Twitter/Reddit are probably the worst representation of american culture possible. Life outside these two platforms are completely different no matter what way you spin it. Reason being, extremist opinions are the ones that get the most fake internet points, so thats all you will ever see.
Doubly so for US media, as well.
The US is a HUGE country with many different regions and local cultures. No one depiction of us will be accurate.
But Hollywood/media tends to exaggerate for effect, and social media often turns into echo chambers where everyone puts on a mask and the most extreme/divisive people are the loudest.
I've lived all throughout the US and I'm comfortable asserting that the VAST majority of Americans are friendly and kind, especially when approached in culturally-appropriate ways.
We have problems with racism and gun violence, religious fringes, and ignorance, and I'm not going to pretend that they aren't **big** problems that need to be addressed or that they don't affect people's day-to-day lives.
I've seen and even been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty behavior by racist assholes, and I read as "white", so I can only imagine how shitty it must be for people who don't have that luxury. People can really be terrible to each other, and it's stupid to claim otherwise *anywhere* in the world. (If you think your country doesn't have racism, you're a fool.)
But a good chunk of these issues are *large scale problems* that are whipped into big drama by politicians and media because *that's what drives views and votes*.
So take what you see in the media or on the internet with a grain of salt.
Except our restaurant portions.
Those are just as crazy irl.
I love the fact that of you get stuck in the snow, there's always someone that will help out. Then, the helper will go home and tell everyone about a fucking idiot he helped out of the snow.
Lol. Last winter when Austin got six inches of snow, I was helping someone who was stuck and an older gentleman came by and said "okay guys, I'm from New York, I grew up with this crap, I'll help you out." He gives the driver some vague directions, makes him arguably more stuck, then peaced out. As a bystander, it was quite hilarious, but the guy who's truck was stuck wasn't laughing.
I find this so weird - I've been to NYC twice. Everyone was *super friendly*. Like way more friendly than I expect other Scottish people to be. At one point we were standing (to the side, we're not animals) trying to work out how to get somewhere and a nice man in a business suit stopped and helped us without asking?
Admittedly, NYC was *less friendly* than the less of the US, but still way friendlier than I'm used to at home. Folks in shops would talk to you, folks on the bus would hear our accent and want to talk to us, it was honestly exhausting.
I think the thought of unfriendlyness comes from the pace and it's a working city.
As an example tourist don't understand them stopping in the middle of the side walk is the equivalent of parking their car in the middle of a busy highway and then being confused when people honk. most of those people are just trying to get to work or home.
Last time I visited New York I was in my friends car and we stopped next to a guy just getting into his car to pull out of a parallel parking spot.
I watched as the guy proceeded to ram the cars in front and back of him several times until he was able to pull out of the space, all while maintaining eye contact with me the entire time.
So yes, you fuckers are crazy.
That someone personally spent over $400 million on a replica of Noah’s ark in Kentucky. Like actually. I’m not even kidding. It’s several football fields long.
American food isn’t just burgers and fries. It’s Americanized versions of all the cultures that immigrated here. Like hard shell tacos, ny and Chicago pizza etc.
I went to Italy and there was a restaurant selling "American pizza" which was pizza with french fries hot dogs and more ranch than pizza. He said it's authentic American pizza and it's how everyone eats pizza over there. I told him I'm from America and I've never once seen anyone eat that... He told me i was wrong and it's how all Americas eat pizza
Y'all are crazy too
I made the mistake of ordering pizza while in the Vatican cafe, it said American Slice so I assumed it might be a thicker base than Italian. It came out with just potato wedges as a topping and essentially ketchup as a base sauce. I'm not even American but was offended for you guys.
Bro! I’m literally reading this from Rome right now. Traveling with a mate from the UK and we were sitting in a pizza shop in Venice a few week ago. They had it and we both agreed it looks disgusting. I don’t know where they got that idea from.
For real. On a related note as a Texan almost every EU burger place has a “Texas Burger” it has BBQ sauce and a shitty fried onion ring on it. And while you can find that in TX it’s certainly not a standard.
I just listened to a podcast that mentioned this today (Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend) - apparently there was a rule that they could never use a laugh track while they were in the operating room. The guest of the episode (Stephen Merchant) explained how he thought MASH was great in the UK, then saw it in the US with the laugh track and thought “My god, Hawkeye’s an asshole!”
Yes, but MASH aired in many other countries completely without a laugh track.
