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30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States

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While it might depend on who you ask, the truth is that life in the US is truly very different from everywhere else, for better or worse. However, even though this seems like it should be common sense, many travelers arrive in America and immediately realize that there is a whole lot going on that they maybe didn’t expect.
Someone asked “Non-Americans, what is something quite common in the U.S. that is completely unheard of in your own country?” and people shared their best examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to comment your own stories and experiences below.

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#1

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States * employers firing people on the spot
* having a limited number of days for sick leave
* unpaid maternity / sickness leave
* "tipping culture".

Ok_Opportunity4475 , Lukas/Pexels Report

Final score:

79points

G A 2 months ago

US work culture is appalling

39points

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#2

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States People getting bankrupted because of medical emergencies.

VokThee , Nicola Barts/Pexels Report

Final score:

79points

Nor 2 months ago

This still blows my mind...as much as South Africa is seen as a third world country, we get free diabetic meds from our clinics

34points

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#3

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Advertising medications on TV.

Dumbest thing I've ever heard of.

crackpotJeffrey , Pixabay/Pexels Report

Final score:

76points

Javelina Poppers 2 months ago

After they get through rattling off all the warnings it sounds like your illness is less debilitating than the medicine.

45points

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#4

Open carry firearms. Like, I get it, I have a gun licence and go to the gun range and have a good time. But like, folks walking around openly with huge-a*s guns as though they're Walmart Mercenaries is seriously f****d.

el_pobbster Report

Final score:

76points

Bobbie 2 months ago

Just in case of mushrooms attack. They are very agressive

13points

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#5

Having Kids say the pledge of Allegiance in School.

Last time my Country had something like that.....well lets just say it didnt end wel for anyone involved.

platzandersonne Report

Final score:

76points

Ellinor 2 months ago

In France we learn the Marseillaise once when we are 7/8 years old at school and then we only talk about it or sing it at sports events like football.

20points

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#6

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Displaying prices without taxes. It threw me off when I first went to buy a bottle of coke a day after I arrived.

AJ787-9 , Michael Burrows/Pexels Report

Final score:

70points

Skogsrået 2 months ago

So glad we have laws that forbids this bs in Europe.

40points

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#7

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Homeowners Association.

Igotthebugthewire , Michael Tuszynski/Pexels Report

Final score:

62points

Manny 2 months ago

Nobody in the US likes HOA's. They should be banned.

47points

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#8

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Getting into University by being good at sports. I was chatting to an American guy online and he told me he went to college on a "Lacrosse Scholarship". I'm like, seriously? You got to go to college for being good at f*****g lacrosse?

Johhnymaddog316 , Pixabay/Pexels Report

Final score:

56points

Alexandra 2 months ago

You should get into University because you have the brains to be there. If, in addition, you're also good in sports, that's great.

39points

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#9

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Medical debt.

Rega_lazar , Karolina Kaboompics/Pexels Report

Final score:

54points

Laura Bradshaw 1 month ago

This should not be a thing humanity is fd up

0points

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#10

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Not sure if it's been said. Americans with disabilities act is amazing. Wheel chair ramps everywhere and ease of access.

LazyBid3572 , Ann H/Pexels Report

Final score:

50points

Skogsrået 2 months ago

We have this in Sweden too? You can also apply for help getting a handicapped accessible car or customise your car.

12points

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#11

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Tipping culture.

James-And547 , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

Final score:

46points

Skogsrået 2 months ago

I got tipped alot when working as a waiter but is voluntarly and not expected.

9points

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#12

Overwork culture. Why would someone choose to work 80 hours a week? I get it, double the money, but what are you going to do with the money if you have just enough free time left to sleep and you die at 65?
Of course someone doesn't have a choice and needs extra hours or multiple jobs, but from afar I still see an undeniable cultural push to a life dedicated to working, with those who choose something else regarded as lesser parts of the society.
Career too. It feels like you *must* always strive to be something more, no peace, no rest, no point where you can be happy where you are.

pinninghilo Report

Final score:

46points

Luke Branwen 2 months ago

"Hustle culture" should be renamed to "huskle culture" because it leaves you as an empty husk of a human being.

