People Are Sharing Subtly Weird Parts Of Life In America, And Even As Someone From The US, I'm Thinking Twice About Some Of These
If you think about American culture, many aspects are so ingrained in our norms and day-to-day that we don't even realize they might be weird. But if you really think about them, some of these American customs are actually quite odd. Here are some strange norms about American culture that people (including Americans themselves) find weird and confusing.
1."The fact that Americans eat in our cars, whether driving or just sitting in the car eating. Several European visitors have commented on this, so it must be strange."
2."Homeowners associations. From what I have heard, it seems to be some kind of club you pay into, and they enforce a certain aesthetic in a neighborhood."
3."Unpaid parental leave. What a different world we might live in if families were allowed to bond with each other without the pressure of having to go back to work. I worked up to the weekend before my due date. Monday was a holiday, and she was born early on Tuesday morning. I had to go back to work when she was four and a half weeks old, or I would have lost my job (this was in the late 1980’s). It was traumatic!..."
"...Things are changing slowly, but still not enough. My niece and her husband recently had their first child. He is in the military and received 12 weeks of paternity leave. I don’t know if it was paid or not, but it was encouraged by his commanding officer to spend the time bonding as a family and helping his wife recover."
4."Ridiculously huge elaborate football stadiums for schools and colleges in areas that are otherwise obviously economically depressed. I once read that eight of the ten biggest stadiums in the world are at US colleges and universities."
5."Being afraid to go to hospital because of the bill. I am a type one diabetic, and as a young teen, I overdosed on insulin because I wasn't well. I was in intensive care for a week and general ward for three. I can't imagine my parents being scared about paying for that."
6."All the things you can do before you can have a legal drink of alcohol. You can get into lifelong debt with a mortgage or university fees; you can drive a car, you can buy a gun, you can have kids, you can join the Army and kill people, and you can get married. But at the wedding (even having done all of the above), when the bride's father makes his speech and ends with a toast, you're raising a glass of sparkling juice because you're not allowed champagne."
7."Tipping pretty much anyone who provides a service. I'm talking not only waiters, but also hairdressers and taxi drivers. And tipping at least 15%. Where I live, tipping is only in restaurants for good service, and usually, we just round up the bill. So, for example, if the bill is €46,40, we give €50."
8."How difficult it is to get around if you don't have a car. Not everywhere, but there are some places that are just impossible (no footpaths/bike lanes/decent public transport)."
9."There’s a lot of social stigma around living with your parents after a certain age, even if you’re contributing something. This seems to be very much an American/Canada thing."
10."The obsession with high school. I have friends who say their best years were spent in high school, and I think that's really, really sad."
11."The more credit you take the better for your credit score... Here in Germany, your credit score will suffer the more credit you take. Even if you pay it back on time."
12."In God we trust. It's everywhere, on our buildings, in our documents, on our currency..."
13."From what I've heard from folks from out of country, small talk is strange. Apparently, it's not really normal in other places for strangers to just say hi to each other or engage in small talk while doing things like standing in line after accidentally bumping into each other at the store, noticing that someone is interested in the same thing you are, things like that. Apparently, a lot of people compare Americans to golden retrievers and say they're 'ridiculously friendly' because Americans will just...talk to anyone without any formal introduction."
14."Saying the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. The whole tradition of pledging allegiance in schools has always seemed very brainwashing or cult-like to me, especially coming from a country where we don't do this kind of stuff at all."
15."That Americans have extremly violent shows on daytime TV, but they sensor nudity. How will a boob harm you, but stabbing and blood splashing is normal?"
16."It is really confusing that Americans are allowed to homeschool their kids, especially at high school level. Do parents really think they know enough of history, English, a foreign language, biology, chemistry, and math to give their kids a proper preparation for college or for a career?"
17."Don't get me wrong, I love your huge portions; eating out was often cheaper than eating in, and I loved it. But damn, it gets silly. All meals look like two meals, and you're expected to take half home in a baggy. Can I not just pay half, eat half, and go home without a pocket of soup?"
18."I'm Canadian, and I can't get over the baseline level of education in American. There are really smart Americans, but there are also completely uneducated people. The divide is massive and startling."
19."How big some things are. Big cars, big houses, big fridges, big yards, big pools, big distances between places... Huge!"
20."How large grocery stores are here. My wife is not American, and we lived in China. She didn't really grasp the size of American grocery stores until our first week in the USA. Here, there's 150 feet of different cereals in one aisle."
21."Working late nights and after hours. The 'Protestant work ethic is truly American. Making people work anytime after 6 p.m. is alien outside the US."
22."The fact that Americans have two weeks of vacation or no guaranteed PTO for most. In my country, you have to take two weeks of mandatory leave in a row. Including public holidays, I get about seven weeks of vacation every year."
Do you have something to add? What's a normalized part of American culture (or the culture where you're from) that is actually a bit strange when you think about it? Tell us in the comments or this anonymous form.
