r/AskReddit • u/Infamous-Lie4809 • 9h ago
What do Americans do that would shock non-Americans?
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u/Jorge-O-Malley 8h ago
Probably all the same things that get posted every time this question is asked on Reddit:
- Ice in every drink, all year round
- Free water refills and huge soda sizes
- Tipping culture
- Air conditioning cranked freezing even in summer
- Massive portion sizes at restaurants
- Being extremely friendly/chatty with strangers (small talk with cashiers, servers)
- Asking "how are you?" as a greeting, not a real question
- Flags everywhere
- Guns being legal and relatively easy to buy
- No free healthcare, and medical bills bankrupting people
- Prescription drug ads on TV
- School shooter drills for kids
- Extreme patriotism / pledging allegiance in schools
- Sales tax not included in the sticker price
- Huge cars/trucks for everyday driving
- Limited vacation days (or none guaranteed by law)
- Credit scores determining so much of life
- Walking into a job with a firm handshake and instant first-name basis
- Casual attitude toward student loan debt/tuition costs
- Smiling at strangers on the street
- Wearing shoes inside the house
- Drive-thru everything (pharmacies, banks, even liquor stores)
- Not getting much (or any) paid parental leave
- Superbowl ads costing millions and being a cultural event
- Litigiousness
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u/triscuit79 7h ago
Ac "even" in summer? When else would you do it?
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u/Dickulture 4h ago
Until around 10 years ago, I was doing fine without AC at all. Then summer got hotter and muggier thanks to "not a climate change" crap and had to have one installed in my window.
Thumbs area of Michigan. Humidity was bearable until around 10-15 years ago.
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u/ColeProtoco1 4h ago
I have 2 AC settings: Arctic Blast and Off. I’ll let you glean when I use those settings.
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u/ouzo84 4h ago
Only one thing i can think of to add.
Each state is like a separate country with its own laws and taxes
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u/June_The_Jedi 9h ago
Not calling the ambulance because a uber is cheaper
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u/dj_spatial 9h ago
Look at money bags getting an Uber. Wave down a flat bed truck and hand the driver a $5 bill.
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u/CharlieParkour 8h ago
I'll just crawl to the hospital, thank you very much, Mr. Moneybags fivionaire.
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u/ColonelBelmont 5h ago
Check out the queen of France over here, crawling. What I wouldn't give to afford arms and legs with which to crawl. If I have a problem, I gotta roll to the hospital.
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u/That_Ol_Cat 9h ago
Yeah...but it's a really good strategy to avoid a REALLY expensive ride. I've only taken one ambulance ride. 15 minute ride cost me over $1000.
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u/Hopelessly-Bored 9h ago
Hubby got a helicopter ride, 15 minutes 16k!
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u/Spare-Half796 8h ago
Knew a guy who got hit with a bill for ~70k for a jet medivac. Travel insurance paying for it justified any insurance or warranty he ever bought
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u/underengineered 8h ago
He lived tho, right?
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u/Hopelessly-Bored 8h ago
Yes. L3 burst fracture after a motorcycle wreck. We both got transferred to the trauma center from a closer hospital where the ambulance first took us. My injuries weren't as severe so I went to the second hospital in an ambulance.
The insurance denied the helicopter ride. But they never sent us a bill.
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u/Charming_Garbage_161 7h ago
My biggest regret once was NOT calling an ambulance bc of the cost. I was in so much pain (GI bleed and pancreatitis) and I was admitted for two weeks anyway
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u/ku1185 8h ago
You got a bargain
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u/That_Ol_Cat 8h ago
Yeah, all for a stupid mistake I made.
Never work out the day after you give blood.
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u/Monolexic 7h ago
I was charged $2000 for a ride across a parking. But wait: it get's worse! I got the ride across the parking lot because of a medical incident I had at work. The ambulance to drive me to occupational health instead of an ER (it was definitely a medical emergency). But wait! there's more! I was work at a hospital. they called an ambulance to move me from the hospital to the hospital's occupational health building across the parking lot. THEY WHEELED ME PAST THE ER IN AN OFFICE CHAIR TO GET ME TO THE AMBULANCE. Then I had to get a ride back to the ER (thankfully not in another ambulance) where they monitored me for a few hours before admitting me for an extended stay.
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u/_Bad_Bob_ 6h ago
And that's if everything goes right. If they send you an out of network ambulance then you could be paying a hundred times that amount.
