America sure is a place, isn't it?
Reddit user, furiousc*msock14, wanted to know what makes Americans stand out overseas when they asked:
What is considered normal by the American folk but incredibly weird for the rest of the world?
Numbers, dates, and genders seem to be all the rage here in the states.
Okay, that's not true, but we have strange traditions when it comes to writing out what today is.
Front And Center And Out Of Order
"The way they write their date."
"In manufacturing environments, it's always Day-Month-Year."
"I got into the habit, don't work in manufacturing anymore, it bothers people when I write 29OCT2021 or even 29 October, 2021."
Shh, Don't Tell Anyone
"Grocery store prices listed without tax, I want to pay what the sign says"
"There are all sorts of wonky rules too. For example bread, lettuce, lunch meat, cheese, all are untaxed because they're food staples, but a pre-made sandwich is taxed as it's a service. Packaged Coffee and tea aren't taxed because of the Boston Tea Party (serious), but coffee from Starbucks is because it's a service. (I worked as a cashier in high school)."
As Long As No One's Dying?
"Gender reveal. Wtf is the point."
"It's weird to a lot of Americans too. Not nearly enough of them though"
Now We're Just Being Different On Purpose
"The imperial measuring system. USA is literally 1 of 3 countries that still use inches, feet, yards and miles. Not that I personally mind it (measuring someone in feet' and inches" is pretty damn comfortable), but yeah it's one of those things us Americans feel is normal and no one else does."
Daily practices seem to be the biggest area where cultural divides occur. You can go about your life as normal if you travel overseas, but the moment you hand your credit card over to a server at the restaurant you'll immediately notice something it different.
A Silly Thing To Lose Your Job Over
"Giving your credit card to a server after a meal and the server walking away to a place you can't see to charge it"
"Most places in Europe the server charges the card in front of you"
Getting Visually Force Fed Different Meds
"Pharma/drug commercials on tv."
"Should be outlawed in my opinion. Doctors should give you the option based on a diagnosis, you don't window shop for pharmaceutical drugs."
Don't Bring That In Here
"I did not realize how controversial wearing shoes inside a house is"
"It's gross. You don't know what you have walked in while outside ie spit, dog poo and then you are bringing it inside on your shoe"
Want to know if someone is American?
Show them a bathroom stall with a door that goes all the way down.
Tell Us More Of This Magical Place...
"The giant gaps in bathroom stalls. Nowhere else in the world have I seen this. I really don't need to be making eye contact with someone outside the stall door while taking a sh-t!"
"Americans don't like them either and we don't know why they keep building them this way"
"I went to a restaurant that had full length stall doors and walls AND they were big enough that my legs weren't nearly touching the walls when I sat down. Plus, there was a nice ledge away from the toilet for my purse and when my mom tried to talk to me from the next stall over, I could barely hear her at all."
"The food was just okay."
"Would go back for the toilets."
This One Could Lead Its Own Discussion
"Tipping culture"
"The problem is we pay for the food, pay for taxes, pay a "delivery fee", and absolutely none of it is seen by the delivery driver that's likely making minimum wage or less. American business has found a way to make the buyer feel shame by finding more ways to take out money for services they aren't paying their employees for."
"American here, I don't normally tip if I'm picking up a takeout order, but during the pandemic we have been tipping because we feel so bad for people having to work in the service industry and deal with anti-maskers, and we know restaurants are struggling during the pandemic"
Charging People To Live
"Rationing insulin. I'm a type 1 diabetic in the UK and seeing people ask for insulin as they don't get paid until next week is mind blowing."
"It's fairly recent, too. Up until the oughts, insulin was dirt cheap and nobody had to ration or budget to afford it. But, pharmaceutical companies decided that lifesaving medications were a great opportunity to price-gouge, so here we are. Same with Epi Pens. I had a (temporary) allergic situation to a medication I no longer take (obviously) and when I had to buy an Epi Pen in 2008, it was $50. Now they're over $600."
