20 Things Americans Do That Confuse the Rest of the World

By barzilaiendan on July 17, 2017 • ( 0 )

1) TIP (ALMOST) EVERYONE

Restaurant-goers outside the U.S. rarely worry about leaving tips for waitstaff. Sounds unfair, until you realize that service industry employees abroad tend to earn higher hourly wages than their American counterparts, whose pay structure is built around gratuity. As one Trip Advisor article noted, “[Those] who provide service are often dependent on tip income and generally are grateful for any tips received, especially when prompt and exceptional service has been provided.”

2) FOLLOW STRICT ALCOHOL LAWS

In addition to being one of just a handful of countries that prohibit alcohol consumption for anyone under 21, some places across the U.S. still abide by Prohibition-era laws restricting the sale of beer, wine, and liquor. In Indiana, for example, liquor stores still aren’t allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays, and Kansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi are “dry states by default,” meaning municipalities have to “opt in” if they want to sell booze.

3) CHAT UP STRANGERS …

Americans’ penchant for small talk can be off-putting to people who

didn’t grow up talking about the weather. Especially perplexing? The fact that “How are you?” isn’t actually an invitation to open up.

4) … BUT REFUSE TO DISCUSS FINANCES

“Americans generally do not discuss how much money they make or how much they paid for certain high-end items,” another TripAdvisor article cautioned. “It is considered very rude and is even more uncomfortable to discuss.”

5) COVER UP

In a country where Speedos never stood a chance, it’s no surprise that nude sunbathing is especially frowned upon. “[It] should definitely be noted that nude bathing, and even changing clothes on the beach, can be construed as indecent exposure and therefore may cause problems,” the German government told its citizens in official travel warnings for the U.S.

6) LAUGH OUT LOUD

The Japanese think it’s rude to show one’s teeth, which is why they aren’t fond of Americans’ tendency to let out hearty, open-mouthed guffaws.

7) SMILE. A LOT.

Some experts think that the reason Americans are just so darn nice is because, as a nation of immigrants, Americans had to find ways to transcend language barriers. Hence, the tendency to smile at strangers, which just isn’t something non-Americans are used to.

8) MEASURE IN MILES, FEET, AND INCHES

This is an obvious one, and, yet, it’s still a constant source of bewilderment for most of the world. Instead of following the metric system, America is one of just three countries to follow the imperial system of measurement. (The others are Liberia and Myanmar.)

9) EAT IT ALL

Visitors to the U.S. are often blown away by the size of American meals. Researchers compared the size of certain snacks in Philadelphia to their Parisian counterparts and found that the U.S. candy bars were an average of 41 percent bigger, sodas were 52 percent bigger, and yogurt servings were 82 percent bigger. What’s more, studies show that people often gain weight after immigrating to the U.S., and in certain eateries in Japan, customers don’t super-size their orders – they “American size” them.

10) EXPECT FREE REFILLS

The only eateries outside of the U.S. that offer free refills on soft drinks and coffee are (usually) American fast food chains. But as those fast food brands extend their reach internationally, free refills are spreading – and not everyone is happy about it. Earlier this year, France banned the sale of unlimited-refill soda in an effort to curb rising obesity rates.

11) INSIST ON VARIETY

Americans “can’t have just one thing,” one U.K. resident wrote on Reddit. “It has to come in blueberry, vanilla, diet, low fat, low sodium, big, small, round and GRAPE, everything is grape flavoured [sic]. Nothing is grape flavoured in the UK.”

12) GO INTO DEBT FOR A DEGREE

Europeans in particular balk at the cost of college in the U.S., which in 2016 was nearly $25,000 a year for public, in-state colleges and almost $50,000 a year for private universities. Meanwhile, students in countries like France and Germany can attend college for free.

13) TAILGATE

It’s weird enough that American football has almost nothing in common with the sport the rest of the world knows as football. But the culture surrounding both pro- and college-level American football is especially confusing to non-Americans. (See: This Reddit forum, in which Americans explain what tailgating entails to a bewildered Brit.

14) TRICK-OR-TREAT

The U.S.’s take on Halloween has only recently begun to catch on in other countries. Although some find it bizarre – and point to it as another example of Americans’ tendency to commercialize everything – others are envious. “I moved to the U.S. from Poland when I was 26,” one Reddit user wrote. “When [my] first Halloween came and my friends explained to me that I am way too old to go trick-or-treating, it almost broke my heart.”

