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49 Weird Things In The US That Americans Don’t Realize Others Don’t Consider Normal
In the current sociopolitical climate, the United States gets a pretty bad rap. Whereas 59% of 29 countries in October 2024 thought the U.S. will have a positive impact on world affairs, only 46% of people in the same countries felt the same way in 2025.
On social media, people like to dunk on the U.S. for simple everyday things as well. Those who live in other countries call out Americans' diets, habits, and opinions on almost a daily basis. Recently, we came across a discussion on Threads where non-Americans were sharing the things they found weird when visiting America.
"Non-Americans who have been to the US: What is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird???", @jenny_nuel1 asked. And, as is almost usual at this point, America got a pretty hilarious lashing in the comments.
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#1
I’m Japanese and my observation is
1. Being afraid of guns
2. So many obese people
3. Artificial colors like blue cakes, green drinks
4. Huge drink sizes and food portions
5. Tipping
6. Homeless people everywhere
7. Wearing sports casual clothing like Lululemon everywhere
8. Electing a president with zero human decency
zatrisha 4 months ago (edited)
A small reminder to those who want to defend their president. He is a fasc1st. a rapist and a misogynist - he is corrupt and he is responsible for the fact that you are getting poorer and poorer and the richest of the rich are having the biggest party of their lives right now, while people are being deported without trial and a simple disease can bankrupt you. Great guy.
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Earonn - 4 months ago
But over the last decades you were a part in creating the kind of society where a man openly lusting after his daughter CAN become president. Shamelessness was allowed long before Trump. Rampant racism were frowned upon but hardly had real serious consequences. Cognitive dissonance and utter ignorance in fields of science were a business model. You shouted in our faces about your freedom, but never even whispered about the responsibility that comes with said freedom.
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Alexia 4 months ago
"If you don't have guns in Europe, how do you protect yourselves?" "Protect ourselves from who?"
Katie White 4 months ago
All of these things I also find strange (with the exception of not being judged by my peers for wearing comfortable clothing ) and I was born smack dab in the middle America. The Donald Trump election made me feel like a split of universes had ripped through my reality and I ended up on the wrong side of it…. twice
Silberwolf 4 months ago
#6 and #8 are the saddest things in this list. (and also easily preventable)
Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
Bang on with no 8 other wise known in uk as the dangerous orange lunatic lol
Speedgoat 4 months ago
Hey we're doing our best. But there's too many of us that have simply quit caring.
G A 4 months ago
Then they need to learn again or you will slide ever further into the p*o.
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#2
The misreading and illogical allegiance to an 18th Century commitment to the right to bear arms, resulting in countless deaths of innocent children and adults.
Vicki Barlow 4 months ago
Many Americans are appalled by this gun lust and find it illogical. Can some of us move to England?
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
Vicki Barlow: with a name like that, many would be delighted if you did. You might have to learn a new accent. 😉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deirdre_Barlow
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Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago (edited)
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." That refers to the right of "the people" - not "each person". The 18th century legislators fully understood the distinction - alas, their words have been misunderstood since. The founders of the US mistrusted the idea of a standing army under government control, but they also understood that their new nation needed armed protection; hence the words they put into law. It was all about ensuring that the citizens of the USA would be permitted to self-organize to defend the USA - and that meant defending the USA against home-grown tyrants as well as anyone else. It didn't meant any nutter should be allowed to get hold of a modern ássault rifle outside of a 'well regulated Militia'. Meanwhile, they had no idea what the future would hold - including a government in charge of armed forces far beyond the capacity of any "armed militia" to challenge. Never mind how many AR-15s you've got - it's neither here nor there when the guv'ment could fire missiles at you from thousands of miles away.
XenoMurph 4 months ago (edited)
The worst thing is that the people who most love guns, also love an oppressive government. It turns out that all along, they didn't want to be the rebel alliance fighting for freedoms, they wanted to be the stormtroopers.
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Living Example 4 months ago
On a tangent, I don't understand how being afraid to go to store unarmed is "manly" .
Anony Mouse 4 months ago
You have the right to bear front loading, single shot muskets. NOT freakin automatic machine guns!! Seriously, why do they love their funds more than their children???
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
"The right to bear arms" in the context of a "well regulated militia" meant exactly that - "the people" were expected to establish properly equipped armed forces with any and all weaponry you'd expect an army to have. That included heavy field artillery firing explosive shells. The authors of the 2nd amendment knew about this, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrapnel_shell
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Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
Being that the founders could never had foreseen the technology of modern weapons, I suspect the 2nd would look far different today if it were written. I mean, the weapons available were muzzleloaders. A bolt action rifle would have blown their minds.
David 4 months ago
I mean other than they had smokeless low recoil rifles with 20 round mags, muskets with 60 round per minute fire rates, and much more, at that time. They had 30 round a minute muskets in the mid 1600s already, and in 1777 Congress ordered a test batch of 100 muskets with a 15 round magazine a 60 round per minute fire rate (though Ben Franklin wanted thousands of them). Those guns existed, they were just expensive and required a lot of training and simple muskets and rifles were easier. Also during the American Revolution, the British had an entire regiment with breech loading long range rifles.
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WakandaPanda 4 months ago
Whom do you need to bear arms against, you only ever seem to shoot each other !
K Barnes 4 months ago
That's why they have all the false propaganda that violent crime has increased, especially by violent illegal immigrants. Gives people someone to be afraid of and defend themselves against. Violent crime is actually generally decreasing but listening to the 24h news cycle you would believe the opposite.
Load More Replies... Earonn - 4 months ago
Especially as the gun lovers always told us that these child sacrifices (not only those killed, but also those maimed and traumatised) were necessary because the guns are needed to "fight a tyrannical government" - and now that the government snatches citizens from the street and puts them into concentration camps....nothing. These children suffered and died for NOTHING!
jasper 4 months ago
Also, no one is "snatching citizens from the streets and putting them into concentration camps" FFS. Shut up.
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#3
That they think the world revolves around them
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
Brainwashed from birth into thinking they're the "greatest country on Earth" is crazy business.
JayhawkJoey 4 months ago
And they've never left their state let alone country.
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Reemerger 4 months ago
I remember reading the the baseball "World Series" championship was dubbed that after a newspaper "The World" (like Die Welt in Germany, Le Monde in France,...). Apparently some people assumed U.S. baseball teams must be the best in the world as they just kept winning everything :D
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
That's probably not true. OTOH, at the time the series was named, the only place in the world that played baseball was the US. So the winner really would have been the world champion. Not true any longer of course, but tradition is strong.
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Deirdre M 4 months ago
I do not feel that way at all. I can't stand what is happening right now. It's disgusting.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
Same, Deirdre. I’m embarrassed to be American now. If this is who we are, I don’t want any part of it.
Load More Replies... XenoMurph 4 months ago
We know. And all the comments are targeted to the "stereotype" American. Not to the tens of millions who I know are cringing at what's happening in the country. You have our sympathy and support. Please find someone sensible to vote for next time.
Load More Replies... Alexia 4 months ago
And that the world is reduced to US territory. Well, guess what - some of us live in Europe, Asia, LATAM etc. :))
Earonn - 4 months ago
The louder they shout that their country is "the greatest", the more becomes clear that they want to convince themselves, not us.
#4
Abortion bans and shortest parental leave. It's the most inhumane, discriminative, misogynistic thing ever. It's heartbreaking to see a woman who's still bleeding, in pain after episiotomy/C-section, breasts swollen days after labor, crying at her workplace cause she wants to be with her newborn, but still needs to work to pay her bills. And it's inhumane to the newborns to not be able to be with their immediate family, and to be at daycare instead. As a former dc provider it's heartbreaking
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
Bodily autonomy should be for everyone. Stop minding what Sarah in a state on the other side of the country wants to do with her teen pregnancy!
Kristiina Männiste 4 months ago
And why is giving birth not free?! If the government forces you to give birth, the minimum they should do is to cover the costs. BTW the soviet system was shite and abortions were frowned upon (illegal during ole stalins days even), but healthcare and childcare was always free. So to my eyes, the americans are getting the oppressions, but none of the perks of the soviet system and my eastern european brain cant comprehend why they want that.
CooperDooper81 4 months ago
It's weird how shooting kids at school is ok but aborting a severely disabled foetus that will never have any quality of life isn't. 'You must finish your pregnancy but we don't care what happens to your kid after it is born'.
Silberwolf 4 months ago
And on top of that probably a hospital bill over 100k $ to even worsen that misery I assume?
Christos Arvanitis 4 months ago
I hope that everybody understands that this varies by state. It still sucks that the Supreme Court rolled back women't rights. We are in the era of minority rule and it sucks.
#5
Thoughts and prayers apparently being a solution to anything.
