is much healthier and more effective against thirst to drink only slightly chilled drinks (directly from the fridge or 1/2 ice cubes max. ;) However, lukewarm water is rather unusual in restaurants ... unfortunately bad luck
Toilet cubicles, where people not only can peek, but an adult person could crawl into your cubicle, there is so much space under the "door".
Willingly putting yourself massively in debt for a college degree.
I come from a place with free university education (which has its own drawbacks of course), and the fact that you can make such a huge, life-altering decision at 17 is considered normal over there, that seems downright bizarre to me.
The enabling customer service culture.
It’s created excessive portions in restaurants, created Karen, gives way to a disposable attitude towards products, and generally gives a sense of entitlement where most people start adding it to their list of rights.
When I was there during the last election I was shocked at how phrases like ‘well they have the black vote’ or the ‘Latino vote’ came up all the time on the radio. Obviously it’s not racist but it’s just something that would never come up in my country. Like, why would latino people all vote for the same person?
Actively avoiding healthcare visits/checkups because if there's something wrong and you don't have the money to pay for treatment, then you'd rather just not know
And that's insane. The sooner you start treatment on an illness the less it costs to cure. Seems that the basic rule of any maintenance schedule for machines is impossible to apply on humans in the US. That's what you get when your health care system is for profit instead of for everyone.
This one is more on the positive side, because I think we could learn some from it.
Talking and sharing your life with complete strangers. I have met quite a few americans so it seems the norm that you share and engage with strangers in public. The bus, train, parks etc. And then you go on your way.
In Denmark you'd be a "freak" if you did that.
Actual question: Why do you want to share your life with strangers on the street? I know I feel very uncomfortable if that happens to me (luckily seldom). Like, what am I to do with what you told me? I don't know you, I don't know if I like you, I don't know what you need as response...
Asking everyone “what do you do?” when you first meet them. I live outside the US and realized there are some people I’ve known for years and I still don’t know their job. I think in the US jobs are a bigger part of a person’s identity than in some other places.
The one that always shocks me (I’ve an L1B so I spent quite a bit of time in the last couple of years living & working in the USA - although back home in U.K. right now) is the whole ‘thank you for your service’ military thing. The military is treated like some sort of god level being. It first struck me at Seaworld when they would make all service personnel stand up. In the U.K. the military guys (a) wouldn’t do it and (b) would be embarassed. In most cases they would be actively told not to do it so they don’t get identified - the fear the IRA stoked still runs deep in the processes in the military of the U.K.
Another thing regarding military is how actively they recruit. I've never seen it in the past 17 years in the UK, but in the US soldiers go into schools to recruit, do talks, tell you how you get a career or can pay for college after military service, etc. Twice I was practically harassed in high school by recruiters because of my good grades.
Side effects on medication adverts.
Friggin hilarious to us Brits.
With James' Hayfever meds, I can get through the day with ease!
Side effects may include:
Loss of sight
Loss of hearing
Loss of sense of smell
Coma
Headaches
Fever
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Loss of consciousness
and death.
American Corporations have convinced us our work culture is totally normal.
The sad thing is, working more and having no employee rights, doesn't mean you have more money on the long run or that there's more productivity. Countries like Germany and Belgium have a very high productivity, but in less work hours and with better conditions. People have more time for their families, have days off and don't need to fear for their job or their lives when they're sick because of a social security system that works. I think the USA is a bit like Japan: they too, work an insane amount of hours, but one doesn't get more done in those hours. A Dutch woman wrote a book about that system and how it gives you a burn-out, for example. We certainly work just as hard as Americans, but the system is smarter and fairer. It's like with education, we pay less, but our Masters are equally as good as your American ones.
Attack ads against political opponents, ads for law firms or lawyers. These kinds of ads are illegal and considered unethical in our country. Also expecting a teenager to be out of the house by the time they're 18. I live in Southeast Asia. There's no stigma about living with one's parents. Most of the time, there will be three generations living in one house.
I am the youngest of 5 sons and it was expected that I stay at home in order to take over and care for my parents in the future.
not owning kettles and MICROWAVING their water for coffee/tea
Having second mortgages on a house. Taking massive loans they can't possibly pay off and buying stuff with it that decreases in value over time such as cars.
