That is, until, we travel abroad and experience culture shock after observing how others interact with each other outside of our own country.
"What's an incredibly American thing americans don't realize is american?"
Americans respond differently than people from other nations when it comes to indicating where they're from.
Location Location Location
"I used to work in a call Center that took calls from Americans and Canadians. I’d ask 'Where are you from, Canada or the US?' Canadians would say 'Canada' and American would say 'Texas' or 'New York' etc. Never ever would they reply with their country name."
– fancyllamapants-
Sticking To Specifics
"Might just be me, but I do notice when you ask Americans on the internet where they're from, they reply with either a state or a city instead of their country."
"The thing is, it doesn't cause any confusion, since most people know most American states and at least the major cities."
"You don't often see an Indonesian person, for example, say they're from West Java. Just that they're from Indonesia."
– FlygonsGonnaFly
More Background
"I also find that Americans often include where they were born. For example "I'm from Philly but originally from Jersey.'"
"Edit: I understand that the US is big and has many different regions. I'm Canadian and find that Canadians typically don't answer that way, despite being very large."
– RedSpikeyThing
Some people are dumbfounded by these the following behaviors and tendencies.
Shortened Pronunciation
"Its the American pronunciation of 'squirrel' that gets me. Here its a two syllable word. 'Sqwe-rell' kinda. But when my American gf says it it comes out kinda like 'sqwurl.' The first time she said it I thought she said 'swirl'. Its just one syllable."
– DonSmo
Favored Flavor
"Ranch. I never knew ranch was just an American thing until recently."
– BlocBoyBaloo
Time To Close Out The Check
"Not having to ask for the bill."
– Ok_Independence_5025
Complete Trust
"Handing your credit card to a stranger, having them walk away, swipe it, then bring it back to like they didn’t just put a down payment on a new house with it…"
– browncoat47
European Academics
"Universities in Europe are simply institutions of higher learning, nothing more."
"Americans would be surprised by the cultural differences when it comes to university education. There are no athletic teams, no Greek life, no 30 foot climbing walls at universities in Europe. You come to school to learn and leave when your classes are over for the day. If you want to study, you can go to the library, but there is very little that a university offers outside of academia."
– sharksedition
Simple Dish
"Mixing three different canned foods together and calling it a casserole."
– calls_you_a_bellend
Transactions that seem normal to Americans is considered completely unusual in other countries.
Name The Price
"Not including tax on prices displayed in stores."
– rubs_tshirts
Always On-The-Go
"Drive thru atms and everything else."
"I didn't learn we had drive thru liquor stores until later in my life."
– cbeiser
Side Effects May Include Feeling Jaded
"Prescription drug commercials."
– Dhk3rd
"Me and my husband love watching the American feed of NFL. We quite like the drug ads, as they have to list all the side effects and it sound like every drug will kill you. We love laughing at the ads."
– toonlass91
Tipping has always been a practice I never understood.
In many other countries, it is not customary to tip because–from what I understand–service industry employees are already incentivized to work hard and provide excellent service because they are already more than reasonably compensated.
Depending on the situation, I think tipping is a flawed system that doesn't work fairly for the consumer and the employee as it can breed resentment.
But that's just my two cents -- which for the record is NOT an appropriate tip. The figure you're looking for is 20%.
- People Break Down Which Things They're Sick And Tired Of ... ›
- People Reveal The Things They Never Believed Until They ... ›
- Americans Describe The Things They Don't Really Understand ... ›
- People Break Down What They Think Would Consist Of The American Nightmare Instead Of The American Dream - George Takei ›
Everyone always harps on the importance of first impressions.
But we also need to pay attention to all that follows.
I'm starting to believe a first impression can be a great fake-out.
People will allow their true colors to shine over time.
Redditor Xanax_Sprite wanted everyone to open up about what things people can do that immediately change one's opinion of a person's character, not for the better.
"What immediately makes you think less of someone?"
