A lot of Americans think they live in the center of the universe. In some ways they’re right, but there is a whole huge world out there with different customs and different beliefs and they think a lot of the things we do here in the U.S. are just plain weird.
Who are the weird ones here…? That’s definitely up for debate.
AskReddit users from other countries fill us Americans in on what they think is weird about our country.
1. Drugs are good!
“How your medical ads show an old guy living life well because of X-drug. He has the best time, the wife is having the best time and it’s all because of the drug making things better.
The end of the ad is full of warnings about how this happy drug can potentially kill you and your family, nuke your dog and make cats impotent.”
2. Avoid at all costs.
“That poison ivy not only exists, but it’s so ubiquitous.”
3. Come into my home.
“Now that Thanksgiving and Christmas is over:
The weirdest thing is that Americans will ask what you are doing for thanksgiving. Are you going to your family etc… When you say no. They invite you to their home.
(I was a student, My family was thousands of miles away, and I’m happy that the local Cracker Barrel is open and looking forward to a meal there)
My Professor did that. Invited me to his home. I had a good time, but it was strange. I’m meeting his uncles and aunts. and one little girl threw a tantrum, I had to take her to calm her down etc…
It was weird. But also wonderful. In my country things like this would never happen. You don’t bring a stranger to a family event.
But I’m thankful things like this happen here.”
4. What’s the deal?
“On behalf of my wife “what’s up with the gaps in the toilet stall doors and no bidet?” “
5. We do it big.
“Everything in America is huge. I don’t just mean the people or portion sizes, because we all know about that- but the roads, the buildings, the ceilings, the space between everything… America is gigantic. It just feels larger than it does here. I’m Australian but I’ve been to Asia and size-wise it’s similar to Australia, and I’ve seen Europeans say the same about America. Everything is bigger.”
6. It’s an obsession here.
“Ranch; it is somehow both delicious and revolting. And changes which with every mouthful.”
7. Are you putting me on?
“Americans are super friendly to the point that I (Australian) thought it was sarcasm or fake.”
8. Keep it comin’.
“Free refills. Went to a restaurant with my dad (both German) and all of a sudden the waiter took away my drink with another perfectly good sipp in it and I must have looked pretty shocked. It was only then when my dad explained to me that you guys have free refills.”
9. Well, that’s a good thing.
“My Brazilian wife says she was amazed that we actually respect pedestrians here.”
10. A little help?
“Clearly the fact that there are people to put your groceries in a bag for you, I’ve never been so stressed and uncomfortable that while I was watching this young girl taking care of my groceries.”
11. A few observations.
“For me as British bloke who only travelled for 6 weeks in the US:
Your public transport is largely poor but everything is built for cars and your cars are big.
You advertise not businesses but personalities a lot. So it’s not that KGH Estate Agents will well your property but MARY HUGHTON WILL PERSONALLY SELL YOUR HOUSE (with a big picture of her face).
Random people will talk to you. I’m a Londoner so it is different up north in the UK but especially when I got to the southern states people were so happy to talk to random strangers.
You guys actually sit at the bar in bars. When we go to a pub/bar, we’ll go with friends and rarely interact outside of that group really. You guys jump up at that bar and just start chatting.
Where homelessness is visible it’s bloody awful. San Francisco was horrible for this, me and my (now) wife ended up making a load of extra spag bowl to give to the homeless people outside our hostel because it was shocking to us.”
12. Let’s have a talk.
“Canadian here, I was blown away by how weirdly social people are with strangers. Like some random guy I’ve never seen before just starts telling me his life story on the street. He is super normal, and doesn’t seem crazy, just wants to talk to me for some reason.
But then also, the dude at Wendy’s is loudly threatening some 16 year old cashier in front of like 45 people. I got the impression the Wendy’s guy was uncool, but the other guy seemed normal, and where I live I generally assume that a stranger talking to me for no reason is either crazy or high.”
13. You need a car.
“How far apart everything is and how little is within walking distance. Location dependent, but I moved to a suburb in the Midwest as a kid and everything was so far away. Without access to a car and without reliable public transportation, it was pretty much impossible to get to a friend’s house (unless they lived on your street or something) or go anywhere fun as a kid without relying on parents for a ride. Maybe things are different now with Uber and whatnot, but back then it felt pretty isolating.”
14. Hmmmmm…
“Billboards everywhere about Jesus and abortion.
And why do the doors on the toilet stalls have such a huge gap between them and the wall?”
15. I’ve heard this a lot from non-Americans.
“The tipping, it is so weird that it’s a requirement instead of a reward for great service.”
Yeah… I’m guilty of a few of these for sure! How about you?
Let us know the weird American things you do… if you dare! Share in the comments!