Extra large bottomless cups for cola or soft drinks.... you could bathe in those....
being able to vote before reaching the legal drinking age
A flag in every corner of a classroom, and Americans being very patriotic to the stars and stripes. Other countries barely give a poop about their flags
Greek life in college - fraternities/sororities Explaining this concept whenever I’m abroad made me realize how bizarre it is
American accents.
I mean, everyone thinks their own accent is normal, but I’ve met Americans who think that they have no accent, like theirs is the baseline somehow.
Yeah, that's ridiculous and very widely spread. I remember hearing Jodie Foster (who's undoubtedly a very intelligent woman) saying in her google autocomplete interview video: "Do I have an accent? I didn't think I have one." Everyone does. Nothing wrong with that, it's just a fact. I used to think that it was a big deal and really important language proficiency-wise to have a "proper" American/English accent and then I gave up and just kept my semi-Czech one.
Being concerned when anyone speaks a language you can't understand.
I live in india and we have 28 language here, with multiple dialects of the each language.
Edit: 22 languages*
I'm gonna say something positive, I live in southern Italy, but I go all around the state and the most fun and genuine tourists I've met were all American, didn't meet a single entitled one
Sueing for any possible reason. It's so common that there are commercials on tv and radio telling you to sue "x" company for "reason". Lawyer ads are also very common because of this.
Like when the BBC in the UK got a letter from a lawyer in America because the car Jeremy Clarkson GAVE AWAY to a hurricane hit family was not the year Jeremy said it was. The BBC binned the letter and said "Yeah, as if!" and put it on the news to embarrass the hell out of them
- Metal detectors in schools
(edit: many people have pointed out that metal detectors are not all that common in the U.S. my apologies!)
- No paid pregnancy leave
- employment at will states.
- People in public visibly armed with a weapon
- Insurance through your employer
- no payed vacations. meaning a 13th month of pay for a vacation. not talking about your standard payed time off.
- bankruptcies due to medical bills
- Tipping culture
- Free refills
- Yellow school buses
- Almost no bicycle paths- Separate tax added when you buy a product- over-sized food and competitive eating
Just a few tings I've noticed since moving here.
When I went to New York I was flabbergasted by the amount of people just loitering on the streets or having phone conversations that everyone can hear on the train like npcs from GTA.
People outside of the USA don't hang out in public or let other people into their business on public transport.
I managed to hear a woman talk about how her baby daddy wasn't going to her daughters birthday party and I started to pick side's in her personal life, while walking through Central Park I heard two friends with a substantial age gap talk about everyone in their friend group having mistresses and they were trading information on the mistress facts each of them knew for their respective friends, I got invested in that one so I folliwed them for a while (pretending I wasn't) because I wanted the tea.
Say "I'll just have water" at a restaurant and not be charged for it or be asked "What kind?"
Most restaurants, pubs etc wont charge you for water unless it is bottled or fancy water. But cold tap water and ice is free.
casually driving a couple hours. cars are so ubiquitous and stuff is so spread out a lot of the time we don't even think about travel in distance but instead in driving time. Driving 2 hours on a weekend for random day trip doesn't seem like anything of note. driving 8 hours is a long trip but not really a huge deal.
This is an indication of how geography directly affects culture! It's not exclusive to the US. In Australia for example its is not uncommon to drive huge distances. Two hour drive to the beach is nothing. 45 minutes to the supermarket - that's just life in the outback. Great Ocean Road Trip - literally days of driving for the fun of it. In Tasmania it would be considered insane. In the Netherlands though, if people need to travel two hours they will often say overnight or take the train (or both). In Germany people happily travel hours - the country is bigger and the roads are excellent. In the South Island of New Zealand, especially down the coast, the roads are winding and its exhausting - people just don't drive that far in one sitting. The geography of a place will significantly affect its culture. It's fascinating!
I'm an American (born and raised), but I've heard that in other countries, strangers don't say hi or strike up conversations with each other. I know non-Americans are confused but let me explain:
Sometimes if you are say at an amusement park for example and you're waiting in line for a ride, strangers would strike conversations with you and such and this is actually pretty normal. Or say you are walking around in a park and you walk past by someone, you usually smile and say a quick "hi" as you are walking past that person.
