Things Non-Americans Think Everyone In The United States Has In Their Home

An English friend was shocked when they visited me once and found that I actually have a kettle. I do! And I use it all the time. "Shall I put the kettle on?" is a common phrase you'd hear in my apartment.
But many Americans do not have one. Tea just hasn't caught on here the way it has in the United Kingdom, so UK residents are always baffled by this. The kettle is a way of life!
But enough of what foreigners might be surprised to find in our homes. Let's talk about the things they would find. For instance, peanut butter. I always have peanut butter in my home. And I think a foreigner would be shocked if I didn't!
Non-Americans shared their thoughts with us after Redditor Rylx asked the online community:
"Non-Americans, what do you think every American person has in their house?"
"A switch..."
"A switch that when you flick it it turns your sink into a blender."
Kingdom-Kome
This is a funny way to describe a garbage disposal.
I've never had one but have been in quite a few homes over the years that do!
"Popcorn..."
"Popcorn setting on their microwave!"
[deleted]
Believe it or not, I don't have one! Not having a microwave might have something to do with that.
"Apparently..."
"Apparently Americans are rather fond of Pickles and Peanut Butter. Is that a fair assumption to make?"
tree-of-lies
Well, not combined, but yes.
"This fascinated me..."
"Oh oh, the washing machines where you put everything in the top! This fascinated me when we visited the states. They’re huge!"
Tired3520
My friend has one where the dryer is actually at the top! That should blow your mind.
"Large quantities..."
"Large quantities of over-the-counter drugs in huge bottles."
Wombattalion
Like Tylenol and Ibuprofen?
Yes, actually.
"A plastic bag..."
"A plastic bag filled with plastic bags."
bird-137
Perfect for the bathroom garbage can!
"Every American household..."
"Every American household has a drawer full with random stuff (died batteries, screws, shoelace etc.) right?"
Firm-Ideal5256
Ah, the junk drawer!
Speaking of which, I need to sort through mine.
"A coffee machine..."
"A coffee machine with large glass jug full of black coffee being kept warm. The UK mostly has electric kettles for making hot drinks individually."
UnfinishedUntidy
I do not have that one — I have a mocha pot. It's simple!
"A fridge..."
"A fridge with ice dispenser built in."
FunAccountant7632
I have one but the ice dispenser isn't hooked up. I've made do.
"A dishwasher."
"A dishwasher. All of you have one, right?"
SakuraUnicorn
Ha, I wish! I am the dishwasher. Always have been.
To the rest of the world, Americans have a ton of different luxuries. Honestly, all I want is a laundry machine. I hate washing clothes in laundromats (and that's precisely why I have other people do it for me).
Have some thoughts of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
Sharing a home with a roommate is always a balancing act.
Particularly if it's a roommate you settled for, rather than chose to live with.
While some roommates proved to be a match made in rent-controlled heaven, others find themselves to be less than compatible.
From constantly having to clean the dirty dishes they left in the sink, to dealing with them blasting music on full blast at all hours of the night when you're trying to sleep, some people never manage to jump from being roommates to being friends.
Making the day they can finally afford a place of their own to be truly the happiest day of their lives.
"What made your worst roommate ever such a bad roommate?"
With Friends Like These...
"Was a slob who got into drugs and hanging around the wrong sorts of people."
"Completely trashed his room and took off one day leaving his dog he had just gotten behind for me to deal with, along with a bunch of unscrupulous-looking characters knocking at my door telling me that he owed them money and asking where he was."- Electro-Onix
Well That's Disgusting...
"She stole, wore, stained, and destroyed my fancy frilly underwear and then returned them stained and tattered to my drawer and played stupid about it."
"I discovered this by finding my underwear in her laundry basket when I was tearing apart the room going 'what is that SMELL?!''
"I was allowed to change rooms by the school."- CaffeinatedHBIC
Animal Endangerment
"Had a weekend getaway planned, confirmed a couple of weeks in advance that she could take care of my cat while I was gone (side note: she had a cat too.)"
"Before I left, re-confirmed that she would be around and could take care of them."
"Wasn't uncommon for me to do all the kitty duties, which I didn't mind at all, but because I was used to being on top of it I wanted to make sure she had it under control."
