Cultures are a thing. And they’re all unique in their own ways.
Hence, it’s only normal that someone outside of a particular culture would find some things odd about it—or at the very least interesting.
AskReddit is at it again, asking non-Americans who had been to the US what they thought was the weirdest thing about America that Americans don’t realize it’s weird.
Bored Panda has recently covered this topic in another article, so be sure to check it out once you’re done with this one. And while you’re down there, why not vote and comment on the submissions you like the most!
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Tax. I find it annoying how in America tax is added after you check at the cashier. In Australia tax is included in the price, e.g if the price says $6.00 you pay $6. But in America if it costs $6.00 it's actually $6.07 or something. Idk I just have found it a nuisance.
Now that Thanksgiving and Christmas is over:
The weirdest thing is that Americans will ask what you are doing for thanksgiving. Are you going to your family etc... When you say no. They invite you to their home.
(I was a student, My family was thousands of miles away, and I'm happy that the local Cracker Barrel is open and looking forward to a meal there)
My Professor did that. Invited me to his home. I had a good time, but it was strange. I'm meeting his uncles and aunts. and one little girl threw a tantrum, I had to take her to calm her down etc...
It was weird. But also wonderful. In my country things like this would never happen. You don't bring a stranger to a family event.
But I'm thankful things like this happen here.
When I was younger I thought thanksgiving was what the Americans called Christmas Eve. It wasn’t til I was older that I found out Thanksgiving is like a month before. I do have a question for the Americans, do you eat the traditional turkey on Christmas Day as well as thanksgiving or vice versa etc?
How your medical ads show an old guy living life well because of X-drug. He has the best time, the wife is having the best time and it's all because of the drug making things better.
The end of the ad is full of warnings about how this happy drug can potentially kill you and your family, nuke your dog and make cats impotent.
Recap the cliff-hanger episode of life in Alaska before another ad break.
Unwatchable TV
How much power your employer has over you. They can fire you at will, dictate that you work overtime, mandate that you take a drug test at will... the power balance between employer and employee in NZ is very different...
Actually there are a lot of laws preventing such things from happening now
Flags. Everywhere. It’s not as if you’re likely to forget where you are!
The concept of pharmaceutical advertisements. Your doctor is supposed to recommend drugs to you, not the other way around.
Americans are super friendly to the point that I (Australian) thought it was sarcasm or fake.
Really? I find Australia is pretty friendly too. I walk along the street and most of the time people will say good morning/afternoon. You drive in the country and people will wave, you get greeted by checkout operators etc.
I went to seaworld with my mum when I was in my mid teens. Halfway through the show, the performer (Not the whale) asked everybody in the military to stand up and the whole crowd gave them a round of applause. They sat back down and the show continued as if nothing had happened. Couldn't imagine anything similar happening back in Blighty.
Edit: this was at Seaworld, Orlando not San Diego. Roughly 2003/4
Everything in America is huge. I don't just mean the people or portion sizes, because we all know about that- but the roads, the buildings, the ceilings, the space between everything... America is gigantic. It just feels larger than it does here. I'm Australian but I've been to Asia and size-wise it's similar to Australia, and I've seen Europeans say the same about America. Everything is bigger.
Free refills. Went to a restaurant with my dad (both German) and all of a sudden the waiter took away my drink with another perfectly good sipp in it and I must have looked pretty shocked. It was only then when my dad explained to me that you guys have free refills.
Legal drinking age at 21 it’s really weird especially at age 18 people consider u as an adult.
Yeah, most Americans don't really understand it either. You can be handed a weapon and told to kill someone in the military, but nooooo, pweese no drinky.
Complimenting strangers. When I visited the US I went to an amusement park and a girl complimented my glasses and that was my first time getting complimented and at the same amusement park a senior lady complimented my dad for having a beautiful family and a handsome son (lol me). I was really happy that day.
It brightens my day when randoms compliment me too. Just yesterday someone complimented my son and said he has such beautiful eyes. Best compliment I ever got was a woman telling me that I’ve got this and I am doing a good job even though I was a sobbing mess because my son was being difficult in the middle of the footpath.
Waste. Especially of food.
I've seen half of a large pizza thrown in the garbage, simple as that. Broke something? Don't even bother fixing it, just throw it into the bin and buy another.
I once went to a show in Broadway, they had special themed cups for the Phantom of the Opera show that you could purchase. They were made of glass. Some of the theater bought it, consumed it, and just left it there. They didn't even bother taking it home as a souvenir. They saw it, had the urge to buy it, and just did it.
That's something insane for me.
