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It’s not a fun time in America right now. Division brought on by political turmoil is at its peak. It’s no longer the world’s second-favorite destination to visit.
But there are those who would still choose to visit the US of A, whether to see places they’ve seen in movies or simply to experience the American way of life firsthand. Many will still likely have a good time and make fond memories, but some may also experience a culture clash.
Here are some of those “What the hell?” moments, as shared in this Reddit thread from a while back.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Aussie here. When I started chatting to a cashier she squealed and asked where I was from. I told her Australia and she instantly dumbed down how she spoke. "DO....Y'ALL....SPEAK....ENGLISH....DOWN....THERE?"
I replied "sporadically". She laughed and informed me that wasn't a word.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 hour ago
Haven't been to the U.S. but people in the U.K. constantly thought I was from New Zealand. I'm from Johannesburg hey.
RELATED:
#2
When I went to Florida I was stopped by the police for J Walking. I protested that the road was clear so therefore safe to cross. He said "I don't know how you do it in your country be here in The US we take road safety seriously". Aghast, I explained I was from England and my only knowledge of J Walking was from Lethal Weapon 3 and that I believed it was just a made up Law that they used in the movie to sass people. He chuckled and said "That's a great movie, I prefer the first" I agreed and said it was by far the best. After a brief chat about the entire Lethal weapon saga he said "In future make sure you use the crossings" I agreed but asked in a pretty decent South African accent " What if I have diplomatic immunity?" He chuckled nodded his head and pointed to the crossing and said "Cross there, enjoy your vacation" and off he went. It was the highlight of my holiday.
Robin Roper 3 hours ago
Since US drivers have no respect for pedestrians, I suggest using the crosswalk but only after looking both ways several times.
#3
I'm from the UK, lived in the US for about 5 years now. Few things that annoy me - You want to get a loan for a new car? There's a fee for that (on top of the interest). You want to take money out of the ATM? There's a fee for that. You want to exchange some currency? There's a fee for that (on top of the exchange spread). A product has money off? You'll have to send something to receive it (they hope you can't be bothered). Pretty much any service, someone will try to make a few extra dollars off you.
#4
I went to Applebees (mistake no1 i guess) I was then served by a nice young lady called Brittany who asked me with a serious face if we have trees in Scotland.
#5
Went to Wal-Mart. The fabled creatures there are just as the Internet portrays them as. Nonetheless still mind blowing.
Saint_Zipcodus (oh / no) 32 minutes ago
Have to admit, the moust bizarre thing I personally witnessed at Walmart were frozen hotdogs on a stick covered in blueberry pancake batter. And that was in Florida. Ngl, a bit disappointed.
#6
I went to Disneyland in Anaheim, and it just struck me that there were a large number of disabled people out and about enjoying the rides. I'm from India (where there is no shortage of disabled people) but it was just the sheer number of disabled people that made me extremely happy that the park was accessible to everyone. You done good America, I said to myself as I ate some horrible expensive fried thing.
I later realised that most of those people were not disabled but fat people on scooters who did not feel like walking.
Where do I sign up?
Fungus John 4 hours ago
well you have to make your park accessible if 40% of the population is obese
#7
Brit here. We went to Ruby Tuesday's in The Florida Mall and saw a woman take a bowl from the salad bar, fill it with Ranch dressing and sit back at her table eating it like it was soup. Luckily that wasn't the only treat Florida had for us on that trip...
#8
I'm from America, and I have a friend from Australia. It amazes him that there are so many flags, everywhere. Appearently that is a distinct USA thing. He'll make jokes about how we all forget where we are.
#10
"So do you live in East Germany or in West Germany?".
#11
After moving from Africa, as a teen, I am repeatedly asked why I moved to Africa in the first place, to which I reply that I've always lived there.
I am also asked, "So why are you white?" To which I reply, "Oh my god, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!" However, when they reply with blank stares I realize they aren't referencing Mean Girls...
Some other questions:
•So Africa is one country and all the borderlines are, like, states?
•Are there, you know, buildings?
•You guys have memes over there, right?
•Are you AUSTRALIAN???
#12
I've told this story on Reddit before, but my biggest wth was in Fall 2005. Google Earth had just come out, and my colleague at the University lab and I were looking at it. She was a blonde bombshell from San Diego, and I'm a portly Indian boy. When I showed her Mumbai, my home city, she was blown away.