"Got back after 3 days and clearly no one had been in the apartment for at least a couple of days."
"Cats had no water or food and had been clawing at the door enough to chip a bunch of the paint off of it."
"I texted her and asked if she had watched the cats, she replied that she decided to stay with her boyfriend for the weekend, completely oblivious to the fact that she had abandoned two helpless animals."
"I asked if she realized the cats hadn't had food or water in a few days, she replied 'oh, they're just cats, they are fine'."
"I asked her to move out and also if I could keep her cat because I was worried about her ability to take care of another creature, both of which she agreed to."
"Some next level loser a**hole sh*t to do that to creatures that are dependent upon you to survive."- basicallyasleep
The Zoo
"Rented a room from a neighbor who let me live there cheaply when I had nowhere else to go."
"Her house was pretty dirty due to her physical limitations from being very obese, but I tried to keep common areas clean."
"Her adult son lived there."
"The worse part was her 25-year-old daughter."
"Immature, entitled, thought she was god’s gift."
"She’d leave blood and pubes all over the bathroom. She’d have sex with her bedroom door open. She was always arguing/disrespecting her mom."
"But the worst part was how she treated her pets."
"She loved to rave about her 'zoo', but her mom had to take care of her dog, cat, and several birds."
"The dog was untrained and it peed on my bed and barked when I was trying to sleep."
"The mom would go out of town sometimes to a family beach house."
"One time she was gone awhile I noticed the dog’s water bowl was always empty."
"So I kept filling it back up."
"Then I realized that the house was pretty quiet."
"She had cockatiels and conures, so the house was never quiet."
"So I went to check them."
'The bowls were bone dry and empty seeds."
"And 2 of the birds were dead."
"I was so happy to finally get out of there."- lalapine
Well, That's A Decision...
"In the middle of a 100F heatwave in August, not only turned off the AC, but turned the heat on."
"To 90F."
"Even at the coldest days of winter, has no one turned the heat to freaking 90."
"Came home to a sauna, and she didn't even stay after she did that."- LeatherHog
Questionable Practice...
"They were drug dealers and they liked to work from home."- Ok_Whatever_Buddy
Did They Think They Would Clean Themselves?
"We had a shared kitchen, the 3 of us, we had cleaning schedules but they never followed it, they just piled it up until it was my turn."
"After numerous complaints that I was the only one cleaning I stopped cleaning."
"3weeks later there was rotten food and fungi all over the kitchen and even a cockroach infestation."
"A cleaning company had to be hired, the costs of which spread over the people living there."
"I objected the bill on grounds of my earlier complaints, they didn’t argue and I did not have to pay."
"I even got compensation for eating out every night, they got kicked out a week later."
"Was a win for me eventually but a horrible time before that."- Mezame_Drgn
Anything But Trustworthy...
"Tried to set the rest of us up for a pot bust after he got caught."- roadfood
Health And Safty? Meh...
"My favorite: She would come in drunk at 2am, turn on all the lights, leaving either her keys in the front door lock, or just leave the door wide open and then pass out in the living room."
"Good times!"- cerart939
Three's A Crowd...
"His girlfriend basically moved in immediately after he did."
"She was nice enough but adding another person to a tiny 2-bed apartment sucks."- beachfun2525
Grand Exit...
"Sh*t in the oven before moving out."- Longearedlooby
Contributed Literally Nothing
"He got into drugs, quit working, and quit paying rent three months into a year-long lease."
"Then he started letting his drug buddies sleep over and they ate all the food I bought."
"So I couldn't keep groceries in the house."
'Then they went through my room looking for things to steal."
"I ended up having to forcibly take away the apartment key and get a second job to make the rent."
"After months of stress, I worked 80 hours a week for eight months because of that b@stard."- luthurian
Consent Was Necessary
"Found out the dude was keeping his webcam running when he was out."
"Being secretly filmed was kinda f’d up."- O_vJust
Sometimes, putting up with a roommate who will never be a friend is worth it for the home you are sharing.
Other times, a tiny studio apartment is probably the way to go.
Even in a strong economy, or after making billions of dollars in profits, all businesses try to look for ways to save money.
Sadly, one very common solution is to lower the numbers in their workforce, resulting in layoffs for those whose departments they deem unnecessary.
