Americans usually have the problem of thinking they're special but being especially un-special.
But sometimes we do win the special medal--for having this problem that literally NO OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE.
Honestly, these problems are usually CAUSED by American special snowflake syndrome.
u/jimbosayna2009 asked:
What's a uniquely American problem?
Here were some of the answers.
The Kansas Line
GiphyI'm from Kansas City, Missouri. Not Kansas City, Kansas, which is a silly place. The state line runs right through the middle of the metropolitan area
Just like how Portland is on the or/wa border so part of Portland Oregon metro is Vancouver Washington. Yes, Vancouver Washington. NOT bc, Washington state NOT dc. Causes too much confusion. Especially since Vancouver bc is only a 5 hour drive up I-5
Metred Feet
My tools are imperial, but the thing I need to fix is metric.
My favorite is when you've got a car where the body is US customary units but the power train is metric.
Dang Maine
When in Maine, and you ask a Mainer for directions, some say:
"You can't get there from here."
What's that mean!?
Much of Maine is really rugged, undeveloped, mountainous, lakes, or swamps. "Can't get there from here" isn't literally true of course it just means the way you actually travel somewhere is way, way longer than a straight line distance and might involve backtracking from your current location.
Mary Jane, Only Some People Care For You
Marijuana being legal in over half the country, but illegal in the whole country.
I don't know how dispensaries deal with that. "Well, weed is legal in this state so here's a business license. But good luck opening a bank account and fingers crossed that you don't get raided by the feds."
Wait, Other Countries DON'T HAVE THIS?!
Gaps in the doors of bathroom stalls.
This is one of those things about living in America that drives me absolutely insane! Why doesn't this seem to bother anyone? What is the logic of the bathroom stall designer? I have so many questions!
Road Rage
Getting tailgated by moms in mini vans or guys in monster trucks that could easily run your whole house over.
And anyone who does this and isn't in a giant monstrosity of a vehicle always has their high beams on. I'll slow down to slightly under the limit when they do this. If a cop shows up, well, I couldn't see for the blinding lights in all my mirrors; I slowed down for safety. Can't argue with that.
Dela-where?
When you are visiting another country and everyone is saying where they are from, you say your state instead of your country. And no one is quite sure where Wyoming is!
Wtf is a Delaware?
Sprawl
People blame Americans being fat on us being too lazy to walk anywhere. But they don't realize how pedestrian unfriendly some of these areas are.
In my old town if I wanted to go just to the store, I'd need to walk a few hours to get there. On roads with large logging trucks barrelling by, with no sidewalks, on shoulders that ranged from "here is a few feet and then a sharp dip into a ditch full of blackberry bushes" to "literally nothing, walk on the actual road." Oh and it was a curving road with lots of dips too, where there was a good chance that cars simply could not see you until you were right in front of them. And zero public transport of any kind that would come anywhere near my house.
My new town is much better, but I still have to take a few detours on my way to the store due to the busy roads and complete lack of sidewalk in certain spots.
FIX HEALTHCARE, FOR CHRISSAKES
My insurance claim was rejected after my visit to the urgent care where they said my insurance was accepted. So now I have a bill of $1,428 for having a guy move my arm for 3 seconds to pop my shoulder back in place.
This is why I wait a minimum of 90 days before I pay any medical bill. In the US, 80% of all medical bills have errors. I never get consistent/straight/accurate answers from anyone I talk to with the provider or the insurance company. I almost always get "mystery bills" starting about 45 days after that were never explained or discussed prior.
You're American.
GiphyNot really a problem but heritage/ancestry is rather uniquely American in my experience. Ask someone from Switzerland what their heritage is and they'll say Swiss. Ask a Brit and they'll say British. Ask a Brazilian and they'll say Brazilian.(Comments say I'm wrong about that one but you get my point)
But ask an American and you'll probably get something like "I'm a quarter Irish and quarter Italian from my dad's side then from my mom I'm 20% English, 12% German, 3% Iroquois Native American, 5% Spanish, and 10% Italian again."