I've had countless times where I've had people strike conversations with me that I didn't know. White people do this, but especially Black people do this a lot as well. Like you would see an old Black lady at a store and she'll just start talking to you.
I've had Europeans tell me that people would think you are mentally ill if you were to strike up conversations with strangers in Europe for example. Especially in Asian countries no one does this (I've heard). Strangers absolutely do not say a word to each other in Japan or China for example.
Side note: This may also be a regional thing in the US. I've lived in southern states mostly (like Texas) and people are really damn friendly down there. Now I live in Connecticut and people are way less friendly over here (no offense).
You've not got it quite right. Europeans might strike up an IMPERSONAL conversation, say about something happening in the line when they're in the supermarket, or the weather, or the price of vegetables. Impersonal casual conversations are normal. What is NOT normal in Europe, which happens all the time in the US, is that complete strangers strike up extremely PERSONAL conversations. They are sharing their entire medical history in the first five minutes with someone they are standing next to in the frozen goods section.
Manditory drug tests from an employer. I've asked around, don't know a single fellow Canadian who's had to do one. Cops included.
Illegal in europe ... to some degree - if your work is somehow critical (fly an airplane or so), you can be tested an fired on the results. If you have an office job, however, they will likely never ask and if so, you can reject doing the test and go to court if they wanna fire you ... and until this is sorted out, your blood is free of any anyway.
Lemonade. I'm America, but there was a post going around a while back about an American who ordered a lemonade at a restaurant in Australia and was confused to receive a Sprite. The op of the post was the server, and thought it was just the American being snooty for being confused. Then commenters from other nonUS countries chimed in on what a lemonade is to them. It blew my mind, because in the US lemonade is so iconic as a summer drink, and is often homemade. Eta: lemonade is not water with lemon in it. It requires sugar and preparation.
Wow, people really associate Sprite with lemonade? That's a new one for me o.O lemonade in my country- squeeze juice from 1 lemon in a 0.2l glass, add water, sugar to taste. However, lemon water is water with just a few drops of lemon juice in it, some modern mumbo jumbo.
While on my travels I've noticed that Americans have a totally different expectation on what service you get in restaurants and cafes and s**t in Europe. Like the waiter arrives at their table seconds after they've sat down and takes their order and when he's out of ear shot they complain about the bad service. It's like if they don't get the OMG HOW ARE YOU GUYS MY NAME IS MIGUEL AND I'LL BE YOUR WAITER THIS EVENING and then have their water topped up every 20 seconds then it's bad service There's probably an enormous bit of selection bias going on here since I haven't noticed the probably hundreds of normal Americans that didn't complain but f**kit
Oh, is THAT what Paula Whatsherface from New Zealand’s conservative party was getting moist in the pants about when she visited the States?! She came back and wrote this thinkpiece that basically consisted of “hey guys, American servers kiss your a*s harder because they fear for their income, let’s see how much harder Kiwi servers would kiss our asses if we made THEM fear for their income! :)” And in addition to the selfishness and cruelty of her reasoning (we roasted her hilariously in the comments section), I straight up couldn’t figure out what difference she was seeing. I’ve been to the States and I’ve been to restaurants in New Zealand plenty of times and my impression of servers in both countries was “good”. This post has finally explained it.
As an American I was shocked to learn that not every school internationally has a building cop
Yup, no cops, metal detectors, security guards etc in schools where I live and no shooting drills. So grateful I live in a country without a large gun culture. You won't find many gun shops either.
Putting your country's flag everywhere and on everything.
A flagpole on your porch or car bumper sticker may be somewhat understandable, but it gets really weird when it starts popping up on baseball caps, swimsuits or underwear.
I'm in Australia and Americans are the only ones do this (yes, with the American flag), even all the way out here.
I live in France and I have a flagpole in my yard.... mostly with the Jolly Roger on it :-)
TV ads for drugs against opioid-induced constipation. It's apparently common for Americans to take so many opioids that they get constipated. Talk about dystopia
Most drugs are unnecessary and most come with nasty side effects (always do an internet search on them). No drugs unless absolutely necessary.
The relentless assault of advertising directed solely at children who don't have the mental fitness or maturity to know otherwise.
It's so the children will nag their parents to death to buy them whatever caught their eye. It's a huge marketing strategy used here and it's really annoying.
