ghost_victim said:
"Assuming everything on the internet is about America."

"Helphaer replied:
The vast majority of it is dominated by the US companies and such and the economic influence and trends."

ghost_victim replied:
"Hahah. See?"

enigmaticalso said:
"Thinking that America is the freest country in the world."

took-a-load replied:
"Yesssss! I had a roommate once, he was from the military, who in his exact words said, “America is the best country ever because there’s no place in the world that’s as free as America.” I didn’t know how to respond to that because one, at the time I didn’t know that was a legit mindset, so two, I took it as ‘sure, what the hell.’ Makes me wish now that I should’ve challenged him on that instead of brushing it off because when you face it, it’s stupidity."

erginborisov said:
"Thanking military people for their service..."

HwumbleSir replied:
"Reminded me of a joke I heard:

An old man walks into a grocery store and when checking out, he asks if he could have a discount because he fought in world war two.

The cashier says "Of course" and, in a particularly generous mood, gives him a 50% discount.

The old man says "Danke" then leaves."

"Putting the day/month date format the wrong way round."

MrNewbody said:
"How all our bread is so sweet that they can be considered cakes in Europe."

tygib replied:
"Probably this. The amount of sugar in everything, let alone bread, is astounding."

Phoenixapartment replied:
"Honestly, it needs to be regulated. It's an addictive substance we just straight-up raise kids on. And it's in so many things.

Big issue."

woolalaoc said:
"Leaving shopping carts randomly in the parking lot."

KiloEchoNiner replied:
"The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing.

To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as the correct, appropriate thing to do. The return of the shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it. No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will fine you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart, and you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct.

A person who is unable to do this is no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with law and the force that stands behind it.

The shopping cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society."

"Paying $10,000 for a live birth and thinking that's okay."

Ok_Independence_5025 said:
"Not having to ask for the bill."

frgs72 replied:
"This was me today at a restaurant in Oslo. It felt rude to call the waitress over to ask for the bill. Am American."

Ariia_ replied:
"It's curious, I'm European, and if someone gave me the bill without asking I would think it's rude because it feels like they're rushing me to leave."

Alexastria said:
"Ranch."

TheArowanaDude replied:
"Back when I worked in Panera Bread, a customer asked for ranch; we didn't carry it back then and when we informed him, he said: "Are y'all communists?!""

otaku_wanna_bee said:
"Give tips at restaurants. And give even more tips for barber/food delivery/massage. And some Asian restaurants will automatically add 20% tip after tax."

ThoriGilmore replied:
"A self-checkout asked me about a tip two weeks ago in the Newark airport."

calls_you_a_bellend said:
"Mixing three different canned foods together and calling it a casserole."

LordChefChristoph replied:
"Don't forget to add cheese!"

surfinberrypunch replied:
"And breadcrumbs on top."

Dhk3rd said:
"Prescription drug commercials."

Bluefortress replied:
"Happy dancing while side effects are being listed."

rubs_tshirts said:
"Not including the tax on prices displayed in stores."

raph_84 replied:
"That feeling when you want to spend your very last Dollar on a can of Arizona Ice Tea (Famously: "The price is on the can!") and the cashier asks for $1.07."

dinerdefilles said:
"Singing the national anthem at every possible opportunity, even when the event does not involve any other countries."

Streuth14 replied:
"Starting every sporting event with some military flyover or other military promotion."

"Someone paid just to bag your shopping at the checkout.

Makes me feel so awkward and uncomfortable just standing there while they do it."

"Fraternities and sororities."

cbeiser said:
"Drive-thru ATMs and everything else.

I didn't learn we had drive-thru liquor stores until later in my life."

Kemalist_din_adami replied:
"Drive-thru ATMs???"

cbeiser replied:
"This is super normal in the USA.

In fact, they aren't always machines. We have drive-thru banks. Most banks have a drive-thru section you can do simple bank stuff from the car. I've seen this my entire life."

Zear-0 said:
"Paying half your income for insurance that doesn’t actually cover anything."

piiinkylindsey replied:
"Ugh, trust me. We KNOW. We agree. We literally don’t know how to change this anymore lol and I say lol not bc I’m laughing but bc I’m trying to keep my sanity while I’m stuck here doing exactly that."