Monetarily AND Emotionally Expensive
Realizing that working yourself to death in highschool to be a straight A student rather than a B-C student to go to an amazing college was essentially pointless because in the real world the most important thing is your degree and it doesn't matter very much where you got it from. Whether you go to Towson or UMBC, a Computer Information Systems degree is a Computer Information Systems degree.
Our education system is pretty terrible by the way.
The Merry Old Land Of Oz
What's up with your land subdivisions? Y'all split a lovely large landmass into 50 tiny *ss subdivisions. Then you walk into a different tiny *ss subdivision and suddenly the laws change. And all your internet companies are snippy f*ckers who disagree and route around entire states resulting in ridiculous quality loss.
In Australia we're like "f*ck alright we've got this giant half of the country how do we get internet here from the other giant half of the country?" "In a straight line ya dickhead"
Everything Is Wrong With US.
GiphyPaying tens of thousands of dollars for a simple medical treatment, like giving birth.
Worrying about whether a hospital is "in network"
Worrying about how you will pay for being sick, because there is limited sick and holiday pay available.
Having 40%+ of the country so right wing that people like Trump have a chance of being elected to the highest power in the country.
Spending trillions on a military, yet having homeless veterans because the money doesn't stretch to the after effects of service.
Having 40%+ of the country so pro-gun that there can never be any effective form of firearm control.
Having wages so low that consumers are expected to top-up service staff wages, on top of the cost of the goods or services purchased.
Such high wealth inequality that the richest American could buy a half-million dollar house with the same percentage of wealth of an average American buying a $5 meal from a fast food restaurant.
Having the hottest place on the planet, and a place that gets to -50 degrees.
Potential supervolcano eruptions
Fahrenheit
No challengers for the World Series.
Power Hungry Jerks
Home Owner Associations and their ability to fine and sell your property and bully you to their will. I remember when I was reading about these in Reddit I was thinking for days "WTF is wrong with Americans?"
Also, software patents, are unique to U.S.A. or do they have variations in other countries too?
A Country Built On The Backs Of Slaves Will Have This Problem, Duh
Probably the cultural and racial tension between whites and descendants of African Americans and Latinos. Few others countries have so many different cultures and races within its homeland that have coexisted alongside each-other, and have had entire eras in their history where the largest controversy and attention was over matters of race. Examples include the Civil War, Reconstruction, Civil Rights movement, etc.
It's Depressing Over Here, Y'all
Here's a few for you:
- Having the most incarcerated people per capita in the world. (665 per 100,000)
- Paying the most in the world for insulin. Many citizens forced to choose between insulin or food. (A new study finds that people with diabetes in the U.S. are paying between 5.7 times and 7.5 times more than those in the UK for two popular insulins and a rare drug to treat diabetic retinopathy. U.S. consumers absorb this higher cost despite often not being the first in line to have access to new drugs or medical device treatments.)
- Forced to have health insurance, and if you don't- they tax you at 2.5% of your income. Either way you get to pay out of pocket for all of your medical care until you hit your deductible ( usually $5000 or $10,000/ yr) and then insurance companies will only pay 80% of what's left.(The penalty is $695 per adult and $347.50 per child for a maximum of $2,085 per family, or 2.5 percent of the household income, whichever is greater.Mar 14, 2018)
- The highest infant mortality rate of any developed country (The U.S. infant mortality rate of 6.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births was more than twice that for Japan and Finland )
"What is the peculiar hygiene habit that you've developed?"
So Nothing Gets Overlooked
"When I shower I slowly rotate in a circle like some type of vertical rotisserie chicken."- RootsRoots55
To Help It Come Out... Maybe?...
"When I sit down to poo, I sort of sit in a way that spreads my cheeks as much as possible."- Myzx
Clean Before You Clean
"I wash my hands in the shower before I touch my face."- plasticIove
Happy Wash Hands GIF by Mecklenburg CountyGiphySurprisingly Overlooked
"I spend an extra minute in every shower making sure I thoroughly clean my feet."
