ADVERTISEMENT

The United States of America is the land of the free and full of opportunities. It is one of the largest economies in the world and it has always amassed people for the life one can create there. But, like every country, it has its own way of functioning and the people living there have their own culture. And if you are also attracted to this country and would like to travel to the United States or you are planning of moving there, you should expect to encounter things you‘ve never seen before or things done differently to what you are used to.

A few days ago, Reddit user Ymij asked people to share some things Americans don‘t realize exist only in the United States. And people had a lot to say. The post got more than 10k answers and Bored Panda gathered a list of some of the most upvoted responses.

More info: Reddit

#1

45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group GoFundMe being an acceptable replacement for a health care system

GTrav44 , gofundme Report

RELATED:
    #2

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Literally being too poor to go to the doctor, but have too much income for any kind of assistance

    kaden123drake , Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja Report

    #3

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Tipping as a wage subsidy. Many countries don’t have tipping and those that do generally tip a small amount for good service.

    Also displayed prices not including taxes or other fees.

    Impossible-Buy-4090 , Wikimedia Commons Report

    #4

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Pronouncing corruption as "lobbying"

    GSLaaitie , RJA1988 Report

    #5

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Assuming that everyone on the internet is American until proven otherwise.

    Officer_Cat_Fancy_ , Steven Martin Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #6

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group The pledge of allegiance. If you tell people here that in America they make kids stand up and recite some prayer to a flag every single morning, they'll look at you like you just grew a third arm.

    emissaryofwinds , USAG- Humphreys Report

    #7

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group I want to say for-profit prison systems.

    These things are f***** up. If the state doesn't keep up the prisoner quota they gotta pay a fine to the company they owns the prison.

    So this basically makes them try to keep existing prisoners

    downtimeredditor , Molly Haggerty Report

    #8

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Gender reveal parties

    jemariebearimy , highlander411 Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #9

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group People who angrily DO NOT WANT healthcare.

    spammmmmmmmy , Presidencia de la República Mexicana Report

    #10

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Having the restaurant take your credit card - in most countries it's considered impolite to disappear with the card as they might write the digits down to charge extra later. Therefore they normally bring a portable terminal to your table so you can keep the card in eyesight and have the (optional) tip actually charged when the card is run and not added after the fact.

    Broadmin , Unknown Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #11

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group The Imperial System, Fahrenheits, massive ad breaks. I swear i watched US Television once and i nearly had time to go take a s*** before the adbreak ended. And i'm one of those people that play on their phone while on the throne

    Pyanez11 , ilovebutter Report

    #12

    I am from Europe and I have never seen in supermarkets scooters for people that are so obese they can't walk by themselves.

    indigo-wolf Report

    #13

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Medical debt

    CIA_grade_LSD , Grant Source Report

    #14

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Waiting like 8 weeks after your elections till the new guy comes in to power is pretty f****** weird

    Snoo61123 , GPA Photo Archive Report

    #15

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Massive gaps on all sides of toilet cubicle doors, like why even bother with a door at all when people can see through so easily

    digitalelise , Victoria_Borodinova Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #16

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Flags. Everywhere

    psyk738178 , WTF Colorado Report

    #17

    This may be a shot in the dark but product prices not including tax when they’re displayed? Like if something says it’s $10 and you only have $10, what’s with the surprise tax at the till?

    ninjapotatoprd Report

    #18

    Your toxic grind working culture. I find that Americans define their entire personality around their profession. It all feels so shallow and hollow way of living. Like I work so I can do the things I enjoy ( pre covid) I don't work because it defines me as a person.

    vietcong420 Report

    #19

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Absurdly long election campaigns. In most countries I've been to election campaigns last a month or two, in the US they seem to go for a full year.

    BerserkBoulderer , Unknown Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #20

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group College sports, people do not care about nor have college sports like we do here.

    UnusualLight0 , Unknown Report

    #21

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Food portion sizes... In EU you get food portions you can finish and are generally calculated to be pretty much fill/satisfy you over the entire meal.