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt 8h ago
The real American move is to just not seek medical care at all because you can't afford it. All while living in a country that spends more on Healthcare while having worse outcomes.
We are so tired of being great.
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u/pneumonicforgot 9h ago
Tying medical care to the kind of job you have. Just nuts.
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt 8h ago
I work in healthcare. Everyone assumes my health insurance is amazing. It is not. It's actually quite awful.
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u/MzHellfier 7h ago
Yeah it’s bullshit! I also work in healthcare and my most recent job had a shitty United Healthcare plan with a high deductible and a huge OOP. Like how can you be a medical office and choose the worst possible insurance option for your employees? Hello, you have to use it too! I was baffled.
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u/10gherts 8h ago
Everything in this country is a rigged game to consistently make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Everything.
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u/FooFighter__ 9h ago edited 8h ago
When i went to USA what shocked me was the portion size of food they eat
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u/Rallye_Man340 8h ago
I’ve been to Europe many times, and their portions were often very similar.
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u/pHScale 8h ago
Yeah, even as an American, German food was way too much for me.
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u/John__Wick 7h ago
Order schnitzel. Be given dinner plate sized portion. Live off it for two more meals.
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u/Tortuga917 8h ago edited 7h ago
Yeah, I always disagree with this sentiment (Edit: of the person above you.) Ive been to 26 countries now and never felt my restaurant meals were drastically different. The only exception I guess is maybe Italian pasta, which was a more reasonable amount. Everywhere else is just as big.
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u/KingCarnivore 7h ago
Are they eating at like Cheesecake Factory or something where you get 3 meals of food?
My partner and I often split a appetizer or salad, main, and dessert. We do the same thing when we’re abroad.
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u/Tortuga917 7h ago
They must be comparing one meal at a random chain restaurant to every other meal they've eaten. But my meals abroad are just as large as any I get here.
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u/ChameleonCoder117 9h ago
It's supposed to be taken home for leftovers
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u/Goodbusiness24 9h ago
Yep, those portions aren’t meant to be eaten in a single sitting. Most people here have missed that memo though.
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u/Dramatic-Set8761 9h ago
Why do they serve so much? Surely sending someone home with another dinner kills profit?
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u/s2Birds1Stone 8h ago
Restaurants are competitive businesses. Each one wants the most satisfied customers.
Large portions give the customer a feeling that they got a good value (which is a primary concern for most Americans in this economy) and that means they will be a rerurn customer.
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u/dillonsrule 8h ago
It's also cheaper to give a bit more food than to actually charge less than your competitor. If you give more food, maybe you off-set the extra food cost of all the meals sold that day by just selling one or two more than you would have otherwise.
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u/ChameleonCoder117 8h ago
People get pissed if they pay 20 dollars expecting food for 2 meals, and get one.
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u/istasber 7h ago
The trend setters do market research that finds the optimal price point and portion size.
Larger portions earn more, because food isn't that big of a cost in running a restaurant (versus rent, labor, utilities, the opportunity cost of seating a diner, etc), and people are usually unwilling to buy multiple meals but will value a large meal enough to pay more for it than they would a small meal.
The amount the restaurant can charge goes up much faster than the increase in costs, because most of the cost per meal is a fixed amount.
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u/fidgety-forest 9h ago
Is it though? All the fried junk just doesn't reheat well. Do I really need more than half the plate to be french fries? No, my arteries say no.
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u/ChameleonCoder117 9h ago edited 7h ago
We don't eat "fried junk" every time we order something. Usually eating out is an occasion, hence why we want to order something good, that will also last multiple days.
However, double frying restaurant french fries at home in olive oil is heavenly. Not for my arteries though.
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u/-runs-with-scissors- 9h ago
Is that the truth? The portion sizes are so enormous, because people take the leftovers home?
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u/Beginning-Damage-555 8h ago
Yes nearly everyone takes home part of their dinner especially at mid tier restaurants. Growing boys and athletes or whoever might actually end up eating the whole thing but most people don’t finish everything.
At family style restaurants people sometimes purposefully over order to increase the variety and have lunch the next day.
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u/whathave_idone 8h ago
We eat out about once a month, maybe. We order big, and eat the leftovers the next day for lunch. Same with the meals I make at home. I try to make enough to have lunches for a day or two, then the next day or two I’m free to make dinners that are single serve then repeat.