It's entirely too easy to turn me off. I admit, it's an issue. Maybe that's a thing people suddenly dislike about me.
Bad Behavior
rude bon qui qui GIFGiphy"Intentional embarrassment. When someone brings something up in front of a group to humiliate someone else."
mr_xen_
Man Up
"Not taking responsibility for their actions."
DragonVash
"Even worse. people who make excuses for their mistakes, no matter how bluntly you point it out to them that this is their shortcoming. Man up and admit you make a mistake. Stop telling me A happened then B happened so C happened. we are here to work, not tell each other make believe stories."
Chomusuke_99
Be Quiet
"Someone who interrupts a serious conversation to make it about them."
-Zuine-
"Being subject to that infuriating s**t was what eventually inspired me to listen to people more, especially regarding heavier topics. Sometimes people just need to be heard and held, and it isn't fair for them to expose their vulnerabilities only to have you dismiss them by trying to make their suffering about you."
I_Consume_Shampoo
Where are they?
"How they speak about a person who is not present in the conversation."
weirdlikenick
"One of the most important lessons my father taught me..."
"Don't speak about a person if they're not in the room."
"They don't have a representative in the room and especially if your words get back to them and they can't say 'I know, he already had that convo with me.' I've earned a rep for not speaking behind people's backs to the point where when someone claimed I did, that person called them a liar. Pops sucked but I thank him for that lesson."
thatswhatshesaidxx
Be Consistent
Jennifer Lawrence Reaction GIFGiphy"Hypocrites."
silentsurge95
"100. People can change their opinions, but not flip flop regularly."
0rd0abCha0
I can't with hypocrites. My life's biggest pet peeve.
Be clean
Season 4 Episode 22 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"Littering."
Miniturbo23
"Yep, had a coworker once who spit on the floor inside."
"It was a warehouse-type building, but still. This particular guy also left cigarette butts on the floor inside and dumped a dog on the business property. Needless to say, he didn't last long here. Some people are just really rude and stupid."
UnderstatedEssence
Say Sorry
"Had a friend who never, ever apologized for anything or really took any responsibility. Even in situations which were funny and non-serious, he’d always talk his a** out of it (in a jokey matter). But when some s**t hit the fan, that guy turned into one of the scariest, manipulative and aggressive people I’ve met that would rather die than take accountability for the things he’s done."
"And for which there were many witnesses and evidence against him. Moral of the story, if you know someone who won’t say sorry or admit they did something wrong for even the least serious things, run, because when they actually do something seriously bad it’s just gonna get real ugly."
confused-girly
Face 2 Face
"Lying to my face. There’s no going back in my eyes because I will never trust you. Secrets are fine and dandy. That’s not quite the same as straight up lying. A direct example is people lying about their family dying to get out of work or when this older woman in her 40’s tried to lie about cleaning up her work station when she left it for me to clean."
brazosandbosque
“as a joke”
"Being mean to animals."
Catatonia86
"Even when people joke about being mean to animals. I have a cat I love dearly and the number of comments I get about harming cats because people don’t like them 'as a joke' is infuriating and not funny, Ken."
indiscreetraven
"I include poorly training their pets in this. It’s neglect/negligence and it’s abuse."
baby_*itchface
Eyes Up
Call Me Lol GIF by Black PrezGiphy"When they’re looking at their phones, not paying any attention to you when you’re trying to have a conversation with them."
Beedalabupp
It doesn't take much to change an impression. Let's do better.
Redditor 3L3M3NT4LP4ND4 wanted to hear about the yuck factor we've all come across at the dwellings of others.
"What's the grossest thing you've ever seen at a strangers house?"
There are just some things that can't be unseen. Especially on other people's houses.
$20
"I used to work for a furniture company doing deliveries, and sometimes repos. As a rule of thumb, if you're doing a repo, the house you're about to go in is usually nasty as all hell. The one that sticks out in my memory was no exception. It was more of a compound of two or three trap dens, rotten saggy floors, roof falling in. Just f**king nasty. We had to repossess a stove they had bought maybe a month before."