Daycare is more common in America than virtually anywhere else in the world, it starts at a younger age, and it is almost mandatory.
It is normal in the US to turn children as young as 3 months of age over to a daycare program for 4-8 hours per day until they are old enough to start the public education system at 4/5 years old.
Pretty much all parents recognize this practice is worse for babies than having a dedicated family caregiver, most will admit that it is outright unethical, but American society requires cash flows to remain in tact for a family to survive so it is commonplace for US workers to reluctantly choose to go back to work ASAP following birth.
They are basically choosing between food on the table or raising their own infant.
It's more to do with the fact that if you are REALLY lucky, you will get 6 weeks maternity leave in the US. There is nothing for fathers. The expectation is that you will continue with your career almost immediately after giving birth, so there are lots of places ready and waiting to assume care of your newborn.
having police patrol the school
I have been a Teacher for 20+++ years and none of the schools have needed a police officer on site. The police occaisonally are required but it is usually pupil protection issues...ie they have spoken to a Teacher about bad things happening at home. I had a child who hadn't eaten for 36 hours....and was filthy. I gave her my lunch and got her some clean clothes after she had a shower and then we washed her real clothes and dried them before the end of the day. This was passed to a senior member of staff and she was referred to the social service who took her into care whilst the problems within her family were sorted out.
Spending so much effort (and often money) on filling your taxes. Episode 144 of the podcast Reply All does a good job summarizing it but basically a lot of other countries including Australia file their taxes for free through a government website and it often takes less than 15 minutes. The line from the podcast that sticks out was something like "Because of American's lack of trust for the government we give our personal information to a third party company that then charges us to take our information to the government which already has most of it."
I know Free File is a thing but the episode address that too and how tax companies will try to get you to pay to have them filed anyway.
I have a nightmare every year having to file my US taxes. Oh, and by the way, the US requires citizens to file taxes even if you don't live there anymore, and if you make over a certain amount, you have to also pay the US government some money, even if you have already paid it in the country in which you are living. That's right, the US forces its citizens to pay double taxes. Yay 'Murca.
Cash bail.
With the discussions going on about changes to bail I've seen a few people saying things like "oh so you're just going to drop cash bail, just gonna decide whether to release people, people are just going to show up to court without the money threat?????!?!?!"
Uh yeah.....as I understand it that's how it works in places all over the world already....
I've been released on cash bail before. I didn't show up to court because of the cash bail, I showed up because warrants are annoying
That the entire traffic has to stop when a school bus stops. I've seen this a few times on r/idiotsincars and there is always a debate about how its not normal outside of the US.
The idea that giving birth to a child is prohibitively expensive to a lot of people. One way or another, most of the world does not have that problem.
We have free midwives and all care is free. Scans and check-ups are all free. Hospitals are free and then when you get home your midwife visits every week for the first couple of months. After that care goes to plunket which is also free. Dr's visits are also free until the age of 14.
Having to pay outrageous amounts out of pocket for higher education (or get a student loan with a high interest rate).
The sports coaches are grossly overpaid while professors, who actually prepare students for the future, are eating rice and beans. Most US universities would rather produce one Heisman Trophy winner than ten Nobel laureates.
Driving everywhere.
Again, it depends on where you live. For example, in NYC, only 23 percent of the population owns cars. We are very reliant on public transportation.
Prescription drug ads encouraging people to ask their doctor about the drug being advertised. Edit: a lot of people have mentioned this is also common in several other countries like New Zealand. I thought it was exclusively the US. Also, some interesting points are that it has helped raise awareness to some issues people might otherwise not take seriously or be ashamed to bring up to their doctor.
Having teens as your child’s babysitter
What is wrong with that, pretty normal in Aus to have a teenage relative to babysit your kids. I started baby sitting at the age of 13.
I've heard someone say that we are the only ones who drink out of Solo Cups
Hah, an American giving his "what strikes outsiders when coming to the US" viewpoint: "We are the only ones using [local brand] cups"?!
Y’all talking mad s**t, but if you want something that’s actually funny, lawnmowers and lawncare. Try explaining to your international friends about having to mow the lawn for allowance money or you forgot to turn off your sprinklers. Mostly clear but clearly not something universal.
Kids beauty contests are something I can in no way understand. Children wearing padded bikinis and lipstick, being judged by grown ups. WTF?
