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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.

#1

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Bankruptcy because you went to the hospital

canesfan09 , David Syzdek Report

#2

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Talking about their freedom as if they're the only country in the world who has it...

zohan360 , Denise Krebs Report

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mph seti
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have to convince ourselves we're better constantly, because deep down, we know we aren't.

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#3

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Gratuitous violence in entertainment is normal. But show one boob and people lose their s**t.

danno49 , miramax Report

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mph seti
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Puritans / fundamentalist Christians did this s**t. Public executions = Fine. A naked body = The DEVIL! To be fair, this is something we inherited from medieval Europe...You guys just outgrew it, and we haven't yet.

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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.”

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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.”

#4

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

K_51 , Fort Rucker Report

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Richard Brown
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I laughed when Will Smiths son wanted to celebrate his 18th birthday in the UK because he would be allowed to drink legally!

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#5

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Ambulance rides costing money seems pretty absurd to people from other countries

Meemesfourdayz , Paul Townley Report

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mph seti
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Paying for healthcare (or internet access, IMO) is absurd. There's a reason all the smart countries socialize things. the US easily could too, if we started putting actual people before the wealthy and their profits.

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#6

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Paying people less than minimum wage. How is it a minimum if it's legal to pay less than that?

NZLion , 401(K) 2012 Report

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Jo Choto
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US always has exemptions to such laws, and the whole service industry thrives on it.

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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!”

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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.

#7

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

greffedufois , Tomás Del Coro Report

#8

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Turning scientific information into a political discussion.

everythihghurts , U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh Report

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Vorknkx
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When scientists talk, politicians should shut their mouths and listen, period.

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#9

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Archaic, unhelpful standard units of measurement.

JSanzi , franchise opportunities Report

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Martti Laurson
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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“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.

#10

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Putting a ton of sugar in products like bread.

TheThingsWeMake , Doug Waldron Report

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Jo Choto
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It really shocks me whenever I travel back to the US just how loaded all the food is with excess sugar and salt. Bread tastes almost like cake.

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#11

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Gun ownership.

only7inches , Paul Sableman Report

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mph seti
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#12

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Having only two parties: Republicans and Democrats. I know there are some smaller parties, but the system is stacked against them.

level 1 K_51 , Pom' Report

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Electric Ed
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When you think about it, this turns out to be the root cause for so many other problems. If not all of them.

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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?

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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.

#13

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

TitanicBeta , JJBers Report

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Hans
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#14

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Date Order (MM/DD/YYYY)

-Sinister-Shadow , InvestmentTotal.com Report

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Electric Ed
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

YYYY-MM-DD, please. Its an international standard, unambiguous, and sorts alphabetically. And equally uncomfortable for everybody :)

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#15

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Portion sizes.

pourmewhineoh , Jerry Huddleston Report

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Goth Nurse
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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!

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One heart attack in the making. Your body should be a temple, not a landfill.

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Marnie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I only ever order food that will keep. I get 3-4 meals out of most restaurant entrees.

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Id row
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One word: Leftovers. If you don't know the joy of waking up the next morning and knowing you have restaurant leftovers in the fridge, then you don't know what you're missing. You also don't know the murderous rage that comes over you when you discover someone has eaten your leftovers.

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Matthew Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even a pensioner meal is massive, I went to the states in my 20's and I struggled with the portion sizes, My parents also struggled with their pensioner meals.

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Meyer Weinstock
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is also a Cold War leftover. (Pun intended.) The idea is that the 1950s finally have enough food to everyone, and more (unlike the 1930s) and so we went overboard and we now pay the price in our health.

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Phoenix
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was a server in Orland, Florida, I would always warn foreign guests when they ordered appetizers before their meals. They were always shocked at how large the dinner portions were.

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Pseudo Puppy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"appetisers" are bigger than the main meals in most countries I've lived in outside of the US. It's just mindboggling. In many restaurants in the US, I've easily shared an "appetiser" with a friend, and been very content with that portion. We'd watch our neighbouring table eat 3 courses, AND suggest having a cheese plate etc.... it was astounding.