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
The amount of bible bashers is WILD! Their actions are usually in complete contradiction too!
MeowZedong 4 months ago
God hears your thoughts and prayers! Unfortunately his only response is sending his thoughts and prayers.
Tabitha 4 months ago
If he exists, he’s probably looking doing on his science project and thinking, “They have a crisis going on, and all they’re doing is sending ‘thoughts and prayers’? WTF? Why don’t they get off their asses and DO something about it instead?”
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Tabitha 4 months ago
That is only acceptable when companies by ACTIONS to physically mitigate the crisis.
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Tabitha 4 months ago
Or stop gun violence, or wars, or kids starving, or people living on the edge of homelessness, or people who have curable diseases dying from them because they can’t afford healthcare, or a whole host of other dire issues that merely paying “thoughts and prayers” lip service to will not solve.
Load More Replies... Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughts_and_prayers#Gun_politics_in_the_United_States
BK BigFish 4 months ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTmCxbcRXs4 Anthony Jeselnik nailed it: "Thoughts and prayers" = "This horrible thing happened, but don't forget about little old me! I won't do anything useful, but let me remind me you that I am a good person."
Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
Eugh religious cults basically the route of all evil !! LITTERALLY mad the lot of em
#6
The healthcare system prices. It's absurd.
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
Hospital visits and ambulance rides throw those already struggling into crippling debt. It's sad how easily they exploit their people.
Chris True 4 months ago
The USA has so many illegals; the cost of medical care is driven by the 10's of millions of illegals sucking off the hospitals.
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CooperDooper81 4 months ago
I was really looking forward to see how Manny and Fae argued this was a good thing but I notice they've gone quiet here.
CartoonCasey 4 months ago
The healthcare system prices. It's a grifters paradise. Everything is inflated to get money from the insurance. The insurance that refuses to pay for most anything. Until someone fights them. And who is getting that money? Not the nurses. Not the doctors. Not the emergency crews. Not the hospital. Healthcare is the 2nd most profitable industry in the US. #1 is oil/gas/plastic. Billions in profit but everyone on the front lines is making pennies. Where the f**k is that money going? Because it sure isn't going towards saving lives.
#7
Thinking life is better in the US than anywhere else.
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
Again with the brainwashing from birth. Greatest country in the world - what a joke!
G A 4 months ago
Indoctrination by having kids chant an oath at school. Years of history taught shorn of the controversies. Greed and penalty seen at high levels seen to go unpunished and a goal to be a winner
Load More Replies... Alexia 4 months ago (edited)
This is what North Koreans believe about their country too. People believe anything if they are brainwashed since childhood.
Claire Collymore 4 months ago
Partly because a large percentage of American’s have never left their own country.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Harder to do in the US than in Europe or most of the rest of the world. It would take me 3 hours to drive to Canada right now, and I'm close to the border compared to most. Mexico is a couple of days (1500 miles, 2400 km) if I push.
Load More Replies... SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
I’ve been USAian for 61 years, and I stopped thinking that when I was about 20. (When I learned some of the truth about the U.S. versus other developed nations.)!
Sonia J-Coffee 4 months ago
Too much is on HollywoodS shoulders. Do not believe everything you read about any country. Like in France , at birth the mom's don,t have a doctor, only a midwife , but the "health system is perfect"
Tabitha 4 months ago (edited)
It’s better than a load of other places, but not anywhere as good as the true best places to live in the world. Unfortunately, a certain political party’s agendas have only lowered our standing when it comes to that (and I am NOT talking bout Democrats, though their old guard seem to drag their feet and hobble their younger mavericks when it comes to standing up and fighting them).
CooperDooper81 4 months ago
How is it better than a load of other places? Are these other places sub-Saharan African nations?
Load More Replies... #8
Americans get the most propaganda yet believe they are still free. At least the Chinese know their media is propaganda
Al Fun 4 months ago
The odd part is that there is a choice of propaganda, and people consciously pick the direction they want to be influenced to. There is hardly any individual opinion, you follow one or the other like a sports team. You also believe the lies of your team.
R Dennis 4 months ago
One side has some propaganda, the other side ONLY has propaganda... they are not equal. Show me one country that has NO propaganda in reporting.
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Silberwolf 4 months ago
I wouldn't say the Chinese know that. It doesn't even take that long to be brainwashed by (somewhat clever) propaganda.
Anthony Elmore 4 months ago
Yeah, but try setting up art insulting Xi right outside of his office and see how long it takes them to jail you. The problem with China's government isn't propaganda, it's what they do to you if you don't play along. Don't worry, we're working on it, though. Give it two years or so and Trump will have worn down the country's judicial system to the point where they just wave him jailing dissenters through to avoid the media s******w.
Sonia J-Coffee 4 months ago
All to the left,, we know is fake. Not the only country, in. SPAIN THE MEDIA CANT say anything about the king
#9
The whole worshiping the military ‘thank you for your service’ cult. It’s a career, a job, a way to earn money, and they went into it with their eyes wide open. I personally find it cringeworthy.
T'Mar of Vulcan 4 months ago
I think that's a backlash to what happened after Vietnam - young men who'd been drafted (and thus HAD NO CHOICE) had been denounced as murderers and protested against.
Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
We should never again demean people who were forced to defend our nation (draft).
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Leesquee 4 months ago (edited)
I served in the Maryland National Guard, 231st Transportation Battalion, deployed to Bosnia/Herzagovania in '84/'85. I don't know a single vet who enjoys being 'thanked' for their service. We all know people who sacrificed more, lost more, or suffered more. If you don't cringe every time they assuaged their sense of obligation.
Rachel Pelz 4 months ago (edited)
Sorry to be that person...94/95. M@ss@cre of Srebrenica 30 years ago was in European media a lot these days. (Well, in German media at least) Thank you very much for risking your life and health to help fight to achieve a truce. Also, thank you to every soldier who helped free Europe 80+ years ago. And thank you to every person who fights against criminal aggression of invaders.
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Jelena 4 months ago
The most terrible thing is that the US government creates crises in many countries and then appears as a defender of democracy and human rights, self-styled planetary policemen who punish and "pacify" conflicting parties and then cynically call the victims collateral damage and neglect its veterans and leave them to their fate.
Silberwolf 4 months ago (edited)
I don't even get why the US has the need for such a large, powerful military. Your country is basically half of a continent with only 2 neighbours who will most likely never attack you. Wouldn't it make more sense to pump a big portion of the money for the military into something else, like e.g. education?
CooperDooper81 4 months ago
Educating the people makes it harder to control them.
Load More Replies... Earonn - 4 months ago
Especially that a lot of other occupations include the risk of dying as well - fire fighters, divers, even teachers. But although there's reverence for fire fighters, they don't get any special offers at shops or restaurants.
Vermonta 4 months ago
they can quit their job if they don't Iike it. Military you are locked in. You even have to pretend you support the president
Load More Replies... Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago (edited)
with the religion, thats how you create a fasc1st country. This has been a plan for decades now. It was so subtle (at least for americans) that they didnt realize that they were manipulated...... thank you for your service..... jesus this jesus that, and bam, theocratic country, like iran or pakistan. Kudos ameriKKKa
BK BigFish 4 months ago
"Thank you for your service" is like "thoughts and prayers" - words as a substitute for action. If we really cared, we'd stop unnecessary wars and offer more post-service support (better VA, job retraining, PTSD treatments, etc.). Also, it's a substitute for guilt for civilians, since fewer and fewer people serve.
Anony Mouse 4 months ago
Many go into the armed services because they have virtually no other employment options.
Vermonta 4 months ago
or college money. That's the 2 main reasons. I never met anyone that was a "patriot"
Load More Replies... Anthony Elmore 4 months ago
"It's a career, a job, a way to earn money" It is a TERRIBLE way to earn money both in terms of morality and in terms of the actual pay which is why private military forces are a thing. You don't join the military thinking it's just another source of pay, because no one in their right mind takes money to k**l people. There are so many better ways to get the benefits you get from being a grunt in the military. I'm not a huge fan of ANY military, but even I find this impressively callous. I kinda feel sorry that OP's army is stuck defending such an ingrate...
#10
My European friends tell me we are SO LOUD which i have witnessed when traveling. Lordy we are loud.
troufaki13 4 months ago
Americans are not the only ones who are loud. Have you met any mediterranean people?? We are very loud!
Jeolas1 4 months ago
Yes, mediterranean people are loud ... but in my experience they are loud in groups, whereas Americans tend to be loud even when there's just two or even one of them.
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Alexandra 4 months ago
Oh yes, so true. You can pick out an American just by their sound-volume. Don't they learn to speak quietly?