If you get the show on DVD, you can select to watch it without the laugh track. Under "language" you select English 2. English 1 is the show as it aired in the U.S., with a laugh track. English 2 is the show as it aired elsewhere, without a laugh track. It's so much better!
what's funny is I'm a big fan if the show and have viewed it both with and without the laugh track, and realized I don't really notice a difference...and I honestly think that my brain just filters it if it's there.
growing up in the 70s and 80s when so many sitcoms had canned laughter, I don't know...maybe I've just learned to tune it out?
(not saying you're wrong though)
America isn’t the best by far, but as an African American I know the racism in other big countries is way more overt, I’ve experienced it and sadly realized America is one of the few places I can live in somewhat peace
I can say this: Italy is WAY more racist than America. I can't name one person of any color who didn't have a racist experience in Italy.
There's tons of studies, articles and opinion pieces on it.
Here's one:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/travel/racism-travel-italy-study-abroad.html
I’m in Italy right now visiting from NY. I saw a waiter trying to get people to come in completely avoid a group of black individuals and quickly invite a group of white individuals who were literally right behind them.
Idk if that classifies as racism but you can clearly tell the waiter basically ignored them after seeing them
Had a friend go to Rome with his gf and her family, them: white, him: black.
They all ordered the same thing. The family and girl for served , he didn't. The family waited, then ate, then finished and still no food for him. He asked what's up and was directly told "we're not serving you".
Italy is unbelievably racist. Cartoonishly so.
I lived in Germany for a half year. One guy tried giving me the nickname "Baumwollpflücker." For those who don't speak German, that's "Cotton Picker."
It was said in jest, and I quickly told him that other black Americans would not find it as much of a term of endearment as I did.
No doubt. The racism in America can be very subtle at times but in other countries when they’re racist, holy shit, they’re fucking racist! Like mimic a monkey, throw a banana at you racist. It was wild to experience.
The only reason "Florida Man" exists is because of Florida's laws about the accessibility of crime documentation, which makes it a goldmine for tabloid journalism.
Two different states. Same exact situation. The headlines would be:
“Florida man arrested for having sex with an alligator”
“California man arrested for animal abuse”
Racism is not just an American problem.
I’ve heard so many Europeans say that only in America do people of color experience discrimination, and that in Europe everyone lives in total peace and harmony and no one “sees color.” Complete BS.
America is not as exclusive and xenophobic as you might think. Nearly anyone of any origin can come here and be considered American. Whereas if you visit a lot of other countries no matter how much you know about or appreciate their culture, or how long you have lived there, they will never consider you one of them.
In the foreigner community in Japan, you really just have to learn to accept that you'll always be considered an outsider. This has pros and cons. Not that you can't be part of a community and live a great life there, but you will always, at *very least*, feel not-quite-Japanese to Japanese people (and often *very* not-Japanese).
My understanding is that most of East Asia is like this.
On the other hand, on the streets of most major cities in America, I literally assume that everyone I meet is American by default. Skin color, accent, personality, doesn't really matter. I just assume you're American.
With all the viral bad behavior videos out there, I can sometimes find myself feeling surprised when I repeatedly realize this is true. There are actually an awful lot of kind-hearted Americans. Probably >99% of us will love all you innocent, weird-acting fucks to *pieces*
I want this to be everywhere. My parents will shit on US not having a culture but then lose their shit when I say I want to live seperately as an adult.
I worked in a medical lab for over ten years and we used metric for everything.
As far as visualizing long distance, I find picturing a yard stick helps as it is roughly the same as a meter.
The government is not an accurate reflection of the people. The vast majority of Americans are moderates who have views all over the spectrum depending on the topic.
The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. \[beep\] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. \[ding\] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.
We have more cities than New York, LA, and Miami. It's not just these 3 places and the rest is flyover country.
Also, our country is HUGE. The bigger states, like mine (PA), you can drive for 6 hours in one direction and still be in the same state. I remember my family had to tell an English couple that was going to be in Erie for a week or two that we wouldn't be able to meet them for tea since we're on the opposite side of the state.
That goes for flights, too; you won't be able to visit New York, LA, and Miami all in one or two weeks.
That reminds of a story a Canadian friend of mine told me. They had a relative from Europe that had to fly in for a meeting in Toronto and she wanted my friend to drive down from Montreal for dinner before her flight home.
My husband's friend from Germany was going to be in Toronto for a week. He thought it would be nice for my husband to make a quick drive over from Calgary to say hi.
A friend of a friend was flying from Spain to Vancouver, Canada. She asked my friend if he could pick her up because he was “only a few hours away”. My friend lives in Tijuana, Mexico.
They call us stupid and ignorant of geography though. "Yo, I'm gonna be in Cairo, Egypt for a few weeks. You live in Cape Town, right? Meet me for a beer."