You know whatl always confused me about Americans? Talking about salaries in dollars per hour and yearly. I've no idea how much 15 $/hour is. Or how much $80 000 a year is. Most people just talk about their monthly salary. After all you pay most of your bills per month- electricity, water, heating, internet, phone, etc.
Generally, only administrators are "salaried" employees who make a guaranteed amount. When I worked on construction sites, I earned a certain dollar-amount per hour. I may work 32 hours this week and 50 hours the next. I had no idea how much I made "per month" until the end of the month.
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Ok Enough about the flags. One time on this list is all you all need. We don't need to keep explaining the same damn thing over and over. There is a lot of speculation coming from people who don't have a big enough sample of living in the US. You live in one place and think you can speak for everywhere but that is not how it is here. I think it would have been a better format if instead of being all smug and s**t, instead ya' all just asked questions and we could answer. Because you are making assumptions without all the facts, and that's not a sign of intelligence. (yeah down voting this comment will prove my point so go ahead! )
We are making these assumptions based on the propaganda Hollywood feeds us. And the odd tourist. Only by having articles like this can we even start to dig deeper, and find this truth you hint at.
Load More Replies... Is it already time for BP's weekly article about how weird the US is (which inevitably ends up with people dunking on healthcare, food, measurement/date styles)? I get that some of the things we do are weird (though F is more accurate and useful than C, it just lacks the elegance of 0 - 100) but between this and the 33rd article about this or that artist's rendering of something or other using Disney characters, this site is getting stale.
Honest question. Why do you think F is more accurate? And how is F more useful?
Load More Replies... The way many Americans use forks. I've worked in the US for a few month and everyone who watched me eating immediately knew I'm a foreigner. I always kept the fork in my left hand while my American colleagues held it in the left hand while cutting and than took the fork with the right hand for eating with the tines pointing upwards. Quite often I was the only one using silverware, for example when eating a pizza. I always refused to take these triangular pieces with my hand, which was considered as being extremely weird.
Pizza is considered a finger food in this country. It may be "weird" to you...but its very "weird" to us to sit there and eat pizza with a fork. Imagine that...different countries have different customs and ways of eating cuisine! Amazing!
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Residential neighborhoods with no sidewalks. Cities with no railway stations. Paying money to get into a state park or national park. Elections on weekdays. Throwing all types of recyclables into the same bin ("commingled recycling").
That was some good American bashing. We all feel superior now? Sorry, bashing back is not the answer.
Enough with the US flag thing! Other nations wave theirs all over the place. Hve it on clothing. Et cetera. (Canada, UK, Eastern Europe post-USSR... Denmark has national flag Christmas ornaments.) Please, enough already with this alleged American obsession with the American flag. Not just the US. Not all of the US. Speaking as someone who has been in the UK and seen the Union Jack on *speedos*. (ANd you worry about the US flying its flags on buildings?!)
Not all of the USA. Just the part of the USA that we see on TV? Got it.
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Hey, another American hating post, how original. Guess it just allows us to ignore our own issues.
you must be the only country in the world that has to shut down parks cos you dont have enough money...how the f**k do you close grass
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Some of these things don't apply only to Americans, and some of them only right-wing nutballs think are normal.
Home Owners organisation. I cannot understand this one. What right does anyone have to tell you that you can't have a certain garden ornament or even tree on your lawn I have heard that some home owners have been brought to task about the type of door knocker or door bell they have. If I have worked hard to to own my own home and am still working hard to pay a mortgage, what right does some jumped up little fascist with more time on his hands then brains in their head to tell me how to decorate my home?. Here in Ireland and again in the UK this would never happen. You can do what you like and call it freedom of expression.
Ah! But those Home Owners Associations also guarantee you a lifestyle should you choose to live it. For instance, I bought a place in a neighborhood that is child-free. I pay the HOA fees so that I live maintenance free (they take care of the lawn, the pool, the gym, the roads, the gates, the mailboxes, etc.) and have rules in place and enforce the rules to keep children out of common areas and away from the amenities. I gladly shell out the monthly fee for the peace and quiet and maintenance free life-style that I live. Others choose to lice in neighborhoods that are geared towards children and pay extra to have security and maintenance for their amenities to keep their children safe. There are few HOAs here that tell someone how to live their lives. If you experienced that I am sorry, but that is the exception rather than the norm. The only time my HOA has gotten involved in someone's business is when they piled trash up on their front walk and left it for a week.