BK BigFish 4 months ago
It's a big country. Our houses and lawns are bigger, and so are our trucks and truck noises. Also, we MUST speak loudly to drown out the existential doubts about whether we actually live in the "greatest country in the world."
Load More Replies... Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
Excuse me do not insult animals !! I’m in uk half Welsh half English, n loath football , totally but the hooligans are INHUMANS ,not animals!! animals have far more manner n respect than our rottie hooligans , n you can blame the parents for it to , thankfully both ,y kids like me hate footie being Welsh it’s rugby , (even if the current team can’t freaking play it 🙈) and us lot are far better behaved ,
Load More Replies... G A 4 months ago (edited)
Yes. Yes you are. Noisy bar stewards. We do tend to know you are in the room, even a crowded, noisy one.There is an ad for a show called '1000 pound flatmates' or something, about 2 enormous black women, and they scream and shout all through it. That's most people's exposure to the average yank
Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
You are loud and RUDE with it !! no manners no respect and you do it LOUDLY !!
#11
Today I saw a picture of an American family wearing a « Trump is God » shirt. All of them. We all have our stupids in every country but USA beats them all 😎🤷♀️
Tabitha 4 months ago
And is dismantling the Department of Education, while preaching that being an anti-intellectual d******k is cool, in order to keep the population as uneducated as possible. His own father called him an idiot, so he’s trying to make everyone else dumber than he is so he can be the smartest guy in the room. Never going to happen, because there will always be a whole new crop of people being born who are smart enough to see right through him and dismantle his whole setup. He is doomed to lose. Bigly.
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Tobias Reaper 4 months ago
i saw a video of a dude who was pulled over by the police and was sitting in his car praying saying save us president trump. Like he was expecting to descend from the heavens or appear out of nowhere and stop him being arrested.
BeesEelsAndPups 4 months ago
I am currently in Ohio at my GFs family reunion. These people are true believers. It's honestly mind blowing. They think Trump is the Messiah.
Load More Replies... Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago
so, if i'm still good in algebra ... trump = god | trump = pedophile | god = pedophile. Nailed. Now lets see how many "not yet brainwashed maga, working on it" will downvote this comment. I'm saying nothing, just pointing out things.
CooperDooper81 4 months ago
Don't the Ten Commandments mention something about not worshipping false idols?
Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
I recently accused my Rep, Moolenaar, of 'craven idolatry'. I am awaiting a visit by ICE.
Silberwolf 4 months ago
Some people feel a stronger urge to display their stupidity than others.
Katie White 4 months ago
They are assembling the system in order to breed idiots and only educate them in propaganda so they will just buy items, and vote for company puppets to keep the system going.
Ariom Dahl 4 months ago
I saw that, and hoped it was either faked or AI. So I just ignored it.
#12
Being allowed to drive at 16 and married or enlist at 18 but not drink until 21.
Flags everywhere.
Tax not being included in the price tag.
Kim Kermes 4 months ago
Sales tax varies by state, county, and city. Corporations are too cheap to pay for the computer programming that would fix this.
Aurora58 4 months ago
Then surely the particular shop you're in can provide the prices incl. sales tax.
Load More Replies... Tabitha 4 months ago
I was born in 1960, and turned 18 not long before the drinking age for alcohol was raised to 21. Then they compromised, and you could drink beer and wine at 18, but had to wait til you were 21 to drink liquor. Not long after that, they raised the drinking age for all alcohol to 21. It has a lot to do with drinking and driving deaths of people between 18 and 21. Since the US is a VERY car-centric country, it kind of makes sense from a safety standpoint—-and definitely from an insurance standpoint.
Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
see that always gives me a sodding headache , it’s so back a s s ed forwards it’s unfathomable , totally , in uk it’s driving at 17 drinking at 18 🤷♀️why on earth would anyone let a 16 yr old behind a metal killing machine ffs
#13
That walking from one place to another is not normal.
Trisec Tebeakesse 4 months ago
That depends on where you are. Boston? Yes, we walk everywhere. Los Angeles? Not so much.
Tabitha 4 months ago
Boston is set up to be conducive to walking, while L.A. is not—-it used to be, but starting post-WWII, when the city leadership struck a sweetheart deal with the automotive industry and swapped their old clean electric streetcars for stinking polluting buses, they also redesigned the city to be car-centric and not walking-centric. You now have to drive somewhere, usually a good distance away, to take a walk, which is downright oxymoronic.
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Bron 4 months ago
Australia is just as big yet I walk downtown or over to the shops and my town is very hilly. I do think the OP wasn’t referring to long distances but to shorter distances
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Glenn Milliken 4 months ago
To be fair a good portion of our cities are larger than most of your countries
Lene 4 months ago
But it'd still be nice to walk to the cinema to get tickets for tonight's show and then walk to the grocery store to buy ingredients for a new recipe to try and then walk home. Even if the city is the biggest in the world.
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setsuriseikou 4 months ago
Russia is even bigger, yet you won't see the same level of car culture here
Load More Replies... #14
When I first moved here from Canada, I thought the army recruitment commercials on TV were jokes or a form of satire. I was blown away by how much military propaganda there is in the States.
Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago (edited)
like said : army + religion = fascism. Amerikkka is screwed for a long time. Deprograming brainwashing and p3d0 propaganda is very hard
Virgil Blue 4 months ago
I always thought the mock commercials in Starship troopers were a bit over the top until I realised the US actually had ads lime those and that they were only marginally less overblown.
Tabitha 4 months ago (edited)
Not to mention the amount of money the Feds allocate for the military that could go toward social safety net programs, infrastructure, and other, way more worthwhile directions. People don’t realize that’s part of what brought down the old USSR. The vast majority of funding went to the military budget which was so bloated with c**p I’m amazed it held out as long as it did. So little was going to the people in any form, most importantly social safety net programs and infrastructure, that the economy simply collapsed and couldn’t be fixed internally. Since the USSR was a closed society and therefore not a part of the world’s economy (they locked up their borders and took themselves out of the world market early on), meaning the ruble had no value outside the Iron Curtain, they had a long hard road to travel before they were even somewhat economically healthy again—-after the eighty-odd years since their “revolution”—-on the world stage. Granted, the US is not in that predicament, but we are spending way too much,UHC on the military, which has way too much money already, as evidenced by the money pits that are jets that don’t work properly, warehouse full of supplies that are rotting from age because we have enough already so they merely surplus—-because of the wasteful way government contracts are awarded and government budgets are set—-and other wastes of money that could be better used to improve EVERYONE’S life instead.
TheGreaterDebater 4 months ago
As I said, as a person who has a dad who got wounded 4 times, serving many different tours in multiple countries, and making so much sacrifices, he was still able to become a good man. This is why we bless the military.
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Sapna Sarfare 4 months ago
India has a small form of recruitment ads too.. but i assume it is not huge as the one in US
Auntriarch 4 months ago (edited)
UK has them too. I would guess that only countries with conscription don't
Load More Replies... Baba Caine 4 months ago
The American army recruitment is aimed at kids trying to say, do 3 years and we pay for your collage, then send them to get blown up and forced into debt as won't pay medical bills, but still gives them the right to put 60% of there GPA into the military
Apatheist Account2 4 months ago
Ahir Shah: We're always looking for people to join the army! (Try not to think about why....)
#15
how young and sparsely populated it is as a country. also how un-free it is as a country. you're about 5-10 bad decisions from being outside of the system and bankrupt / homeless with little to no help.
Luke Branwen 4 months ago
I'd just say they're highballing the number of bad decisions needed to get bankrupt, is that so?
Load More Replies... UKGrandad 4 months ago
Most Americans - even those with what they believe is good insurance - are only one serious illness away from bankruptcy. Medical bills are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy.
Zoey Bear 4 months ago (edited)
Yet bankruptcy often doesn't eliminate medical bills nor student loans because government said "NO" aka our 2 biggest human debts here is the great America no mater how much we pay or try to get ahead, all it does is take your house away. Save yourself and stay away for your own good.
Load More Replies... Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago
yeah but the p3do in the white house is a white rapist supremacist, so everything is fine and dandy, he said he loves jesus and the flag he never served
T'Mar of Vulcan 4 months ago
Having to carry your ID everywhere just in case. I seldom take my ID anywhere (to be fair, it's a booklet as I haven't gotten the card version yet) and I've only been asked for it once when I didn't have it.
G A 4 months ago
I honestly don't think the rest of the world is much different now. The oligarchy are intent on reducing us back to the ser f dom
Cee Cee 4 months ago
I consider decent health care to be part of welfare system. America doesn't have that. As for things like social housing, welfare benefits, pension etc I'd say Americs falls far short when compared to European countries.
Load More Replies... #16
Most of what I notice have been covered, butt I'll add the whole scenery of religious billboards standing next to gun show billboards standing next to adult depot billboards.