"And in that short time it had become caked with grease and infested with roaches. When we got it back to the store the manager told us to put it out back, as in outside cause he didn't want the store to become infested. A week or two later a couple that refurbished old appliances came and bought it for twenty dollars."
moslof_flosom
Patients
"I’m a hospice nurse who works inside peoples homes. I have seen many many gross and disturbing things inside people's homes; hoarders, mold from flooding, floor missing etc. the worst thing I can remember was this patient who had around 10 dogs. The home was a hoarder house (not that unusual for my line of work)."
"However there was dog pee and crap all over the floor. The only path to walk through with all the clutter in the house was covered with animal feces. We would dress in full PPE (shoe covers, gowns, mask) every time we went in. The patient was very obese and his wife couldn’t care for him properly."
"He would be so saturated in urine that his waste would drip on the flooring around his hospital bed. Eventually APS got him out of the house. It was awful. I have smelled MANY terrible things but I struggled not to vomit when In this house caring for him."
ResortGlittering8183
Unavailable
"My younger sister would babysit for the couple next door. One evening, she asked if I could babysit for her instead, because she couldn't handle it. I was stupid, so I said fine. They had roaches everywhere. Kitchen. Bathroom. Living room. My sister wouldn't even sit on the couch - she sat on an ottoman in the center of the room, as did I. We only did that a few times before we weren't 'available' anymore."
jfincher42
Poor Pets
cats GIFGiphy"Animal hoarders house. You could smell cat pee from the sidewalk and when she opened the door the smell was like a physical punch in the face. Piles of poop everywhere. I ended up anonymously reporting her to animal control."
Paganduck
We should never involve the fur babies in our mess.
Everywhere
Clean House Cleaning GIF by The Roku ChannelGiphy"I went to visit a friend whose house I had never been to before. We were outside on the patio, I asked to go in to use the toilet, she was reluctant. Every dish, pot, and pan in the kitchen was dirty and filled with water. Not just on the counters, on the floors all over the place. It looked like it had been that way a while."
Botryoid2000
No Space
"I went to a friends house so he could do some work on my car. After he was finished (hours later) I really needed to pee so I asked if I could use his restroom prior to driving home. He seemed hesitant at first but finally said yes. I regret ever asking... they were a full on HOARDER family."
"There was barely enough room to walk in the front door to the bathroom and once in the bathroom literally just the toilet bowl was visible. I pretended to pee and hightailed it out of there and peed at the gas station up the street."
Firefly0434
Gotta Bounce
"Went to a friend of a friend's house who had a young, friendly and very excitable pit bull. Sat down on the couch, dog jumps up onto the cushion next to me and unleashes a TORRENT of pee, soaking the other cushion. Before I can do anything he shoos the dog off the couch, flips the cushion and hands me a beer like nothing happened. Needless to say I got up, chugged that beer and bounced within about 2 minutes."
unfinedandunfiltered
Funky
"A buck rag Used for child discipline. A very old-fashioned thing, but still used in parts of the US. You just pop the lid and hold it under the child's nose. It stinks. Easily bought from goat farmers online, apparently. It gets the smell from male goats. I was at my girlfriend's house at 16 and didn't believe her dad really owned one, so she showed me when he wasn't looking."
"A disgusting rag that clearly used to be white, but was thoroughly yellowed/greyish and discoloured and slick-looking. Double-sealed inside 2 glass jars. I almost smelled it out of curiosity (though she urged me not to) but got cold feet when I pulled it out of the drawer... even without opening the jars I sensed something smelled slightly... funky. I'm not sure if I was imagining it or if it was really that strong but I didn't want to experience it any more than that."
ciok865
infested...
Excited The Muppet Show GIF by Muppet WikiGiphy"Went to a friends house who had huge a** rats sitting on the shelves in closets when you opened them lol... place was infested with them and they didn’t even care slightly."
tmorse12
People really need to clean a little. Just a little...