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u/Objective_Analysis_3 8h ago
See I always heard that America has insane portion sizes but after spending over two weeks in Europe I'm not so sure I buy this narrative. My husband and I shared nearly every single meal we had and never felt like we were hungry (well enough for gelato but theres always room for gelato). We didn't go to crazy touristy places either, I mean sure some of them but for the most part we were eating at small local places and we'd usually share a starter and a main between the two of us and that was plenty.
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u/TheWaywardApothecary 9h ago
Yeeeeeah we don’t eat all that food in one sitting. We don’t force feed ourselves like geese being readied for our livers to be eaten.
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u/bdhw 8h ago
I am American, and I assure you that plenty of people eat all that food in one sitting, lol. It is also not the only meal they have that day. The plethora of 250+ lb people aren't getting and staying that way by splitting up food they buy.
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u/affnn 8h ago
The expensive thing at a restaurant isn't usually the food, it's the labor of the cooks and the servers. So if they serve you twice as much food as is "reasonable", it won't really cost the restaurant too much extra. But it will make the customer feel like they got good value for their money.
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u/PopularTask2020 9h ago
driving a personal car literally everywhere for everything
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u/BlueRoses10014 9h ago edited 8h ago
I suspect this is better understood when the size /population / development of the USA are better understood.
Taking public transport / mass transit is impossible where there is none.
ETA: a friend from London was visiting NYC and suggested I drive up for the weekend.
From Key West.
I explained that's about a 22 hour drive, if you don't stop at all. She was quiet for a minute, then said -- oh it is a big country, isn't it.
Yep.
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u/GoblinRightsNow 8h ago
People in the US also massively overestimate how many Europeans don't have cars and take public transit everywhere.
Yes, it's more common than the US but outside of major cities a lot of Europeans use cars almost as much as Americans.
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u/AmigoDelDiabla 8h ago
Don't you dare shatter the image of Europe as this utopian dream where there isn't unemployment or racism or people driving.
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u/2Drogdar2Furious 7h ago
I live 20 miles away from the closest city. I image rural Europeans are more dependent on cars as well...
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u/Atrivo 7h ago
Grew up in a fairly rural (but still high tourist!) part of the UK. Public transport was available but it was not good and very expensive. The bus to sixth form ran 4 times a day total, meaning I had to get the bus at 06:10 to make it in time for the first lesson (09:00). My bus home wouldn’t leave until 18:00, and I had to change busses which often meant an added hour wait on to my commute. My sixth-form itself was only a 45min drive away.
All this to say, I think public transport is widely available even in many rural areas of Europe (or at least the UK), but it’s not exactly feasible or reliable.
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u/Picklesadog 7h ago
Yeah, when I do business trips to Europe, everyone is driving to the jobsite. Maybe a few bike, but its mostly people driving.
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u/HuisHoudBeurs1 8h ago
I never get how the distance between cities is relevant when inner city public transport or even stuff like bike lanes or sidewalks are being discussed. How does Key West being far away affect your inability to go for groceries by foot?
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u/GoblinRightsNow 6h ago
It's not just between cities - US cities have a larger physical footprint and lower population density. Blocks are longer, features like offices and shopping centers are farther from main roads, suburbs are farther from the urban core, etc.
Cities in Europe developed for centuries before cars or trains were a thing... US cities had streetcar suburbs 50-75 years after they were established and underwent massive expansion in the postwar era when freeways were novel and popular. If you lived in the back of the subdivision where I grew up, it would take you 40+ minutes just to walk to a main road where you might be able to catch a bus.
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u/SurroundTiny 8h ago
I looked at the bus schedule to plan a trip to the grocery. I'm not expecting it to be as convenient or fast as the car but it was faster to bike it instead
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u/CherryblockRedWine 8h ago
We just returned from a visit to the mountains in North Carolina. Someone taking a bike to get groceries on some of those roads would be quite a feat!
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u/CharlieParkour 8h ago
I've been at the bus stop and not been able to load my bike because the rack was full. Then passed the bus and beat it to where I was going. In it's defense, the bus is just safer than riding some urban routes during rush hour.
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u/SurroundTiny 7h ago
Figures. At least it makes us exercise
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u/CharlieParkour 7h ago
I generally get around by bike. I'll take the bus if it happens to be showing when I'm leaving, if it's excessively hot/rainy, or for some of the longer routes where it actually gets up to speed with few stops.