    When I go to the US I can fill myself up with half of the appetizer

    Drumah , Wikimedia Commons Report

    #22

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Unused vacation days

    Banana_Gorilla , Unknown Report

    #23

    The use of the words junior, sophomore and senior in school. I don't think I have ever heard these outside of an American TV show or movie.

    No-Soft-3703 Report

    #24

    I can't speak for the whole world, but having elections on a weekday seems crazy to me. We do it in the weekend so that people are off work anyway.

    frosty_hotboy Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #25

    A single pool of paid time off that you use for both vacation and sick leave. Therefore having to forego vacation to keep a bank of leave just in case you get ill.

    littleloucc Report

    #26

    People constantly thanking god for every day occurrences

    toshredsyousay6502 Report

    #27

    Those commercials featuring some sort of drug or medication. With the typical closing where the narrator states "Side effects includes blah blah blah...Discuss with your doctor about blah blah blah"

    Noor_awsome Report

    #28

    Tipping, most other places actually pay their waiters/waitresses and tippings just for extremely good service or rounding up.

    Undisclosed-Fruit Report

    #29

    Having to drive everywhere. I'm 27-years-old, not from the US and never learnt to drive. I've also never felt like I needed it.

    FreshNebula Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #30

    It's pretty funny watching Americans moan over their super-cheap petrol prices. "But we drive everywhere, cars are fundamental to our society". Yep, same here in Australia, too. Your fuel is still incredibly cheap.

    vacri Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Viviane
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I live in Canada and one of my friends did a cross-country drive via the USA to take advantage of cheaper gas.

    Mario Gonzalez
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Gas prices have shot up 50 cents a gallon here in WA just in the last month or so.

    chi-wei shen
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    An American colleague visited me in Austria in 2015 and after converting Euro to Dollar he told me our gas prices are pretty low, only half the price he has to pay in the US until he realized it's per liter and not per gallon.

    lara
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Whatever they pay in California, which is almost a dollar or more higher per gallon than any other state, they actually pay more in Hawaii, more than a 1.25 per gallon more than California.

    Helen Haley
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't know anything about australia. Do you guys have decent public transport?

    AnimalsRuleHumansDrool
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kind of in some places but they keep making the timetable different for the buses where I live, Sydney and Melbourne have trains but they get crowded sometimes. Trams in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Its a bit crappy to be honest.

    Load More Replies...
    DC
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And it shouldn't be! Having gas being cheap that long basically made the US car industry unable to compete with europe or japan - but still, at least towards japanese cars, many Americans are arrogant af. Without any reason - your antique pushrod V8 might perform well and be really cheap to make, but it also is an excessive drinker without any benefit. Therefore, outside of the US, they never played much of a role. Rightfully so!

    Ionut Tautan
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    well, those bombs they drop on foreign countries seem to pay off. It's also why they force the crude oil price in us dollars everywhere, literally. Those that disagree get a visit from mother drone

    Dan Buczynski
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I remember when gas hit $5 here a few years ago and people were going bonkers trying to buy old Geo Metros and SUVs were getting dumped. I wish $5+ came back so reasonably-sized vehicles were the norm. (Since I doubt anyone will have the political guts to even suggest a carbon tax here.)

    Bridget Beckmann
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The difference is that America's minimum wage is so low with some states being $7.25. So yes taking that into account gas is expensive.

    bastillee
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So, say what you will about America and its foibles, our gas is still cheap, and in New Jersey, only gas station attendants are permitted to pump gas. We ladies just sit in our cars while they work.

    StnFlwr
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I never hear anybody bitching about gas prices, not even in California. Even if they did, how can you expect Americans to know the difference if we've never been there (Australia).

    LexiLu
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Who's going to pay for them? Most people can't afford a new car, or payments on a new car... Up until last year every car I owned for the last 20 years was very very very used and cheap.

    Load More Replies...
    Chich
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or everything. They have cheap everything but constantly whine about cost.

    Rhys Cernunnos
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Cheap according to what pay scale, mate? For someone who actually has to drive a gallon's worth of gas to and from work on the daily... on minimum wage... that's not cheap... it's very costly for us. But you wouldn't understand... you don't have to work until your fingers bleed to be able to afford to live.