"Not weird to clean feet."
"But definitely weird to remind myself every day 'gotta wash them trotters'."- ingoodtime23
Don't Overlook The Hard To Reach Places
"I see a lot of elderly people in the hospital.'
"99% have toenail fungus."
"I keep anti-fungal shampoo in the shower next to a toothbrush and scrub my nails and in-between my toes every morning."- Resilient_bookworm
Nothing Says You Can't Have Fun In The Shower...
"More of a fun one, but related to hygiene."
"When in the shower, and I'm lathering up my body with my soap/shower gel, I ensure a nice seal between my arm and body."
"Then I keep my fingertips against my hip and extend my elbow, creating a huge bubble in the gap between my arm and body."
"Then I blow it to see how big a bubble I can blow before it pops."
"Yes I'm a 35 year old man."- Angry_Cornflake
Extra, Extra Dry
"Squeegee myself with my hands in the shower to get most of the water off before I towel dry."- clydeswitch
Wash Up After Cleaning
"After using a sponge or cloth from the kitchen sink, I wash my hands with soap."
"These things are just nasty, imo."- knuckleduster12
A Few Steps Ahead
"Taking showers in the middle of the night."
"I have insomnia and one night I decided, what the hell, I need to shower when I get up anyways, so I'll get it out of the way now."
"Maybe it's placebo, but as soon as I got out of the shower and got into bed I slept like a baby."
"Now if I can't fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night I'll go take a shower instead of laying in bed trying to force myself to fall asleep."- SunnySilver8
Relaxing Homer Simpson GIFGiphyBeware The Excess Spray
"I try to close the toilet seat lid before flushing because I saw a video once where green 'bacteria' gets shot out of the toilet."- LrckLacroix
Their Expert Hiders
"Full body tick check before bed every night."
"I spend a lot of time in the bush and lyme sucks."- cat_named_virtue
The Proof Is In The Pudding... Flavored Toothpaste
"My friends think it's weird that I time myself brushing my teeth so that I brush for the full 2 minutes."
"Joke's on them though, I have the nicest teeth in the friend group."- selloboy
Brush Colgate GIFGiphy...Seems Kind Of Dangerous...
"I like to shower in complete darkness."
"Turn off the lights, block the bottom of the bathroom door with a towel or my clothes if I have to, maybe put some music on if I'm in the mood, and just have a nice, long, hot shower."
"It's incredibly relaxing, almost like a little nap with how warm it is and all the darkness."- Adventurous-Till2924
Should That Even Matter?
"As a straight guy, washing my a**, apparently."- fromkentucky
It Can Get Out Of Control
"I trim my armpit hair every time I trim my beard."
"It’s like a buzz-cut under there."
"Deodorant is more effective that way."-
One would like to think that everyone follows the most basic rules of personal hygiene without needing to be reminded.
At the end of the day though, what's important is doing whatever puts your mind at rest that you are as clean as it possibly can be.
Still... How can you really tell how clean you are if you shower in the dark?
Redditor Specialist-Crazy1466 wanted to hear which movies we still see in our nightmares, so they asked:
"What is the scariest movie you ever watched?"
Some scary movies give me heart palpitations.
So I try to be picky about the stories I watch.
The Balance
the descent horror GIF by Coolidge Corner TheatreGiphy"The Descent. Horrible monsters mixed with darkness and claustrophobia makes a scary movie."
itsminimal
"I was looking for this movie. Imo this film is the perfect balance between bloody, physical horror and actual psychological terror."
AkiraN19
Too Much
"White Noise. Wasn't scary when I watched it in the theater but became VERY scary when my car stereo only picked up static the whole ride home."
stfupcakes
"Oh damn, that was so good. I worked at a video store in ~1996 or so, and a coworker put it on. I was mesmerized. I later took it home and watched it in the dark, as you should, and damn. That's a masterpiece."