I’d of collected all their unwanted ones, bought them home washed them up and be very proud of myself 🤣
On behalf of my wife “what’s up with the gaps in the toilet stall doors and no bidet?”
That stall door question is actually pretty good, I don’t know the answer.
In Germany "How are you?" is an actual question and you generally only ask it, if you know the other person. It was super hard to explain to my mum that the answer is always "fine, thank you" and that cashiers don't really care about how you actually feel, when we visited the US in 08.
yeah we just say "good". If we don't then they get alarmed... only is they know us tho
Some European told me that it’s crazy how restaurants are loud and busy and how people eat quick and leave. For him it was normal to sit around and talk for an hour or more after eating in a restaurant.
I would hate to be rushed whilst eating my meal. It’s completely normal to sit down and chat whilst having you meal, we take our time and socialise.
American that just traveled overseas. I went to a great bookstore in Edinburgh and the cashier asked if I wanted to sign up for a rewards membership. This led to a conversation about how their CEO or something just took over Barnes and Noble in the States. I stated the closest B&N to me is an hour away, and the other cashier jumped in, saying how easy it is to forget how far apart things are in the States. He was just kind of baffled and said it often blows his mind. I moved 13 hours away from my hometown and I still manage to be in the same country, which seems like a foreign concept for most Europeans. When, in reality, I could have moved even further away and still been in the US.
You can drive for few days to a week in Australia and still be in the same country. Our country is about the size of the US. It will take approx 60 hours (without stopping) to drive from one side of Australia to the other.
Clearly the fact that there are people to put your groceries in a bag for you, I’ve never been so stressed and uncomfortable that while I was watching this young girl taking care of my groceries
This is not common in my area of the US. You bag your own while the cashier glares at you.
It’s common in PA for them to do the same, some stores do bag them, most don’t.
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Where I live, a large portion of students or adults with disabilities work bagging groceries in supermarkets.
Really? In Aus they bag it for you and with a full trolley of stuff, by the time you've got everything on the (tiny) conveyer belt and got your wallet/purse/cash out, you only need to wait maybe 1 minute or 2 for them to finish and let you pay. I'd be incredibly slow bagging my groceries as I have no experience and wouldn't know what to do to not squish things, they always seem to be very careful about putting things in the right bag and not squishing anything :) Shout out to the amazing cashiers where I live, you're awesome.
It is another speed thing. That person bagging for you allows it to be done faster and gets you out of the way. That is also why even at Walmart the cashier does it.
she's happy to have a paid job, have you thought of that? In South Africa all the supermarkets have packers. We have huge unemployment rate and these menial jobs help a lot.
In Europe we manage just fine without those "menial jobs" and we pack our own bags. Sounds more like your labour market and social system is out of balance if people have to rely on these jobs to survive
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There are some stores that are deliberately more friendly than others, and cashiers/baggers will strike up conversations eagerly. Inevitably, they comment on what you buy and that makes me nervous for no reason but I would imagine it might make someone not want to buy condoms or hemorrhoid cream there.
I'd much rather bag my own - no squashed bread! - but as a former grocery cashier, I know a lot of high school kids are working as sackers/baggers to earn their own money so I'm mostly okay with it.
I've never had a cashier who squished my bread.. O_o They're always very careful and friendly, even if they seem to be having a bad day.
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I bag my own - I hate that most baggers have no clue what they're doing or why they shouldn't just stack things in the bags...frozen on lettuce comes to mind..
The big supermarket chain where I live (Texas) hires a large number of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as baggers. There is a young woman in my church who has Down's Syndrome, and she is immensely proud of her job and the fact that she can live independently of her parents because of it. She has won awards for being the employee of the month, which is another point of pride for her and her family. It's also a good way for teenagers to get job experience and learn to deal with the public.
It depends on the store. Personally, I use the self-checkout and bag my own groceries...ever since I bought tomatoes and bread and arrived home with marinara and communion wafers.
Where I live, they bag for you and will usually offer to help you get them in the car, though most people do not take them up on that offer. It's kind of assumed that you won't unless you actually need physical help. It's also pretty common to see people bag their own stuff as the cashier is ringing them up if there's a line of people waiting.
In my state, they ask if you need a bag, because they cost a little more. I don't usually get bags, they're very unnecessary
It is nice. I had surgery on my shoulder and was in a sling. I usually just bag myself but as soon as they saw the sling, somebody bagged my groceries and took them out to my vehicle.
It's a paying job. There was a chain of markets that have the bag person take out your cart to your car and load it. Talk about weird. The first time it happened I was half the age of the person loading my car. It was ridiculous.
