A trope many think about Americans is we're all uneducated buffoons who allowed an orange cretin into the most powerful seat in the country while simultaneously not knowing about the world. And while the first half of that is accurate, after reading this article, the second half will be slightly more wrong.
The world is a much bigger place than we think and it's important to understand what we might be wrong about when it comes to other countries.
Reddit user, u/Bobthecatisgreat, wanted to hear about:
What do most people get wrong about your country?
Even People Who Live There Don't Know!
explaining homer simpson GIFGiphyPeople always confuse Tower Bridge with London Bridge.
I live in the UK and this confused me until I went to them.
It's Only Partially True!
snails and frog legs are very uncommon.
Baguette isn't though, we eat those almost every day
Yeah, also "omelette du fromage" isn't a thing. Omelettes au fromage are delicious tho.
Speaking Of Us...
Many Americans are level headed, friendly people who value science and critical thought.
They don't get a lot of airtime however.
It's a lot more fun to hate on loud idiots.
Completely Misrepresented
How socialist Norway is. Yes, we have a strong government, but we have a blended economy with a lot of capitalism. It drives me crazy how American media describes us. A lot of our resources are privatized, and it is easy to start a company. People also have the choice to attend private or public school, or go to private hospitals. We do not have any less freedom than the US.
Same in Canada. From the way Fox News talks you'd think that we Canadians live in a socialist gulag with no personal wealth and no freedom of speech and no guns.
In reality, Canada has relatively liberal gun laws compared to many other countries (if you really want one, you can have one but you don't have much selection to choose from). Our hate speech laws have a very high bar to be enforced (just look at the number of brushes J Phillipe Rushton has had with the law - zero). Per capita we are not as wealthy as the states, but our social safety net fills the gaps for the working class and most of us make enough to live a good life. Sure I could probably afford a Mercedes AMG GTR if I were to work in the US, but I don't need an uber expensive car to feel happy.
Or Play Golf!
groundskeeper willie kilt GIFGiphyWe don't all wear kilts & chase haggis
Ive been to scotland. It was just gloom and golf course
A Simple Mix 'em Up
Thinking we're Switzerland, I said Sweden but don't wanna be rude and correct while you tell a story about how you liked the alps.
Also happens the other way around. 🥴
Completely Normal. Sorry.
We live pretty normal lives in South Africa.
It's not mad max on the roads.
People are shocked when I say we have roads, cars, houses, shopping centres...
So You're Saying Television Lied To me?
They think Mexico is a desert sh-thole.
But no, we also have forest, beaches, mountains. Still a sh-thole though.
Breaking bad told me its all seen in a piss yellow filter. This better be true or sooo help me.
But The Important Question Is: Was He A Fox?
Robin Hood probably wasn't from here, more likely Lincolnshire
I didn't even realise Robin Hood was a real person until I visited Nottingham.
Oh, Canada, Our Home And Escape Plan
the simpsons canada GIFGiphy- Think that we pronounce "about" as "a-boot".
- Many seem surprised to learn that Canada has a Queen.
- Americans somehow think that they can just "move to Canada" if they get sick of their own country.
"How do you know when someone is really in an open relationship, and not a cheater pretending to be in one?"
When In Doubt, Don't...
"If you're feeling off about it, don't do it."- Massive-Ad7628
Bad Feeling I Anticipate Problems GIF by America's Got TalentGiphyConfirmation Needed From Both
"When the partner openly knows and acknowledges it."- EngineeringVirgin
"I was seeing a man who was married."
"He assured me that their relationship was open, that he had full permission to do whatever, and that if it would make me comfortable he would give me his wife’s number and she and I could chat."
"We saw each other for about four years."
"I went to pick him up at his house a couple times and his wife would say 'have a nice date!'."
"That’s the way to do it."
"Everything on the table."
"If there’s some sneakiness, something that makes you feel it’s not quite right, you need to listen to that feeling."- theyarnllama
"Ask to meet their partner."