Others look for slightly more unusual solutions.
However, sometimes these solutions are made without a great deal of thought, and these presidents and CEOs soon discover what they thought would be a cost-cutting measure ended up costing them even more money.
Sending them racing back to the drawing board.
"What did your company do to “save money” but ended up costing the company lots of money instead?"
You May Get A Little Hot...
"Shut off the HVAC system to save on electricity costs during the summer."
"Had to pay over half a million in mold remediation costs."
"F*cking morons."- dinosore
Never View People As An Expense
"Lay off a bunch of veteran people so they can bring in newer workers for cheaper."
"They find they couldn't bring in newer people for cheaper so they hire newer people at close to the same price as the veteran workers."
"Veteran workers are mad they have to train somebody making almost the same as they are with no experience and start leaving."
"Company has to pay fewer remaining veteran workers even more to get them to stay while paying inexperienced workers close to what the workers they just laid off were making."
"To my knowledge, prior to the lay offs, the veteran workers weren't even complaining about pay."
"Now the department is at a worse state and more expensive than what it was prior to their plan to save money."- Frankie__Spankie
Simply Illogical
"The roof of our building was leaking bad."
"Got quotes for doing just a third of the roof and for doing a whole new roof."
"They choose to do third of the roof."
"All it did was move the leak."
"A month later they did the whole roof."
"They would have paid a lot less had they done it right the first time."- sonsonmcnugget
Location, Location, Location! Or Not...
"Business travelers must fly to the closest airport to the destination."
"Is Airport A one mile closer to the destination than Airport B?"
"Yes."
"Are the airline tickets 2x as expensive?"
"Also yes." - Reddit
A Hospital Is Nothing Without Its Nurses!
"Underpaying the nurses so they quit and had to pay agency 3x the going rate."- junotinychonk
The Dangers Of Outsourcing
"Moved 'corporate' phone support from UK to India for a very large fizzy drinks company, despite the contract saying guaranteed UK support."
"Over 50k phones canceled and moved to their rival."- WimbleWimble
"Someone I know worked for the 'oldest American' hoist company."
"They decided to outsource production to china."
"The cost of transport, losses, customs, etc made the Chinese hoists just as expensive as their American-made ones and then the Chinese company stole the plan to make and sell themselves for less."- Diabetesh
You Never Know When You're Going To Need Them...
"Company ran a campaign for 'outside the box' ideas in cost cutting, with stock awards for proven savings."
"Our facility maintenance manager claimed a $300k savings by eliminating unnecessary capital spare parts in the warehouse and received a $30k award."
"Six months later a critical compressor failed resulting in the plant reducing to half capacity at a $500k per day profit loss."
"It would only take two days to repair, however, the parts were no longer in the warehouse."
"They were among those eliminated and sold for scrap."
"It took 90 days to receive replacements."
"Total loss to our company was just over $50 MILLION."- eron6000ad
God Forbid People Are Rewarded For Good Work
"I used to work at a place with a sizable distribution center and thousands of SKUs."
"The warehouse's team of pickers was a great group of folks."
"They were fast, extremely accurate, and very good at their jobs."
'I brought them cookies on a regular basis and made sure to take good care of them."
"One day, some f*cking walnut decided that they were 'making too much money' in incentive pay (they got a bonus for accuracy and for picking above and beyond their normal quota of items) so they canceled the picker incentive plan and bumped up their quota, saying 'it's their job, we're getting robbed paying them extra to do what they should be doing anyway!'"
"Pick rates began falling sharply within the first week or two, because the incentive pay for being an outstandingly fast and accurate picker made the otherwise crappy base pay for that job turn into a living wage."
"Warehouse staff was enraged by having their pay jacked with and now being unable to pay their bills while still being expected to perform as well as they did before, so they started performing to the old quota."
"Management did much finger wagging and tried to write up a couple of the top pickers for 'deliberately underperforming and hurting the company'."
"Those top tier workers refused to sign the writeups, walked out of our warehouse, walked into the warehouse of our direct competitor, and had new jobs that same day."
"The rest of the high performers followed over the next couple of weeks."
"Delivery routes got delayed because of the short staffing and loss of the best workers, customers got upset because they were receiving the wrong items or not getting them at all, and the sales team, which wasn't paid enough to get screamed at by angry customers, was furious."