Trisec Tebeakesse 4 months ago
South Carolina! I call that the "Bible College, Bible College, P**n Shop" stretch of I-95.
Christos Arvanitis 4 months ago
None of that in New England. This is mostly a deep South thing...
Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
Again religious cults mentally deluded the lot of em !! It’s all fiction like made up , best ever written I grant you lol but fiction non the less , n honestly USA are so dam brainwashed it’s scary !
#17
The entire condescending attitude towards anything different or not known to them.
The immediate solution to a problem is aggression, compromise, compassion and understanding is seen as weakness
The idea of fairness being evil and unfair (I must get mine and you must suffer)
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
Every manchild is so easily triggered, and their solution is show of physical strength. Like ewww.
Auntriarch 4 months ago
Anybody who thinks this is confined to the US is spectacularly uninformed.
Trashy Panda 4 months ago
Then why are all the Europeans posting here so offended by tipping and tax not included in the price?
#18
Calling something "World Famous" when NOBODY outside of the US or even perhaps the city it is in, knowing anything about it.
New York is expert at this.
Pernille 4 months ago
Even BP caters to the US American exceptionalism. The internet is full of US americans that doesn't understand that the rest of the world doesn't live like them, and they get offended when you point it out. I'm not a fan of these lists, but at least they seem to have made most US based pandas discover that there is a whole world out there.
Anthony Elmore 4 months ago
But to be fair, the "World Famous" problem has less to do with this and more to do with the fact that our businesses are 100% full of s**t. Though I suppose it could be said that they're trying to take advantage of our naivety... but i still feel like even if US Americans were more worldly our businesses would still be full of s**t.
Load More Replies... Damned_Cat 4 months ago
Well, some places take some liberties in their use of that phrase. I once stopped into a small beef jerky place in a very small town that had the words "World Famous" painted on the side of the building. I asked the clerk what made them world famous, and he told me that one local customer started sending jerky to her son in the military (stationed overseas). He shared it with his buddies, and they all started asking for some and so the customer had to buy 10 pounds at a time. So, a bunch soldiers in Iraq knew about it and that makes it world famous.
Tobias Reaper 4 months ago
calling themselves world champions at sports only they play or having sports competition called the world series that only they are playing in
basmilko 4 months ago
I think we make that exception cause the Toronto Blue Jays are Canadian. I'm not saying it's not stupid, i'm just trying to explain my countries really screwed up "logic"
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Dave Baxter 4 months ago
This is my favourite 😁👌 I love watching US food programmes on tv, & realised that when somewhere claims it or its products are "World Famous" it usually means people in a 50 mile radius are aware of them 🤣😂🤣
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
We don't live in the US and we have a restaurant around the corner that claims their fries are world-famous. I'm pretty sure we all know no one outside of our city has ever heard of their fries. We just let it go. It's phrase and a marketing slogan, that's all. And their fries really are delicious.
Sarah 4 months ago
Where? I need this location. Fries/ potatoes or spuds as Irish say is my fav
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Gerry Higgins 4 months ago
We call it "The World Series" but nobody plays in it except American teams.
#19
Where I'm from, once you have a seat at a restaurant, you can take all the time in the world to eat, chat, order some dessert and a coffee or tea, chat some more, etc.
In the US, the waiters are lurking around me like sharks, waiting for me to get my last bite so they can throw me the bill, which I am expected to pay right away and leave.
Al Fun 4 months ago
To be fair, this is more perception than reality. Yes, servers sometimes bring the bill without being asked, but it’s totally ok to spend as much time as you want after that. In thousands of restaurant visits I have only been asked a couple of times to leave, and each time the server was profusely sorry because they absolutely needed the table.
Trillian 4 months ago
But they also keep coming to the table to ask do you want anything else. That is soooo annoying, almost impossible to have a conversation.
Load More Replies... Motivated sloth 4 months ago
That is due to the difference in pay. In a restaurant where a server is being paid the same amount no matter how many tables they have, of course they don’t care how long you sit. But many US servers are only paid around $3/hour so they have to move tables to make showing up to work profitable. And yes I know, servers should be paid a living wage blah blah blah, but commenting that on BP isn’t changing anything and making the servers pay the price (literally) for a hugely screwed up system is not the way to change it.
Alexandra 4 months ago
No. The way to change this is to vote accordingly but I often wonder: there are so many people living on an unliveable wage that if they voted for the right person this could be solved.
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KnightOwl86 4 months ago
The waiters constant interruptions, questions and hovering is so annoying. Americans are used to it and even expect it and see it as good service, in most countries it's seen as overbearing and irritating. In most European countries once you get your food your generally left alone for the most part, wait staff will look for a signal from customers before coming back to the table instead of constantly hovering nearby or interrupting.
Ivona 4 months ago
Exactly! I vacation in Bulgaria, and this is what I see, too. I like that style of restaurant service.
Load More Replies... SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
In the U.S. everything has been perverted into a way to scrèw more money out of people.
SouthernGal 4 months ago
Depends on the type of restaurant. For lunch, everyone is in a hurry to get back to work and wouldn’t want to have to wait for the bill. At dinner, especially in a fine dining restaurant, people tend to enjoy the meal and linger, and the server often doesn’t bring the bill until asked. I have never been asked to give up a table, but I am always considerate of other people who are waiting for a table.
Ivona 4 months ago
Not everyone's in a hurry to eat and go back to work. In Spain, France, Italy, and Bulgaria, to name a few, people linger over lunch and enjoy.
Load More Replies... Crystalwitch60 4 months ago
In uk depending on size of the place you get two hours so they can do more meals obviously. But your never rushed , well unless u go to Jeremy Clarksons pub lol u only get an hour ,n that pubs huge !!
Trashy Panda 4 months ago (edited)
You're pretty ignorant if you think you have to pay right away and leave. It's our custom to deliver the bill early so you can leave whenever YOU want. It's pretty ironic because you're all complaining that Americans are the ones who don't understand or respect other cultures.
#20
Sugar. Literally everywhere.
Kristiina Männiste 4 months ago
They put sugar in god d**n bacon! Bacon!! I actually gagged when I tried to eat it. Silly me thought "maple flavored" means lightly smoked over maple wood or something - no! it means soaked in artificially caramel flavored corn syrup apparently.🤢
Scott Rackley 4 months ago
That's why I get my bacon (and pretty much all meat) from the local butcher. You can get it uncured, hickory smoked, applewood smoked, no sugar, just salt and smoke
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Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
27 ingredients in simple things like a packet of potato chips.
KnightOwl86 4 months ago
Even simple foods like bread are full of sugar and it doesn't even taste good, what's wrong with normal bread? Also the amount of chemicals added to everything, why does everything have to be full of chemicals, food colouring and preservatives?
Pernille 4 months ago
Just admit it, you've been to one single place somewhere in northern Europe , and you want to pretend you know it all.
Load More Replies... #21
How they pay with cards at restaurants. Why are you taking my card away when we could just do this at the table like literally everywhere else??
quentariel 4 months ago
Mine too. Also I have to ask the person's permission to even touch their card (it's very rare anyway, but in the case of them not reaching the card reader or something).
Load More Replies... Never Snarky 4 months ago
I hate having my card taken away. And, yes, I have had fraudulent charges that I’m sure were done by restaurant employees.
Kim Kermes 4 months ago
We're bad at change. Took years to get chip credit cards. Walmart still doesn't have tap to pay.
XenoMurph 4 months ago
I don't even carry my wallet anymore. Tap to pay or you are out of luck. I've even got tap to pay on my phone, meaning if someone wants to transfer money to me, I'm a walking terminal.
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Silberwolf 4 months ago (edited)
I would get very nervous. How do you know the waiter/waitress will debit the amount you agreed upon and not...like 1000 $/10k $?
T'Mar of Vulcan 4 months ago
London had tap to pay in 2018 already. South Africa already had the cards with chips, and shops got the tap machines literally 6 months later.
BK BigFish 4 months ago
The US is way behind the times. I remember in France in 2000 they used handhelds at every restaurant that servers used to process payments for each guest at the table. 25 years ago... Sad America!
Load More Replies... Al Fun 4 months ago
This is changing in lightning speed. Why? Because the portable card reader gives you only high tip options like 18%, 20%, and up and you have to decide while the waiter is … waiting.
Lousha 4 months ago
When I worked in the UK, one of the first things my boss taught me was how to handle a card if the customer actually hands it to me. (Usually they wouldn't need to, but e.g. older folks often asked us to take care of the payment because of bad vision, fine motor issues etc.) I was told to always make it very clear what I was doing, do it as quick as possible, and make absolutely sure that the card never for a moment leaves the customer's field of view. That way I could not get into an awkward situation where I could be accused of tampering with their card, e.g. having a cloning gadget under the counter. After that training it does seem wild seeing American movie scenes where restaurant stuff who works for below minimum wage would be given a card to walk away with it and play with it how they like.