"You have buildings?" "Look, there's an airport!" "Oh my god, you have cars?". How the hell do you think we get around, I asked. Her reply still rings on my head. Not walking, not cows, not elephants, not bicycles, not horse drawn carts. She said camels. If I ever saw a camel in Mumbai I'd stop everything I'm doing and say "Holy cow, that's a camel!".
#13
Not mine, but someone posted awhile back about his British boss getting pulled over for speeding. As is the tradition in England, he got out of the car to meet the police officer and it went about as well as you'd expect.
Bill The Splut 4 hours ago
When I was learning to drive, my dad told me "If you get pulled over by a cop, put your hands at 3 and 10 o'clock on the steering wheel, and don't move without telling them what you're going to do. Then do it SLOWLY, while making eye contact." This is 100% true. People can instinctively reach over for their license & registrationas soon as they're pulled over, and the cops don't know what's in your glove compartment. And a routine traffic stop can mean you're d**d.
#14
"Do you know any vikings?". Asked by a nice young blonde with a straight and serious face in McDonalds. I'm from Denmark.
Also, Good god Texas has a lot of fat people.
random_frog_6846 2 hours ago
I mean in her defense some people take their Viking roots seriously
#15
Went into a shop, they had spray on cheese.
I don't think the majority of Americans here know how ridiculous that sounds to the rest of us.
Spray
On
Cheese.
#16
Was in Northern New York (near Buffalo) and a waitress overheard that I was headed "back to the Pacific Ocean". She asked where I was going and I said Vancouver. "No honey..Vancouver is in Canada and that is on the Atlantic Ocean."
I said "Canada is from sea to sea just like America." She replied "no that's not right, only America is from sea to sea"
The combination of her being absolutely sure about something and her total ignorance was surprising enough but the fact that she felt she should basically interrupt our conversation by telling me I am wrong about what ocean I live beside was weird.
#17
I'm from Canada and the first thing I saw upon my arrival to Port Angeles, Washington (which happened to be the first time I stepped foot in the states), was a large spherical lady sitting in the middle of the sidewalk blocking my path to the bus terminal, just staring at me.
Another time, I was in San Diego one summer and a woman, genuinely curious, asked me if it was summer in Vancouver too. (Edit: it was July).
#18
I ate a Hershey's "chocolate" bar. What. The. Hell.
How do you Americans actually like that? It tastes so cheap and vomity I had to spit it out.
Peeka_Mimi 3 hours ago
I used to live in Germany, yeah American chocolate is nasty comparatively.
#19
I was in an uber going to the airport and the driver asked where I was flying to. I said "Hong Kong". He asked if I spoke Japanese. I told him that we speak Chinese in Hong Kong. He says "What's the difference?" Hs genuinely didn't know that Japanese and Chinese were different languages.
#20
When I went to the U.S. the first time and ordered a meal from Burger King, ordering a large fry, coke, and a Whopper, I was blown away by the size of it all. Each item was larger than the same item back home, I was already like "what", but then the cashier said I could have a second Whopper for 1$! Again, I was like "what, sign me up!"
Another time, while I was in Daytona, I went to a restaurant and the woman kept refilling my drink, again and again. Being a bit shy, I did not tell her to stop, and expected a bill with 15$ for sodas, but then I found out the refills were free, what!? FREE REFILLS?! I'd only seen that at places like Subway, but so many restaurants in the U.S. had free refills.
I love the U.S. for restaurants and food in general, the portions are massive and very reasonably priced.
#21
Australian here - I went to Houston last year and spoke to a girl my age in the airport, we got chatting about Uni/College (it was around July) and she asked me if I was on my summer vacation. I casually explained I was on my winter break. She was genuinely confused and did not understand how it was summer in the US but Winter in Australia. I tried to explain but eventually gave up.
#22
I saw 50 chicken nuggets for $5.
#23
Me paying at 'gas' station.
Attendant hears I have an accent.
Smiles at me.
"You speak English so well"
"Thanks! Although I should do...I'm from England"
Cue confused look.
"Wait? They..." she trailed off "speak......English........there?"
Her colleague stared at her in open mouthed disbelief and then broke out laughing with the other customers. She looked mortified. To be fair I felt terrible for her. She was only trying to be friendly to a foreigner.