Load More Replies... Cheques. It’s such an archaic system. I haven’t paid for anything by cheque in decades but when dealing with American clients they always wanted to pay by cheque. Not a huge hassle, but I was surprised they’re still regularly used there.
I haven't written a check in years and years. Why do you think that Americans write checks?
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Another thing americans are totally obsessed about is competitions!
You do know that there are many states, fifty, and all are different. It's like saying "Things that only Asiana think are normal" What do you mean by "Asians"? Japan? India? Kazakhstan? Same here, what do you mean by "Americans"? Texas? Washington? Colorado? Sorry if I offended you, but you have to understand that some things are similar in many states, but some aren't.
The NRA and its political power and "Arm the teachers" – the most eye-watering viciously stupid comment that anyone in a position of influence has ever made. And, while I'm here: two old men right now competing for the White House. Seriously, America? Is that the best you can do?
As for the fails of our government; healthcare, massive double mortgages, not having enough for doctors...we don't 'think' this is normal - it just is. We know it's wrong and it shouldn't be this way. Also - THE SHOES IN THE HOUSE. Get over it people. This is personal preference and demands on lots of factors. I hate shoes in my house but guess what - sometimes it happens. Get some frickin' cleaning supplies and relax. This differs at EVERY SINGLE HOME.
I mean I know my country has it's problems and there's a lot I wish was different, but damn this website really likes to pile on the hate for the US, doesn't it? It feels like every other article is a gross exaggeration of what it's like here. I read one yesterday where they're like "Omg Americans don't use kitchen towels!" I mean seriously? Have any of these people writing these ever even been to the US?
With all of these "negatives" facing you, I suggest you not come here. We will both be happy.
Eating contests. Gross, we have people starving in our own country but yeah, lets have a competition to see who can eat more than they need.
It is the decimation of the English language that bothers me! Adding 'ize' to every other noun, or employing words were many better exist, such as 'deceasant', instead of 'deceased'.
This is the internet. Have some understanding :) Might be decimated, but perhaps it still is improving in the long run?
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Why are Americans so *competitive* about everything? I saw an ad for a competitive barbequing TV show, and thought "Why is this even a thing?"
BBC has several cooking competition shows. I know that Master Chef is produced in at least 12 countries. We are not the only country with competitive cooking. BBQ is simply another type of cooking albeit probably the most delicious one. Wow, I really want some tips from Kings now. What time do they open?
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The rest of the world should be glad America exists. It gives them something to feel superior about. And of course we fall all over ourselves apologizing for every little Mickey Mouse thing.
I dread carpeting in all rooms from wall to wall, especially when they use shoes inside 😱 Also having washing machine in kitchens. Student loan debts (I have a certain amount to pay, I pay for years and I still have the same amount to pay?!). Travelling to work for hours on daily basis. Electing GW Bush twice (ok the first time, you didn't know better, but again? that is why I genuinly think Trump can get 2nd term). And what's with the freakshows in ridiculous outfits in places like Wal-Mart?
just as a starter, sorry to say, but being an american is not exclusive for US citizens, it also applies to mexicans, etc... yes there is also a North America, Central America and South america, and they're all americans Cleared that up, the US American concept of liberty and freedom is nowadays perverted by exactly those who want the freedom for everything: free to be pedofile, free to be racist, free to hate (that one I love), freedom to interfere in other countries politics, and last but not least: you're free to elect one of two parties, no more, no less just two, good or bad, black or white, nothing inbetween... How could you pervert the meaning and concept of freedom and liberty? (answer: filosofy and ethics could play a role in that ;-) )
I don't know if it was out of politically corectedness, but the most obvious one is missing : OBESITY.
I lived in a rural area so I got my driver's permit at 14. Would drive myself to school and back.
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Gentrification is happening worldwide in many cities. And all thorugh history rich people and poor people occupied separate parts of cities.
Load More Replies... "you can lie them as many times"...what? But yeah, we are the "dumbs", huh? lol
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Kids beauty contests are something I can in no way understand. Children wearing padded bikinis and lipstick, being judged by grown ups. WTF?