Hugo 1 month ago
That's not very polite to brand people who work in restaurants as "stuff".
Load More Replies... Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Weird. I dine in the U.S. often and they always bring the machine to the table. I've never had my card taken from me.
#22
I’ve lived in America for 15 years and I’m STILL not over the pledge of alliance. It’s just so freaking weird to me to this day
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
But drag queens reading to children in a library is indoctrination, right?
Queen Boudicca 4 months ago
Drag performers reading to children has been going on for at least 20 years. Never heard of anything unseemly in all that time. These people were targeted to incite hate. Now we don't have anyone reading to kids - which is just as well, because they have pretty much banned books anyway. Or, in FL, removing any history that might make yt kids "uncomfortable."
Load More Replies... Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago (edited)
propaganda/brainwashing leading to fascism. Thats why amerikkka is fuc4ed up now. Too much p3do-fasc1stt propaganda. And nobody seems to notice it. America is becoming iran and morons are proud. Remember, great america is Dylan and Coltrane, not john wayne and p3do-trump.
Tim Gibbs 4 months ago
An English friend of mine who worked in the US for a year and took his family with him told me that his son was put into detention every day for not doing the pledge of allegiance and shouting god save the Queen 😀 The school new he was English and still insisted he do the pledge?!
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
I thought it was búllshít even as a child. The national anthem too. When either the pledge or the anthem starts up, I’ll stand up, but I won’t say it or sing it.
#23
No federally paid maternity leave. It's basic human right.
Alexandra 4 months ago
We have paid maternity and it's funded through taxes. Americans tend not to 'want to pay for someone else' especially if they don't approve of them for whatever reason so I don't see any kind of paid maternity leave on the horizon.
Nicola Roberts 4 months ago
Just wait 'till they hear about paternity leave too!
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David 4 months ago
We have 50 states, each with their own governments, courts, laws, etc. The 10th Amendment literally says that any powers not given to the feds, belong to the state. Guess what power was never given tot he feds? thats rights, so its up to each state, and why we have 50 different maternity systems
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
And then our leaders wonder why the birthrate is dropping. /s
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Other countries like Canada have the illusion of federally paid maternity leave but a huge number of parents don't qualify for it.
#24
Ads for prescription d***s that sound like death threats: “May cause internal bleeding, night terrors, and loss of moral compass. Ask your doctor!”
Trisec Tebeakesse 4 months ago
I love the ones that are for "Symptom X". Side effects may include Symptom X!!
Zei Kiljoy 4 months ago
They do it because they will get sued if they do not let you know or the side effects. On the doctor's side they want you to know that there are risks to taking any medication. But usually it's strictly for the d**g makers to not get sued.
#25
Three things hit me 1. classifying people as black when they were more white than black, ( like Megan Merkle), 2. Maintaining reverence for confederate generals. 3. Calling the endemic corruption “ lobying”
Queen Boudicca 4 months ago
And stealing them by preventing people from voting with restrictive voting laws. Reducing polling places. Making it illegal to distribute *water* to people waiting in line to vote.
Load More Replies... Tobias Reaper 4 months ago
identifying as a nationality of one of their great ancestors when in reality its been several generations and they no more irish or italian than i am pair of socks.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
Part of that could be because it’s embarrassing to be American.
Load More Replies... T'Mar of Vulcan 4 months ago
Isn't there some weird "one drop" rule when it comes to being Black? In South Africa, mixed people are generally called Coloured (Trevor Noah does a whole bit on this in his stand-up "Daywalker") although being Coloured is also a culture (due to 400 years of mixed people here).
Andrew Keir 4 months ago
Given that the human race consists of emigrants from Africa, the 'one drop' rule would pretty well solve the problem - we're all coloured to some extent , but many of us are passing ;-)
Load More Replies... basmilko 4 months ago
We are in this position we are in now cause the Confederacy was not properly punished after the Civil War. Lincoln was more concerned with preserving the Union than punishing the traitors (and make no mistake, no matter what, the Confederacy were traitors)
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
Lincoln made a big mistake, forcing the U.S. to stay together. Being American and being forced to stay together as one country is like being married to somebody you hate, and not being allowed to divorce, or at least live in separate residences. I’d like the U.S. a lot better if we didn’t have extreme conservatives taking away everything good we ever had, and forcing stupid bùllshìt on the rest of us.
Load More Replies... Beef Brisket 4 months ago
To be fair, Meghan Markle classified herself as black. Most people thought she was white up until she claimed on Oprah Winfrey that certain members of the Royal Family were racist towards her--for being black. She has also referred to her very pale son as bi-racial.
Lousha 4 months ago
I sure did not have a clue she was not totally white before the whole media saga around them started. To be fair, I was never really interested in the royal family's affairs, but I did see her photos here and there, and she just seemed "fashionably tanned". (Not like it matters one way or the other.)
Load More Replies... SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
If you’ve ever seen photos of Meghan’s mother, she is undoubtedly Black. If Meghan wanted to pretend to be 100% white, she would have to deny her own mother. Not many people would want to do that.
Load More Replies... #26
Being treated like an unwelcome suspect at most incoming airports when arriving as a guest
Mass gun ownership
Dearth of electric toothbrushes
Prevalent beliefs that no other countries have basic amenities or products
The confusion of what an appropriate tip is, and when
‘Chocolate’ that is 🤢🥴🤢🤮
Alexandra 4 months ago
I know people who have bought a 'burner' smartphone to take with them visiting the USA, because they don't want some airport official to get full access to their real smartphone. If you don't want tourists, just say they're not welcome and be done with it.
StretcherBearer 4 months ago
I wouldn't recommend visiting here honestly. If enough people boycott this regime then hopefully it collapses. America only listens to money and the moneyed. Tank our economy and maybe the billionaires will get sick of Trump screwing them out of their money and have him removed. It's gonna suck for a lot of people and hopefully people will see the benefit of helping your neighbors. The truly cynical side of me doubts we have the collective ability to honestly look inward and not retreat into our national denialism and self soothing Exceptionalism nonsense.
Load More Replies... Beef Brisket 4 months ago
What's wrong with electric toothbrushes? They clean better than regular toothbrushes.
jonesnori 4 months ago
I think they were complaining that we don't use them enough. I don't get that particular complaint, though. You can get teeth clean either way.
Load More Replies... Sapna Sarfare 4 months ago
There is a small input i read somewhere about why connecting flights are less when it comes to the US because of the airport stuff.. like not much layovers
#27
People I know from other countries often mention the monstrous portion sizes at many American restaurants.
SouthernGal 4 months ago
This is definitely true. It’s a contributing factor to our problem with obesity.
Sarah 4 months ago
Went to a diner in Elgin Chicago. I felt like I was in a film. Waitress ( lady late 60s) introduced herself as Wanda. I asked pancakes and bacon… next thing a list of ant 8 options for sauce/ various types of bacon… but everyone , I mean everyone family that morning were morbidly obese. I’d never seen anything like it. The food was delicious and I loved the service - I really loved those diners but people are obese
Never Snarky 4 months ago
I agree. I skip many restaurants for this very reason. Even though I do take leftovers home, I don’t always want to eat the same thing for the next three days.
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
They do this in Canada too. Even when you ask them to only bring you half and you're willing to pay for full.
#28
Commercials every 2 minutes during a TV show/movie. Huge gaps at bathroom stall doors. Saying 'like' ten times in every sentence.
Spittnimage 4 months ago
The 'like' thing is annoying. Some people even stick it in when writing.
Niels AirMax 4 months ago
Made a very mean comment on youtube regarding this topic. Got a LOAD of likes instantly!
Load More Replies... Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago
" Saying 'like' ten times in every sentence. " ----- the result of a proper uneducation. Uneducated is mandatory for being a """"good amerikkkan""""
Gabby Ghoul 4 months ago (edited)
When I was in high school I had an english teacher who would reduce your oral report score a full letter grade for each inappropriate utterance of "like."
XenoMurph 4 months ago
They maybe got that from Ireland. In Cork and Kerry it's at the end of every sentence, loike. Especially the old farmers. It's part of the hiberno-English dialect down there, not a new thing.
Apatheist Account2 4 months ago
It's a Geordie thing too...Milton Jones observed that Geordies are always looking for similes, as in "I was going down the road, like...".
Load More Replies... KnightOwl86 4 months ago
I had a few american stations here in the UK in the late 90s early 00s and although I loved the shows on them the amount of ads was unbearable. A show would start, be on for 2 minutes then 5 minutes of ads, 5 minutes of the show 5 minutes of ads etc. Took nearly an hr sometimes to watch a show that should have taken about 25 minutes. (We usually have 2-3 minutes of ads every 15/20 minutes.)