सूफ़ीया ज़मीर 2 hours ago
I was once talking to my neighbours (albeit in Canada not the US) and he asked me if I spoke any "European" language. We were talking in English and when I pointed that out, he said oh but I thought UK was not part of Europe any more.
#24
I was complimented on my excellent English by a girl from Ohio.
I'm Canadian.
She thought we all spoke German.
#25
I'm Canadian and have visited the United States multiple time and have had an overall enjoyable experience on each one.
I wouldn't blame this on America but I saw a fat bald middle aged man standing on the side of a Pennsylvania highway with bunny ears. I'm sure this happens in Canada too but this is the first time I've seen something like this.
#26
French ex-exchange teenager in Cali here. Summer 97. I was young and missed the fieldtrip bus to Disneyland from San Diego. So I did something pretty stupid, I hitchiked to go there by myself. Dude who took me looked like a plaincloth cops, but a good buddy. When he heard I was french he told me to never ever hitchike in USA because its pretty dangerous. He told me to open the glovebox in front of me: There was a suppospedly loaded desert eagle inside.
He dropped me at the bus station and insisted to give me 10 dols for ticket (I had cash) and waited for me to go in the bus.
#28
Korean friend who just got off the plane in Atlanta: "So many big fat black women!" Yes, he said it loudly and in public.
But my favorite was a Japanese fellow who went to a buffet with a group of us in Vegas. He sits down and his plate looks like a normal little meal; we all have heaps of things all over ours, and his eyes bug out that we have so much food. I said he's really going to freak out when he realizes this is only our *first* plate.
#29
"Do you have cellphones in Norway?"
This was in 2012. Kids nowadays get an iPhone and/or iPad before they're born.
#30
A universal WTH for both foreign and US citizens: The Golden Corral
Everything was submerged in liquid butter. The patrons were larger than some cars.
#31
A lady came up to my friend & I while we were wandering around Victoria's Secret & basically apologised for George W Bush being elected. She had heard our accents & literally approached us just to apologise. She also let us know that she was praying about it every night, which clearly made sense to her, but didn't seem like a particularly effective way of changing the situation to us.
nottheactualphoto 9 minutes ago
It didn't seem very effective because it's NOT very effective.
#32
I visited America recently, and there are so many more people than i'm used to. I come from New Zealand, and our biggest city only has about 1.3 - 1.5 million people in it, and the total population is around 4.471 million people.
Norm Gilmore 26 minutes ago
Ten year old post. We now have 5.3 million people. So take that World!! :-)
#33
A few years back I took a cruise that left out of San Diego. I'm from Canada and had never been further in to the states than New York City. It was pretty late when we got to the hotel so we decided to just go to the Denny's down the road.
We first had our minds blown by the portion sizes, we have Denny's in Canada but our plates are much smaller. I'm a big guy who'd been travelling all day and was hungry as hell and I couldn't even finish my meal.
The next day was the real WTH moment though. I head down to the hotel breakfast for my first ever pancakes form a machine and notice on my way in through the door that there is a woman who is so large she has to sit on 2 chairs. Wow OK that's sad but I've seen it once before in Canada, then I notice 2 other people doing the same thing. Not sitting at the same table or anything just 3 people, completely unrelated to each other beside the fact that they're so fat they can't sit on one chair and need a second for backup.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
It's not like there aren't any obese people in Canada. It's not that uncommon.
#34
I was surprised how popular cocktails seem to be in restaurants and cafes. I thought Americans were quite puritanical about drinking, yet everywhere we went there were people downing quite expensive spirit cocktails with their meals, even at lunchtime.
#35
I visited from Canada a couple years ago. Everyone was very nice, and had the exact same mildly interested reaction to a credit card with a chip...
#36
There was a place called "Norma's" in Washington State. Somewhere rural. Anyway, it was like a shrine to George Bush. The owner was guy and the back of a menu had his face with the quote "Just call me Norma" on the back.
Best burger I ever had, called the Geroge W Bush Burger.
#37
Was in Spokane at Silverwood (amusement park) and asked where the washroom was. I was promptly told there were no washrooms in the park. This happened a good handful of times and it never even occurred to me that I had to say restroom to receive any real help.