Stores in my part of the country are either/or, just depends. Baggers used to have to go through trainig on how to properly pack your bags but not anymore I guess. I really prefer to do it myself so cold things are together, not refrigerated items, etc.
When I was in the UK there were occasions when children did this as a fund raiser for sports clubs, guide troops etc. I prefer to do my own bagging so I know where everything is for unpacking, but always contributed to their cause anyway. It wasn't their fault I was obsessive!
Depends on the store though. We do have some stores that are bag-your-own. They're usually a little less expensive too.
Went to the grocers today and provided my own bags, the girl put all my frozen stuff into my cloth bags and my non frozen stuff in to my insulated freezer bag,
It's not uncommon to have someone who is clueless bag your stuff wrong.
And I'd get stressed out in China between bagging my stuff and paying while gramma next in line is already nudging me out of her way with her hip.
My favourite system here has no conveyor belt. You push the cart next to an empy one at the register station. You place a box or crate in the empty one and then the cashier scans everything while moving everything to the new cart, neatly placing them in your box. Think they practice a lot of Tetris.... It's very fast.
Here not only you have to bag your groceries, but with the pandemic they limit to just 1 person at the checkout so my wife have to wait away while I run back an for forth putting the items in the belt and back in the cart :/
Now at Wal-Mart they bag as they ring up. Next to the cashier is a kind of small merry go round with bags. They scan, stick it in a bag (usually they have 3 or 4 bags filling at once, cold stuff, cans, bread...) And as the bags fill they get spun to my side where I can take the bags off to put in my cart and as I do, a new bag opens for them to fill up. Very convenient.
And if you'd like they'll bring them outside and put them in your car for you.
We can order online and have 'click and collect' or home delivery in the UK from the largest supermarkets.
Load More Replies... The only place we pack our own bags is Aldi, otherwise the checkout operator does it for you. When Covid hit us there was a time where we had to pack our own bags at a supermarket chain and there was so much backlash.
I'm assuming you're being downvoted because of the idiots who were annoyed about having to pack their own bags. Otherwise I see nothing wrong with this comment. This is very normal in Aus for the cashier to pack your bags. They scan the item, put it in the bag, repeat. (for anyone who didn't know, not you Foxxy)
Load More Replies... German/European customs taking over, I guess 😆 I've been to other countries and so far never encountered any grocery shops with a packing service. Also Aldi cashiers in particular are famous for their speed. Customers in Germany mostly put the groceries (not only at Aldi) back in the shopping cart and really sort them into bags or boxes when outside at the car.
Load More Replies... Almost everything is self checkout now. I can never decide because I feel like I should get a discount if I have to be the cashier but I also don’t want to talk to or interact with the actual cashier.
Not necessarily weird but I've been here five years and I still can't get used to people replying to "thank you" with "uh huh". To me it sounds/feels like I'm thanking them and their response is "yes that is correct, you should thank me".
Knowing me, I’d think they didn’t hear me correctly and say it again 🙈🙆🏼♀️
For context: I'm from The Netherlands. The weirdest thing for me was a drive through liquor store. And a drive through ATM. In fact, it was the realization that Americans do everything by car.
My wife went to Philadelphia for work about ten years ago and wanted to walk from the hotel to the Target store across the street. People thought she was crazy.
Well take into consideration that it’s Philadelphia, we do weird crazy stuff all the time. A man stole an ambulance, got shot at by cops, got tazed, and at last, arrested.
Someone from my country who lives in USA told me that without a car you are crippled in America.
Edit: this is just an observation, not criticism.
The point of that person was that a car in US is a necessity, not a luxury or extravagance or a status symbol or sth.
And a lot of people buy second hand or used cars coz they are cheaper.
Most of America's infrastructure was built for or with the expectation that people would be using cars.
Car dealerships have huge flags. I don’t get why you’d have a flag the size of ten RVs.
So many roads don’t have street lights.
Not weird, but portion sizes are also huge. I struggled with finishing my food sometimes.
With the portion size thing (which is one of the things people tend to find odd about the US) a lot of us like the larger portions because we can bring home the leftovers to eat on busy days where there isn't much time to make supper.
For me as British bloke who only travelled for 6 weeks in the US:
Your public transport is largely poor but everything is built for cars and your cars are big.
You advertise not businesses but personalities a lot. So it’s not that KGH Estate Agents will well your property but MARY HUGHTON WILL PERSONALLY SELL YOUR HOUSE (with a big picture of her face).
