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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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
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.
Many Americans are appalled by this gun lust and find it illogical. Can some of us move to England?
That they think the world revolves around them
Brainwashed from birth into thinking they're the "greatest country on Earth" is crazy business.
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
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!
Thoughts and prayers apparently being a solution to anything.
The amount of bible bashers is WILD! Their actions are usually in complete contradiction too!
The healthcare system prices. It's absurd.
Hospital visits and ambulance rides throw those already struggling into crippling debt. It's sad how easily they exploit their people.
Thinking life is better in the US than anywhere else.
Again with the brainwashing from birth. Greatest country in the world - what a joke!
Americans get the most propaganda yet believe they are still free. At least the Chinese know their media is propaganda
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.
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.
We should never again demean people who were forced to defend our nation (draft).
Load More Replies...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.
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.
Load More Replies...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.
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?
Educating the people makes it harder to control them.
Load More Replies...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.
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...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
"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.
Many go into the armed services because they have virtually no other employment options.
or college money. That's the 2 main reasons. I never met anyone that was a "patriot"
Load More Replies..."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...
About a decade ago my steel mill put a clause in our labor contract to give preferential hiring to veterans. This happened right before we had a lot of retirements. So, we got a lot of them. Our production has gone down year to year, we've been sold twice, the atmosphere has gotten toxic with fake testosterone, racism, and sexism, and the union has gotten weaker and weaker. I'm not impressed with them.
Those preferences are due to tax breaks for companies hiring vets.
Load More Replies...Like police and firefighters who risk their lives WILLINGLY (cause our military is 100% voluntary) I d**n right will thank them for making that sacrifice, cause lord knows i'm not gonna do it.
You probably also don't want the job of a nurse or a carer for mentally ill people, so don't forget to thank those, too.
Load More Replies...Many European countries have been occupied in WWII with all its attending horrors. We don't want that anymore so you need a strong army. I see an army as a defense-force: anyone who invades my country and kills my countrymen should never be able to do that unpunished. An army is there not for war, but to keep the peace, they are the ones who don't get to run when things are bad. Wanting to protect is not a bad characteristic. We don't 'thank you for your service' but we respect the sacrifice you make and acknowledge that you are prepared to lay down your life for others.
All that is fine. But, none of that happens with the US. ALL it's wars have been on foreign soil for political influence or money (ok, except the civil war.)
Load More Replies...Maybe it looks different to countries with universal service. Thanking us for giving up most of our rights and risking or being in harm's way deserves a thank you, which is hardly worship. Military and veteran's discounts acknowledge the pay limits and for some (moi) the rest of a lifetime of underemployment and corresponding lowered retirement pay because of the experience. The orange man cult, on the other hand, does seem to worship the wanna be tyrant whose cronies are destroying the country, in violation of their oaths of office.
It looks different to countries without national service, too. We're not compelled to serve in Australia, and no one thanks military personnel for their service - it's just weird. You're right about the orange toddler, though.
Load More Replies...Tell that to my dad (Vietnam and Korea). He has gone through so much for this d**n country. He has 4 purple hearts (wounded in action), and too many medals to count. The amount of trauma and PTSD he had to go through was incomprehensible, but he was still an incredible person, even from what happened to him. This is why I thank him for his service.
The platitude of "Thank you for your service" has the same energy as "Thoughts and prayers" in that it is an easy throwaway phrase that exonerates the speaker from making any actual effort to make real change.
Load More Replies...Thanks to every person defending Ukraine for their service. Thank you US soldiers who freed us Europeans some 80 years ago from the demon my parents adored. Living in a country that is always suspicious of their armed forces, where a big amount of people say (in polls) that they would NOT defend their country, their and their compatriots' freedom---I believe some of that "thank you for your service" attitude would do my country good. (Not the US extent, but the lack of it is scary as well).
Rachel Pelz: when European leaders gather to commemorate the sacrifices made to liberate Europe from Nåzism, they make a point of trying to honour *everyone*. That includes not just the US troops. There were Poles, Canadians, Brits, Aussies, Czechs, Free French and I don't know who else - not to mention the Soviet troops on the Eastern Front, many of whom were Ukrainian. (it's complicated, because various groups don't get the mention they deserve - British troops from India, to give just one example of many. And Russia tries to pretend that it was only Russians in the USSR who fought the Názis).
Load More Replies...Erm WE DO THAT HERE IN THE UK !! Only unlike USA we LOOK AFTER OUR VETERANS!! we don5 leave em to rot on the streets , with f*k ptsd WE LOOK AFTER OUR VETERANS!!
I'm extremely proud to be from a military family. My Grandad was first wave on D-Day, my Great grandad was in the Imperial Camel Corp, My Uncle sniped those who tried to stop people escaping across the Berlin wall to the West and my brother is a Lt. Col. Cringeworthy!!!!!, whoever you are you can sod off to north korea. I thank them all for their service every day!
Kinda feel like this is a bit harsh. Wouldn’t say it was cult level, nor would I say it’s cringeworthy. Perhaps rolling it out to other services who put their lives at risk or make sacrifices for the benefit of the country ie. Firefighters, Police Officers etc might make more inclusive?
I've never even heard of it apart from people on Bored Panda saying it's weird.