#38
I've been many times but the first Time I went to Downtown LA, It hit me how unglamorous parts of the US really are. Same with NY You step outside of the business district and things look like really old and rundown.
#40
I asked an old lady if it's true all Americans carry guns.
She smiled and pulled a revolver out of her purse. She was a nice lady.
#41
Was at an all-you-can-eat buffet with a soft serve ice cream machine. As kids we thought we were being little pigs by swirling as high as we possibly could (while our parents weren't looking or they certainly would have stopped us). The guy after us grabbed a full-sized drink tumbler and filled it up with ice cream. No shame at all. No child-like glee at making the mother-of-all sundaes. I suspect now it was something he did regularly.
#42
I'm Canadian and I went down to the US to do a little shopping. I accidentally pulled out some Canadian bills and the cashier asked why I kept Monopoly money in my wallet.
EDIT: A lot of people are saying it was just sarcasm. I don't think it was. The cashier looked around 16 years old, she had probably never seen Canadian money before. When I started awkwardly chuckling, she had a puzzled look on her face. But who knows, maybe she was just really invested in a joke.
nottheactualphoto 1 minute ago
If she was that close to the border, I don't see how she could not have seen Canadian money before. Then again, 16 years old.
#44
According to New Yorkers, my mother and I can't possibly be Portuguese. Apparently we're Russian, da.
Other than, incredibly nice and friendly. I loved it.
#45
Not my story but my mom's (again) and instead of visiting, it was more like a "people who have immigrated to the US, what is your 'WTH America' story.
So it's the early 1980's, and my mom's plane touches down in LAX from Tokyo. As she was collecting her luggage and waiting for her friend to pick her up, a Hare Krishna (which she had never seen before) came up to her and asks her (in English) if she could donate a few dollars.
My mom, who only had a few yen and a poor grasp of English, tried to explain to the Hare Krishna that she couldn't understand him and that she had just arrived in the United States. The moment she started talking to him in Japanese, he just gave her some of the money he had and went on his merry way, leaving her at the luggage carousel confused as hell.
#47
In Virginia a cop pulled me over. Said I was speeding (I wasn't but ok) and that I owed him $300 cash or he would take me to jail since I had Canadian license plates (his reasoning was as soon as I left state I wouldn't pay the ticket). I said I only have $80. He took it and pocketed it in front of me and let me go.
random_frog_6846 2 hours ago
OP got scammed by a fake cop. US cops have a reputation for being stupid and bullies though, so who knows?
#48
Irish guy here,
Once told an American we didn't have Wednesdays in Ireland, and convinced her we had more weeks in the year than they did. Consequently that American was my boss, I stressed how I wasn't used to the 5 day working week, so I got every Wednesday off. Confessed the story 2 months later when I was leaving the country. She wasn't too happy.
What do you think ?
Elladine DesIsles 3 hours ago
Skipped the poll, as I cannot think of anything that would make me so much as consider attempting to cross the border under present conditions. I have family in New York state and Texas, more distant relatives probably in every US state. I am eligible to join the Daughters of the American Revolution, if for some reason I wanted to, and can prove genealogical connections to past presidents. My grandfather was born in Ohio, served in the US Navy during WWII, and lost his only brother, before moving to Canada when he married my grandmother. There are family cemeteries I would love to visit, sights I'd love to see. But I'm not setting foot in the mess that the USA is right now - and I very much doubt I'd be allowed in anyway.
Saint_Zipcodus (oh / no) 23 minutes ago
Admittedly, most of the conversations mentioned could also have happened here in Europe where I live.
Elladine DesIsles 3 hours ago
Skipped the poll, as I cannot think of anything that would make me so much as consider attempting to cross the border under present conditions. I have family in New York state and Texas, more distant relatives probably in every US state. I am eligible to join the Daughters of the American Revolution, if for some reason I wanted to, and can prove genealogical connections to past presidents. My grandfather was born in Ohio, served in the US Navy during WWII, and lost his only brother, before moving to Canada when he married my grandmother. There are family cemeteries I would love to visit, sights I'd love to see. But I'm not setting foot in the mess that the USA is right now - and I very much doubt I'd be allowed in anyway.
Saint_Zipcodus (oh / no) 23 minutes ago
Admittedly, most of the conversations mentioned could also have happened here in Europe where I live.
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