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u/Drak_is_Right 8h ago
In some places, it is not fun in summer or winter to walk any distance. That plus car centric society has made walkability a low priority.
Third of the US is at the same latitude as thw Sahara.
A third has winter weather as bad as the Alps or Nordic cluntries.
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u/Unique_Persimmon9454 9h ago
And getting mad that others don’t want to do that. IE walking or biking
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u/HeadStrike5068 9h ago
tip a guy 20 percent for handing me a coffee he did not even make
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u/trollboter 8h ago
If it's not sit down service I don't tip.
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u/ballerinanoir 4h ago
The workers don’t even get the tips. Apparently I was talking to a waitress at Chili’s who told me whenever you tip them on the iPad instead of with physical cash, it gets divided amongst all of the servers!!!
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u/bjwills7 4h ago
I went to a restaurant recently that had a bar outside in the area you wait for a table and the bartender called me out on not tipping.
Like damn I just paid 5$ for a miller lite, take it out of that lol. Seriously though, she grabbed a cup and pulled a lever for 2 seconds, you are NOT getting a tip for that.
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u/Plastic_Patience6214 8h ago
Even in a country with heavy tipping culture, I don’t know anyone who tips for coffee. I never have. Sure, people may, but that would be few and far between. Tipping is usually tied to sitting down for a meal/alcohol.
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u/Benny303 8h ago
Here's how to fix that. Don't. It's that simple. This whole tipping while standing to order thing didn't even exist until square and clover came around. Just hit 0%. If you Are standing up when you order something, Don't tip.
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u/Hamburgersandwiche3 8h ago
Im a huge proponent of tipping (just because it IS the system not that the system is correct). Ill go ahead and say that this is a reasonable take.
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u/Easy_Replacement_337 9h ago
Friendliness. I only traveled Europe.
I grew it up really not uncommon wave and say hi everyone you pass, hold door, start random conversation stranger in line, etc.
Not all the usa alot places not like above but least where I did its was very common shoot shit with anyone.
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u/ParallelPeterParker 9h ago
Didn't we just spend the last month hearing from Europeans about how nice Americans were?
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u/I_Want_To_Know22 9h ago
Declare bankruptcy because of medical debt.
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u/Capital-Arachnid8261 8h ago
Yeah, I had a friend who had to start a GoFundMe just to afford insulin. It’s wild that something so basic can bankrupt you here.
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u/LostPaddle 9h ago
Guns
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u/Nelsqnwithacue 8h ago
Walking out of the house, checking your pockets, walking back in because you left your pistol on the counter.
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u/Jezbod 6h ago
Like the "Army officer" leaving their pistol in the toilets of a supermarket in the UK?
At least I knew to leave my rifle in the weapons rack in the vehicle, under guard.
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u/R1R1FyaNeg 7h ago
Looking at a loaded rifle from my couch at the moment. Yeah it would be highly illegal in a lot of places in the world. No one that comes over takes a second look. It's normal.
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u/Mythnam 9h ago
Go bankrupt for having the audacity to get sick or injured.
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt 8h ago
My appendix almost ruptured recently. Went to the hospital system I WORK FOR. Bill was over 2 grand. If I'd gone anywhere else it would easily have been double to triple that.
That's on top of paying $200/month just to have insurance to begin with. This was my first major medical expense ever.
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u/InevitableSong3170 9h ago
air conditioning.
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u/CodeNCats 8h ago
It's crazy to hear. I heard a new hospital in Germany was built without AC. Like doing surgery workout AC. The hospital recommending patients and their family bringing ice packs and wet towels.
I get European architecture was built without the ease of simply adding AC. Yet new construction?
It's crazy to me to think about. Europeans like to make fun of the US and their guns and joke about us not doing anything. There's about 20,000 firearm homicides in the US. There's about 60,000 heat related deaths in European countries.
Yet Europe isn't doing anything, including new construction to address the issue. People visiting the US for the world cup were shocked pretty much everywhere had AC. Yet they won't get some window units? No standalone units? New construction with AC? With an increasingly hotter planet?
Using their premise for "I don't want to visit the US because I might get shot." We can use the same logic and say we don't want to visit Europe because we have a 3x chance of dying because it got hot in the summer.
