Oh America, you have some funny, funny ways about you. Even as an American myself I sit back and watch us and think... "WTF?!?!"
So we can only imagine what the rest of the world thinks when they're watching us. Or how culture shocked they are when they visit us.
Of course, it's easier to evaluate from afar. So let's read up on some opinions about the good ole U.S of A.
Redditor neolee203wanted to hear the opinions some of you have about the "American" way of life, they asked:
Non-Americans, what is strange about America ?
I do often wonder why we don't take more time to ourselves. Did you know that some countries take siestas? Mandatory naps, paid. I would kill to indulge in mandatory naps.
"may cause death"
Angry New Amsterdam GIF by Global TVGiphy"All the adverts on TV for medicine end with the same statement "may cause death" 🤣." ~ IanUK66
"They have to say that, even if it's like .000000001% because of a very, very rare interaction with certain other medicines or health conditions. Advertised medicine is a load of horse crap, though." ~ Darkwoth81Dyoni
No Rules
"As a Canadian, it's interesting just how polarizing USA politics are to us. Trump vs Hillary/Biden was a way bigger topic than any of our own federal elections." ~ Regnes
"What blows my mind as a Canadian is every state can have different rules and laws for a federal election they don't have an elections Canada style impartial body that is in charge of making sure the rules are the same and followed across the board. It seems so wild." ~ cardew-vascular
Flushed
"Your toilets are full of water. I didn't understand American jokes about water splashing you until I saw one of them for the first time. I'm in Australia. Yes, our toilets have water in them, but the water level is much lower."
"Our toilets are wash down types rather than US style siphonic. The flushing action is more forceful than American toilets and our poo doesn't do a victory lap before disappearing. Here's an Australian toilet flushing." ~ JobSpecialist5436
Pay Up
"You're supposed to file and pay American taxes if you're a citizen. Even if you don't live there. People complain about Canadian taxes but at least if you leave you don't have to keep paying them - but you can stay a citizen." ~ showmeyourrecipes
"I'm from America, and I've always thought the dumbest thing about our taxes is I spend 4 hours trying to figure out the exact amount to pay, only to have them send me a letter correcting me when I'm wrong. Like if you knew what I had to pay why did I just do a calculus test for no reason." ~ PointyGecko1122
Don't Look
Season 6 Nbc GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Public toilet door gaps. What the heck, you guys?" ~ impatient-donut
I hate those toilets. I fill the gaps with toilet paper, or I try hold it all in until I'm home. Our bathrooms are a mess here.
Staffing
season 6 friends GIFGiphy"Tipping. It makes no sense to underpay workers in food and expect the customer to make up for it, it should be the business' responsibility to have a fair pay for workers." ~ sarcastic_anarchy8
Rehabilitation of criminals is a societal good...
"Commercialisation of prisons seems very problematic. Prisons become sources of nearly slave labour. Prisons should be looking to reduce their population, reduce recidivism, rehabilitation, appropriate diversion programs etc, but as commercial for profit enterprises where is the incentive to reduce and rehabilitate their inmates? Rehabilitation of criminals is a societal good."
"They may become contributing members of society, but also it makes the rest of society safer and happier. For profit entities are meant to be for the enrichment of their owners, nothing inherently wrong with that, but not suited for an enterprise designed perform a good for society generally." ~ Ok-Challenge7712
Stop Walking
"How American towns and cities are generally designed so that you have to drive everywhere." ~ Johndoe448
"American cities and towns were built around cars, which makes sense given our historical circumstances but is rather impractical in most other situations. In some cities and towns, you can't help but think that at some point in time some urban planner was like "I got a phenomenal idea: let's take the most high-priority necessities and institutions that people need and place them as far apart as possible." ~ ikindalold
Sizes
"The portion sizes." ~ fakebasil
"It works out really well for some things. For example, one thing I like to do is get an order of hibachi steak (stir-fried rice, veggies, mushrooms, and steak) from a local Japanese place at lunch. The lunch portion is as big as the dinner portion, but cheaper. And the portion size is enough for 3-4 meals and it reheats excellently. So, bam!, 3 meals for the price of 1!!" ~ arcinva
America isn't even doing tipping properly, so why do we bother? Pay more, or stay home if you can't tip. We are a bit strange, aren't we?
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Curious to hear from ex-lovers who've been there, Redditor Lishasquarepant asked:
"What caused your last break-up?"
These Redditors found they and their significant other were no longer on the same page.
"Simply, we grew apart."
– catetheway
"Same, I feel like Michael Scott everytime I try to start another relationship. 'No question about it, I am ready to get hurt again.'"
– Gthew
Happier Apart
"Same. We loved each other like siblings, not spouses... Ugh! Lovely man though who now has a fab girlfriend. We are good friends and much happier apart."
– MoxieHasKnottyBits
No Regrets
"Same. And it f'king sucks, but that’s life. It’s been a year and I still hate every second that she’s not in my life, but at the same time I know she’s happier now than she would’ve been if we stayed together."
– throway35885328
Having no communication is the worst part.
Silent Partner
"He slowly got distant. I believe he lost interest and didn't dare be honest with me about that."
– GaiaNatur77
The Late Blame Game
"I had that happen as well, but then he pinned it on me being distant and not affectionate enough."
"My guy, if you pull your hand away every time I try to hold it, I'm gonna stop trying to hold it. And if I ask if something's up and you repeatedly tell me everything is fine, I'm going to believe you. Don't wait till I'm at my worst moment and then reveal you had issues with me for 3 months and break up with me for it being 'my fault.'"