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Night Owl
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks like Garfield's kind of heaven, just add a giant lasagna

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mph seti
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Considering how expensive eating out is, this one I don't mind.

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Rissie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, make it cheaper and eat healthy portions. It's that mind set (I feel it's expensive, I should get a lot), that's the cause of many widespread health issues in the US.

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anonymuswere
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2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

probably from back in the day when you literally ate only once, and went back to your 18 hour shift.

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MarsFKA
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On our last trip to the USA, we got around that problem by ordering the entree, which is closer to main course size at home.

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Storm Rise
Community Member
3 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our first night in ou new home in the US, we wanted the American Diner experience, so went to our local Ruby's for dinner. I was still a little jet lagged from the trip, so ordered a personal salad. This bloody-great-big bowl of iceburg lettuce, topped with cubed ham, grated cheese, chopped tomato and carrot turned up, and it was ENORMOUS! After double checking that they hadn't given me a family salad by mistake, I dug into that for 20 mins, and still hadn't made a dent in it. When I asked the waitress what would happen to the leftovers, she said it was all dumped, so I got a doggy bag to take home, and that salad lasted the 3 of us another two nights!

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James Pointer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's normal.. apart from the over sized bread. the ratio to burger sucks.

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Drew Sauveur
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's wrong with this? Lettuce, tomato, onions, that's practically a salad!

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julien
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

result : the obesity rate reached 42.4% in 2017-2018. (six people in the picture 2 of them are obese). the-obesit...2eedea.jpg the-obesity-rate-reached-424-in-2017-2018-5f267ca2eedea.jpg

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Viv Hart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No wonder there are so many obese folk in the States, also all the hidden sugar!

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William Clark
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

American portion sizes are insane. You got us on this. But most of that comes from the abundance of the American livestock and farming industry of the 19/20th centuries. Either way it's slowly going down.

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El Dee
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think that this malaise is spreading throughout the world. Many years ago a kebab was a sandwich sized snack with meat and salad in a pitta bread. Now it is literally a MEAL that comes WITH a pitta bread, you couldn't possibly fit it all in one pitta, probably more like three or four!!

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Béla Újházi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it wasn't that unusal for me, in hungary the smaller restaurants give you also ridicuolus ammount of food

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Donna Johansen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the US, I had a 'normal' sized meal for lunch - even with my husband helping we couldn't eat it all (and I do eat a lot, i thought). When we left the servers asked what was wrong with the meal that I didn't eat it all.

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Elizabeth Gardner
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just awful. When in the states the size of the meals I was given were beyond belief something I would eat over the entire period of a day. How can people eat that much? no wonder they are all as big as houses!

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Aron Axes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One thing i must praise the states you get your money's worth of food, we get less here.

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Whipple Rickman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ugh!! It is a source of great embarrassment when my British friend comes for a visit. My husband and I split the meals at restaurants because they are way too big.

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Michael Se
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The more terrible food you eat, the more you're sick, the more you go to the doctor/hospital, the more the drug and insurance companies make. All of these are because of a corporate greed.

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Mariana Schneider
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I ordered two meals at a Wendy's in NYC, and was asked if I wanted medium or large sodas. We were thirsty after walking all morning, so I went with large. I think they were 1,5 liters each.

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Zulma Ruiz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is one of the most surprising things in the USA, how they waste food in restaurants, I once ate in an Iranian place, and the portion was gigantic, nobody in the place finished their plate, but with my husband, we always ordered a single plate and We share it, and it's enough for two, we don't make waiters happy with this, but we always leave the corresponding tip.

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Monday
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The main reason I want to visit America in the future is to see how much of their "single portion" I can actually eat. The glutton in me demands an experiment.

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Dilly Millandry
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whenever I've been to the US I just usually have a starter rather than a main course.

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Kryogen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

not on this photo. But they can eat an entire little chicken (700g) per person in one meal (plus french fries etc...). I am a "average" eater and i always ask to have half portions when i meet my US friends...

