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No country is perfect, but the United States often gets bad press. From gun control to healthcare and political division that seriously hampers positive change, there are a lot of issues the land of the brave is currently facing. But there are plenty of victories it can celebrate as well.

So let's take a look at a recent Reddit post by user KyleB2131 that asked people: "What does America do better than most other countries?" More specifically, its 11,800 comments, where folks have been listing all the things they believe the US should be proud of.

#1

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries I love the Interstate Rest Areas on road trips. I'm a Canadian from the west coast, and was always VERY impressed with the 24/7 rest areas. Clean washrooms, nice grassy areas for dogs, picnic tables, and a lot of times people selling crafts, or offering free coffee!

I've only driven through the western states, (WA,OR,CA,NV,UT,AZ) but yeah, those rest areas were always reliable. Always well marked signs when the next one was coming up. Just made everything about travelling easier! Thanks neighbours!

Ubba-Ga , Steven Weeks Report

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Pages ByTheSea
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Pacific Northwest loves our Canadian neighbors! We missed you during Covid lockdowns!

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#3

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Chatting, I’m from an Asian country where most people will avoid talking to stranger. But you can literally talk to anyone you met in the street in the US and most of them are willing to talk

_formosa_ , Alexis Brown Report

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Izzy Curer
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's part of it, too, though. You can just tell them you don't want to talk, and they'll leave you alone.

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Cathelijne Van
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even though it might feel uncomfortable at first, it is also a skill that can be learned. Start by embracing the awkwardness. It is ok to feel that way. So what does it give you? Beautiful stories, insight in how other people feel and think, it sharpens your instinct and it might start adventures.

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Afrika
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Latinamerica is waaaaaay better at this hahahaha Just go out, find a Latinamerican and ask where they are from... You'll end up knowing how their great grandpa died and how many times grandma asked grandpa to stop flirting around lolol

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Agfox
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Norwegians immediately cross the US off their holiday destination list...

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Lea Panthera
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sometimes this fact can be a good thing. If a stranger approaches you and begins talking to you like you're a close friend, they might be in danger, and the American people's amenability to play along to save that person is wonderful, honestly.

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Crystal Ruiz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a Mexican thing too...you could be walking down the street and say hi to people, and they'll say hi back, or people will say hi to you too

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Leara Bridges Brown
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My daughter And her bf broke down in the middle of a turn and we're shocked at how quick the car behind them a spot or two stopped and helped them. That is just how my generation was raised.

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jolie laide
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some of this (being approached) is also because something about you gave you away. For example wearing a shirt with something identifiable on it, like a "Man U" shirt, or a K-pop band or someone overhears you talking in your native language. This can happen a lot in my area during festivals, parades, fairs, etc. We're all immigrants, and some are newer than others so it catches attention for people to smile and say hi. It works in reverse, too! I was wearing a London 2012 Olympics shirt outside a grocery store while waiting for my taxi, and an older man approached me. Turns out he was a recent immigrant from London and thought I was from the UK too. I'm not, but still he kept me company for awhile while we both ranted and vented about the state of public transportation in the area.

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Sunshine Scrivener
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so far from the truth . As a tourist from nz I was overwhelmed by how unfriendly strangers were.

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Wreathy
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I visited I had a mixed response (I'm also from NZ) - New York...strangers were 100% not friendly. Out in some weird way station in virginia? Very friendly. New Zealand, though, is the home of friendly strangers, hands down, and is well known for this.

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JayWantsACat
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're not literally being constantly bombarded with people wanting to chat you up There have been plenty of situations where I wasnt feeling social, even in social settings, and responded to the person and went back to what I was doing thus letting them know I wasn't up for conversation. Or I'll always keep my earbuds on. That way I can pull one out, respond (or ignore), put it back in and go about my day. You're not forced to socialize. We're just pretty open, friendly, and interested and most of us know not every feels the same way. It's not a big deal. This is coming from an introvert.

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RoanTheMad
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Personally, I don't want to talk to strangers on the street.

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Maria Veronica
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

IN YOUR country, but if you travel to another, maybe you will need it and you will thank if people is nice

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Robert Robi Z
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Chatting with strangers in the street? Nope. I can barely stand those ladies who feel obliged to chat with strangers while they queue in shops.

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GlitterQueen541
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Depends on where in the U.S. Not so much in big cities like New York

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Ozymandias73
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love being able to strike up casual convos with strangers. For the most part at least. I've heard so many interesting stories from bus stops, waiting at a stop light, supermarkets, etc. It's so gratifying when connecting with people.

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George-Florin Constantin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, they want to talk, but it's just a facade. They couldn't care less about what you have to say.

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Lucky Star
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't think ppl would just start to Chat with strangers on the street. Only asking strangers for directions or saying hi to neighbors

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Michelle C
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I could not have imagined growing up anywhere else than in my small town in the United States because everybody knew everybody and we would welcome strangers like they were old friends and family as well. I think how we navigated the pandemic because we had to do it destroyed that to some degree and it will take years to rebuild. 💔

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Kenneth McCartney
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes! I'm an introvert normally, but when I'm feeling well I love meeting total strangers! Just don't expect me to remember your name.