Far_Blueberry_2375
"Took my high school girlfriend to it, and she was in tears she was so scared. Almost 20 years later, and she still freaks out if I bring it up."
Prp076
Chilling
"The Day After... I watched it when I was a kid and it absolutely terrified me. When it originally aired, ABC had to set up a phone hotline with counselors standing by. It's one of the scariest depictions of nuclear war in film in my opinion. Chilling."
scarletmanuka
"I've been thinking about these movies, and how unrealistic they are. We all just survived a pandemic. What happened? Things were bad, tent hospital, turned away, truck morgues. And people just... learned to bake bread. Made music."
"Gave up offices and started doing things for their neighbors. Nuclear war would be obviously, a horrific shitshow and not to be entertained, but I really believe, we'd come together and make a good world after. It wouldn't be the complete collapse of our humanity, and the rest can be rebuilt."
Cheap_Doctor_1994
The Splatter
"The Grudge. I don't know why, but this f**king thing is so scary. I had to pause it. Never had this before. Even the worst splatter is nothing for me, but this... No."
Yggdrafenrir20
"It was when the lady got sucked into the bed when she was hiding under the covers. Like they took away my only defense in the dark as a kid."
Colossus245
"I had the same reaction. Something about it just made my skin crawl in a way that other similar movies like The Ring didn't. For several years afterward whenever I had a nightmare, the grudge lady was somehow involved. Yugh."
JonEleven
Turn it Off
Happy Got You GIF by BounceGiphy"There are definitely better movies, but Sinister has always scared the crap out of me. It took me 2 tries to watch it. It’s the only movie I’ve ever turned off from being so scared."
Cobonmycorn
Never saw Sinister.
And now I know to skip it.
My nightmares are bad enough.
flaming sci-fi GIF by FilmStruckGiphy"The Thing. My first viewing was at night, and I was maybe 5 or 6. It scared me so bad I only watched subsequent viewings during the day until I matured a little more."
Same-Reaction7944
Never Again
“'The Ring' when I was 9 or 10, that was scary."
DelusionalGorilla
"I saw it in my 30s, on pain meds for kidney stones, while my wife and kids were away. The thing that freaked me out the most was that in the middle-end of the film someone called me from an unknown number and hung up."
EnIdiot
"It's the only movie I absolutely refuse to watch ever again. I saw it ONCE as a kid and I'm 30 now. I still have occasional nightmares about it. Sometimes I'll be eating and this movie will pop into my head for NO REASON and I lose my appetite completely. I'm haunted by it."
guiltyonallcharges
Too Much too Handle
"Event Horizon... or maybe Pandorum."
Nulltan
"Worth noting Event Horizon is one of the most famous cases in the lost media community. It had 30 minute cut for being too grim for the test audiences. 30. Minutes. While some scenes did make their way to the 2006 DVD, most of it is considered most likely lost for good barring some miraculous surprise discovery."
"You can read about what was cut at the Lost Media Wiki here: https://lostmediawiki.com/Event_Horizon_(partially_lost_unreleased_130-minute_cut_of_sci-fi_horror_film;_1997)"
Lights On
"The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I kept waking up at 3 am on the money for weeks afterward. Didn’t help that I found and listened to the original tape-recorded material of her speaking fluidly in different languages while being exorcised."
Opening-Ad-3775
"This is it for me. I watched it in theaters when my boyfriend was out of town. I went home and slept with the lights on. I love scary movies and had never done that before or since. I’m going to have to look for those tapes!"
LostintheLand
Wobbled
kathy bates misery GIFGiphy"Misery. My knees were wobbling when I walked out of the theatre. No more Stephen King for me."
suzymwg
"I watched that while dealing with a stalker. Horrible choice."
sethro919
I love scary movies, but some of these sound like a step too far.
Misery still haunts me.
