We all know that people live differently based on which country they reside in. However, it’s not always something we think about unless we go to foreign countries a lot.
In India, where I go to visit extended family, people tend not to wear jeans, teenagers don’t date or have part-time jobs, and there are cows and stray dogs on every street. Once, I even turned around and saw a monkey from outside sitting in the middle of the living room, and I was the only one who was freaked out!
Parents, of course, have the right to ban their kids from dating or working part-time, but it’s not a cultural abnormality like it is in India. And we definitely don’t have cows lining the streets or monkeys acting like house guests here in the States!
India is not the only country in which things are different. In fact, lots of other countries have different qualities of life and different everyday occurrences. According to Redditors, some of these everyday occurrences may even scare Americans!
Wanting to find out more, Redditor TotallyBrandName asked:
“What’s something that happens in your country that would scare Americans?”
Not Like 'The Lion King'
"Kenya- Lions frequent the villages at night. Hyenas actually take small kids way at night."
– Sikh001
On The Lookout
"Drug cartel convoys (groups of 4-6 trucks) in full tactical gear patrolling the city..."
– ramossaenz
"Ngl i think that would scare most ppl in most countries"
– TophatOwl_
We Need Power!
"Load shedding- in South Africa we can have up to 14 hours a day without power. They are ‘planned’ outages. This is due to the corruption and lack of maintenance to the infrastructure. We even have an app to let us know when to expect our electricity to be stolen."
– Reasonable-Media-550
"As an American, idk that it scares me but it’s such a foreign concept. If we are without power, there’s either a storm or a car hitting a pole"
– ProcedureEfficient86
I Prefer Charlotte
"Spiders the size of your palm just casually chilling on the wall every summer. I normally just let them be. They are active at night and will get about your house, they move surprisingly fast for their size also and suddenly vanish. They also get in your car and shoes."
– Hollybums
"you win. please confirm where you live so i can never go there."
– earlytuesdaymorning
"I'm not an American and that terrifies me. Australia is a scary place."
– Hellion_shark
"As an American the walls of my house would be riddled with bullet holes if this were the case"
– iamquiteunhappy
Abduction
"In my country Uganda, the Army kidnaps people and it has become so normal. The cars they use were nicknamed "Drones" because of it kidnaps you, it disappears at lightning speed. They are always numberless, so intractable. They do this in broad daylight, and when they arrest someone like that, you are sure that even if you go to any Police Precinct or Army Barracks, they won't have him because "Officially" you are not arrested anywhere."
– Banana-Republic1
"We drive on the left hand side of the road (Ireland) and that terrifies a lot of American tourists who were hoping to rent a car and drive while here."
"I know exactly how they feel because I spend a lot of time in the USA and anything to do with roads scares me. I instinctively look right first, then left when crossing a road, whereas in America it's the complete opposite because they drive on the right hand side. Also, sometimes I'll be driving there and just get a complete brain meltdown and forget where I am - OMG am I on the wrong side of the road or not??!!"
– FifiLaFifi
"This is the big one for me, and probably the only one in this thread I agree with. I travel a fair amount. I'm terrified of having to rent a car and drive on the other side of the road. I'm a pretty good driver, I just feel like I'll turn wrong or do something wrong and get into an accident."
– illini02
All Work And More Work
"Have a beer with lunch and then drive with 160mph+ back to work only to have my boss to yell at me that i still have 15min of break and i should not work more than asked. Mind you, all of this is legal."
– Ok_Sherbet_8026
"i still have 15min of break and i should not work more than asked"
"This is 100% foreign in the US."
"My swiss friend was forbidden to come to work for the last weeks of December because he had forgot to use all his vacation days."
"In the US it's common for managers to deny you going on vacation"
– FailFastandDieYoung
Employee Rights
"The client isn't always right. Actually, if the client complains they might get their butt kicked"
– Average_perfection
"Now I wanna know where that is lol"
– ho-lee_-sheet
In A Rich Man's World
"Argentina. Anually inflation of 100%"
– MxAxX
"Inflation"
"Americans are freaking out about a little 8.5% inflation, meanwhile in Argentina we're looking at 85%."
– ObviousExit4037
Walk Right In
"I don't know any Americans really, but people seem concerned when I mention that we occasionally have baboons invading our houses and full on social media groups dedicated to alerting people so we can lock up and bring animals inside before it happens. Granted you have to live in an are where there is a troop of baboons for this to happen, but still. Edit: I'm sure this isn't unusual in rural American areas, though with other animals. But still."
"Also loadshedding."
– NiddTheBat
"I don’t think just Americans would be afraid of that. I think most human beings would be afraid of that."
– Hunnybunchesoflove
That last one definitely convinced me! I’m not nearly as worldly as I thought.
NBC News via Lisa Anderson
