Americans can initiate a conversation with a random stranger and those traveling to the United States often find it weird.
The stereotypical image of America often includes burgers, fries, coffee, and skyscrapers, but there’s much more to the U.S. than that. America’s unique culture stands out globally, with its entertainment and sports consumed more widely than that of any other country.
When a Reddit user, u/rickyjones75, posted in the r/AskReddit group, asking the non-Americans who have been to the US about "the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird," over 24000 people jumped in to respond. Here are ten of the most weird things about Americans, as per the responses:
“I was freaked out when random people asked me how I was.” – u/achillebro “I know there are some quiet Americans, but I was just down in a Publix and some woman’s suddenly talking to me about how she met her husband. I’m a fairly quiet dude - New Zealand’s a fairly reserved place, so just being able to stream your consciousness out like that is just something truly remarkable.” – u/muter “I met a few lovely Americans when traveling through the Eastern Seaboard and my cynic British side was struck by how open and excited you are to meet new people.” u/Franzlefroggo
“The options when ordering food, I thought it was a TV joke! I feel naughty asking to swap chips for mash but you guys can request pretty much anything!” – u/Bizzle_B. “My friend from the Netherlands described his visit to the US as the ‘land of endless choices’ which is how Americans like it.” – u/RedSolez
“Coffee in the states is a "to go" thing while in the rest of the world it's a "sit and relax" thing.” – u/vivalaroja2010 “The American approach, from my experience, is that we drink coffee slowly while we work. We wait for the buzz to come on, for a cumulative effect. When I'm writing, I love watching my fingers change speed as the caf kicks in. They stop plodding and start pulling more words from my mind, like taffy in the twister. Those three cups of my day are the comfort in the storm.” – u/pseydtonne
“I found everything is BIG in US!” – u/leochimaera “Americans can't understand how old Europe is, but Europeans can't understand how big America is.” – u/khaoselement “BIG everything, from food to trucks.” – u/tiny_gingerrr
“As a Brit how amazingly, and genuinely, friendly you are. How enamoured you are with British culture and people.” – u/bungle_bogs “We effing love British accents here for some reason.” – u/battlehardenedsnorlax “My boyfriend is Scottish. When people hear his accent here in the states they just go crazy.” – u/willgrahamsass
“Wild and extreme pharmacy ads with scenes of people being happy and lively while the narrator states that suicidal ideations may be a side effect of the drug being advertised.” – u/missmermaidgoat “Prescription drug ads on TV that casually say "side effects may include death.” – u/lattice-shadow
“I can’t watch American news. Too dramatic all the time.” –u/sevans1223 “How aggressive your news is delivered to you, how the smallest of headlines can be delivered like it's a nationwide red alert and you should look over your shoulder at every waking moment.” – u/sheerduckinghubris “Your news channels display FAR TOO MUCH info on the screen.” – u/raioc2436
“Tipping is super weird. Pay your staff properly, and set your prices accordingly” – u/revolutionobvious251 “Tipping. I hate it and it sucks. The employer and the company should make sure you can live of your salary.” – u/nubrender
“Flags. Flags everywhere. There was one on a pole above a coffee shop doorway but the American flag was so large it draped low enough to bop me in the eye as I exited. I’m 5’4”. In the Walmart “school supplies” section, there were so many American flags of different sizes and materials. And that was like…in May. I can’t imagine what the Fourth of July is like.” – u/charlottelucasOP
“How nobody uses the sidewalk. Like, I was told not to bother walking to a place because XYZ is too far away for walking, turns out it's like 500m down the road. Why bother using the car for that? Oh, now i remember, because the sidewalk just stops in the middle of nowhere. Funny how that works.” – u/j3dimind “The scarcity of walkable streets.” – u/laqueaaria
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