AtMostAFabulist 4 months ago
My sister does that, with a pause after. I just want to throw something at her.
Load More Replies... #29
Thinking carrying a 38 special when you are jogging will protect you.
David 4 months ago
Tell that to a woman jogging alone in the early morning
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joseph legatt 4 months ago
I don't understand being proud to live in a country so dangerous that you have to be armed at all times.
Margaret Wartime 4 months ago
Why so triggered? Some of you are so mad at these posts and it’s hilarious 😂 lighten up!
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Oerff On Tour 4 months ago
That's about the largest you can carry somewhat comfortable. But I prefer a bazooka
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#30
Eating fast food daily. True story, cousin goes back to work, no home cooked meals, just take out 7 days a week.
Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago
to home cook what ? sugar and grease with an inch of mayonnaise over it ?
#31
Other countries people can speak multiple languages. America: 🗣️SPEAK ENGLISH. Nosies
XenoMurph 4 months ago
Sadly, that's an "Anglo" thing. Countries that speak the "lingua franca" tend not to need to learn other languages. UK, Ireland, Australia etc also tend to have poorer language skills. To my shame.
Sapna Sarfare 4 months ago
That's sad.. how about welsh or irish? is it taught?
Load More Replies... BK BigFish 4 months ago
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks only one language? American.
Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
As an american, I do think it is rather arrogant we are not better spanish speakers.
basmilko 4 months ago
that's cause they don't start us learning a language until we are in middle school - around age 12 - 13. They start us way too late. I hate the fact that I'm not bilingual (I failed french twice - it was very difficult for me to learn, i have great respect for ANYONE who tries to speak a second language - especially as an adult.
Earonn - 4 months ago
I was born in Germany and started to learn English at school at age 10. Had it until 16, never really used it. Started to properly use it at age 32 for the internet. Today I live in Scotland. And I was never adept at learning languages. So, no, starting at 12 is not the problem.
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Stephanie Did It 3 months ago
The tragedy is that 90% of the "English only!" muricans can't speak proper English if their lives depend upon it.
#32
Thinking an American accent = Standard English
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
Writing as a standard Englishman, this one remains laughable - I'm absolutely certain I speak standard English, but I also know that there are tens of millions of actual English people who will dispute my claim (I'm fully aware of Wales, Scotland, and various overseas aspects. Apologies to Ireland - it's not my fault). Americans don't even get to join the argument.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
I've met many people from Ontario who swear they don't have an accent, and they don't say aboot.
Load More Replies... Sarah 4 months ago (edited)
The amount I’ve times i was asked , when I worked in museum in Ireland… do you have a leaflet in American? Or , can I pay in the euro-dollar? Very common q and no understanding there’s no such currency. One tourist told me.. it’s amazing you’re speaking Irish and yet I can understand you. Sometimes, we’d get so annoyed we’d sit back and enjoy the ride… I made one girl wait about 10 mins to pay as she scrambled through her Euro coins .. checked the back and would say.. oh that’s my French euro… that’s my Spanish euro.. and I let go through the purse until she found the Irish euro with harp on the back.
basmilko 4 months ago
As an American who works in customer service , that is absolutely horrible behavior from you. As an American who is really sick of her countries b******t - that was brilliant.
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Billo66 4 months ago
Every state kind of has it's own dialect . It gradually changes as you go. The further south you go, the southern drawl gets to the point it's hard to understand. "Georgia" Then it turns to French "Louisiana" Oddly enough, they say Ohio has the most neutral dialect as in not really any accent. That's why a lot of newscasters are from Ohio. :) That's my fun fact for today. I'm from Missouri. We talk ignorant and most of us are, sorry.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Most newscasters and actors try for a Midwest accent because it is the most easily understandable among most English speakers. Unless they are trying to portray someone from a particular part of the USA, they don't want their accent to be what stands out in their performance.
Load More Replies... Beef Brisket 4 months ago
I think everyone thinks their personal accent is the standard. Do you really think a Brit doesn't consider his or her own accent as "the standard"?
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
Beef Brisket: decades ago, I was in a pub with a bunch of Geordies (people from Newcastle upon Tyne). Sobriety had long since left the room. Just for a laugh, they decided to use the exact dialect they grew up speaking as children. It turned out that the dialects were so incredibly specific that they ended up having trouble understanding each other. No way would any of them claim that their personal way of speaking was "standard" - but they'd also insist that whatever dialect and accent they were using was 100% totally correct English.
Load More Replies... LooseSeal's $10 Banana 4 months ago
Ah, yes, "the" American accent. Like there aren't at least three distinct accents in just my state.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
And….which American accent? Some of them are sweet and soothing (New Orleans.) Some of them, you hardly notice (most of the midwest; west coast states.) And some of them are appalling (North Carolina, Tennessee—sounds the way vinegar tastes.)
G A 4 months ago
Baaawwwston (that's what it sounds like) has a horrible accent.
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#33
Applications asking your race, disability, protected veteran, & home address
David 4 months ago
Other than address, the rest of those are optional, bc companies that take govt contracts are required to provide data about their hirings, but they cannot legally require you to provide, so they make it optional. ALso legally, the hiring team cant access the race and disability stuff
KnightOwl86 4 months ago
A lot of places in the UK ask this too but it's usually on a seperate sheet of paper and done anonymously. It's usually just so they can have an idea of the diversity within the company to prevent racism/sexism/homophobia etc.
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
In Canada, this is standard because they want to give "equal opportunity" to "marginalized groups" and they often have quotas to fill. Although they then claim that the information you provide has no bearing on your application. However, this appears to be falling out of favor.
#34
As an American who only knows the single family household culture, that still seems odd to me. Lack of community. Doing everything by yourself without help is supposed to be some sort of flex.
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Are you kidding me? We have multiple generational families with Gen Zs living in the basement and in-law suites for the grandparents. All while needing to have two incomes. Have you not ever heard of the Sandwich Generation? Most times, it's NOT because it's a flex not to ask for help--it's because there is no one LEFT to help you.
Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
I am quite sure I am regarded with disdain when asking for help(not just jumping in, screwing it up and paying FAR more than if I hired it).
#35
- Student loans ( it's interest is higher than the mortgage interest?!)
- People use paper plates at home.
- Lunchables. Seriously? Why is this food for kids
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Um, they do not typically use paper plates at home, unless they're having a party.
Margaret Wartime 4 months ago
Lol I do sometimes because I have mad depression and it’s easier than making a mess that has to be cleaned later
Load More Replies... Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
My wife eats most meals from paper. I refuse. I cook, and on the days I don't, I do dishes. This from a guy who supported a family of 4 (myself included) with little financial help. LOTS of OT, I ain't eating off no d**n paper plates.
Load More Replies... Queen Boudicca 4 months ago
If only there was a way for people to get a college degree without having to go into life crushing debt...gee, I hope someone figures *that* out....meanwhile...huge military parades are fun. BTW...there is a difference between interest and *PREDATORY* interest. You shouldn't pay on a loan for over a decade and not even make a dent in the balance.
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Rose the Cook 4 months ago
What about dishwashers, I thought they were pretty common in America?
Load More Replies... #36
Ultra-parochiality of television news, especially in Southern states
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Every place in the US outside of New England, the local news stations only reach a small fraction of the state they're located in. If I want to hear national or international news, I listen to places that cover those interests.
Debby Keir 4 months ago
In the UK we have both national and regional news programmes. CNN seems to be a 'national/worldwide' news service. Do you mean that you'd have to (gasp) change channel to get National information?
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
It's called the local news for a reason. Watch the national news and you'll be so surprised.
Nicola Roberts 4 months ago
Hahaha just googled parochail. Turns out I know the word. Just never seen it written down! 😁
#37
Trailer parks!! Awful and scary!
Shop workers and service workers being surprised when you're nice to them.
Biscuits and gravy
Grits
Not being able to walk safely in urban areas.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
You’re right. This situation exists because greedy, selfish business people have made housing so expensive. Blame the business people, not the people who live in trailers.
Load More Replies... Chicken Mitten 4 months ago (edited)
Grits are delicious and were made common by the slaves in the south by using the "useless" parts of the corn. Soul food in America is both delicious and an ongoing act of rebellion.
basmilko 4 months ago
It depends on the trailer park. Some are completely run down and some you need to own a 200K dollar trailer to get in - and aren't caravan parks or trailer parks like pretty popular in the UK?