You know whatl always confused me about Americans? Talking about salaries in dollars per hour and yearly. I've no idea how much 15 $/hour is. Or how much $80 000 a year is. Most people just talk about their monthly salary. After all you pay most of your bills per month- electricity, water, heating, internet, phone, etc.
Generally, only administrators are "salaried" employees who make a guaranteed amount. When I worked on construction sites, I earned a certain dollar-amount per hour. I may work 32 hours this week and 50 hours the next. I had no idea how much I made "per month" until the end of the month.
Load More Replies... Ok Enough about the flags. One time on this list is all you all need. We don't need to keep explaining the same damn thing over and over. There is a lot of speculation coming from people who don't have a big enough sample of living in the US. You live in one place and think you can speak for everywhere but that is not how it is here. I think it would have been a better format if instead of being all smug and s**t, instead ya' all just asked questions and we could answer. Because you are making assumptions without all the facts, and that's not a sign of intelligence. (yeah down voting this comment will prove my point so go ahead! )
We are making these assumptions based on the propaganda Hollywood feeds us. And the odd tourist. Only by having articles like this can we even start to dig deeper, and find this truth you hint at.
Load More Replies... Is it already time for BP's weekly article about how weird the US is (which inevitably ends up with people dunking on healthcare, food, measurement/date styles)? I get that some of the things we do are weird (though F is more accurate and useful than C, it just lacks the elegance of 0 - 100) but between this and the 33rd article about this or that artist's rendering of something or other using Disney characters, this site is getting stale.
Honest question. Why do you think F is more accurate? And how is F more useful?
Load More Replies... The way many Americans use forks. I've worked in the US for a few month and everyone who watched me eating immediately knew I'm a foreigner. I always kept the fork in my left hand while my American colleagues held it in the left hand while cutting and than took the fork with the right hand for eating with the tines pointing upwards. Quite often I was the only one using silverware, for example when eating a pizza. I always refused to take these triangular pieces with my hand, which was considered as being extremely weird.
Pizza is considered a finger food in this country. It may be "weird" to you...but its very "weird" to us to sit there and eat pizza with a fork. Imagine that...different countries have different customs and ways of eating cuisine! Amazing!
Load More Replies... Residential neighborhoods with no sidewalks. Cities with no railway stations. Paying money to get into a state park or national park. Elections on weekdays. Throwing all types of recyclables into the same bin ("commingled recycling").
That was some good American bashing. We all feel superior now? Sorry, bashing back is not the answer.
Enough with the US flag thing! Other nations wave theirs all over the place. Hve it on clothing. Et cetera. (Canada, UK, Eastern Europe post-USSR... Denmark has national flag Christmas ornaments.) Please, enough already with this alleged American obsession with the American flag. Not just the US. Not all of the US. Speaking as someone who has been in the UK and seen the Union Jack on *speedos*. (ANd you worry about the US flying its flags on buildings?!)
Not all of the USA. Just the part of the USA that we see on TV? Got it.
Load More Replies... Hey, another American hating post, how original. Guess it just allows us to ignore our own issues.
you must be the only country in the world that has to shut down parks cos you dont have enough money...how the f**k do you close grass
Load More Replies... Some of these things don't apply only to Americans, and some of them only right-wing nutballs think are normal.
Home Owners organisation. I cannot understand this one. What right does anyone have to tell you that you can't have a certain garden ornament or even tree on your lawn I have heard that some home owners have been brought to task about the type of door knocker or door bell they have. If I have worked hard to to own my own home and am still working hard to pay a mortgage, what right does some jumped up little fascist with more time on his hands then brains in their head to tell me how to decorate my home?. Here in Ireland and again in the UK this would never happen. You can do what you like and call it freedom of expression.
Ah! But those Home Owners Associations also guarantee you a lifestyle should you choose to live it. For instance, I bought a place in a neighborhood that is child-free. I pay the HOA fees so that I live maintenance free (they take care of the lawn, the pool, the gym, the roads, the gates, the mailboxes, etc.) and have rules in place and enforce the rules to keep children out of common areas and away from the amenities. I gladly shell out the monthly fee for the peace and quiet and maintenance free life-style that I live. Others choose to lice in neighborhoods that are geared towards children and pay extra to have security and maintenance for their amenities to keep their children safe. There are few HOAs here that tell someone how to live their lives. If you experienced that I am sorry, but that is the exception rather than the norm. The only time my HOA has gotten involved in someone's business is when they piled trash up on their front walk and left it for a week.