    CatWoman312
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Almost $3 a gallon isn’t cheap especially since minimum wage is $7.25

    J. Zingler
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What about German prices? That would be 5,42 € per gallon. 6,45 $ as of todays course.

    Load More Replies...
    Allan Hedges
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The US produces more oil than every country on the planet! Is wine cheap in Europe? What about supply and demand is so difficult to understand?

    Simon Lyngbo
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nope, not really. But then again. Wine isn't heavily supported by tax money.

    Load More Replies...
    NATHAN ENGLANDER
    Community Member
    3 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    I am lucky because I have a house close to 4 million, but if you don't have over 1 million+ yu can't buy a house.

    Helen
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes! Even in California! In the UK the fuel is £1.20/litre which is $6.27/gallon. I think Australia is even more. Whereas the most expensive in Cali is like $4/gallon.

    Load More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #31

    Garbage disposal units in sinks. I've been to nearly 20 countries, and I've never seen one.

    TypingLobster Report

    #32

    Longer ad breaks in the Muppet Show.

    The UK version had two minutes of extra content in every episode due to restrictions on the amount of ads you could play on British TV.

    That's 240 minutes of extra Muppet content that most Americans never saw.

    JeremiahSpankMouth Report

    #33

    Playing the national anthem before sporting events. There may be a handful of other countries that do, but in much of the world it's only played for international matches.

    SkippyNordquist Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #34

    Your identity politics used to be just in America, then it spilled out like a burst sewage pipe.

    Consistscent Report

    #35

    Red solo cups. My european cousins asked me if parties in the us really had those red cups.

    Belgianwafflz Report

    #36

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Bumper stickers. They’re a lot less common in Europe anyway, not sure about the rest of the world.

    Random_Machiavelli , dalliedee Report

    #37

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Nearly everything about their high schools

    Unfair-Act-4499 , Wikimedia Commons Report

    #38

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Free refills at restaurants

    milwaukeeminnesota , James Petts Report

    #39

    Stores like Wal-Mart where you can buy everything that are open all the time. Groceries, alcohol, plants, medicine, tires, toys...

    The first time I went to Germany on a work trip it was a bank holiday and everything was closed.

    I live in Jerusalem now and there is a separate store for everything.

    windwalker28 Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #40

    Girl Scout cookies?

    iamnotdoctordoom Report

    #41

    Graham Crackers.

    Remember when I picked up a friend's mother and her friend at the airport, fresh from the US. One of them was like 'They don't have Graham crackers here?' I'm like nah mate we have crackers for everyone.

    EdwardCosmos Report

    #42

    45 Things That Are Normal In The US, But Seem Bizarre In Other Countries Shared In This Online Group Parking lot size. I’ve been to about 20 different countries, all over the place, and I have never seen a standard Walmart sized parking lot anywhere out of America.

    Upstairs_Cow , Walmart Report

    #43

    Buscuits and gravy. This conjures up images of having a plate of cookies smothered in a sauce made from the the meat juices of a roast.

    plasmadrive Report

    #44

    I wanna say jaywalking. Like, in Europe, you can pretty much cross a road wherever you want but when I visited America there seemed to be this weird sense you were being judged if you walked out into an empty road. Maybe just me idk.

    Caughtinjail1 Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #45

    It always surprises me when someone from another country has never heard of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

    helplessAteverything Report

    Continue reading with Bored Panda Premium
    Unlimited content
    Ad-free browsing
    Dark mode
    #46

    Ranch dressing obsession. The World Series.

    LederhosenSituation Report

    #47

    I wasn't aware we and New Zealand, possibly Australia(?) Are the only countries with ads for prescription drugs.

    wickedblight Report

    #48

    The fuel-brand Exxon. Throughout the rest of the world, it's known as "Esso." It's only Exxon in the US.

    Taman_Should Report

    #49

    Small talk among strangers.

    CallieIsQueen Report

    #50

    Thanksgiving

    StonyandUnk Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda