Shoes in the house
That Americans are actually not Americans, but illegal aliens from Europe?..
OK, I haven’t been in the US.
Most Europeans are also illegal aliens from somewhere else.
WEARING SHOES INDOORS
… and then having carpet everywhere. Sometimes even kitchen and bathroom.
I will defend this to my death. I don’t want to get my feet out at your house. I find it crazy that people want me to strip off an article of of clothing and I’m the rude one for not doing it. Also carpet is an abomination. Wood or laminate flooring is way better and you can put a rug on it if it’s cold.
The god damn warning labels on absolutely fucking everything. Bro, I just wanna eat at a restaurant without wondering why the menu has a god damn “at your own risk” label… Also can’t go 1 step in a water park without seeing a life guard, they’re fucking everywhere. Not to mention on the rare occasion they aren’t there, you just can’t do shit. Land of the free my ass, feels like the optimal way to do anything is to always have a lawyer by side.
The menu one is specifically so restaurants don’t get sued when they accidentally serve you raw products or food you’re allergic to.
I suppose that makes us litigious, which is pretty weird and sad.
America runs off lawsuits
I was gonna say “runs on Dunkin” but I don’t wanna get sued. :(
Non-stop televangelism channels are quite something. But probably you know that’s weird.
TSA, but I guess you know that this is not normal?
Also the constant humming of ACs in New York drove me crazy.
Many things. To say some…Billboards with lawyers advertising for things like demands after accidents. Like dozens one after another on the road.
So much sugar in everything. Last time I was there had to throw to the bin a yogurt. Was so sweet It was awful. Prices of “fresh” food.
Tips for everything. Going to a restaurant and have to tip like 20% of the bill, or even more, is crazy.
Wáter consumtion. Like big golf camps completely green in the middle of a desert (Vegas). When asked about It, people there just answered “no problem, we have the Hoover Dam for that”.
Lack of public transport outside four or five big cities. And that just walking on the streets in some places is very strange fot the people living there. I was asked ten years ago in Palo Alto if I was Russian because I was not driving, just walking on the street!!
Sorry to be honest, but this is my view…
Voting between two parties, and then getting whatever the “electors” pick. All the while, thinking they live under the biggest democracy of the world.
Having all sorts of inhuman behaviors, like robbing childs from immigrants.
Child marriage.
Having lots of weapons in the country but all wars outside.
Mmm… What else? Ah, prisoners are slaves.
Sugar in hot drinks by default. Asking for coffee-no-sugar seems to trigger incredulity. At least this was my experience in the South. New York is another country altogether, no eyebrows raised there.
Hmm? That seems odd to me. As a Southerner myself, I know more people who drink their coffee black, straight (No milk, no sweeteners) than I do people who put stuff in their coffee.
Your urban planning. Your cities are unwalkable, the scenery makes me depressed af, everything is scaled up for cars, even restaurants are for cars, the highways are huge, all I can see is tar. I don’t know how you can live like that.
To be fair, the national parks are really beautiful. But you need a car to even reach these parks, then drive into a massive parking lot – really depressing.
I took the Empire Builder train, then walked into Glacier National Park. But, then, the only way to get up Going-to-the-Sun Road was by shuttle bus, and we got stuck in a mile-long traffic jam on the side of a mountain. So ridiculous.
Family eating at shooters (and the whole hooters/twin peaks concept)
Need to take the car for a 500m trip because there is no sidewalk and a highway to cross
It’s illegal to walk to Costco
It’s illegal to cross the street some places
How annoying waiters are. I don’t need small talk and I don’t need you asking if everything’s okay every five minutes. Just let me eat in peace!
The exact opposite experience if you’re non white. I’m light skinned and get normal service. I go out with certain friends and suddenly we’re getting ignored and waiting longer than people that came in way after us. We just end up ordering pickup or avoiding certain places all together.
they do it hoping you get larger tips for being attentive, because it’s not enough that you’re paying the restaurant; you need to subsidize the wages of their workers.
Attentive is looking up from time to time for people who are waving, not interrupting.
The brown paper-bag thing with alcohol in public. I mean, everybody and their dog knows what’s in there, right?
And the fact that people ask if you need help if you decide to NOT take the car but instead walk the 5 minutes to somewhere.
Everyone does know. I can’t speak for all states/counties/cities/etc, but the brown bag thing is mostly a legal grey area for allowing folks to drink in public. Most of the time drinking isn’t legal to just do while walking around and can be given fines by cops. However this can be problematic for additional resources being redirected from more important crimes. So as long as the cops don’t see a label or the whole bottle/can, then they can ignore it as “it could be anything.”