"Cue a meeting with the sales team and the f*cking walnut, who proceeded to lecture everybody about how 'picking is an entry level job' and 'anybody could do it' and how they're going to bring in a bunch of temp labor 'because they will actually appreciate the opportunity'."
"Fast forward a few months and it turns out the temps are idiots and caused the number of pick and 'not on pallet' errors to increase, customers are now leaving in droves, and sales people are bailing out too."
"The company lost millions of dollars in business and had to lay off half the staff because they were going to go bankrupt otherwise."
"All this because some f*cking walnut thought they could squeeze the people at the bottom of the pile who actually did the work that made the company money."- nancybell_crewman
From $75 Max, To A $75 Steak...
"We used to get a travel per diem for our meals."
"Most people would eat cheap like get a free breakfast at the hotel and get a $5 footlong and split it for lunch and dinner and bank the rest."
"I traveled a lot so it was like a nice perk."
'The company got wind of this and changed their policy to we had to buy and expense all our meals."
"The problem was they had to have the same policy for all employees so they couldn’t put a cap on meals due to the sales guys having to take out clients and stuff."
"We took full advantage of it and ate like kings."
"My meals expenses were twice what they were paying in per diem."- velvet_satan
Safety First
"I used to be the head of security for a club that had the most tight-fisted owners I’ve ever heard of."
"I kept telling them that we were dangerously understaffed."
"The police told them the same."
"So did the fire brigade, they said there wasn’t enough of us to evacuate the venue if we had to, they were right too."
"The owners wouldn’t listen."
"The club was taking around 45k per week but they wouldn’t pay for radios for us to least be able to communicate."
"We had so many incidents there that it was just insane."
"There just wasn’t enough of us to actually watch the whole club and even when we did see something we couldn’t call for back up."
"I found a set of second hand radios for under £200 but they refused to buy them I ended up buying whistles for the team to at least give us something to use to get each others attention."
"They also wouldn’t pay to get CCTV installed which upset the local police."
"One night a bartender came out to the door and told me there was a fight inside, there was no security inside just 2 of us on the door."
"When we went in there was around 60 people brawling on the dance floor."
"We did what we could but it was beyond our control."
"Eventually the police arrived but wouldn’t come inside they stood outside and essentially instructed us to kick everyone out and they would keep them out."
"We spent 45 minutes dragging people out of there."
"Many people were injured and after the fight one of the guys who had been fighting came back and stabbed a guy he had fought with."
"The police decided enough was enough and approached the council who as expected revoked the premises license."
"They lost the club altogether."- operative87
Gig Economy...
"Not giving the guy doing 2.5 full-time jobs a slight raise, instead letting them walk and paying 3 new people (combined) at least twice what they were paying him to do all the same work at like 65 percent the quality level."- BigPZ
Experience Matters...
"Consolidated the sales departments and made salespeople stop selling the stuff they knew how to sell and forced them to try to sell products they weren't familiar with to customers they had no history with."
"Company almost went out of business in a matter of months, and this was not a small company."- MostBotsAreBad
Needless to say, a business needs money to operate.
But money should never be the driving force behind the decision.
At least not over quality, practicality, and the well being of your employees.
While it's important to eat healthy, it's not uncommon to sometimes crave something greasy and fattening.
Since everything is good in moderation, it's not a bad thing to want a meal of burgers, fries, and a milkshake. However, it is important to find out where to get the best.
There are countless fast food restaurants in the world. There are about seven located two minutes from my house! That's why it's no surprise that everyone has a different opinion on which place is the best.
Redditors have differing opinions on what the "right answer" is, and they're ready to share.
It all started when Redditor the_idea_ asked:
"What is the BEST fast food restaurant?"
No Substitute
"I’m here as an ex manager of a Taco Bell to say the food is garbage. Nothing fresh whatsoever. But I’d still eat there every day if I could. Solid f*cking garbage. Lived off of those five layer burritos."
– N1lb0g001
"Nobody going to Taco Bell goes there because the food is good, or even because they want Mexican food. They're going because they want Taco Bell, and there is no substitute."
"I do well enough avoiding fast food aside from the occasional CFA breakfast sandwich, but when I do have a craving, it's for Taco Bell every time."