Luke_Nukem_2D replied:
"Unfortunately, the political system in the US has morphed into something that makes it impossible to change.

The government is not working for the benefit of the average American anymore, but you can't alter that as both parties are equally as culpable. You can't vote for a third party. At this point, you'd have to scrap the whole political system to stop greed running the country."

DoYouReadMuch said:
"Not allowing cashiers to sit down because it will make them seem lazy."

ThrowAway233223 replied:
"American bosses/managers are kings and queens of arbitrary/ridiculous measurements of productivity/professionalism. Sitting or kneeling to pull items at the back of a bottom, low-clearance self? No, that is unprofessional. Real professional stands fold themselves in half at the waist and ratchet their arm under the shelving in a manner that threatens to knock down the shelf above and possibly make you unable to reach items at the back. Also, if that spot looks empty because you didn't pull an item from the back, you obviously should have kneeled down to get it."

wrestlingnutter said:
"Toilet cubicles with massive gaps in the door."

darthurface replied:
"Trust me, we absolutely hate it too but for some odd reason morons keep making them that way."

Bennett713 said:
"Driving "stick" makes you part of some sort of elite club above everyone else."

3bluerose replied:
"Yeah, it's the- a lot fewer people can steal my car now- club."

Ecthelion2187 said:
"High school starting before 7:30 am."

Snorlax5000 replied:
"California recently passed a law that high school can’t start before 8 am due to teenagers needing more sleep at their age, I’m happy to see it."

Ecthelion2187 replied:
"It's tough in the Northeast, especially with the winter, but we really need to do that nationally (and frankly, 8 am is still too early!)"

Tulikettuja said:
"4th July.

I know more than one non-American who's been asked why they don't celebrate it."

Calzxon replied:
"How our education system fails that spectacularly is amazing."

FlygonsGonnaFly said:
"Might just be me, but I do notice when you ask Americans on the internet where they're from, they reply with either a state or a city instead of their country.

The thing is, it doesn't cause any confusion, since most people know most American states and at least the major cities.

You don't often see an Indonesian person, for example, say they're from West Java. Just that they're from Indonesia.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just an American one. I also don't think it's because of cultural variation or population. I'm Indian and I've never seen anyone say that they're from Rajasthan or Kerala on a more global level. A lot of Indian states speak different languages, have different cuisine, and live on different terrain. I think it has more to do with the fact that people broadly know American states and the distinctions between them through movies and American news and politics."

RedSpikeyThing replied:
"I also find that Americans often include where they were born. For example "I'm from Philly but originally from Jersey.

I understand that the US is big and has many different regions. I'm Canadian and find that Canadians typically don't answer that way, despite being very large."

The_Sceptic_Lemur said:
"To me, exaggeration is very American.

Everything seems to have to be bigger in America, nothing is ever somewhere in the middle. Starting from cars, buildings, servings of food, and variety in shops; to the use of words and describing how things are: something is not just bad, but horrific; something is not just good, but awesome; you‘re not just upset, but outraged; a person is not just mean, but toxic, etc etc etc. Everything in America seems to have to be on the upper scale of things, never somewhere in a more realistic middle ground. I find this exhausting and somewhat annoying (especially with the choice of descriptive words), because if you always settle for the upper scale of things you have no room for details and over time words and descriptions become meaningless when everything is awesome or everything is horrific. Some more realism in the use of words would do everyone good I‘d think."

OogusMacBoogus replied:
"I live in the US and the word ‘epic’ has become so commonplace that it’s lost all meaning. Sorry, Jen, your nail extensions aren’t epic."

dkkru5477Nmf said:
"750 military bases around the world."

kuchokora replied:
"About once a week I wonder how Americans would react if China had a military base outside of somewhere like Miami or Houston..."

throwfaraway212718 said:
"Expecting everyone to speak English everywhere, and then getting mad if they don’t."

Sionnach23 replied:
"Sham, I speak English and I've had Americans get angry at me because they couldn't understand me in my own country lmao. An absolute Karen called me an idiot and stormed out when I explained to her that I couldn't explain to her how far something the city was in blocks.

I work in retail obviously."

ahmedb03 said:
"Claiming a team is the world champion of a sport that is only played in the US."

PearlsofRon replied:
"To be fair, the NBA, NHL, and MLB are the best leagues in the world for their respective sports and the best players from all over the world play in them. It makes sense from that perspective for those leagues."

Pat_RedHawk replied:
"I mean if the only place in the world a sport is played in the US, they are the world champions."

that1guycalledpeter said:
"Free refills at restaurants."
 
grabityrises replied:
"And with ice."

slavname said:
"American here. When I studied abroad, I was smiling and friendly to strangers. In London, they looked like I wanted to steal something from them!"

jew_biscuits replied:
"Saw this with my American friends when I lived in Moscow. They walked around with this pleasant, anticipatory smile on their face and people thought they were mentally challenged."

doomdoggie said:
"A strong focus on how things relate to race and privilege and cultural... stuff."

illini02 replied:
"Yeah. it's even worse in cities.

I'm black and I live in a major city. One thing that annoys me is that often black and brown are just used instead of saying poor. So these conversations about "black and brown" people really just mean poor people, and as someone who isn't poor (not that I'm rich) it becomes a weird thing. And it often makes things get tied to race that really shouldn't be, they are tied to poverty. Crime to me isn't a racial thing, it has to do much more with poverty. But in urban centers in America, those things go hand in hand. What is interesting though is that in rural America, it's switched and the poorer people tend to be white."

Siruan_Asar said:
"Measuring distances in time."

shotsallover replied:
"That's because of traffic.

If I say something is a mile away, you'll think it's a 3-5 minute drive. But if the route there is chronically plagued with traffic (or you live in LA), using time is a more effective measure because that one-mile trip could take an hour regularly.

And it works on the converse too. If you're in a rural area and it's 20 miles away, that could be 30 minutes due to there not being a straight road there. My uncle lived 6 miles away from my dad, but it was a 30-minute drive because there was no straight route. It was all backroads. Or 45 minutes if you went through town. So giving a distance isn't super helpful."

Christdawarlock said:
"The Cult Of Highschool/College Sports."

Natty_D replied:
"It seems strange to anyone from Europe, but after starting to watch US sports I realized that a lot of states either don't have a team in a major league or will only have one. It's not like here in the UK where there are 92 teams in the football league and even more below that, most of the major leagues in the US only have 30-40 teams. That's why people are so invested in college sports, a lot of the time they're the only local teams."

DaveDerSowjet said:
"So much fast food."

0ddmanrush replied:
"Hosted a person from Norway for business for 5 days a few months back. That guy wanted to eat as much red meat, sandwiches, and fast food as I ever saw."

davecm010 replied:
"I’m pretty sure food tourism for Europeans coming to America consists of trying all the fast food franchises they probably only ever see in American movies and TV shows. I was just in Europe and the only major fast food franchises I ever saw there were McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC."

"Canned cheese you squirt."

diablo______ said:
"Solo cups I think they are called idk the little red ones."

FavoritesBot replied:
"Oh yeah, you mean American party cups."

kinky_kate said: "Using disposable plates/cutlery at home." AtlUtdGold replied: "My roommate uses like 7 plates and bowls a day it’s super f**king annoying tbh. He can’t even eat takeout food out of the box he has to waste a plate."

Ugedej said:
"Calling a normal clock "military time"."

atylerson replied:
"Just to clarify, we call it that because, to us, only the military uses a 24-hour format. It’s the product of what we’re given from birth. I didn’t know there was a 24-hour format for a clock until I was like 9, which was when a teacher finally showed us its existence."

rhett342 replied:
"To be fair, we use that time format in the medical world too here in America."

MidwestAmMan said:
"Cheerleaders. What could be more American?"

Detective_Dietrich replied:
"I can't remember who it was, but some foreign filmmaker was trying to demonstrate the concept of "American", and he played stock footage of a marching band."

one_shy_extrovert said:
"Making pancakes from the box."

waterbird_ replied:
"Everyone else is making pancakes from scratch? You’re right I didn’t know this."

trig2 said:
"Root beer."

Justice_Prince replied:
"It's so bubbly, cloying... and happy."

browncoat47 said:
"Handing your credit card to a stranger, having them walk away, swipe it, then bring it back to like they didn’t just put a down payment on a new house with it…"

draw_it_now replied:
"When I first started working in hospitality, I had an American customer who just gave me their card. I took it to the register, paid the order with a swipe, and gave it back. I was told by my manager to never do that again lol."

trustmeimalinguist said:
"S’mores - was shocked to learn that no one even knew what they are in Europe. Like people maybe don’t eat PB&J but they at least know of it."

Netzapper replied:
"Actually, a lot of non-Americans think the "jelly" in peanut butter and jelly is actually gelatin (like the "Jello" brand). Tell them it's peanut butter and jam, and suddenly a lot (but certainly not all) are like "oh that sounds alright then"."

G-Unit11111 said:
"Ice machines.

When I went to London I kept asking for the ice machines and people looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language or something."

RipInPepz replied:
"I hate drinking s**t without ice. It gets warm in like 3 minutes. This will be my biggest challenge abroad."

"Outrageous confidence.

Americans are, by far, the most confident people on earth. This can be a good thing or a bad thing.

This is why you guys went to the moon. You're like let's go to the moon. How are we doing it? No idea, let's do it anyway.

But this is also why you guys are the baddies to large swaths of the world."

Alice_of_Skye said:
"Wearing shoes inside the house - not just a quick trip loading something or whatever but actually walking around in them all the time, feet up on beds and stuff (unless tv/movies have exaggerated that part)."

carinavet replied:
"Most people wouldn't put their shoes up on beds, but they will keep them on all day."

cerealkiller454 replied:
"That's me. literally wear my boots all day every day, all throughout the house. then I batch and moan when I'm cleaning the carpets every 3 months. I don't understand me."

"Not owning a passport. I don’t know if that is a myth but I hear that a huge percentage of Americans have never been out of the country and don’t even have a passport. I understand that the US is huge with a massive range of landscapes and climates but it still seems a little odd to me.
According to the US State dept, they estimate 37% of US citizens don’t own a passport. 

"Asking a complete stranger "How are you doing today?""

Humble_Chip said:
"Turning right on red.

Edit: I only know this because the French actor from that silent movie The Artist mentioned it in his Oscars acceptance speech."

gueriLLaPunK replied:
"Lol, Jeremy Clarkson said something to the effect of "it's America's greatest invention"."

cupidstuntlegs said: "Getting hysterical about kids in bars." flankerc7 replied: "I think this is both a reflection of our Puritan past/Evangelical Present which vilifies alcohol, BUT, I also think its a reflection of American drinking culture which tends to focus on over-indulgence as opposed to the more relaxed and measured imbibing in Continental European countries. Couple that with our general state of anxiety/frustration, and you can get some bars that are tenser than you would expect. Plus, it really depends on the setting. A brewery during the day will be overloaded with kids and dogs. Sports bars around mealtime will almost certainly have kids eating nachos and slugging back oversized cokes while chilling on their iPads. However, dive bars at night will of course not have any kids floating around because... well it's not intended to be a family-friendly place."

xTheHunt said:
"Daily driving pickup trucks."

-captn- replied:
"Not only that but driving everywhere. I've been living in Germany for 20 years now and when family and friends visited us in Germany they were shocked at how much we walk or use public transportation here. I (30f) don't even have a driver's license, it's never been needed for any of my jobs haha.

Before ppl misunderstand: I'm talking about taking the car places that are 5-10min walking distance away due to bad city planning, pedestrian-unfriendly places, and no sidewalks."

Ladorb said:
"Calling a water heater, "hot water heater"."

WilIyTheGamer replied:
"Wait other countries don't do that? Holy s**t! I just replaced mine and that's what EVERYONE here calls it. I mean I didn't even realize it was redundant until I read this. Mind blown."