Redditor Tight_Anywhere6794 wanted to hear about the things parents have said in the past that haunts everyone still, so they asked:
"What insult have your parents said, that is stuck in your head as an adult?"
I've been blessed with the mother I had.
So I can't speak from experience.
But I've heard parenting horror stories.
Bad Expressions
Sad Kid GIF by 1tvGiphy“'You’re so annoying.' Said to me as a young kid while I was expressing enthusiasm over some new interest. Later my father complains I never tell him anything."
foppishyyy
Mean Spirited
"What did I do to deserve a fat kid?"
Silosolo
"My parents also mocked me for being fat, and outright physically abused me as in forcefully grabbed my fat child manboobs or slapped me while calling me fat-related names."
"A lot of people at school did it too, so obviously I have a lot of self-image issues like I never let anyone see me without clothes these days. The worst part is that I legitimately internalized a lot of hate, I could never care for myself enough to actually get fit."
FoeWithBenefits
What's My Name?
"My parents divorced when I was young and they hate each other. My mom would call me my dad's name when she was really upset. What makes it worse is that I confided in her that I never wanted to be like my dad. She used that ammunition against me."
Discarded_Pariah
"That's awful. You are your own person. You aren't your father."
blksmnr
Unfunny
"'You can't even laugh right.'"
"My mom in a weird moment I thought we were bonding. There's something inherently extra evil when someone tells you your joy is wrong. Told her I'm engaged and hoped she could at least be happy I'm happy and she ghosted everyone to the point the family thought died. She's a mess."
BlindEditor
"I'll never understand parents that are so hard on their own children that they can't even be happy for them. So their sole function is to bring misery to their offspring?"
macabre_irony
Evil
Oh My God Wow GIF by The Roku ChannelGiphy"My little brother was drowning, I tried to save him but also almost drowned, we got rescued by a neighbor. My mom told me that they should've left me in the pond. I haven't spoken to her in many years."
Ilookbetterthanyou
Good Lord. How do people like this exist?
Tragic.
HIM
"She told me I was acting just like my father when I would get upset. I would just get kinda pissy and sulk. He would go on rampages and scream and hit and throw things. He pushed her down the stairs once. I would never lay a finger on my current partner. The worst part is I look just like him. I was wondering if my mother always expected me to turn into my dad. I prove her wrong every day."
rot_grl
10 Years Old
"When I was ~10 years old, my mum once said 'If I could go back in time and make sure I never gave birth to you, I would in a heartbeat.'"
"Never forgot it. Talked to her about it a couple of times years later and her responses ranged from 'That never happened' to 'Oh yeah and I suppose I’m just the worst mother ever' and finally 'Yeah but I didn’t mean it, you know that.'"
"Messed me up tho tbh. Another one was '[older sibling] was the only child we actually planned for, the rest of you were accidents.' I don’t think it was intended as an insult, but being told your entire existence was an accident as a child kinda stung."
SpiderP*bes
Failures
“'You’re the biggest mistake I ever made.' - my mother when I was 5. I’m 32 now and it’s been the undercurrent for our relationship ever since, constantly wondering if anything I’ve achieved or struggled for is something she’s genuinely proud of or just relieved to say I wasn’t a total failure on her part."
thefaehost
Generational Issues
"Not a parent but a grandparent, I was adopted when I was 12 years old (my parents were both drug addicts so I was in and out of foster care most of my life) my adopted mother's father turned to me on Christmas Eve when no one else was around and said 'My daughter should have never adopted you, she should have let you stay on the streets where you belong'… he got nicer as he got older and sicker but I couldn’t find it in myself to forget what he said even almost 10 years later. Went to the funeral for moral support but was indifferent about his passing."
samweather227
Just Me
Sad Kids GIF by Cian DucrotGiphy"I was an only child and lonely. When I asked for a sibling, the response was 'If you want to know why we don't have more kids, go look in the mirror.'"
Responsible_Fly_3565
Some people should never have children.
Awful.