– duffman13jws
Quality Over All
"Worked at Wendy’s and the food quality was surprisingly fresh. Salads were made to order and management was strict about food timers. All of the ground beef was delivered 3-4 times a week and never frozen. Would say their food quality makes them a favorite in my mind"
– RoombaRUs
"Honestly, that's such a glowing review."
"If an ex-employee of a fast food place speaks this highly of it, you know it's good."
"I learned the secrets of McDonald's 12 years ago and still have nightmares about the food safety I witnessed."
– JaydedGaming
The Right Ingredients
"I worked at a wide variety of fast food restaurants about 15 years ago (Wendy’s, Jack in the Box and Sonic) and honestly, Sonic was leagues ahead of the others. We used actual cream, not powdered dairy product in all ice cream/deserts. Onion rings were cut fresh in house and there was a real dedication to cleanliness and food safety. To this day Sonic is my go to fast food."
– Dendritic1
"Their commitment to a beverage is unmatched and I love that about them. I don’t even need food, I have all my daily calories in this route 44 cherry limeade."
– PossumJenkinsSoles
It's All About The People
"I know this is kind of a non-answer but honestly the staff at any given restaurant can make or break the quality. I'm a fan of the Burger King near me because they train and treat their staff exceptionally well, and it shows in the quality of the food, but I've been to plenty of other locations that are just gross. So I'm sure there are cities where Wendy's or McDonalds are the best locally, and I'm sure that the reason for that is because of good management and happy employees."
– scojo12345
I'll Drive If I Have To
"As a Californian I feel obligated to say In N Out, but honestly I like Dairy Queen. I don't really see them here. Like at all. But they're in Oregon everywhere so close enough."
– KingOfTheLifeNewbs
"Dairy Queen has pretty solid burgers and aren't super expensive. And Blizzards are the best. I'd pick them over McD's and BK any day."
– ReflexImprov
Only One Coast
"How is In N Out this low on the list? I guess because it's regional?"
"It's the ONLY fast food that looks EXACTLY like the advertisement. It tastes amazing, and 2 double-doubles is like $11 - animal style, add chili's."
"The fries are trash though - complete garbage. Some people think otherwise, and it's ok to be wrong."
– Observationistic
"I looked up why In N Out never expanded. Apparently they only have west coast beef farms. Refused to freeze and ship to expand. Also they donate to all manners of non profits. In N Out for the win."
– NorCal130
Only One Answer
"Bojangles. No further questions at this time."
– OkActive448
"Mmmm. Bojangles biscuits. Nothing short of amazing."
– HangrySkeptic
That Sailor Man
"Popeyes"
– Much_Committee_9355
"Oh lawd... that chicken sandwich...so good."
– Goblue5891x2
"Their red bean and rice- yes please"
– Junior-Lie4342
A Good Burger
"Goodburger"
– fruitpony
"Welcome to goodburger home of the goodburger! Can I take your order?"
– Mobile-Dragonfly5123
My Body Is No Temple Anymore
"five guys. cheeseburguer with mustard and hot sauce and all the coca cola you can down. it's artery poison but worth every bite"
– madkeepz
"Plus a small Cajun fry that includes 10% of a potato crop yield"
– jcrewjr
That's A Rave!
"Try Arby's sandwiches. The best."
– It_Could_Be_True
"i'm like 200 comments in before I found Arby's. Man, they deliver so much good stuff! i've been loving the spicy roast beef they have out right now."
"I just don't know any other restaurant where you can get a gyro, a reuban, or a french dip, and they all just slap. not to mention the sauces... totally underappreciated restaurant."
– HighlightFun8419
Behind These Castle Walls
"White castle. I'll fight you on this"
– Pleasant-Package-745
It's The Same In Every Country
"McDonald's is always there for you, it doesn't matter what city you're in."
– han7nah
"And definitely not the best food, but the most iconic. Both in flavor and smells.😌😌😌"
– PrincessHootHoot
All The Choices
"A place that a lot of people don't have, which is Cookout. Unbelievable amount of choices and sides. And some of the best milkshake flavors known to man(kind)"
– BaconFlavoredToast
"the first time i went to one the fact that i could order a corndog with a side of corndog made me lose it, we were all deliriously tired and that was hilarious"
– Melbuf
"I think the pricing sets it apart. Even if the food isn’t great in a vacuum, knowing that I got a huge meal for less than 10$ makes it taste better"
– clout-trout
Hunger
"This thread gave me like a hundred different food cravings all at once"
– Beatrixkiddobangbang
Me too! I've got to go order some food now!