Load More Replies... Cheques. It’s such an archaic system. I haven’t paid for anything by cheque in decades but when dealing with American clients they always wanted to pay by cheque. Not a huge hassle, but I was surprised they’re still regularly used there.
I haven't written a check in years and years. Why do you think that Americans write checks?
Load More Replies... Another thing americans are totally obsessed about is competitions!
You do know that there are many states, fifty, and all are different. It's like saying "Things that only Asiana think are normal" What do you mean by "Asians"? Japan? India? Kazakhstan? Same here, what do you mean by "Americans"? Texas? Washington? Colorado? Sorry if I offended you, but you have to understand that some things are similar in many states, but some aren't.
The NRA and its political power and "Arm the teachers" – the most eye-watering viciously stupid comment that anyone in a position of influence has ever made. And, while I'm here: two old men right now competing for the White House. Seriously, America? Is that the best you can do?
As for the fails of our government; healthcare, massive double mortgages, not having enough for doctors...we don't 'think' this is normal - it just is. We know it's wrong and it shouldn't be this way. Also - THE SHOES IN THE HOUSE. Get over it people. This is personal preference and demands on lots of factors. I hate shoes in my house but guess what - sometimes it happens. Get some frickin' cleaning supplies and relax. This differs at EVERY SINGLE HOME.
I mean I know my country has it's problems and there's a lot I wish was different, but damn this website really likes to pile on the hate for the US, doesn't it? It feels like every other article is a gross exaggeration of what it's like here. I read one yesterday where they're like "Omg Americans don't use kitchen towels!" I mean seriously? Have any of these people writing these ever even been to the US?
With all of these "negatives" facing you, I suggest you not come here. We will both be happy.
Eating contests. Gross, we have people starving in our own country but yeah, lets have a competition to see who can eat more than they need.
It is the decimation of the English language that bothers me! Adding 'ize' to every other noun, or employing words were many better exist, such as 'deceasant', instead of 'deceased'.
This is the internet. Have some understanding :) Might be decimated, but perhaps it still is improving in the long run?
Load More Replies... Why are Americans so *competitive* about everything? I saw an ad for a competitive barbequing TV show, and thought "Why is this even a thing?"
BBC has several cooking competition shows. I know that Master Chef is produced in at least 12 countries. We are not the only country with competitive cooking. BBQ is simply another type of cooking albeit probably the most delicious one. Wow, I really want some tips from Kings now. What time do they open?
Load More Replies... The rest of the world should be glad America exists. It gives them something to feel superior about. And of course we fall all over ourselves apologizing for every little Mickey Mouse thing.
I dread carpeting in all rooms from wall to wall, especially when they use shoes inside 😱 Also having washing machine in kitchens. Student loan debts (I have a certain amount to pay, I pay for years and I still have the same amount to pay?!). Travelling to work for hours on daily basis. Electing GW Bush twice (ok the first time, you didn't know better, but again? that is why I genuinly think Trump can get 2nd term). And what's with the freakshows in ridiculous outfits in places like Wal-Mart?
just as a starter, sorry to say, but being an american is not exclusive for US citizens, it also applies to mexicans, etc... yes there is also a North America, Central America and South america, and they're all americans Cleared that up, the US American concept of liberty and freedom is nowadays perverted by exactly those who want the freedom for everything: free to be pedofile, free to be racist, free to hate (that one I love), freedom to interfere in other countries politics, and last but not least: you're free to elect one of two parties, no more, no less just two, good or bad, black or white, nothing inbetween... How could you pervert the meaning and concept of freedom and liberty? (answer: filosofy and ethics could play a role in that ;-) )
I don't know if it was out of politically corectedness, but the most obvious one is missing : OBESITY.
I lived in a rural area so I got my driver's permit at 14. Would drive myself to school and back.
Load More Replies... Gentrification is happening worldwide in many cities. And all thorugh history rich people and poor people occupied separate parts of cities.
Load More Replies... "you can lie them as many times"...what? But yeah, we are the "dumbs", huh? lol
Load More Replies...