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
There's a world of difference between a trailer park where people too poor to afford a 'real' home live year round and a British caravan park. Caravan parks are generally (not always) under a 'holiday home' restriction that means that you cannot live in them full time - you must leave it vacant for one month per year. The parks are more tightly run, with something akin to an HOA that maintains standards and is able to evict cráckheads, próstitutes, and people who do not maintain their plot to a suitable standard.
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Phil 4 months ago
I have fed biscuits and gravy to many a foreign traveler and almost every single one loved them. Also, the picture isn't what we UnitedStatesians usually mean when we refer to a trailer park. This looks more like a RV campground. Actual trailer parks are made up of pre-fabricated homes.
George Costanza 4 months ago
"Not being able to walk safely in urban areas." Depends entirely on the urban area. You really think you can't walk safely in Boston's Back Bay or NYC's Upper East Side?
T'Mar of Vulcan 4 months ago
Okay but those are caravans. (Or is trailer just the American word for a caravan?)
Papa 4 months ago
"Travel trailer" is the most common term I'm familiar with to describe the current picture. "Trailer park" refers to a group of the manufactured homes built in a factory and intended for long term habitation without being moved (not the ones pictured).
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#38
It’s so decrepit, crumbling infrastructure, garbage everywhere. Everyone looks miserable.
Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago (edited)
well its a fasc1st sh1t country. Everybody is sad like iran or pakistan. They put on a fake "i'm so happy" mask and roll the dice baby......... They even downvote the truth to feel secure in their insecurity xD
George Costanza 4 months ago
Sorry but there's zero chance you've seen ALL the USA to make that claim. Most areas don't have these problems whatsoever.
#39
There’s like, a museum for everything. I absolutely LOVE it, but when I drove through the states for the first time I was so confused by all the signs for all the different types of museums lol.
Kim Kermes 4 months ago
In Joshua Tree, outside the National Park in the southern California desert, we have a museum of crochet in a giant green pepper.
Never Snarky 4 months ago
My very favorite non-art museum is The National Mustard Museum in Wisconsin.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
This is one of the good things about America. I hope we can keep it!
Living Example 4 months ago
There are actually more museums than McDonalds and Starbucks combined in the U.S..
#40
Hotel breakfasts don’t include vegetables
Kristiina Männiste 4 months ago
Depends on the country. In Estonia there will always be (plastic tasting) tomatoes and cucumbers. Even the cheapest Polish hotels will create a banquet fit for a king with everything from gherkins to pears and the French will give you a coffee and a (delicious) pastry and if you are lucky some jam.
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Samantha H 4 months ago
The most magnificent breakfast I had was in Berlin years ago, still think about it. Freshly made breads, smoothie, fruits, meats, pastries, hot cooked breakfast, and indeed vegetables.
Sapna Sarfare 4 months ago
I think India is one of the few places with pure veg options for everything
Auntriarch 4 months ago
And it's done well. I could just eat a masala dosa right now...
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 4 months ago
Vegetables with breakfast surely - tomatoes, mushrooms, fried potatoes
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Dav Carro-Ripalda 4 months ago (edited)
Nor does english breakfast or continental breakfast... In fact, I find it weird adding vegetables to a breakfast.
#41
Neverending breakfast cereal aisle in the grocery store. I have been an Australian for over a decade now and the cereal selection in the states is ridiculous!
Sarah 4 months ago
Don’t believe you! From what I’ve seen in films— it’s bright and sunny and they all have eggs and toast and pancakes with bacon for breakfast,
Tim Fawcett 4 months ago
Which they don't eat apart from maybe a mouthful of toast before rushing to school/work
Load More Replies... Samantha H 4 months ago
I lived in the USA for 15 years. I was astounded at the size of the Pancakes- there was a small stack or large one (that was huge) I saw many people pouring tons of Maple syrup flavour (just sugar) on them with a lot of butter. I lived in NJ and I really liked it and I liked the people, shout out to any NJ folks on here,
Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
This may explain the rage most americans feel. Just TRY to find a specific soup in Walmart..infuriating.
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
The rest of world probably thinks the same about your vegemite aisle.
#42
Talk too damn much. I’m talking the kind just to fill the silence.
Sonia J-Coffee 4 months ago
But if the other one is quiet and wants to be 6 meters far.... too cold ,
#43
The lack of third spaces. We gather in parks and hang out in libraries and stuff, there is just drive-ins and "no loitering" signs. Houses must be overly Huge with all s**t since you have no where to go?
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Gee, if only the U.S. had a system of natural parks that's the envy of the world.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
You have to drive forever to get to one. And then pay to park.
Load More Replies... SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
I hate this, too. If you go out of your house, you’re expected to buy something.
#44
Not taking off their shoes at the door. Using paper plates when it isn’t a picnic in the park
Apatheist Account2 4 months ago
The shoes thing is very variable. Some households in the UK do, some don't. It varies by family.
basmilko 4 months ago
I cackled so hard at this - cause that's what I think a lot of the time (I take my shoes off in my own home, have never been forced to take my shoes off and never force anyone to take their shoes off. Floors are washable. - People act like wearing shoes in the house is the WORST THING IN THE WORLD.
Load More Replies... Margaret Wartime 4 months ago
What? I take my shoes off because I don’t want to track dirt through my house.
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#45
Why do you still have overhead power lines everywhere, even in big cities, like here near Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York? In Europe, we've had power lines buried for decades. And the phones are only mobile.
Ripley 4 months ago
This is a pretty dopey statement. Here in Australia we have overhead powerlines as well. The cost to bury them would be *astronomical", as it would be in the US.
ADJ 4 months ago
As a person who build power lines for living I can tell you that overhead lines are 3 to 10 times cheaper to build than underground lines. They cost more over the years due to increased maintenance costs, but for a short term cost they beat underground lines every time. That said, there are basically no new overhead lines build in Poland in voltages below 110000V for couple of years now, and where possible and economicaly viable lines are modernized and buried underground.
XenoMurph 4 months ago
US is a huge place, with a less dense population (now, now, don't be mean) so overhead powerlines are much more efficient.
B.M. 4 months ago
They are cheaper to Install one time I ddmit. But in Hurricane regions? How many times do you rebuild then, compared to burying once, until this argument stops being true?
Load More Replies... Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
"In Europe, we've had power lines buried for decades" - seriously? I'm old. Overhead power lines in my lifetime are of two sorts: national grid and out-of-the-way countryside. I gather the same applied when my parents were born (before WW2) - I've seen photos of the cities back then.
basmilko 4 months ago
Rockaway Beach is one of the few neighborhood in NYC in which the power lines are NOT underground. NYC (especially in Manhattan) started to put their utilities underground in the late 1880s after the great blizzard. The Rocaways are a less populated beach neighborhood with a high water table which is why the phone lines are not under ground in that specific neighborhood. New York City is made up of 5 Counties. Rockaway is in Queens, the second most suburban (I use that term VERY loosely)
George Costanza 4 months ago
Dense urban areas often bury their powerlines, like my city of Boston. But the huge space of the US means it would be far too costly to bury most other power lines in suburban or rural areas.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
Because corporate sociopaths are too cheap to fund the work to replace overhead power lines with underground power lines. They get more money if they just let our electrical system degrade to the point where private individuals are forced to buy their own backup generators.
Debby Keir 4 months ago
The only time you get fully underground infrastructe is when the original infrastructure was destroyed, or when they didn't get electricity etc until pretty recently.
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago
(upvoted the downvote on Lady Eowyn - downvotes on BP exist to hide posts from view, and why hide that?) - I've still got a landline phone, but the cable is underground until the pole outside the house. It's also run via the Internet router; we've converted to optical fibre here, so I've actually got two lines running from the telephone pole: the old copper connection and the new fibre connection - the copper wire's still connected to the internal socket, but I gather it's been switched off at the exchange (I don't know the exact process). Even if we'd dropped the landline phone, we'd still have an overhead cable coming into the house for the internet connection.
Load More Replies... #46
How peppy they are, even with absolute strangers. It was very off-putting when I first moved here.
Samantha H 4 months ago
I lived in the USA for 15 years, I found them very friendly, I don't understand why anyone finds it off putting.
BK BigFish 4 months ago
Other cultures are more reserved, so they are polite to strangers, but friendly, with smiles and hugs, only to friends and family. It can confuse people from other cultures when an American treats you like you and your friends treat each other - but then isn't really interested in you and can't be counted on.
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Reset Game 4 months ago (edited)
😅 When obvious trumpsters park next to me when boondocking, the best way to get rid of them is to talk to them in a peppy/high energy friendly way. Most times they'll smile, say a few words and wait until I go inside my RV to pack in whatever they unpacked and leave. .... Probably helps that I don't have natural colored hair. 😁
Silberwolf 4 months ago
At first I would assume that person wants to distract me while another person steals my wallet/phone. Perhaps people are just too cold/reserved where I live.
