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When I travel abroad, I am fascinated by the common cultural customs and norms that seem so different compared to the way things are done in the United States. But I don’t usually think about all the things I consider “normal” at home that non-Americans find completely strange. So Reddit Sh/Capitmail 6959 He asked, “Non-American colleagues, what is it Very common in the United States No one has ever heard of it in your country?” That’s what people said.
1.
“People actually love pickup trucks and buy them as their daily commuter, even if their job doesn’t require them to haul anything at all.”
2.
“I was in the US for the first time ever a few weeks ago and wow, blue cheese sauce! It sounds disgusting but it’s amazing! I wish I could bring some home with me.”
3.
“My German friend visited me in college. At the party he shouted, ‘They’re in!’ as he held up our stack of red solo cups.”
4.
“Tip almost anyone who provides service. I’m not just talking about waiters, but also hairdressers and taxi drivers. And tip at least 15%. Where I live, tipping is only in restaurants for good service, and we usually only tip Round the bill, for example, if the bill is 46.40 euros, we give you 50 euros.
5.
“Free refill. The first time I was in the US, the waitress kept refilling my cup without asking. I thought this was a shameless scam to make more money. Turns out they only charged me for one drink on the bill. “
6.
“Health care workers who come home after work still wear scrubs. They wash them at home. Here you are literally forbidden from leaving the hospital in your work clothes. I would hate to have to bring them home and probably bring some resistant hospital bacteria with me. Plus you wouldn’t know Never mind how well other people wash their clothes, I like it to be done professionally in a hospital.”
7.
“Homeowners associations. From what I’ve heard, it seems to be some kind of club that you pay into, and they enforce a certain code aesthetic In a neighborhood.”
8.
“The tax system in general. Having to file a tax return every year is weird. We pay our own taxes unless you run your own business or are a contractor. And having to pay US taxes when you live abroad is weird, too.”
9.
“This contraption that gives the kitchen sink teeth.”
10.
“The school sequence of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. I have to translate that in my head every time I hear it.”
11.
“Iced tap water that arrives at your table immediately when you sit down at the restaurant. It’s amazing!”
12.
“The waiter takes your credit card when you pay in an American restaurant. Here in Europe, you always keep the card with you when you pay.”
13.
“Driving a car and turning right at a red light. It messed with my head. If you did that here in the Netherlands, you would hit at least five cyclists.”
14.
“How stores in the US display prices without taxes. I was amazed when I first went to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola when I arrived in the US.”
15.
“Walking the streets. In my country, crossing the street where there is no crosswalk is viewed negatively, but people do it a lot in the United States.”
16.
“Moving to long-distance work. Here in the Netherlands, a lot of companies only hire people who live within 30 minutes (maybe an hour if they really need you). I once applied for a job about an hour and a half away from my home.” “It was rejected only due to travel time.”
17.
“The idea of going to college because you’re good at a sport. I was talking to an American guy online and he told me he went to college on a ‘lacrosse scholarship’. It was mind-boggling to me.”
18.
“Houses with small fences and little to no extra security. I’m from Latin America, and our homes either have big gates and spiked fences or concrete walls topped with razor wire to keep thieves out. It was so amazing it shocked me when I first visited the United States and saw Houses in the suburbs, cars parked in the streets, and little wooden fences that anyone could jump over.”
19.
“Good Mexican food. In my experience, it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world except Mexico itself.”
20.
“Going to banks and even pharmacies by car. This is amazing to me because we simply don’t have enough space for this kind of thing in the UK.”
21.
“Being able to order a milkshake that contains all of your recommended calories for the day.”
22.
“Car culture is so intense, you can’t live without it. My parents didn’t even know how to drive. We use public transportation (subway, buses, etc.) to get almost anywhere.”
23.
“The whole concept of someone going bankrupt because of a medical emergency.”
24.
“Most American men seem to be circumcised, which seems strange to me.”
25.
“The American College Experience.” You showed yourself responsible by paying $800 a month to live in a campus dorm, sharing a bedroom with a stranger, and a bathroom with 11 strangers. “At the same time, if you continue to live at home with your parents, people will assume that you are also making bad decisions.”
26.
“Lack of paid annual leave from work. My uncle recently moved to the UK from the US and almost fainted when he realized I get about 35 days of leave every year.”
27.
“Talking about work or asking what a person does for a living in great detail at a social function. This is very unusual where I come from. I think it is normal in the United States because it is a work-obsessed country. Work tends to be ingrained in my mind when I am abroad or At a relaxing party, the last thing I want to talk about is anything work-related. Ask me what movies I’ve watched recently or where I’ve traveled, not what my daily routine entails.
28.
“The reality is that you can drive five hours in the United States and more or less stay in the same place. If you drive five hours in Europe, suddenly everyone talks funny and the cheese is different.”
29.
“Send Christmas cards with a professional photo of your family on the front.”
30.
“The fact that in some states you can buy guns at the same store you buy groceries.”
Non-Americans, what is something you have seen or encountered in the United States that is completely normal here but uncommon where you live?
