Non-stop televangelism channels are quite something. But probably you know that’s weird.
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. :(
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.
Shoes in the house
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!!
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.
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.
TSA, but I guess you know that this is not normal?
Also the constant humming of ACs in New York drove me crazy.
Your bread is sweet. Like, all of it. And not just like, pleasantly so like a French brioche, but almost candy-like. Wonder Bread is one of the worst offenders, coming in at 5g added sugars per 100g: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wonder-Bread-Classic-White-Sandwich-Bread-Sliced-White-Bread-20-oz/37858875?classType=REGULAR
Edit: as a commenter pointed out, it’s actually closer to 9g/100g, bringing it to soda levels of sugar ಠ_ಠ
Wonder Bread is just gross junk food. Also, if you consult the label again, it’s worse than that. The 5g added sugar is for 57g of bread, so it’s nearly 10% sugar by mass.
There are good brands here. I usually get Dave’s Killer Bread. It still has some added sugar, but there are varieties with fairly small amounts.
as an american i would like to make the presumptious statement of “it’s like, pretty normal actually”
please yell at me in the replies, i thrive on confrontation.
i thrive on confrontation
How does one learn this skill?
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
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
German, only having been there once some years ago, so no idea if it still is that way:
Not knowing what I will have to pay in the grocery store until the cashier tells me what to pay. Here the price on the shelf is THE price. I might have a voucher that reduces the price in the end, but nothing is ever added only subtracted, all prices on the shelf are easily comparable, because no matter the weight of one package there is also given the price of 1kg or 100 g for everything.
No kids on playing grounds without parents standing around. No kids just playing on the side walk (often there is no side walk anyway), no kids walking to school. It made me aware of how much freedom kids have in Germany, how independent even 6 y.o. are in Germany compared to kids in the US. They walk to to school alone or use public transport alone, they buy groceries alone, they visit friends by foot or public transport, three y.o. already having a bike and cycling besides their parents to kindergarden…
On the other hand seeing so many very young people having a job, like a really hard job for many hours besides school. It broke my heart, they should be free to be young and having all the time, working comes fast enough and goes on forever. Also I saw very old people doing jobs that should be able to retire because you could see them being in pain and barely able to function, definitely not a “choice” for them.
The amount of medication, especially pain medication, people take in the US compared to Germany and how much of it is freely available while it is needing a subscription from a doctor here. Every time I was feeling unwell I was offered pills that I found to be numbingly strong and switching my brain off? Hard to explain. I found them scary, but was told that they take them on a daily basis and they are harmless … nope.
The children thing varies with region, and had become more pronounced in recent years.
When I was a kid I walked to the bus stop, played outside with a lot of freedom, etc. The rule for most kids was to go home when the street lights came on, and there was usually a border you weren’t allowed to cross - for me it was a road with a lot of speeders and crazy drivers.
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.