Load More Replies...But the “thanks” is purely performative…our Vets need proper long term medical, and mental healthcare, they need a living wage, they need to be NOT sent on useless “police actions”…what? Healthcare? They chose to do that! They need to “man up”!
Load More Replies...
My European friends tell me we are SO LOUD which i have witnessed when traveling. Lordy we are loud.
Americans are not the only ones who are loud. Have you met any mediterranean people?? We are very loud!
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 😎🤷♀️
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.
Sales tax varies by state, county, and city. Corporations are too cheap to pay for the computer programming that would fix this.
That walking from one place to another is not normal.
That depends on where you are. Boston? Yes, we walk everywhere. Los Angeles? Not so much.
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.
like said : army + religion = fascism. Amerikkka is screwed for a long time. Deprograming brainwashing and p3d0 propaganda is very hard
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.
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.
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)
Every manchild is so easily triggered, and their solution is show of physical strength. Like ewww.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sugar. Literally everywhere.
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.🤢
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??
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
But drag queens reading to children in a library is indoctrination, right?
Ads for prescription d***s that sound like death threats: “May cause internal bleeding, night terrors, and loss of moral compass. Ask your doctor!”
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”
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 🤢🥴🤢🤮
People I know from other countries often mention the monstrous portion sizes at many American restaurants.
Commercials every 2 minutes during a TV show/movie. Huge gaps at bathroom stall doors. Saying 'like' ten times in every sentence.
The 'like' thing is annoying. Some people even stick it in when writing.
Eating fast food daily. True story, cousin goes back to work, no home cooked meals, just take out 7 days a week.
Other countries people can speak multiple languages. America: 🗣️SPEAK ENGLISH. Nosies
Thinking an American accent = Standard English
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.
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.
- 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
Um, they do not typically use paper plates at home, unless they're having a party.
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.
It’s so decrepit, crumbling infrastructure, garbage everywhere. Everyone looks miserable.
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.
In Joshua Tree, outside the National Park in the southern California desert, we have a museum of crochet in a giant green pepper.
Hotel breakfasts don’t include vegetables
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!
Talk too damn much. I’m talking the kind just to fill the silence.
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?
Not taking off their shoes at the door. Using paper plates when it isn’t a picnic in the park
The shoes thing is very variable. Some households in the UK do, some don't. It varies by family.
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.
How peppy they are, even with absolute strangers. It was very off-putting when I first moved here.
I lived in the USA for 15 years, I found them very friendly, I don't understand why anyone finds it off putting.
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
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.
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
They walk into a room, no greetings, no howdy, NO MANNERS! Makes my 🇯🇲 blood boil.
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.
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.
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...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.
Phillips head became the standard screw head here decades ago. But Robertson & Torx are used among the professionals more and more.
Load More Replies...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.
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...I remember the plastic on the couch, never seen that before or after anywhere but in the States
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.
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?
You're going back to the 70s and 80s comedy films for those tropes, aren't you?
Load More Replies...I was surprised not to see, they think there money can be used world wide. Or that how dodgy there elected people are, how back water some of there places are or how big there houses are
That was the way in a lot of 3rd world countries when the currency was worth something. That died out 20 years ago or so. Maybe some think it still applies but US currency ain't worth di ck now.
Load More Replies...I couldn't read this thread because it appears that readers here associate the US with trump and maga. HALF of us did not vote for him.
But the majority of those who voted did, and those who didn't vote can be considered to have endorsed his values too. It was no secret what trump and his maga following wanted to do, and by not voting against that, they said they are fine if he wins.
Load More Replies...Sometimes I think the world would be a better place if we valued individuality, variety and diversity more than lazy stereotypes. Most of the things on this list are said by (some) Americans about (other) Americans. I read a lot of "liberal" media, and the stereotypes about trailer parks, fast food, etc., are pretty much the same as this. (And many conservative Americans will say the same kind of stuff about cities all being rundown hellholes...).
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.
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.
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...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.
Phillips head became the standard screw head here decades ago. But Robertson & Torx are used among the professionals more and more.
Load More Replies...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.
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...I remember the plastic on the couch, never seen that before or after anywhere but in the States
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.
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?
You're going back to the 70s and 80s comedy films for those tropes, aren't you?
Load More Replies...I was surprised not to see, they think there money can be used world wide. Or that how dodgy there elected people are, how back water some of there places are or how big there houses are
That was the way in a lot of 3rd world countries when the currency was worth something. That died out 20 years ago or so. Maybe some think it still applies but US currency ain't worth di ck now.
Load More Replies...I couldn't read this thread because it appears that readers here associate the US with trump and maga. HALF of us did not vote for him.
But the majority of those who voted did, and those who didn't vote can be considered to have endorsed his values too. It was no secret what trump and his maga following wanted to do, and by not voting against that, they said they are fine if he wins.
Load More Replies...Sometimes I think the world would be a better place if we valued individuality, variety and diversity more than lazy stereotypes. Most of the things on this list are said by (some) Americans about (other) Americans. I read a lot of "liberal" media, and the stereotypes about trailer parks, fast food, etc., are pretty much the same as this. (And many conservative Americans will say the same kind of stuff about cities all being rundown hellholes...).