Random people will talk to you. I’m a Londoner so it is different up north in the UK but especially when I got to the southern states people were so happy to talk to random strangers.
You guys actually sit at the bar in bars. When we go to a pub/bar, we’ll go with friends and rarely interact outside of that group really. You guys jump up at that bar and just start chatting.
Where homelessness is visible it’s bloody awful. San Francisco was horrible for this, me and my (now) wife ended up making a load of extra spag bowl to give to the homeless people outside our hostel because it was shocking to us.
If I think of anymore I’ll add them but it’s Christmas Day and I should probably talk to my family.
In the south a lot of people are very polite, wE nOrThErNErS call it southern hospitality, idk if anybody else calls it that but we do.
Canadian here, canadas fast food restaurants have signs that fairly normal height, just enough to get the point across while not being obnoxious, cross over to the usa and within 5 seconds of leaving customs you can see fast food signs hundreds of feet in the air on giant poles. 2 - 3 times taller than here in Canada, why!? also finding peanut butter and jelly swirled into the same jar was shocking.
When we were flying between cities, I found it weird to look out of the side of the plane and see towns midflight. In Australia, once you leave the city's airspace the landscape is completely barren until you arrive at your destination.
That’s because the further you go inland the more un-inhabitable and barren it becomes.
Ranch; it is somehow both delicious and revolting. And changes which with every mouthful.
Never tasted it. What’s it taste like. I haven’t seen it in the UK . I probably wouldn’t buy it either way 🙈
European here, to me what was surreal was how openly they talk about guns and how many they have at home.
Also I took an uber for what 5-10 mins to get back to the hotel and the lady driving me super casually told me about how when she was a child in the compton area, she'd be playing outside, lie to the ground when there was a drive by then just continue playing
The rituals for paying after food.
Call server ask for bill Wait Server brings bill, put card down Wait Server takes care and bill away Wait Server brings back copy, you add tip Get up and leave.
In NZ Finish meal, go to front of the restaurant and pay then leave (no tip)
In most places in Australia (SA) you go to the counter, order your meal and pay it as well as your drinks then you sit down and wait for your drinks and food to be served, eat and then leave. Also no tip.
Neon signs for a f!@#$%^ funeral home will always stand out.
Ads in general actually, it is so hard to go anywhere without having something in obnoxiously large text trying to get your attention. Whether it be on the road, on tv, on the internet, and hell even in people’s phones.
Is America the only place that has pop-up ads on websites and apps??
Note: this post originally had 34 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Why does BP keep making posts about how different America is? We realize we're weird, we don't need six posts a month to prove it. How about some more INTERESTING articles.
So people do things differently in different countries. Wow.
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I was hoping to see some for other countries. The US isn't the only country with its own nuances that seem strange to outsiders.
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Can we have a thread where people post what they find weird about their *own* countries? England, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, Thailand, Belize, whatever? Please? That'd be awy more interesting, to me.
If you start with what's weird in England we could be here a while (I'm English).
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Parading toddlers around in padded bikini tops and make up is the weirdest thing about the US.
Oh goodie. Another Americans Are Weird post. I'm American. Yeah. We're weird. SO ARE YOU! WE'RE ALL WEIRD!!!! I'll be the first one to call out the US for the ridiculous things we do. But seriously. Enough US bashing. All you're doing is creating an even bigger divide, when we NEED EACH OTHER. It's shameful. ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!
Part of the reason for the mono-culture that is the US is that the US is freakin' HUGE and only has two countries bordering it. Most of us can't afford to travel and experience other cultures, so we don't think we're weird. Having been abroad, I see it, but lots of people don't.
Bathroom stall gaps! Portion sizes! Drug commercials! Patriotism! These have been done to death, both here and weekly on Buzzfeed.
You forgot, "We don't have to tip!! Just pay your servers!"
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Often cashiers ask “how are you doing today sir/madam?” without expecting an answer from you. Mind that it isn’t a real question, but a greeting gesture for you. If you reply them “thank you” or “fine, and you?”, you shouldn’t expect an answer too. That’s not rude.
I am an American, I will never understand "Credit". My credit score is more important than my reputation? That's dumb.
This article annoyed me!!!! It was filled with stereotypes and things that are the same in other countries!!!
Do you think that articles about other countries are not full of stereotypes? )) I was annoyed reading one about mine, but it made me to comment it. So boredpanda got its readers 🙄
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From a lot of these "America is different from all other countries ever" posts, the underlying feeling I get is that people in other countries than America don't really want to get to know anyone new, that meeting new people is somehow discouraged. According to the replies I've read, they don't want to talk or even sit near new people in bars, or on the street, or in stores, or while running errands, or while... So, how DO people in countries other than America meet new people?
I find it funny how many people are complaining about the repeats. You do know that by opening and commenting on the article you are actively telling them to make more.
"We at bp love diversity,respect all people and everyone is beautiful...".Also bp, "fck USA,the sign in front of McDonald's is too big and we suck,we are offended because the sign is too big and we'll tell you about it in every second post.Did we make it clear that we love everyone and everything?And yes,fck the USA,people are fiendly,fck that,we are offended because everyone is friendly.We love everything except for fiendly people,big signs and big roads,fck roads too".
An observation... So... In the US, the main businesses that keeps the economy going are pharmaceutical, automotive (cars), property and food & beverage?
Why is the rest of the world so pathetically obsessed with this stupid s**t
I'm not. I read it because I'm very bored as I'm not feeling very well but these posts don't even have anything new in them. Like many others I'd rather see weird s**t from other countries - and for us all to just be interested and not judgemental.
Load More Replies... It’s sometimes a bi-weekly thing. I’ve seen enough ‘America bad’ posts on this site to last me a lifetime.
Load More Replies... Why does BP keep making posts about how different America is? We realize we're weird, we don't need six posts a month to prove it. How about some more INTERESTING articles.
So people do things differently in different countries. Wow.
Load More Replies... I was hoping to see some for other countries. The US isn't the only country with its own nuances that seem strange to outsiders.
Load More Replies... Can we have a thread where people post what they find weird about their *own* countries? England, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, Thailand, Belize, whatever? Please? That'd be awy more interesting, to me.
If you start with what's weird in England we could be here a while (I'm English).
Load More Replies... Parading toddlers around in padded bikini tops and make up is the weirdest thing about the US.
Oh goodie. Another Americans Are Weird post. I'm American. Yeah. We're weird. SO ARE YOU! WE'RE ALL WEIRD!!!! I'll be the first one to call out the US for the ridiculous things we do. But seriously. Enough US bashing. All you're doing is creating an even bigger divide, when we NEED EACH OTHER. It's shameful. ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!
Part of the reason for the mono-culture that is the US is that the US is freakin' HUGE and only has two countries bordering it. Most of us can't afford to travel and experience other cultures, so we don't think we're weird. Having been abroad, I see it, but lots of people don't.
Bathroom stall gaps! Portion sizes! Drug commercials! Patriotism! These have been done to death, both here and weekly on Buzzfeed.
You forgot, "We don't have to tip!! Just pay your servers!"
Load More Replies... Often cashiers ask “how are you doing today sir/madam?” without expecting an answer from you. Mind that it isn’t a real question, but a greeting gesture for you. If you reply them “thank you” or “fine, and you?”, you shouldn’t expect an answer too. That’s not rude.
I am an American, I will never understand "Credit". My credit score is more important than my reputation? That's dumb.
This article annoyed me!!!! It was filled with stereotypes and things that are the same in other countries!!!
Do you think that articles about other countries are not full of stereotypes? )) I was annoyed reading one about mine, but it made me to comment it. So boredpanda got its readers 🙄
Load More Replies... From a lot of these "America is different from all other countries ever" posts, the underlying feeling I get is that people in other countries than America don't really want to get to know anyone new, that meeting new people is somehow discouraged. According to the replies I've read, they don't want to talk or even sit near new people in bars, or on the street, or in stores, or while running errands, or while... So, how DO people in countries other than America meet new people?
I find it funny how many people are complaining about the repeats. You do know that by opening and commenting on the article you are actively telling them to make more.
"We at bp love diversity,respect all people and everyone is beautiful...".Also bp, "fck USA,the sign in front of McDonald's is too big and we suck,we are offended because the sign is too big and we'll tell you about it in every second post.Did we make it clear that we love everyone and everything?And yes,fck the USA,people are fiendly,fck that,we are offended because everyone is friendly.We love everything except for fiendly people,big signs and big roads,fck roads too".
An observation... So... In the US, the main businesses that keeps the economy going are pharmaceutical, automotive (cars), property and food & beverage?
Why is the rest of the world so pathetically obsessed with this stupid s**t
I'm not. I read it because I'm very bored as I'm not feeling very well but these posts don't even have anything new in them. Like many others I'd rather see weird s**t from other countries - and for us all to just be interested and not judgemental.
Load More Replies... It’s sometimes a bi-weekly thing. I’ve seen enough ‘America bad’ posts on this site to last me a lifetime.
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