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BeazleBug
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3 years ago

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A result of being a post agrarian society...and lots of cheap farm and pasture land, something you Euros cannot comprehend. Half of the countries of Europe will fit in the area we only use for cows and corn. ;)

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Music Mania
Community Member
3 years ago

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I see this come up a lot and it always shocks me that other countries don't realize how large their portion sizes are as well. While in the UK and Germany I shared a single plate of food, meant for one person, with my travel partners. In Norway I left food on the table because takeaway wasn't available.

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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.

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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.

#16

40 Things Only 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.

FeFiFoShizzle , imbd Report

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Hans
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The inefficency (do not mistake for ineffectivity!) of the US healthcare systrem combined with a missing social net is indeed unchallenged.

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#17

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

robot_cupcak3 , sergio santos Report

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Brittania Douglas
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#18

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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

Gaby , Gaby Report

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MikeyG
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It does surprise me that the USA can be so proud of their flag and history, when their history is actually quite shameful and very short. A country less than 250 years old that seems to just ignore the native american history before that just astounds me.

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#19

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Doing the pledge of allegiance in the morning at school

flavener , John Beagle Report

#20

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

bluegreentree , IrishFireside Report

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Jo Choto
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, Americans love telling everyone what nationality they think they are, and then when they hear about foreigners, they tell them to go the hell back where they came from. Go figure.

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#21

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Had some American colleagues in Norway asking us how we celebrate 4th July

kevkippers , m01229 Report

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Richard Brown
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Happens a lot. America seems to think the world is separated into 2 parts. America and Not America, yet.

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#22

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?

bunnysnitch Report

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HelgaMaria Gehrmann
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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#23

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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".

TitanicBeta , Michael Coghlan Report

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Jo Choto
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And the cracks between the frame and the door means you can quite easily see in the cubicle from outside.

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#24

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

I_hate_traveling , barnyz Report

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Sabienn
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sadly, in Holland this is now normal to.... If you're parents aren't super rich, you have to get a loan to be able to pay for college. College isn't as expensive in Holland as it is in the USA, though

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#25

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

srocan , UPC Media Relations Report

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Troux
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes I always felt this was a weird business model.

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#26

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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?

Adam-West , kgroovy Report

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Pamela24
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not all but when you have an openly racist candidate (not trying to point fingers...Trump...) it makes sense that majority of POC would avoid voting for that person.

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#27

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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

KingAceNumber1 , Yuya Tamai Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#28

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

WuuutWuuut , Ben Grey Report

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juhel avatar
Pixie
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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...

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#29

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

Ssffxx , Loren Kerns Report

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Jo Choto
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, what job you have, implying what kind of salary you make, and people really care what kind of car you drive as well.

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#30

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.

bantamw Report

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Brittania Douglas
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#31

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal 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.

level 1 typicalcitrus , Jonathan Rolande Report

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mphseti avatar
mph seti
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is because we allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise prescription drugs directly to the people.

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#32

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal American Corporations have convinced us our work culture is totally normal.

Nesyaj0 , Jesús Corrius Report

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Ami Temi
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#33

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.

HollowMist11 Report

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chi-wei shen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#34

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal not owning kettles and MICROWAVING their water for coffee/tea

gibbylewd , Chris Lawrence Report

#35

Non-necessary, non-religious circumcision.

GoodLordChokeAnABomb Report

#36

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.

realultralord Report

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troux avatar
Troux
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"But I absolutely need this car because my car is 5 years old so it's basically dead." This myth and competition is such a waste of money and resources.

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#37

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal Shoes inside

SpohieAuz , Architectural Digest Report

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Jo Choto
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's a lot of cultures that keep shoes on inside. Not just the US.

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#38

Extra large bottomless cups for cola or soft drinks.... you could bathe in those....

SlyDigits Report

#39

40 Things Only Americans Think Are Normal being able to vote before reaching the legal drinking age

level 1 dingdongimprblywrong , hjl Report

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Hans
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Having a voting system where you can become president without getting the majority of votes.

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#40

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

Legendary-Lynx Report

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Scagsy
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you fly the flag in the UK you are generally looked upon as a far-rightist unless there's a football tournament on

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Note: this post originally had 73 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.