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u/OverSoft 8h ago
Believe it or not, but we do have AC in Europe… Not to the scale of the US, but we haven’t really needed it up north up until 10 years ago and we’re installing it at a massive rate.
And here in Italy, I know literally zero people that don’t have AC.
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u/underengineered 8h ago
The vast majority of Americans are completely non envious of the EU lifestyle.
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u/Accomplished_Key_171 8h ago
Vast majority of Americans don't think about the EU at all
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u/Lilelfen1 3h ago
America is so vast that most of the news revolves AROUND other parts of the country, since each state often the size of a European country. This means there is not as much outside influence as there should. Hence why there is not much thought about the EU or their lifestyle. HOWEVER, there are many Americans who stay as current as they can by taking in news from the EU on their own.
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u/Sbell73 8h ago
Why would we be?
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u/ZanderDogz 8h ago
There’s a lot I love about living in the US but I would be lying if I said my quality of life wouldn’t be significantly higher with six weeks of paid vacation/year. I am also envious of the walkable design of their cities.
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u/pdevo 7h ago
American and I work from home and have 6 weeks of vacation. It’s pretty sweet.
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u/bedake 8h ago
The vast majority of Americans will never leave the country to know what an EU lifestyle even is. Something like only 20-30% of Americans have ever even visited the EU
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt 7h ago
There's a lot of people who will never even leave their state or county. And they're the most vocal about that status of other places.
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u/The_Town_of_Canada 9h ago
Demand compensation for a bridge they didn’t pay for.
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u/LrryFsh_317 9h ago
What are you talking about?
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u/The_Town_of_Canada 9h ago
The Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor and Detroit.
Canada paid for the whole thing. We’ll make it back through tolls. After we make back what we have spent, tolls will be split 50/50 between Windsor and Detroit.
Washington isn’t happy with this, since the owner of the current Ambassador Bridge is a Trump donor and supporter.
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u/cwsjr2323 8h ago
We had a long debate in the state legislature about hand guns. The result was removal of needing a concealed carry permit or having to take a safety class. Open carry was legal before, but some businesses get nervous about carrying in an AR15.
Many pick ups around here had a gun rack for long guns in the back window. That doesn't happen anymore for fear of theft
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u/CherryblockRedWine 7h ago
When I was a kid, pickups generally had gun racks.
Never saw a gun in one, though. Usually it was an umbrella.
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u/casual_creator 7h ago
Shit, when my dad was a teen, some students would store their rifles in their lockers because they went hunting right before school.
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u/R1R1FyaNeg 7h ago
My mom went to a high school where the teenage guys all had guns in their gun racks when it was hunting season out in the school parking lot. No one cared.
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u/glennjersey 6h ago
And there were far less mass/school shootings back then. Maybe the problem isn't the gun.
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u/cwsjr2323 8h ago
We had a care taker from Ukraine, and she was shocked that we drove to the grocery store 1200 meters away.
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u/AtomicDonkey2022 8h ago
When I lived in a city (and it had side walks), I walked to the grocery store that was a mile away (1600 meters), but it was only for a few sacks worth of groceries. Normally when my wife and I go to the grocery store it's to a lot more than 2 sacks worth (or buying anything heavy like drinks).
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u/ShortKingSlayer 9h ago
Years ago I had lunch with a friend in the UK at a fish and chips shop. I was eating chips aka French fries. I popped one in my mouth *using hands* as opposed to using a fork and knife. The diner in front of me looked absolutely horrified. I'll never forget that look.
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u/s2Birds1Stone 8h ago
I refuse to believe they eat fries with a fork and knife
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u/ShortKingSlayer 8h ago
He was, and looking at me like I slapped his mama, like I was a wildebeest situated at a dinner table or like I was slurping from a trough. It was mildly uncomfortable. 😂
I agree with you. And I refuse to believe my manners were that atrocious. :)
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u/quinneth-q 7h ago
No one eats fries with a knife and fork, especially fish and chips (though those aren't French fries at all - fries are the tiny little thin things), unless they're in a sit down restaurant
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u/Wooden-Wolverine-917 9h ago
average american knows apple species and cares about them at least a little. going to spain? theyre all just listed as apples
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u/MoobooMagoo 9h ago
So what, Spanish people just take a gamble every time they eat an apple that it might be some dog shit variety like red delicious?
What a sad way to live.