– Billielolly
"Everything Is Fine"
"Oh man, the asking repeatedly and getting a 'nothing' reminds me of a story."
"My friend used to ask her ex this every time he was unusually quiet. He’d always say he was fine, then at one point, told her to stop asking because it was making him feel weird."
"So she did."
"Six months later he initiated a divorce because she didn’t care about his feelings anymore."
"Like…don’t ask for sh*t then get pissy when you get what you want."
– TheRealJackReynolds
And then there are those who were not invested in the relationship for a long time.
The Struggle Is Real
"He seemed to struggle with the concept of not f'king random people."
– spanglesandbambi
Leaving The Problem
"He moved to his country because he missed his family. So he only sent a WhatsApp message saying he was going to stay there. I would have preferred a call at least to break up a marriage."
– kattia12
New Life
"Something similar happened to my cousin. He married her in the US, they had a baby together.. a few years go by, he misses home, goes back to visit.. His family had an arranged marriage ready for him 🤦🏻♀️ He ended up with a new wife and new baby. Hasn’t came back."
– MysticalMom7
A Foreign Custom
"It just seems so surreal that a grown a** adult with a wife and baby would leave his family behind for an arranged marriage. I'll never fathom the mentality."
– ro0ibos2
Ouch
"I wasn't having sex near as often as she was."
– YourWordsMatter
Breaking up is hard to do.
But a good thing to remember is that love can be found again and the new relationship can be even better than the previous one.
And that's something that can't be recognized until you look back in retrospect.
We all have to kiss a few toads.
Redditor TractorLoving wanted to hear about the things many of us have seen that left us shaken and a bit scared, so they asked:
"What's the most creepy thing you've ever witnessed?"
I've lost track of the number of things that have creeped me out in life.
I barely leave the house.
From the bushes...
the lion king disney GIFGiphy"When I was about 12 I was sleeping on my trampoline with a friend and we heard the bushes move behind us, we flashed our flashlight to the bushes and a mountain lion was laying there stalking us, I have never run so fast in my life."
Fortherecord87
Voices
"Finding my dad dead in his recliner. I swear I heard his voice when the coroner came for his body."
PolesawPolska
"My granddad knocked over my great-grandma's ashes in his car accidentally, and to this day swears he heard her laugh, loud and clear as if she was standing next to him. She had a hugely wicked sense of humor and would have found this (and my very stressed granddad carefully collecting her ashes back into the container before my grandma saw) very funny."
Tanyaaahhh
From the Sea
"When I was serving my time as an engineer in the merchant navy we used to have to clean out what is called 'sea chests;' they're basically big filters for seawater that we would pump in to use as coolant and if the pumps were on when we were dockside we'd find all sorts of things like bottles, fish, crabs etc."
"One day we opened up the chest, pulled out the filter, and immediately saw this gold shiny thing which turned out to be a Rolex watch. Usually, we'd just dump out the filter but with the mitigating circumstances, we went through it thoroughly and found a piece of a shirt with cufflink still attached and last but not least a nicely rotted finger."
"The police ended up closing off the dock and dredging it but never found anything on the end." ~ MarkyBhoy101
Terrified
Watching I See You GIF by TravisGiphy"This guy followed me home. Said he saw me there often and named a few local spots I go to sometimes as places he sees me. It’s been about a year. Never saw him again. I was terrified for a little while for sure."
ewqdsacxziopjklbnm
Stay vigilant out there kids.
People are watching and some of us don't notice.
Back Up Creep
Scared Homer Simpson GIF by reactionseditorGiphy"I was in a restaurant years ago on lunch break. At the time I was a very thin 25-year-old woman. There was this big creepy guy sitting there who would NOT stop staring at me from the moment I walked in the door."
"I mean just open face staring without blinking for the entire 15 minutes I was eating several seats away. I asked for a box and left early to get away from him. As I walked out he said, 'You shouldn't be out alone. Someone's going to grab you and steal you away." 100% convinced creepazoid had someone locked up in his basement."
xain_the_idiot
'Youth in need'
"Was working in a restaurant. Nice place. That night we held a charity dinner for a 'youth in need' type of house. The guy representing the house, a worker there, was such a nice and kind man. Every teen there was only saying nice things about him. A good soul, that was giving everything he could for these teens."
"At one point they gave a big check to the charity. I must guess an amount they rarely received. Well under the excitement, that poor man had a cardiac arrest. Dropped there on the stage, cheque in hand. He couldn't be brought back. He died. Seeing this was already bad enough, but the kids everywhere in the restaurant screaming and crying for hours after... haunting."
Agronut
Inside the House
"One random night in middle school I woke up and had the odd feeling that something or someone was present in the house and coming towards my room. I was scared so I closed my eyes to pretend to be asleep. I could faintly hear something come into my room and it felt like someone was standing over me, looking to make sure I was asleep. I laid on my back, eyes shut, until the feeling passed, and ended up falling asleep. I woke up in the morning to find out that our house was robbed."
ThatOtherOtherGuy3
There in lies the rub...
"Well dressed 50 something business dude on a quiet Chicago L train reading a Wall Street Journal. Pretty woman with long curly hair dozing in the seat in front of him, her hair dangling behind the seat. The guy is rubbing and playing with her hair while reading his paper so I figure she's his wife or girlfriend who just wanted some space to nap."
"He is now intently rubbing and fondling her hair and not reading anymore. Suddenly she snaps awake and pulls in her hair like a bug was in it or something. She gets off at the next stop, he continues reading. They didn't know each other at all."
mtzuker
Why do people feel the need to overshare?
People really need to discuss boundaries.
