“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA

The US and Europe (with a few notable exceptions) have much in common. They hold democratic elections, fight for human rights, and are conscious of their carbon footprint. But at the same time, they're an entire ocean apart and geography isn't the only thing separating them.

So we dug around the internet and found a couple of online threads (one and two) where people have been sharing what they believe to be the aspects of American culture that are foreign to the Old Continent. From the popularity of university sports to free soda and coffee refills, here are the most popular submissions to the discussion.

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA If you are an American citizen, you can choose to live in just about any climate and landscape that the Earth has to offer, and still be in the same country. Whether you like mountains, volcanoes, the beach, the desert, the arctic, the prairie, the rainforest, whatever, the US has it.

[deleted] , Explore with Joshua / Unsplash Report

Final score:

118points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA I’d say the whole system of National Parks is just amazing! Open 24/7 (unless some weather or gov’t shutdown), maps available, trails laid out, camping spots designated… It’s the most treasured and inderappreciated thing in the US, IMO.

dimacq , Tim Depickere / Unsplash Report

Final score:

100points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA A country that's like 99% unwalkable. Seriously, I've been around the globe and every time I came I became frustrated that I can't just walk to a corner grocery.

Firm-Boysenberry , RDNE Stock project / Pexels Report

Final score:

98points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Expensive healthcare.

BuhrackOsama , Pranidchakan Boonrom / Pexels Report

Final score:

88points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA More firearms than citizens.

BeepBeepWhistle , David Peinado / Pexels Report

Final score:

87points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA The endangered species act, one of the few laws in the entire world that actually enforces protections for endangered animals proactively and retroactively. You could go to prison for destroying some rare flowers. just because those flowers were rare. It’s not perfect, but the ESA is one of the most powerful environmental protection laws in the world, spanning some of the largest area, and very very few countries have something similar.

Turtledonuts , Mike Esparza / Pexels Report

Final score:

63points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Space. I can drive 400 miles and still be in Kansas, as it’s 410 miles in width.

CriticallyThougt Report

Final score:

58points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA That's alwys struck me as weird. We get adverts for over the counter meds, like painkillers or cold and flu medicine but the thought of seeing an advert for something you need to go to the doctors and get a prescription for like adhd meds / anti depresents / antibiotics / heart meds or blood thinners is absolitly mental to me.

[deleted] Report

Final score:

57points

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“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA I'm from the UK and it looks like the houses in the US are a million times bigger than they are here.

[deleted] , Arian Fernandez / Pexels Report

Final score:

55points

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#10

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA On the up side, amazing geographic diversity. In one country, we have mountains, deserts, tropics, sweeping plains, fertile farmland, tundra, huge beaches, and rugged coastlines.

On the down side, school shootings. Mall shootings. Grocery store shootings. Church shootings. Birthday party shootings. We know another one's coming soon - we just don't know where.

anon , Pixabay / Pexels Report

Final score:

51points

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#11

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA So many extracurricular activities in schools. Playing a specific sport or being part of a team isn't something schools offer in Europe. I have cousins who live in Texas, and the fact that their school has tennis courts and a pool blows my mind. Some schools here have small clubs like theater or choir, but the options hardly compare to those offered at schools in the States. Your high school theater plays look like professional productions sometimes.

biancastolemyname , Pexels Report

Final score:

51points

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#12

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Fast food restaurants at every intersection and an obesity epidemic.

road22 , Robi Pastores / Pexels Report

Final score:

50points

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#13

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA The Pacific AND the Atlantic.

dntExit , Shifaaz shamoon / Unsplash Report

Final score:

46points

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#14

Florida Man stories. Europe just has 'the English tourist on holiday in Ibiza.'

google_academic Report

Final score:

46points

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#15

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Garbage disposal units are installed beneath the kitchen sink.

Strict-Promotion3250 , Chris Winters Report

Final score:

45points

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#16

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Free refills on coffee and soda (in most restaurants).

LeopardEmpress , Mike Mozart / Flickr Report

Final score:

43points

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#17

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Free public restrooms and toilet seat covers.

ec0114 , Minh Nguyen Report

Final score:

40points

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#18

Diners. Fast cheap American food available at all hours. One of the best meals you will ever eat is American diner food at 2 am.

[deleted] Report

Final score:

40points

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#19

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Massive student loan.

WhinyMrFring , Pixabay / Pexels Report

Final score:

38points

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#20

The Grand Canyon.

[deleted] Report

Final score:

38points

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#21

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Giant superstores where you can buy groceries, furniture, a pet fish and a handgun

Acrobatic_Budget_367 , Caique Morais / Unsplash Report

Final score:

36points

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#22

THE F**KING BBQ!

Thank the cosmos I live there and travel alot. States seem to have their own twists and specialities and it's all so f**king good I can't decide what I like more.

The Texas BBQ Pit I went to once was an experience.

Before I came here, BBQ meant store bought frozen burgers and sausages on a grill in the garden during summer. One thing I don't miss about the UK lol.

Pink_Flash Report

Final score:

34points

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#23

The 4th of July. True fact, in Europe it goes straight from the 3rd to the 5th.

theletterQfivetimes Report

Final score:

29points

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#24

Good Mexican food. It doesn't exist in Europe. I ordered a burrito in Berlin, and it was worse than Taco Bell.

graciasasere Report

Final score:

28points

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#25

American who lived in Europe for a time. (The Balkans)

Things I have here that I didn't have there:

Cheap gas (yes, it's still quite cheap in the US)

Larger appliances with words on them (my appliances there had graphics on them, the washer had a Half Mushroom Cloud setting)

A zillion kinds of breakfast cereal (when I came back, I routinely got overwhelmed in the grocery store)

Lol, diplomatic immunity

Things I had there, that I don't have here:

There was a produce/meat market that was open every day, that I could walk to, it ruled

Cafe culture

The newsstand sold lots of rowdy porn.

rotatingruhnama Report

Final score:

27points

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#26

Turning right on a red light. I think that's still illegal in Germany and most other European countries, isn't it?

PinocchioWasFramed Report

Final score:

23points

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#27

Single country world series.

Lilylivered_Flashman Report

Final score:

23points

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#28

The mountains in the Mountain West and the Red Rocks. I’ve lived next to the Red Rocks in Utah and Colorado. I grew up and worked in the Tetons. We’ve lived on the Wasatch, and super close to the Rockies. Europe is so beautiful but the Mountain West is one of the most beautiful regions on earth.

anon Report

Final score:

23points

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#29

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Truck Nuts

At least I haven't really seen them over here in central Europe. Then again also Pickup Trucks are a pretty rare sight in Europe.

TheBassMeister , Kendall Hoopes / Pexels Report

Final score:

18points

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See Also on Bored Panda

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#30

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA Large meal portions.

MrXenocryst , Nadin Sh / Pexels Report

Final score:

18points

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Note: this post originally had 63 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

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Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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What things about US do you find amazing?

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Queeqec 5 months ago

Comparing the USA with 47 individual countries with individual language, landscape, culture, cuisines, laws, politics etc is just useless. It doesn't work that way.

35points

Nitka Tsar 5 months ago

ZGutr, every European country has their own states. For example: Germany has 16 states, that are as different from each other as the US states are. But somehow most Americans only know of and about Bavaria, which would be like me saying the whole US is only Texas.

5points

“Still Illegal In Most European Countries”: 30 Things That Are Only Normal In The USA

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