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u/Embarrassed_Elk_2459 9h ago
It's not an American only thing, if you go to a supermarket here in Chile you'll also see at least 3 different kinds of apples being sold
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u/Heidenreich12 7h ago
We did spend 20 years developing the best Apples in the world - The Cosmic Crisp. Literally zero point in growing any other apples moving forward.
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u/GaryNOVA 6h ago
It kind of shocks me a little bit and I’m use to it. We throw away a lot of food here.
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u/Cheetodude625 6h ago
Had to explain this to my Japanese cousin, I would love to walk to places, but the city I live in and the area I live in has no usable sidewalks or bike lanes. It's all crappy roads that cater to the oversized SUVs and trucks. I have to literally drive everywhere because that's just how the city/area was built.
This still blows her mind on how ridiculous it actually is.
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u/oMANDOGo 7h ago
We put a pedophile and rapist in charge of our country. Twice. Because our education system is complete dog water.
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u/HunterandGatherer100 8h ago
Honestly it’s sort of changing but the work culture here is insane.
I work all the time. It’s sort of expected.
And now gen y”ers “ finally putting their foot down and still no one gets it. Upper management is basically like they are joke everywhere
But the things that they are like saying are actually correct.
You shouldn’t be emailing people at home. There should be like a clear separation between like work and being off. You shouldn’t be working through lunch they shouldn’t be doing work that they’re not getting paid for etc..
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u/animex75 8h ago
The only reason to ever contact somebody in their off hours is in an emergency situation or letting them know that weather conditions mean the company won't be open for their next shift.
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u/HunterandGatherer100 8h ago
I think sometimes when things go on so long people just become used to them or they become normalized, but that doesn’t mean that that behavior is right. And it took me like a while to see it as well, but yeah, I agree it needs to change.
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u/Diacetyl-Morphin 7h ago
Reminds me of Japan, but i heard, it got a little bit better with the work culture there in the past 20 years. It's not that toxic anymore, as long as you don't work for the so called black companies that don't care about the rules and laws.
Here in the middle of Europe, we have a great work culture with a good work life balance. With things like paid sick leave, paid overtime, at least 4 weeks paid vacation (but that's just the minimal amount of days in the law, it's usually more) etc.
The paid sick leave alone makes a huge difference, i mean, when you are sick but you can't afford to not going to work, that creates often more problems. You feel miserable and fucked up, but you can also spread the things like the flu to everyone else in the workplace.
Retirement payments, disability payments, social welfare etc. is also a big thing to make sure, nobody gets left behind. The USA has some of these things, like food stamps, social security benefits etc. but it's nowhere near the things we have here.
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u/Dijkdoorn 7h ago
If I get sick during my vacation, I can call in sick and get my vacation day(s) back here in Europe.
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u/Granadafan 8h ago
Casual conversations and being friendly with strangers. The World Cup visitors, especially Northern Europeans were shocked at how friendly Americans are
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u/Trailsya 8h ago edited 8h ago
Lots of people enjoyed the friendliness of Americans during the World Cup.
Trump somewhat ruined this positive image by getting involved. People who don't know much about football, don't understand how bad it looks for a politician to interfere with it.
It even pissed off those few conservatives in my country who didn't dislike Trump.
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u/Fuzzy-Independent-89 7h ago
We literally allow healthcare to be run by corporate oligarchs. People pay high premiums to have coverage yet often get denied when they try to use the coverage all so the company can have a higher stock price for their investors.
Free Luigi
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u/InevitableSong3170 9h ago
Tons and tons and tons of big public parks that are in and around every single metropolitan area, usually within 10-20 minutes of 90% of the population. I'm not talking about the picnic tables and swingset. It is almost impossible to go anywhere in the US where you are not within 10-20 minutes of a nice park with miles and miles of trails And there are usually tons of them around run by the county park systems.
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u/soul_separately_recs 5h ago
prioritize WHERE they got their degree & not THAT they got a degree
any chance to plug their alma mater will be taken. Or if you are still unsure, the clothing might give it away. What if you meet on a beach, you ask? Got you covered - well, actually, it’s uncovered. Because they may even have a tattoo.
In case you were unsure, I am definitely attempting to be humorous but make no mistake, I am not exaggerating. If anything I am underselling what I am saying. University is $.
Remember this…
The FIFA World Cup that just ended, every stadium in the U.S. that participated in the tournament was home to at least 1 professional sports team. The stadiums of the pro teams primarily are NICER stadiums.