18points

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#13

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Neighbourhoods without grocery stores.

anon , David McBee/Pexels Report

Final score:

43points

Auntriarch 2 months ago

Hmph, UK has those, they're called housing estates

13points

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#14

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States As a Dutchy, driving a car and turning right on a red light. That messed with my head. If you do that here you are gonna hit at least 5 cyclists.

CowabungaNL , Jack Gittoes/Pexels Report

Final score:

42points

Chelsea Bates 2 months ago

Well you wait for the cyclists to cross before you go

3points

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#15

Being worried about calling an ambulance. Or just medical bills in general. I cant imagine not being able to afford getting cancer treatment if needed for example.

Final score:

42points

Huddo's sister 2 months ago

When I was in high school, we had someone from Ambulance Australia do a talk to my year level. They stressed that you HAD to get an ambulance for someone who has an overdose or alcohol poisoning and then worry about cost later. The cost would be much higher if you didn't have ambulance cover, but still under $200, much less than America. They urged us to make sure our parents have ambulance cover, which is about $28 a month. I went home and asked my mum about it and she said, because she was on a low income/carer's health care card, it is actually free for us to get an ambulance.

11points

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#16

Just how one-sided the employer/employee relationship is there.

Chopper3 Report

Final score:

40points

TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago

Or how unions work, completely different than they do here in Europe

14points

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#17

As the neighbours from the North, having a milkshake that’s worth your entire calorie intake for the day sounds insane.

Ainstee101 Report

Final score:

38points

Huddo's sister 2 months ago

This is common in Australia too these days. Ones with all these lollies, doughnuts etc on top too. I don't get it personally.

7points

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#18

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Where I from you need to put an euro in a shopping cart in order to use it, when you you return it, it gives back the coin. I think this doesn't happen in the US right?

Also that they take your credit card to pay in the restaurant, in Europe you always have the card with you when you pay.

burber_king , Efrem Efre/Pexels Report

Final score:

37points

Alexandra 2 months ago

It's illegal here to take someone's credit card because of possible fraud. I don't know why that hasn't seeped through in the US yet.

29points

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#19

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Feet, yards, gallons, etc.

Delicious-Elk1605 , Pixabay/Pexels Report

Final score:

37points

Did I say that out loud? (he/him)cis/het 2 months ago

*Laughs in British because we use both, at the same time *

42points

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#20

Drive thru banks and pharmacies. My partner is American and was astonished that I thought that was so weird. We simply do not have enough space for that sort of thing in the UK.

Final score:

37points

DeoManus Argentem 2 months ago

Pants. Also - bad weather, kids, people with mobility issues, etc. Just extra convenience - few are shocked by delivery services for pretty much everything.

4points

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#21

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States My German friend visited us in college. First party he goes "THEY DO EXIST!!" and held up our pack of red solo cups. Haha.

mulljackson , Burst/Pexels Report

Final score:

36points

Papa 2 months ago

Those aren't red Solo cups in the picture. Solo cups are white on the inside.

26points

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#22

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States The tax system - having to do a return every year (ours is done for us unless you run your own business or are a contractor). Also having to pay tax when you live overseas.

HiJane72 , Nataliya Vaitkevich/Pexels Report

Final score:

36points

Justin Tyme 2 months ago

The overseas tax is not bad. US citizens working in another country only have to pay US taxes on any amount over $126,500 in a year. If they do have to pay, there are other possible exemptions that can significantly reduce the tax amount.

3points

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#23

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States People caring about college sports.

Like people will actually show up to watch without being related to or friends with anyone playing?

There are actual stadiums with cheerleaders and marching bands?

Academic scholarships for being good at a sport?

Student athletes being handed passing grades even if they fail so that they can keep playing?

The only remotely comparable thing I can think of is my country is the Oxford vs Cambridge boat race.

Edit: I'm going to say this now even though its too late and I already slept while the American were awake and started replying. I don't think the hype and love of college/high school sports is inherently *bad* (except the grades thing). Its just something uniquely American and therefore my answer for the question posed by this post.

ttnl35 , football wife/Pexels Report

Final score:

36points

René Sauer 2 months ago

and star players being protected in school despite being bullies.

23points

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#24

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States This thing were the kitchen sink has teeth.

