Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain Which Practices Are Completely Normal In America But Strange Everywhere Else

America sure is a place, isn't it?


Growing up here can lead to a weird veil around our sense of place in the world. What feels normal here, might get you looks of disdain or confusion anywhere else. This isn't uncommon within other parts of the world, as nowhere is entirely the same, but just the same, there are things that do feel uniquely "American" that can gather you some deserved looks of, "what are they doing?"

Reddit user, furiousc*msock14, wanted to know what makes Americans stand out overseas when they asked:

What is considered normal by the American folk but incredibly weird for the rest of the world?

Numbers, dates, and genders seem to be all the rage here in the states.

Okay, that's not true, but we have strange traditions when it comes to writing out what today is.

Front And Center And Out Of Order

"The way they write their date."

lilibethmoi

"In manufacturing environments, it's always Day-Month-Year."

"I got into the habit, don't work in manufacturing anymore, it bothers people when I write 29OCT2021 or even 29 October, 2021."

The_Nauticus

Shh, Don't Tell Anyone

"Grocery store prices listed without tax, I want to pay what the sign says"

FulgrimDidNoWrong

"There are all sorts of wonky rules too. For example bread, lettuce, lunch meat, cheese, all are untaxed because they're food staples, but a pre-made sandwich is taxed as it's a service. Packaged Coffee and tea aren't taxed because of the Boston Tea Party (serious), but coffee from Starbucks is because it's a service. (I worked as a cashier in high school)."

justinwardell

As Long As No One's Dying?

"Gender reveal. Wtf is the point."

Brikandbones

"It's weird to a lot of Americans too. Not nearly enough of them though"

Gray_Kaleidoscope

Now We're Just Being Different On Purpose

"The imperial measuring system. USA is literally 1 of 3 countries that still use inches, feet, yards and miles. Not that I personally mind it (measuring someone in feet' and inches" is pretty damn comfortable), but yeah it's one of those things us Americans feel is normal and no one else does."

malenexum

Daily practices seem to be the biggest area where cultural divides occur. You can go about your life as normal if you travel overseas, but the moment you hand your credit card over to a server at the restaurant you'll immediately notice something it different. ​

A Silly Thing To Lose Your Job Over

"Giving your credit card to a server after a meal and the server walking away to a place you can't see to charge it"

"Most places in Europe the server charges the card in front of you"

raven1121

Getting Visually Force Fed Different Meds

"Pharma/drug commercials on tv."

LLDN

"Should be outlawed in my opinion. Doctors should give you the option based on a diagnosis, you don't window shop for pharmaceutical drugs."

evoLS7

Don't Bring That In Here

"I did not realize how controversial wearing shoes inside a house is"

KangarooTiger

"It's gross. You don't know what you have walked in while outside ie spit, dog poo and then you are bringing it inside on your shoe"

crazy_tooth

Want to know if someone is American?

Show them a bathroom stall with a door that goes all the way down.

Tell Us More Of This Magical Place...

"The giant gaps in bathroom stalls. Nowhere else in the world have I seen this. I really don't need to be making eye contact with someone outside the stall door while taking a sh-t!"

DaDa_Bear

"Americans don't like them either and we don't know why they keep building them this way"

SirDigbyChknCaesar

"I went to a restaurant that had full length stall doors and walls AND they were big enough that my legs weren't nearly touching the walls when I sat down. Plus, there was a nice ledge away from the toilet for my purse and when my mom tried to talk to me from the next stall over, I could barely hear her at all."

"The food was just okay."

"Would go back for the toilets."

something_facetious

This One Could Lead Its Own Discussion

"Tipping culture"

iLickKoalas

"The problem is we pay for the food, pay for taxes, pay a "delivery fee", and absolutely none of it is seen by the delivery driver that's likely making minimum wage or less. American business has found a way to make the buyer feel shame by finding more ways to take out money for services they aren't paying their employees for."

xBerryhill

"American here, I don't normally tip if I'm picking up a takeout order, but during the pandemic we have been tipping because we feel so bad for people having to work in the service industry and deal with anti-maskers, and we know restaurants are struggling during the pandemic"

Sunlessbeachbum

Charging People To Live

"Rationing insulin. I'm a type 1 diabetic in the UK and seeing people ask for insulin as they don't get paid until next week is mind blowing."

Far-Fig-720

"It's fairly recent, too. Up until the oughts, insulin was dirt cheap and nobody had to ration or budget to afford it. But, pharmaceutical companies decided that lifesaving medications were a great opportunity to price-gouge, so here we are. Same with Epi Pens. I had a (temporary) allergic situation to a medication I no longer take (obviously) and when I had to buy an Epi Pen in 2008, it was $50. Now they're over $600."

Empty-Masterpiece242

Remember, America is not the only place. Be open-minded if you get the opportunity to travel abroad and do as the Romans do, as they say.

Want to "know" more?

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Anthony Mackie as Captain America
Disney/Marvel

Marvel's Dramatic Announcement Of The 'Avengers: Doomsday' Cast Sparks Hilarious Memes

The internet hilariously trolled Marvel with endless memes after the studio revealed the epic cast list for the upcoming MCU film, Avengers: Doomsday.

Doomsday will be the fifth installment in the Avengers film series and the 39th film in the MCU, following 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Elon Musk's Attempt To Shame Heckler At His Wisconsin Rally Backfired Big Time

Billionaire Elon Musk was called out after he tried to shut down a protester during his Wisconsin rally on Sunday by invoking George Soros, only for people to point out that his criticisms were a bit hypocritical considering his own record of funding MAGA causes.

Soros—a billionaire philanthropist who has been the subject of countless conservative and antisemitic conspiracy theories for his support of progressive and liberal political causes—was Musk's first thought amid the ongoing Supreme Court race in Wisconsin despite the fact he is currently paying people to help sway the race.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez's arrest
ICE

White House Slammed After Turning Sobbing Woman's ICE Arrest Into AI-Generated Cartoon

The Trump administration sparked outrage after using the official White House X account to share an A.I.-generated Studio Ghibli-style cartoon to mock the arrest and deportation of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, a Dominican migrant who had previously been deported from the United States after being convicted of fentanyl trafficking.

Basora-Gonzalez was arrested in Philadelphia by ICE for allegedly reentering the U.S. illegally. Seen in tears as she was taken into custody, the woman, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, had prior convictions for attempted possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and aiding and abetting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

MTG Dragged For Editing Tweet After Accidentally Including Hilariously Anti-MAGA Error

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was widely mocked after she shared a video on X in which she bragged about her "Gulf of America" bill but didn't realize she'd accidentally dropped the MAGA mask by referring to it by its proper name—the Gulf of Mexico—instead.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." The order also reversed an Obama-era decision and changed the name of the Alaskan mountain Denali back to "Mount McKinley."

Keep ReadingShow less
Man looking at mountain view
Tim Bogdanov/Unsplash

Guys Over 30 Share Life Lessons All Young Men Should Learn Early

While older generations pass on their wisdom to younger ones, some things are overlooked.

Younger people wish they were warned about some pieces of information they could've benefitted from but found out too late.

Keep ReadingShow less