Did we leave any of your favorites off the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Sandwiches are a pinnacle of food.
Who doesn't love a roll with meat?
Sandwiches are the reason why delis are so massively popular.
And the improvements on this simple menu staple have taken food in general to another level.
So what are the small changes and additions that make it all that much better?
Who has the secrets?
Redditor arisal3 wanted to chat about how to improve the sandwich, so they asked:
"What makes a sandwich go from boring to amazing?"
I say mayo. Mayo. MAYO! More and always.
That's the key improvement.
Elevation
"Seasoning and toasting the bread can seriously elevate a sandwich."
lovelyteaparty
"I like boring sandwiches, but toasting the bread 100% improves them. Especially if there is cheese on the sandwich."
Hawntir
Additions
"At the best sandwich places, all the vegetables are basically prepared like side dishes. Marinated, seasoned, grilled, or something."
han7nah
"Vinegar, whether its a dressing, mustard, brined pickles olives or anything else. Vinegar is king. Its also why i use hot sauce on everything."
eggsaladrightnow
"Gonna sound weird but banana peppers in mayo with hot relish. Got delivered someone else's order once and been addicted since."
Johnnyocean
You Do It
"Someone else making it."
unclebobsplayground
"I actually saw an article years ago about some study where they basically confirmed this. Smelling and handling the ingredients before eating the sandwich reduced cravings for and appreciation of the finished product, similar to how the fourth or fifth bite is less exciting than the first because you've gotten used to it."
Palazzo505
Pointed Issues
"Cutting it in half, diagonally."
grantnel2002
"Chef John from the fantastic https://youtube.com/@foodwishes YouTube channel often says 'It's a scientifically proven fact: people like pointy food.'"
shaggydogg
"All the fancy kids at school always had theirs cut diagonally. But our lunch tubbies were square so if it was cut diagonally, it won't fit in. My mom refused to buy new lunch tubbies just because I wanted my bread cut differently. Now that I am all grown up I ALWAYS cut mine diagonally and it is just wonderful. Simply wonderful."
magic7ball
A little touch...
"Salt and pepper on the veggies."
beyd1
"Especially tomatoes. Always season your tomatoes before sandwiching."
BigShoots
Those small changes go a long way.
Starving
"Hunger. It's amazing how amazing even a boring sandwich can taste when you're famished."
Somnif
The Spice
"Sweet 'n spicy mustard."
Cab8675
"Came to say basically any type of good sauce. Depending on the sandwich, chipotle or herb aioli, spicy mustard, pesto, or even just olive oil (infused is better) and vinegar."
wxmanify
"Philly cheesesteaks are my favorite sandwich, and there’s this local restaurant that makes the best one I’ve ever had."
"The main thing is that the add creole mustard to it. The bread, meat, and everything else is also really good, but that mustard takes it too another level. I never would’ve thought to put a spicy sauce on a cheesesteak (though I don’t know much about cooking)."
Frosty_Analysis_4912
The Feel
"Wrap it tightly in butcher paper after making. The compression marries all the ingredients together and pushes condiments into the crevices of the bread. Even if you're just going to eat it right after making it, a little time wrapped up seriously improves the flavor and feel of the sandwich."
LemFliggity
Just a Touch
"r/EatSandwiches assemble! In my opinion, dressing your greens is critical to a sandwich getting to that next level."
"Typically, for cold cuts, this is a vinaigrette dressing for me. But in hot sandwiches (e.g. the roast pork at DiNic’s in Philly) the greens are braised and thereby dressed as well."
"A touch of olive oil or butter and some fresh salt and pepper will never fail you either."
bpd52
It all changes...
"Caramelized onion jam. It's a freaking game changer. Sourdough with Comté and BellaVitano expresso rubbed cheese, as a grilled cheese."
TheLivingShit
Now let's go make some sandwiches.
Do you have any other hacks to share? Let us know in the comments.