#47
I slept through the flight
Woke up as we prepared to land
Saw miles of blocky buildings in straight lines
Thought I'd just been twilight zoned into fuckin Minecraft...that's what USA looks like from the air
Kim Kermes 4 months ago
Fly into Minneapolis/St Paul. Surrounded by rivers, lakes, and tree filled suburbs. Or Palm Springs, with the mountains and deserts and green golf courses. Denver in the Rocky Mountains is impressive. I couldn't like in New York City, either, but I hear upstate is gorgeous.
Jerome Lenovo 4 months ago
green golf courses are an insult to global warming. Nothing to be proud of. :/
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BewilderedBanana 4 months ago
Kinda weird to judge the entire USA based on one experience in one airport :)
George Costanza 4 months ago
Sorry but flying into ONE airport in the US and pretending that area stands in for the entire massive country is pretty ignorant.
Debby Keir 4 months ago
Fly from UK to NYC and you'll see some wonderful rocky scrubland, little lakes etc as you come over New England, and trees - lots of trees.
Kristiina Männiste 4 months ago
Sounds like LA. But we did find a part near the Hollywood sign where houses had individuality (looked like english cottages?) and real gardens and the streets had trees.
JL 4 months ago
You do realize the US is almost the size of Europe, right? Is London the same as the English countryside? is Spain the same as Romania? Is Azerbaijan the same as Norway? Name a climate, a configuration of buildings and houses, a lifestyle, etc. and you will find it somewhere in the US.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
We do have a lot of extremely UGLY architecture. Anything built later than the 1930s is usually an ugly box.
#48
Drinking water with ice🤔 wearing PJ to Walmart or school🤔 Use fork to eat rice🥲 The tipping culture🤔 The huge portion of foods, even for breakfast menu😂 I think that’s it hahaha but I found this fascinating
Auntriarch 4 months ago
Hard to say, when most of the world does exactly that.
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BewilderedBanana 4 months ago
Where is OP from where it's considered weird to put ice in water?
turk 4 months ago
It's changing in recent years, but generally, in a lot of Europe they don't put ice in water and drink it at room temperature. My wife is from Russia and prefers it that way. In cold weather she requests it not to be chilled. I drink ice water in any temperature.
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Smeghead Tribble Down Under 4 months ago
There is no other way to drink water but with ice! Try drinking tap-temp water in Australia in the summer = 🤮🤮🤮
Apatheist Account2 4 months ago
Put water in a jug in the fridge - that cools it to below 5C.
Load More Replies... Beef Brisket 4 months ago (edited)
Why does everyone criticize the U.S. for "tipping culture" and not the other half of the world's population that practices it? I never see anyone dump on India for its "tipping culture." And P.S., servers often prefer tipping to minimum wage because they make way more money that way.
Schrödinger's Douchebag 4 months ago
The issue is it also creates a culture where the customer becomes entitled because they know the server is sweating on that tip. A worker should never be treated poorly at their job.
Load More Replies... #49
They walk into a room, no greetings, no howdy, NO MANNERS! Makes my 🇯🇲 blood boil.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 4 months ago
I can go along with saying hello. But I don’t want to get stuck in a long conversation.
Reset Game 4 months ago
You weren't wearing a red hat were you? Yea.... It's like that Family Guy episode
What do you think ?
Susie Elle 4 months ago (edited)
I'd like to balance it with something I really admire from the Americans: y'all are SO passionate and dedicated, and yes, sometimes that also means you're passionate for 'wrong' things, but the dedication you have for the things you believe in blows my mind.
G A 4 months ago
Some of the criticisms are ridiculously petty. They then bring down the level of any serious valid criticism. Paper plate use is hardly at the level of the Trumpanzees ruining the social standing of their citizens worldwide. The US is not seen my many as an attractive holiday destination any more. People these days say 'ugh-no' at the suggestion, almost consistently in my limited experience. It's sad that a large part of the population cut off their nose to spite their face. Worst political decision since Brexit.
JK 4 months ago (edited)
I'm a sad American that will have to endure this horror for who knows how long. I live in the #1 leisure and recreational destination in the US (not NYC) and apparently people like us for our gentle and professional demeanor, accommodations, and crazy good food. I feel for other cities hit by the hostility of the president. Food drives for laid off hospitality workers need help.
Load More Replies... Anony Mouse 4 months ago
Thinking they need an oversize pickup truck for supermarket trips or to buy glue from a hardware store when they don’t know what a tek screw is.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Phillips head became the standard screw head here decades ago. But Robertson & Torx are used among the professionals more and more.
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Nicola Roberts 4 months ago
For me, something that I've learned from US news, is about voter registration. Depending on your state's rules, you may only be allowed to vote for the political party you are registered with. This may apply when you vote in: A presidential primary or caucus. Congressional or local office primaries. If you weren’t' aware already, I'm a Brit and I really dislike discussing politics and religion with anyone in polite company. So that fact this information is "registered" is wholly abominable.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Whether this is true is entirely up to the state laws where you are voting. Some allow you to vote in any primary election for any candidate, no matter your declared party.
Load More Replies... Tamara 4 months ago
I remember the plastic on the couch, never seen that before or after anywhere but in the States
Dane 1 month ago
A lot of this is overt, but fair. The current Administration's antics, the religiosity, the over-the-top xenophobia, etc are all more worrisome, but still spot on. Next year will mark the USA's 250th birthday, and they will make a BIG deal of it! They don't realize that many people in Europe and elsewhere go to pubs older this! Go to schools and churches multiple-times this old! It is true, the US is the know-it-all teenage son of the world, that has many more mistakes to be made before any true wisdom comes through. At least, as an American, I hope it does.
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Honestly, it's how much Americans HATE themselves! Why?? Sure, you're not perfect--no country is--but you're amazing, friendly people with so many good things about y'all. Yet not a single topic can be discussed, not even squirrels in underpants, without someone needing to pipe up and bash the country you're living in. How did you get sooo brainwashed?
Susie Elle 4 months ago (edited)
I'd like to balance it with something I really admire from the Americans: y'all are SO passionate and dedicated, and yes, sometimes that also means you're passionate for 'wrong' things, but the dedication you have for the things you believe in blows my mind.
G A 4 months ago
Some of the criticisms are ridiculously petty. They then bring down the level of any serious valid criticism. Paper plate use is hardly at the level of the Trumpanzees ruining the social standing of their citizens worldwide. The US is not seen my many as an attractive holiday destination any more. People these days say 'ugh-no' at the suggestion, almost consistently in my limited experience. It's sad that a large part of the population cut off their nose to spite their face. Worst political decision since Brexit.
JK 4 months ago (edited)
I'm a sad American that will have to endure this horror for who knows how long. I live in the #1 leisure and recreational destination in the US (not NYC) and apparently people like us for our gentle and professional demeanor, accommodations, and crazy good food. I feel for other cities hit by the hostility of the president. Food drives for laid off hospitality workers need help.
Load More Replies... Anony Mouse 4 months ago
Thinking they need an oversize pickup truck for supermarket trips or to buy glue from a hardware store when they don’t know what a tek screw is.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Phillips head became the standard screw head here decades ago. But Robertson & Torx are used among the professionals more and more.
Load More Replies... Nicola Roberts 4 months ago
For me, something that I've learned from US news, is about voter registration. Depending on your state's rules, you may only be allowed to vote for the political party you are registered with. This may apply when you vote in: A presidential primary or caucus. Congressional or local office primaries. If you weren’t' aware already, I'm a Brit and I really dislike discussing politics and religion with anyone in polite company. So that fact this information is "registered" is wholly abominable.
Tom Brincefield 4 months ago
Whether this is true is entirely up to the state laws where you are voting. Some allow you to vote in any primary election for any candidate, no matter your declared party.
Load More Replies... Tamara 4 months ago
I remember the plastic on the couch, never seen that before or after anywhere but in the States
Dane 1 month ago
A lot of this is overt, but fair. The current Administration's antics, the religiosity, the over-the-top xenophobia, etc are all more worrisome, but still spot on. Next year will mark the USA's 250th birthday, and they will make a BIG deal of it! They don't realize that many people in Europe and elsewhere go to pubs older this! Go to schools and churches multiple-times this old! It is true, the US is the know-it-all teenage son of the world, that has many more mistakes to be made before any true wisdom comes through. At least, as an American, I hope it does.
Beef Brisket 4 months ago
Honestly, it's how much Americans HATE themselves! Why?? Sure, you're not perfect--no country is--but you're amazing, friendly people with so many good things about y'all. Yet not a single topic can be discussed, not even squirrels in underpants, without someone needing to pipe up and bash the country you're living in. How did you get sooo brainwashed?
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