1. Wearing shoes in the house… What the fuck are you doing? You step in all nasty shit, for example, if you stepped on a fruit then walked all over your living room then thats how you get ants.
2. Advertising prescription drugs. That was the weirdest one for me. “ask your doctor for brand x antidepressants” type commercials on TV. In the UK, your doctor tells you what drugs you should take, not the other way round.
3. Why is bread in the USA so sweet? Sandwich bread, hamburger buns, taste like cake but Americans have no idea what you’re talking about because they’re used to it.
4. Saying “how are you?” when you mean “hello”. When a store clerk or acquaintance in America asks, “How are you doing?” they aren’t actually looking for an answer. Instead, it’s meant as a simple greeting, similar to “Hi there!” A European, on the other hand, “will launch into a monologue about their health and wellbeing and ask [how are you?] right back and expect an answer,”
5. Soft drink is free flowing, everywhere. McDonalds you get a gigantic cup for a dollar – it comes with unlimited refills. Even at a restaurant if you half finish your coke the waitress will bring you another one. The first time you’re like “hey i didn’t order this” but then you realise it’s free. In most other countries, when you buy a drink, that prince is for a single cupful of your beverage of choice
6. Portion Sizes. The small in America is literally the medium in the UK
7. Flags everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Stores, car lots, private homes, on street lamps, etc. It’s the first thing I noticed when I landed here.
8. Price tags without tax included.
9. Tipping: Just the thought of paying more for something u already paid is weird specially the part when, in american culture, is almost a MUST, and if u don’t do it’s seen as rude or something. Also the fact that u have to calculate it with percentages of what u paid….I know it’s a great source of income for bartenders and such, but I would normally expect your salary covered that, not me
10. Your toilets are too low down and the stalls have massive gaps around the door so that people can see in. You can put a man on the moon but can’t design a setup whereby I can have a shit in comfortable privacy. Sort it out America.
11. Everything being designed around cars.
12. A very blasé approach to credit card security. Signatures don’t matter and no one uses a PIN.
13. The pledge of allegiance is creepy as fuck. I know most Americans just say it because they have to in school but if you listen to the words it sounds strange to have children just chanting it off
14. I’m American, but a visiting Italian friend was very puzzled at Americans’ use of the phrase, “Oh, really?” in group conversations. Somehow he took that as a person challenging his opinion, when in reality, it’s just some habit a lot of us have that basically means, “Interesting. Can you elaborate?” The guy was red in the face after an hour because he literally thought everyone in our group was challenging every single thing he said.
15. Rarely taking a vacation. In most countries outside the U.S., vacation time is a highly utilized way to get away from work for a few weeks (or even months) every year. In America, on the other hand, taking time off is often treated like a sin. Many people’s vacation days tend to pile up as the months of 50-hour workweeks roll on.
16. American chocolate sucks.
17. Lawyer adverts, everywhere. Proper Saul Goodman style lawyer adverts. The rented villa we stayed in had at least 4 fridge magnets advertising lawyers, brochures with more lawyers lay around the villa, adverts on TV constatly with more lawyers.
18. How many VERSIONS of every food product there are. You can’t just have one thing, it has to come in blueberry, vanilla, diet, low fat, low sodium, big, small, round and GRAPE
19. You can “literally buy anything, including food, and return it within 90 days for a full refund” even without a specific reason for doing so.
20. How partisan is its politics – I went to a bookstore when I was in Chicago looking to buy a book about American politics but it was all “How Republicans are ruining America” or “How Democrats are ruining America”. There were about 10 shelves of this stuff.
21. Tipping the bartender with every order.
22. Personal responsibility is more valued that social responsibility.
23. How americans are nice with foreigns, I’ve never had a bad encounter in all the 2 years I lived in the US… everyone was nice to me and always tried to understand my accent and bad grammar etc
24. The fact that red lights will suddenly turn green. Here they turn red and Amber before turning green, giving you a second to mentally prepare yourself to be ready to go
25. How people are willing to help you everywhere: Rangers in national parks, staff at stadiums, employees in Trader’s Joe etc.