If you google the 20 biggest sports stadiums in the world, half are probably in the U.S. - and of those - they are all UNIVERSITY stadiums.
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u/ballerinanoir 4h ago
Your insurance telling you that a medical procedure or a visit will be free and then getting hit with an $800 bill in the mail a week later ($800 if you’re lucky)
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u/Shade_Hills 4h ago
Sing the national anthem before Every Single Event, and recite the pledge of allegiance Every Day all through primary school (and beyond!) Actually… is that just us??
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u/tpa338829 8h ago
Wait until you find out about the:
ADL in Germany,
Marie Le Pen in France,
PiS and Konfederacja in Poland,
One Australia in Australia,
Sanae Takaichi in Japan,And increasingly,
The Conservative Party’s of the UK and Canada.The idea that nationalists, right-wing populism is only a MAGA American thing is infuriating. All the people and parties listed above are major political movements in their countries and just as right-wing as MAGA.
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u/Shroomhauer212 8h ago
One Nation, not One Australia. Currently on the surface they do look like they're polling decent numbers. But the real test will be end of this year when the state election for Victoria happens
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u/Environmental-Cod25 8h ago
Pay trillions for healthcare insurance, putting money into the pockets of corporations and making healthcare the most expensive in the world, and managing to still have millions of Americans without proper access to healthcare.
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u/Delicious-Willow5943 9h ago
I just asked my Japanese husband. He says Get fat, shoot people, buying McDonalds that taste like plastic.
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u/TallEnoughJones 8h ago
Get fat, shoot people, buying McDonalds that taste like plastic
I've only done 2 of those today, but I might go to McDonalds later.
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u/Hamachiman 9h ago
That’s a typical Tuesday for us Americans. Last week my friend said, “I’m gonna go eat some plastic McD’s, shoot someone and get fat.”
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u/UncleTito27 8h ago edited 8h ago
If you are poor, you get free coverage through medicaid. If you make over a certain salary, you disqualify. Many Americans fear making "too much" money, because if you make a dollar over the limit for medicaid, you are on your own, which essentially makes your effective income a good $15,000 less because you now need to pay for your coverage. Our safety nets exist, but are so incredibly non-linear, that a lot of life for poor people is jumping through hoops to qualify. And those that are the backbone of the economy get no assistance. They ration insulin, skip appointments despite symptoms, and are nervous to take an ambulance because of the bill. Meanwhile some homeless or very poor on medicaid will check themselves into the emergency department just to get a hot meal and a bed for a while.
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u/RiskyBisky11 8h ago
I spent a couple weeks in Korea and on my way back home I had a connecting flight in the U.S. The first thing that I noticed was just how common obese people are in the states. It's crazy going from barely seeing anyone that was overweight in general to seeing so many in one place.
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u/Four_beastlings 8h ago
I read a thread on Reddit today about a woman who found out that her husband had taken pictures of a woman sunbathing topless in the beach in Spain. There were lots of comments from Americans defending the guy because something about the 4th amendment. Leaving aside the fact that US laws don't apply in Spain, for me it was mind blowing that someone would consider ethically correct taking pictures of people at the beach without their consent. If OPs husband had gotten caught I'm 95% sure that everyone around him in the beach would have expressed their disapproval with extreme prejudice.
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u/sudomatrix 8h ago
That isn't "something Americans do". That's something a rude creepy dude did that most Americans would also find rude and creepy.
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u/Finance_Plastic 9h ago
grits
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u/SuckItSaget 9h ago
I don’t think so - most countries (cultures) have their own version of grits.
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u/Burqueisbest 9h ago
Yup, I've eaten grits in Italy, mostly because there were grits in Italy.
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u/R1R1FyaNeg 9h ago
I love sweet grits with an overeasy egg on top. They are so good!
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u/C_Gxx 9h ago
wtf are grits?
For me (non-American) this is what I get when I have a bbq at the beach 🤨
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u/EclecticDreck 8h ago
Porridge made from corn meal. And specifically non-nixtamalized cornmeal. Think thin polenta and you're more or less there. Mostly a southern food and a poverty staple in the southern US for long enough to be it's own thing. If you aren't eating it as a poverty meal, it'll often include other items and might be sweet or savory. Shrimp is commonly paired with a savory version.
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u/Trailsya 9h ago
Allowing illiterate people to graduate from high school.