"If they’re really open, it shouldn’t be a problem."- bloomautomatic
Threes Company Reaction GIF by moodmanGiphyAn Oldie But A Goodie...
"Ask them to pinky swear."- Still_kinda_hungry
Give Your Intentions A Second Thought As Well
"Agh."
"Ok so I’m in an open relationship with my partner and he hooked up with this girl, and we called her to go get a drink with us and she was like 'I knew he had a girlfriend, but I didn’t know you knew'.”
"After that I def didn’t want to hang out with her because she thought she was facilitating him cheating on me."
"Not cool."
"Intentions matter."- Physical_Witness_922
Ask And Answer
"In my experience, ask literally anything about what type of poly or open they are."
"Also anyone who isn't willing to get/show a recent std test isn't worth the risk."- Midori8751
just ask leslie jones GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyInstructional Videos
"My SO and I just make videos explaining the situation and ground rules."
"That way, our potential partner know what they are dealing with."- TagtheCat
Doesn't Hurt To Check...
"I slept with a woman who was in an open marriage."
"Her husband called to check on her and ask if she was ok."
"She said she was fine and that was the extent of the call. I think that’s a pretty good indicator."- Fit-Concern-81
It's All About The Reaction
"When they introduce you to their SO as their lover and the SO is fine with it."
"Open relationships rarely sneak around on each other."- welltriedsoul·
“'So like…. You know your husbands screwing Ashley right….??'”
“'Yeah I know'.”- AkKik-Maujaq
It Must Be A Mutual Decision
"In my experience, one of my ex's said we were in an open relationship, however I didn't know that."
"So yeah, that's a cheater."
"I briefly dated someone that was in an open relationship (the couple were long distance)."
"I spoke on the phone with the girlfriend before any sex happened so we could all be on the same page regarding boundaries and intentions, what protection will be used, testing, etc."
"It really wasn't awkward, and I appreciated knowing that everyone was aligned."- korova_chew
Cartoons Button GIF by NickelodeonGiphyIf They Say No, That's A Problem
"Ask them if you can talk to their partner."- vivi2626
Don't Ask, Don't Tell... Don't Date!
"I've been poly for closing in on 2 decades."
"I used to run a large poly meetup in a huge metro area."
"I've seen it all, personally talked to several thousand+ poly folks over the years, etc."
"I REFUSE to engage with anyone in a DADT policy at all at this point."
"HARD F*CKING PASS, the vast majority of the time its cheating."
"And when its not I swear 95% of the time is because the couple with the DADT policy hasn't done any work around opening up their relationship and there are a LOT of problems involved."
"And I want nothing to do with that huge nightmare of a cluster f*ck anymore."
"Here's my perspective and where it comes from."
"The amount of cheating I've seen is beyond staggering."
"A huge percentage of the women I know have run into TONS of men that are cheating and try to use poly, dadt, etc as a guise to do it."
"I have zero reason to put that much trust in someone I just met. It's the same reason I ask for proof of STI testing."
"I can't understand people with the attitude of 'if you can't trust them why are you with them' the whole point is you don't know them that well why would you trust them?"
"This is one step in establishing some trust."
"The ethical part of ENM is a big big deal to me, and I refuse to be complicit in cheating and be put in an unethical situation."
"If cheating was rare it would be a different situation, but f**k it's common."
"I've verified 100% of my partners are in ethical situations, and none of them had a problem with it."
"I've had a number of their partners thank me for actually checking."
"I'll accept a few options for verification, a phone call, voice chat, a brief text exchange while my date is present, a prerecorded voice / video message, or showing me snippets of a conversation where being poly is discussed / confirmed and there is a long-standing chat history with said person."
"Most of the time I had already met or seen their partner, so I already knew it was ethical."- f*cklifehard
Schitts Creek No GIF by CBCGiphyMany couples have said that their communication and commitment has greatly improved after opening their relationships.
When one half of a couple seeing other people causes pain and unhappiness, however, it seems clear that that relationship is not open in a healthy way.
Particularly if only one person is truly benefitting from it.