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Maria Veronica
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmmm I´m not agree, Latinoamerica invented chatting with stranger hahahha is not an American thing

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DubstepBlade
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep, very uncomfortable for us introverts, but usually I muster up the courage to speak to people (yay me!).

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IamMe
Community Member
1 year ago

Please, don't do this. The friendly extroverts will come to you.

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Elcodigodebarras
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is clear that you have never traveled to Europe, in countries like Italy, Greece or Spain people are open to talk to a stranger who is looking for an address or is a tourist and looks lost, while if you are a foreigner/tourist in North America and you think of approaching someone to ask something because you are lost, people change sidewalks or just walk away, especially if you are not white.

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Ed Gomaz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone is looking for help, no problem, happy to be of use. If your trying to chat to get to know me? No thanks.

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Kat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's so good about that? I would go crazy with all the annoying people when living there.

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- JM1951
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Often good, but also sometimes inappropriate or intrusive. Sometimes, silence is golden.

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Maria Veronica
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because if you´re a tourist or a visitor, you could need some help or simply talk to strangers, in Latinoamerica you could do that and make friends forever

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Farid Red
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1 year ago

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As a non-US and never been there, I highly doubt that. Unless people want to take risk of Karen attack or getting a hole on chest.

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#4

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Turning corn into things that are not corn.

rlemon , Wouter Supardi Salari Report

#5

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries So, here's the truth. America is, and does, a *lot* of things.

We have the world's greatest athletes and most obese population. We have the best healthcare in the world, and 90% of our population can't afford it. We're leaders in creating new wealth and dead end service jobs. We were founded on a revolutionary promise of liberty and justice, by men who owned slaves.

If you really want my top four wins, though, here they are:

**The national parks system and Bureau of Land Management.**
We have hundreds of thousands of square miles of wilderness that is preserved, leased for commercial purposes, available for recreation, or simply held in trust for the people of the United States. And if you haven't seen for yourself, I assure you, [it's f*****g gorgeous](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/best-national-parks-in-usa/). We have wild ancient forests, coral reefs, stunning mountains, tundra, grasslands, deserts, and some of the most impressive and beautiful natural features on this planet. Huge portions are preserved and maintained where literally everyone can enjoy them.

**NASA**
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration put a man on the moon, led the world in space exploration, and spurned developed literally [hundreds of incredible technologies we use every day](https://spinoff.nasa.gov/): Aside from the obvious aerospace advances, we have them to thank for GPS, memory foam mattresses, improved HVAC and insulation, LCD screens, LEDs, microcomputing, food preservation, water purification, solar panels, high capacity batteries, and dozens of different materials and processes. In addition, they've been the leading source of new information about our planet, climate change, and the universe.

**The Smithsonian Institution**
There are people who mistakenly think the Smithsonian is a museum. The Smithsonian is in fact a collection of over 20 museums, galleries, and zoo across three states, plus dozens of research and education centers, collections, affiliates around the globe. It is the single largest organization for science, culture, and history in the world, and it's contributions to preserving history and to literally every scientific discipline are beyond measure. And to me, the greatest part is the heart of the organization in Washington DC: *THIS* is what we've chosen to surround the National Mall, the platonic ideal of our commons and center of our democracy- Dozens of living monuments to art, science, history, and culture. I've personally made at least 3 or 4 visits totaling more than two full weeks, and I've only made it halfway through.

**Music**
The United States is the birthplace of Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll, Hip Hop, Punk, Bluegrass, Country-Western, Rap, and a half a dozen different forms of regional folk music. Nearly every culture in the world imitates our musical forms.

MikeTheBard , History in HD Report

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#6

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Holidays. My favorite time to be an American is October, I love how hype we get about Halloween here.

PerfumePoodle , David Menidrey Report

#7

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Wilderness/land conservation. Hands down. It still isn’t enough and it’s largely a product of the fact that this continent was industrialized/colonized so late in the game + its sheer vastness, but we have some of the best land conservation schemes on the planet. It might be the only thing where I prefer the US over much of Europe, and it’s a huge thing.

SkittlesRobot Report

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Luna Crow
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Agree more strongly than anything else on this list. And it's starting to go away too! I hope we can preserve the wild spaces for future visitors to also appreciate

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#8

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Serious answer? Logistics. We're quite a large country and we've gotten very good at moving things around.

weirdoldhobo1978 , Marcin Jozwiak Report

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Hphizzle
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But… the transit systems are kind of c**p. (Mind you I live in Japan where I’m a bit spoiled by how good the transit systems are).

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#10

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Handicap/wheelchair accessibility. Even in smaller towns, our family member in a wheelchair got in and out of restaurants and stores easily.

mbbzzz , Robert Ruggiero Report

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#11

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Honestly? Being friendly and welcoming to strangers. Saying this as a Canadian.

Reasonable-Mess-2732 , Jed Villejo Report

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loty moty
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does welcoming strangers extend to welcoming mexican migrants at the southern border?

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#12

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Air conditioner everywhere and free public restrooms. You have to pay to use the restrooms in Europe.

SnooDoughnuts231 , Yena Kwon Report

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Notme
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is true about some countries, but not others. From where I’ve been, you have to pay in Germany, but not in the UK, Spain, Italy or Greece.

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#13

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Friendliness.

I’m from London and have lived in the US for 15 years. People here overall are very open to talking to strangers

sleeptrain123 , Priscilla Du Preez Report

#14

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Geodiversity. We have nearly every biome on Earth available in the lower 48 alone. Adding Alaska and Hawaii just completes the set.

Question: Is there any biome that doesn't exist in The US?

Ursa_Mid , Rui Silvestre Report

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AW
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless geodiversity was done on purpose, size itself doesn't necessarily make the US better than other countries?!

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#15

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Buffets. No buffet I’ve had can beat the one’s I had in the states.

sueRiot , Ulysse Pointcheval Report

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Philly Bob Squires
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just wash your damned hands before and after restroom before going to the buffet??? PLEASE!

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#16

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries The ability of the American farmer to produce food. It is really staggering the amount of food that is grown here.

fat-dum-stoopid , Richard Bell Report

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Pizzagirl 91
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But... Isn't that just about the area that is used? I'm sure European farmers get the most out of the area they have, as well, and there are lots of innovative methods being developed for growing things inside, with as little water as possible. Especially with the growing water crisis, this seems like applauding the student with the most pokemon cards over the one who wins a tournament, right?

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#17

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Good ethnically diverse food.

There’s a lot that Europe does better about food (for instance, care about quality of ingredients and preparation even at “everyday” priced restaurants).

But in most of the non-US world, you can get very good food of the place you are in, and maybe some mediocre Asian food. (England and Indian food being an exception.) If you are in Rome, for instance, the Italian food will be excellent, but you won’t find a great Spanish tapas bar, Mexican taqueria, or some great pho.

The fact that in most major US cities you can get excellent food that represents a dozen or more different food cultures is unique and awesome.

nudave , Fernando Santos Report

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MoMcB
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not true of the UK, I live in a medium sized town, and I can get all kinds of cuisine of my doorstep. Most European places I've visited are the same.

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#18

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Women's sports are really wells supported here - so are female athletes.

Despite many memes americans might say about it - if you go to other countries female athletics is really almost non-existent.

Juls7243 , Jeffrey F Lin Report

#20

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries While we have a LONG way to go, the USA is comparatively better than a lot of places regarding supporting people with disabilities.

kittenesque02 , ThisisEngineering RAEng Report

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#21

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Convenience. In other countries I’ve lived in, many shops and businesses close relatively early and you can’t easily get food or groceries delivered to your door.

Eldergod74 , Morgan Vander Hart Report

#22

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Make sure there's ice in your beverage

HegemonHarbinger , Kaffee Meister Report

#23

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Cultural diversity. We have a place for everyone, despite what some people say

LateFig8010 , RODNAE Productions Report

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Doctor Strange
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except bigots. We don't have a place for bigots. They can get right out of here.

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#24

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries A non-sarcastic answer: public parks

Shepard_Wrex14 , Frank Eiffert Report

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kathoco
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like these answers were all posted by people that have never left the US and are just basing what they’re saying on some vague ideas they’ve heard about Europe.

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#25

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Entertainment

AW_0730 , Tijs van Leur Report

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JoyfulZebra
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just because we have the largest entertainment industry, doesn't mean we have the best.

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#26

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Right turn on red light

CrundleMonster , PhotoMIX Company Report

#27

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Sewage treatment. A lot of countries you'd consider modern and Western are only just now installing treatment plants so they aren't just dumping their sewage directly into the ocean.

LarsAlereon , Patrick Federi Report

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Na Schi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wasn't aware of that... at least in Germany we have sewage treatment installed for a fairly long time.

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#28

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Putting people on the moon & putting cheese like substances in spray cans. Nobody else comes close.

aecarol1 , Dave Matos Report

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Jojo
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah using German scientists...you can keep your "cheese" to yourself

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#29

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Many of our restaurants offer free bread, or chips and salsa at the Hispanic restaurants. Very few places I’ve been in the world offer a free food item to snack on while waiting for your food to arrive.

acg7 , Markus Spiske Report

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Syrah
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's because your restaurants expect the customer to tip 20% or more to pay the waiters so they don't have to.

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#30

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries General aviation. There are few countries in the world where you can hop into a light airplane and just go. No flight plan required, no extra taxes and fees, just freedom. There are over 5000 public use airports in the US and more than 10000 private use. I'm not talking about millionaires and billionaires flying their gulfstreams around, but the middle class American putzing around in a Cessna on a weekend. Yes, it is an expensive hobby but can be much more attainable than a lot of people think.

zuk280 , Bao Menglong Report

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AndThenICommented
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure about the extra freedom and def have to have a flight plan in the US, but will agreed getting a private pilots license is more attainable in the US

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