15) ADVERTISE EVERYTHING

Prescription drug ads are a head-scratcher to the rest of the world, where direct-to-consumer ads for medications are largely illegal. Also strange to non-Americans: commercials for lawyers. One visitor to America wrote on Reddit that there were “lawyer adverts everywhere. Proper Saul Goodman style law adverts. The rented villa we stayed in had at least 4 fridge magnets advertising lawyers, brochures for more lawyers lay around the villa, [and] adverts on TV [constantly] with more lawyers.”

16) SIT IN THE BACKSEAT

Hail a cab in any U.S. city and the driver will likely look at you funny if you try to climb in the front with them. But in places like Australia and New Zealand, opting for the backseat is considered rude and elitist.

17) SHOW OFF WAY TOO MUCH IN PUBLIC RESTROOMS

Visitors to the U.S. really, really, really don’t appreciate American-style bathroom stalls. Several online forumshave been devoted to the mystery of why there’s so much space underneath and around stall doors.

18) WORK ALL THE TIME

According to a 2013 report by the Center for Economic Policy and Research, almost 1 in 4 American workers don’t have any guaranteed paid leave, and those that do only get an average of 21 days. “The U.S. is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation,” the authors wrote. Compare that to some European countries, like Spain and Germany, where employers are required to offer workers about a month of paid vacation days per year.

19) AVOID HARSH CRITIQUES

Articles about business etiquette in America frequently reference how informal workplaces in the U.S. are – particularly when it comes to interactions with bosses. “In a discussion with Americans, when they say, ‘I wonder if this is really the best solution?’ they mean ‘no,'” one German website warned. “If they say ‘I’m wondering if we might need more time,’ they mean ‘no’ … Americans get confused (or just plain mad) if a German boss answers statements with ‘No,’ ‘That’s good,’ [or] ‘Just go ahead.'”

20) STAY FUNDAMENTALLY OPTIMISTIC

“Americans and Russians say different things when faced with the same situation,” one Russian website explained. “Seeing the man who has fallen in the street, an American asks, ‘Are you all right?’ Russians will inquire, ‘Are you ill?’ … Where we ‘aren’t sick,’ they ‘stay well.'” And one Japanese guide to American culture noted that “In America, you can make mistakes, fail, and it doesn’t matter. It is a fundamental feeling that to sometimes be incorrect is natural … rather than thinking about mistakes and failures, American’s [sic] have curiosity and say, ‘Let’s try anyway!'”

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Categories: Articole de interes general

Barzilaiendan

Un Barzilai izvorât din Dan – O anagramare pentru Daniel Branzai

20 Things Americans Do That Confuse the Rest of the World

1) TIP (ALMOST) EVERYONE

2) FOLLOW STRICT ALCOHOL LAWS

3) CHAT UP STRANGERS …

4) … BUT REFUSE TO DISCUSS FINANCES

5) COVER UP

6) LAUGH OUT LOUD

7) SMILE. A LOT.

8) MEASURE IN MILES, FEET, AND INCHES

9) EAT IT ALL

10) EXPECT FREE REFILLS

11) INSIST ON VARIETY

12) GO INTO DEBT FOR A DEGREE

13) TAILGATE

14) TRICK-OR-TREAT

15) ADVERTISE EVERYTHING

16) SIT IN THE BACKSEAT

17) SHOW OFF WAY TOO MUCH IN PUBLIC RESTROOMS

18) WORK ALL THE TIME

19) AVOID HARSH CRITIQUES

20) STAY FUNDAMENTALLY OPTIMISTIC

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20 Things Americans Do That Confuse the Rest of the World

1) TIP (ALMOST) EVERYONE

2) FOLLOW STRICT ALCOHOL LAWS

3) CHAT UP STRANGERS …

4) … BUT REFUSE TO DISCUSS FINANCES

5) COVER UP

6) LAUGH OUT LOUD

7) SMILE. A LOT.

8) MEASURE IN MILES, FEET, AND INCHES

9) EAT IT ALL

10) EXPECT FREE REFILLS

11) INSIST ON VARIETY

12) GO INTO DEBT FOR A DEGREE

13) TAILGATE

14) TRICK-OR-TREAT

15) ADVERTISE EVERYTHING

16) SIT IN THE BACKSEAT

17) SHOW OFF WAY TOO MUCH IN PUBLIC RESTROOMS

18) WORK ALL THE TIME

19) AVOID HARSH CRITIQUES

20) STAY FUNDAMENTALLY OPTIMISTIC

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