For example, in the summer people in my state like to go tubing down sections of rivers. While tubing you can have coolers and stuff, however open drinking of beer or other such drinks isn’t legal. So if cops were to be watching the river and clearly see the labels it can mean that they order you to get out and hand them over and/or be fined. But everyone makes sure to put their cans/bottles in foam cozies, and therefore it is a low-key unofficial understanding that as long as you aren’t smashed and/or causing lots of problems everything is good. The same also applies to other places like lakes and the beach (at least in my state). But if you are super drunk and/or being an asshole, then the cops will use that as probable cause to actually search the bag/cozies and all that.
I cannot even begin to imagine not having the Freedom©®™ to crack open a bottle of wine for a picnic
That’s insane
Well I’ve just read every comment on this thread and I’m relieved to realize that our recitation of our National Pledge of Allegience at every opportunity is in-fact seen as totally normal.
Well… not my culture, I guess 🤷♀️
It was made to sell flags
Canadian here, British Columbia.
Going to a Wal-Mart in a small-ish town and counting 38 CCTV cameras across the outside front of the building. Ours, in a city with 28× the population, has only 6.
Inside that same Wal-Mart, going into a checkout line without first checking out the customers, and the very next guy ahead of us was an open carry: a semi-auto (AR-15 like looking weapon) slung over his shoulders, a handgun in a holster on his waist, and a lump on his right ankle above his boots. And two knives on his belt. Dude looked like he was ready for some urban warfare.
The sheer amount of infrastructure decay. Sure, even Canadian towns that haven’t seen economic good times look run down and dilapidated, but American towns really kick that up a notch. Most small-town buildings look like they haven’t seen a makeover since the Carter administration.
Unusually authentic Mexican food. Up here 90% of Mexican places are run by white dudes who make semi-authentic “fusion” dishes that are mainly just spicy. Cross the border and less than 15 minutes in, there is one family-run chain (Rancho Chico, Rancho Grande) with super-cheap 100% authentic foods run and staffed solely by Mexicans. And like, holy shit, that’s good food.
The sheer number of people who support and vote for a party who will do absolutely nothing for them, and will enact policies that will drive them even further into poverty and destitution just so their Parasite-Class campaign donors can get even more obscenely wealthy. Conservative voters are just weird, man.
Yes, I don’t think Americans realise how good they have it with Mexican food. Ditto with barbecue.
The sheer number of people who support and vote for a party who will do absolutely nothing for them, and will enact policies that will drive them even further into poverty and destitution just so their Parasite-Class campaign donors can get even more obscenely wealthy. Conservative voters are just weird, man.
I mean, we have deep blue (Conservative) ridings too.
Oh we realize it. We don’t take kindly to anyone who doesn’t take it seriously. Have you ever seen the old Pace salsa commercials where they’re going to lynch the guy who brought salsa from NYC? That’s how serious we are about Mexican food and BBQ.
Unusually authentic Mexican food. Up here 90% of Mexican places are run by white dudes who make semi-authentic “fusion” dishes that are mainly just spicy. Cross the border and less than 15 minutes in, there is one family-run chain (Rancho Chico, Rancho Grande) with super-cheap 100% authentic foods run and staffed solely by Mexicans. And like, holy shit, that’s good food.
A friend’s boyfriend is a Mexican citizen working on immigrating and he explained it to me once that for non-citizens it’s far easier to start a business than to get a job, so many immigrants end up starting shops or restaurants related to their culture as they slowly work their way through the immigration process. This has led to absolutely amazing Mexican and Latin American cuisine in every corner of the country as well as lots of brilliant ethnic stores specializing in hard to get items for people from that culture. I live in a small town of about 12k and have 1 Mexican store, 1 Mexican ice cream shop and 3 Mexican restaurants! In rural Wisconsin!
it’s far easier to start a business than to get a job
Also why so many Koreans run donut shops or nail salons, and why 7-11’s are almost universally franchised by Indians. They’re all relatively easy businesses to start, can be run out of any strip mall near a neighborhood, and all have the potential to hire and train your family members. And if your cousin owns a donut shop (and you’ve worked there enough to know how it works,) you can go open your own across town. Because if you come in on a work visa, your ability to stay in the country is held hostage by your employer. But if you start your own business, that’s not an issue.