PoetPont , Henry Kobutra/Unsplash Report

Final score:

35points

Verena 2 months ago

Food in the sewage only attracts rats, so this does not make sense anyway

7points

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#25

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Houses with small fences and little to no extra security

As a Latin american, our houses have either big gates and fences with spikes or concrete walls with barbed wire on top in order to stop burglars from entering. You can say it was quite a shock to me when I first visited the US and saw suburbs filled with houses with cars parked on the street and small wooden fences that anyone could jump over.

Blacksmith_99 , Josh Hild/Pexels Report

Final score:

35points

DeoManus Argentem 2 months ago

Fences/walls are used as boundary lines, not really security measures.

14points

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#26

Freshman sophomore junior senior... Have to translate this in my head every time.

starfished1 Report

Final score:

32points

Nimitz 2 months ago

Never understood this. In Canada for high school we just use Grade 9, 10, 11, 12. In college/university we just use 1st year, 2nd year, etc.

14points

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#27

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Long commutes.

Here in the Netherlands a lot of companies only hire within a 30 minute radius, maybe an hour if they really need you.

I once applied to a job around 100 minutes away and was rejected purely because of travel time. If the travel time was a problem for me I wouldn’t’ve applied.

kaida_notadude , Rishiraj Parmar/Pexels Report

Final score:

31points

leendadll 2 months ago

"30 min radius" - I'm in SoCal and that would limit me to jobs within roughly 5 miles! Over the last 20 years, my average "rush hour" commute was 1.5-2 hours to go 25 miles. By changing my start time to 10am, my commute was reduced to 45min.

12points

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#28

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Free drink refills.

internetsss , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

Final score:

28points

Skogsrået 2 months ago

Some places do have 1 free drink refill.

2points

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#29

30 People Share “American Things” They’d Never Heard About Until They Visited The States Homecoming, Sadie Hawkins, Winter Formal, Prom...

We have none of this, the closest thing is the graduation itself.

badeksha , Alejandro Peralta/Pexels Report

Final score:

28points

Fire Singer 2 months ago

Aw, I loved school dances in high school. I can see why it might be weird to other countries, but I always loved them. It was fun to dress up, maybe go to a "fancy" dinner at Olive Garden lol! And just hang out with friends and boyfriends/girlfriends.

10points

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#30

So, I only heard this like a year ago. But apparently it seems that most of American men are circumcised. Which sounds bizarre to me.

VulturicAcid Report

Final score:

26points

G A 2 months ago

Male Genital Mutilation. Should be banned. Based on outdated medical ideas.

18points

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Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

Justin Sandberg

I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

What do you think ?

Justin Tyme 2 months ago

Wow, Bored Panda. What took so long? It has been at least a day since your last US vs. the World post.

18points

Justin Tyme 2 months ago

I see the title has been changed. I don't remember exactly what it was originally. It was something like "Things in America that could make the rest of the world die from shock".

4points

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ConstantlyJon 2 months ago

While I enjoy commenting on these, it's all very tired. Shoot these kinds of posts into the sun, please.

5points

Auntriarch 2 months ago

Can we please downvote this post to oblivion?

5points

Multa Nocte 2 months ago (edited)

As a person who doesn't live in the US, this is becoming annoying.

7points

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Doofnuts 2 months ago

Good or bad (I think we try to be good) we are just Americans; this is how we roll.

1point

Gavin Johnson 2 months ago

Easy to shoot shots at the single biggest influence on culture globally, it’s almost like every other country is a utopia that have little or no faults so we (the rest of the world) think it’s open season on the U.S. It’s sad. I have worked with and know plenty of Americans, and on the whole they are just like I am, making their way and as you say, trying to be good folk. Yeah we differ on some stuff, yeah we disagree on some stuff but who doesn’t? I could write a BP article on some of the bizarre and ridiculous rules and cultures my own country has but it just wouldn’t appeal to the rest of the world. Heard the one about the British Museum stealing significant artefacts from around the globe?

0points

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Georgy 1 week ago

What is classed as cheese.

0points

Jess Smith 2 months ago

As an American I'd like to apologize to the rest of the world. We're not all idiotic racist xenophobes. Just 40 percent of us.

