They do what?
Every culture has its way of doing things — and America is not any different.
Sometimes it takes getting out of one’s bubble to realize that the “normal” things they’re used to doing or saying in their home country might be considered bizarre by outsiders.
A recent Reddit thread asked Americans the things they didn’t realize were weird until they talked to non-Americans. Nearly 8,000 people chatted in the comments about everything from how different American healthcare is to the look of our public bathroom stalls to how people here do their taxes.
And from the looks of it — many valid points were made about the US and its head-scratching ways of doing things. Here are some of the hilarious comments from the thread.
The design of our restroom stalls
“The gap under bathroom doors,” a non-American wrote.
“It’s not just under the door, it’s the gaps on both sides of the door. Everywhere I’ve been in Europe, the stall is completely sealed off, as it should be,” added someone else.
How we handle our sick time at work
“Employers having to approve sick time. Apparently in other countries, your doctor decides how long you have to take off and your employer just HAS to honor it,” said one commenter.
Another person agreed writing: “When I moved to Germany, I discovered that even if you already scheduled time off work, if you get sick, you get that time back.”
“I went to the Dr with severe strep throat. She said I’ll write you a note to stay home from work. I said, ok, only one day though. I already took the rest of the week off for a planned vacation. She said, oh honey. This isn’t the US. You need 5 days off of sick time. Inform HR to return your vacation days and use them for a different time. You’re sick, not vacationing,” that same commenter continued.
How Americans do their taxes
“Figuring out your taxes. What do you owe? I don’t know. Does the government? Yes. Will they just tell you? No, go figure it out, but if you get it wrong you’re in trouble,” said one person.
“I have a friend who is from the US who moved to the UK. She was confused about her taxes as she got a letter saying she was owed money back from her taxes. She asked what she needed to do and it blew her mind when I said nothing and that they will eventually just pay her back the money,” one European chirped.
“In Sweden, I just open an app, verify the amount with bank ID, and I’m done,” someone else pointed out.
How Americans are expected to tip for everything
“Tipping is expected and often seen as part of a worker’s salary, but in many other countries, service charges are included in the bill, and tipping isn’t as common or even expected,” one American said.
“The really weird thing to me is that if I buy something at a variable cost, like a bottle of wine, and it takes the same amount of effort to open and serve, I’m still expected to tip on that amount…At the end of the day it makes no sense and I hate tipping,” a disgruntled commenter shared.
Our love of at-home garbage disposals
“Having a garbage disposal in the sink,” someone pointed out.
“As a non-American living in America, I love them too. I was so excited to move into a house with one. Our friends from Saudi lived in our house before us and loved it too,” read another agreeing comment.
How much we love sugary foods
“Like ALL of our food has it in some capacity. I worked with foreign students every summer in HS and they always wondered why our food was so sweet. I didn’t realize it until I traveled and ate at non-Americanized places,” an American explained.
“OMG yes, it’s so weird eating sandwiches in the US when the bread’s so sweet. Like cake sandwiches,” chimed in someone else.
“I always have to adjust stir fry sauce recipes from American blogs because they add too much sugar or maple syrup,” another non-American wrote agreeing with the others.
How we barely use our PTO
“I work in a nice comfy government job with great benefits and good leave…We rarely take a full week — it’s more common among longer-tenured employees who are earning the maximum leave and just need to burn it. Two weeks is almost unheard of, and anything over two weeks takes top brass approval (if it’s not medical),” said an American.
“In Australia, we get 4 weeks off per 12 months (if you work full-time, 38 hours per week), which is pretty good but not the best in the world,” a commenter pointed out.
The way we arrange our dates
“We do it that way because it’s how we speak it. If someone asks me the date I’d say ‘January 1st, not the 1st of January,’” an American defended.
“I was asked once by a server in the States, what month 18 was on my driving license. I had to explain that in the UK we have it as day, month, year,” chirped another commenter.
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