0points

Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago

Riddle me this: every USAian I've met - including those on my single trip to the states - has come across as intelligent, decent, and reasonable. And then we have the crazies who get on the news - the raving mad politicians, the ones who actually want a rapist former TV host back in the White House, and the neo-Nazis marching through Springfield, Ohio with guns and swastika banners, of whom the local police chief said they were just a quiet peaceful demonstration. My English mind cannot resolve the contradictions. Can you unravel the riddle?

0points

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Another Panda 2 months ago (edited)

As a US citizen, I really think we need to take a lot of this to heart. We are currently very dysfunctional as a society, especially a society designed from the outset by its founders to be all about the welfare and freedom of its people. That's why we rebelled against British rule - because the people in the colonies felt their welfare and human rights were not important.

0points

Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago

The problem with that rendering of US history is that it ignores the fact that the founders of the USA considered that the welfare and human rights of their slaves and the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas were utterly irrelevant. Likewise, they considered women as little more than chattels who certainly could not be allowed any sort of political power. In reality, the wealthy white men who founded the the USA were concerned purely with the power and prosperity of their own class, and objected to anything which got in the way of their privileges. The whole point of the original US constitution was that white men should have wealth, welfare, and liberty - at least, those white men who were already wealthy enough to own land, as in their idealist view of ancient Greece. Everyone else just had to do what they were told. In many ways, the USA as originally constituted was a throwback.

1point

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Justin Tyme 2 months ago

Wow, Bored Panda. What took so long? It has been at least a day since your last US vs. the World post.

18points

Justin Tyme 2 months ago

I see the title has been changed. I don't remember exactly what it was originally. It was something like "Things in America that could make the rest of the world die from shock".

4points

Load More Replies...

ConstantlyJon 2 months ago

While I enjoy commenting on these, it's all very tired. Shoot these kinds of posts into the sun, please.

5points

Auntriarch 2 months ago

Can we please downvote this post to oblivion?

5points

Multa Nocte 2 months ago (edited)

As a person who doesn't live in the US, this is becoming annoying.

7points

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Doofnuts 2 months ago

Good or bad (I think we try to be good) we are just Americans; this is how we roll.

1point

Gavin Johnson 2 months ago

Easy to shoot shots at the single biggest influence on culture globally, it’s almost like every other country is a utopia that have little or no faults so we (the rest of the world) think it’s open season on the U.S. It’s sad. I have worked with and know plenty of Americans, and on the whole they are just like I am, making their way and as you say, trying to be good folk. Yeah we differ on some stuff, yeah we disagree on some stuff but who doesn’t? I could write a BP article on some of the bizarre and ridiculous rules and cultures my own country has but it just wouldn’t appeal to the rest of the world. Heard the one about the British Museum stealing significant artefacts from around the globe?

0points

Load More Replies...

Georgy 1 week ago

What is classed as cheese.

0points

Jess Smith 2 months ago

As an American I'd like to apologize to the rest of the world. We're not all idiotic racist xenophobes. Just 40 percent of us.

0points

Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago

Riddle me this: every USAian I've met - including those on my single trip to the states - has come across as intelligent, decent, and reasonable. And then we have the crazies who get on the news - the raving mad politicians, the ones who actually want a rapist former TV host back in the White House, and the neo-Nazis marching through Springfield, Ohio with guns and swastika banners, of whom the local police chief said they were just a quiet peaceful demonstration. My English mind cannot resolve the contradictions. Can you unravel the riddle?

0points

Load More Replies...

Another Panda 2 months ago (edited)

As a US citizen, I really think we need to take a lot of this to heart. We are currently very dysfunctional as a society, especially a society designed from the outset by its founders to be all about the welfare and freedom of its people. That's why we rebelled against British rule - because the people in the colonies felt their welfare and human rights were not important.

0points

Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago

The problem with that rendering of US history is that it ignores the fact that the founders of the USA considered that the welfare and human rights of their slaves and the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas were utterly irrelevant. Likewise, they considered women as little more than chattels who certainly could not be allowed any sort of political power. In reality, the wealthy white men who founded the the USA were concerned purely with the power and prosperity of their own class, and objected to anything which got in the way of their privileges. The whole point of the original US constitution was that white men should have wealth, welfare, and liberty - at least, those white men who were already wealthy enough to own land, as in their idealist view of ancient Greece. Everyone else just had to do what they were told. In many ways, the USA as originally constituted was a throwback.

1point

Load More Replies...

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