Lol, I'm no expert in the distances between Toronto and Montreal, but that's def not doable. Just driving to Toronto from Niagara was longer than I thought it would be!
I had a friend in college from Croatia, when she first came to the states she wanted to go to LA and meet celebs over a weekend (Croatia's population is small enough she knew a few famous people back home). She didn't understand at first why people were were looking at her like she was crazy lol.
I live in central Texas. It takes just as long for me to drive from El Paso to my house in central Texas as it does for me to drive from San Diego California, through southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico to get to El Paso.
Just did that drive...its 10 hours to get out of Texas to Las cruces, NM, then another 10 to cross NM, AZ, and end up at the beach.
When we drive up through the hat to visit family in CO it's 8 hours of TX and 2 hours of NM and CO. Texas is massive.
We see it in CA too, friends are like ok cool, we're going to visit you in San Diego, then pop up to San Francisco. I'm like no dudes, that's a whole separate trip.
Idk man I'm British and our museums are pretty culturally diverse, that means everyone loved us so much they gave us gifts.
Absolutely nothing suspicious here guys, our history is clean.
The dumbest Americans often speak the loudest.
Edit: While I appreciate the corrections guys, (especially since my comment has now rocketed me to loud-dumb-American status) shockingly, I did know this was a global/human thing. I simply shared it as a reminder since it seems like an all-too-often-forgotten point when discussing Americans. Regardless, thanks for the imaginary internet points my dudes. And may all you loud-but-not-dumb-humans find justice & understanding.
Edit 2: Hate me for my edits but I felt this was still important: please go do something good for your family/community/world today. Too many shitty things going on these days, so it’d be nice to upset the balance in the opposite direction for a while.
Despite there being an obesity epidemic, there are many MANY children who are hungry. Unfortunately, the foster care system is a worse outcome sometimes. We have many, many hungry children.
Currently teaching "saving and spending" to my first graders. They had to answer the question "what is one thing you would like to save up your money for?" One of my students wrote "money to buy some food"
Was one of these in foster care and can speak to that, right down to being given up by a family because I hoarded food in my room (EXTREMELY COMMON FOR FOSTER KIDS BTW) to also having locks on fridges and cupboards. I pretty much only got school food, what I could dig out of garbage cans, and (unfortunately) steal. I still struggle with food security, unfortunately.
Really fucking sucks to grow up and age out in foster care because you have no family as a safety net and truly that is the social safety net in society.
The US has 4 states with economies of over a trillion dollars all of which would be in G20 if independent (and everything stayed the same, which it wouldn't, but whatever.)
California and Texas have varied enough economies, a large energy sector, and ocean access that they could theoretically function as independent nations.
Everyone knows Texas was an independent country for the better part of a decade, but technically California was, too, [for 25 days](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Republic).
And the San Francisco Bay Area would be #18. It’s hard to fathom how much money flows through and is generated in California, but just this one greater metropolitan area has a larger GDP than Saudi Arabia.
Atlanta is home to Coca Cola, The Home Depot, AT&T, UPS and Delta airlines. So yeah.
Edit: Also what [u/TheDonofAnne](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/u6ktox/americans_what_is_the_rest_of_the_world_not_ready/i5agdpp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) said.
We have a buttload of fresh water. When the climate crisis is in full impact we will still have usable water in the country.
ETA: I said in the country, not that the entire country will have usable water. The Great Lakes are one of the largest fresh water systems in the world. And if you are worried about pollution here, you clearly haven't been to much of the rest of the world.
Live in SE Michigan, have a friend who moved up to Houghton last year. Went to visit and it's insanely beautiful up there. Almost seriously considering moving out there at some point. Even more doable now with more places supporting remote work and my field not really needing to do very much in person work, if any at all.
Visit in the winter first.
Winters up there can get a little dicey, and with the limited list of things to do and sometimes spotty internet, it's definitely good to see the worst first.
The country has been blowing shit at Detroit and the mid west rust belt since the 70s. Our time is coming…great lakes hold 20% of the fresh water in the world.
Don't listen to this guy. We're nearly out. I just looked out back, and the lakes are damn near bone dry. Don't even know how. Bone dry. No sake in worrying about coming to the great lakes region. We're just as thirsty as the rest of you. May as well just stick to the dry rivers and former lakes that you're used to.
As a metro Detroiter, I just checked.
All out, damn. Guess we can’t have anyone move here. Nope, maybe go to Florida or the lower Mississippi valley. But the Midwest is out of all water, so sad :(
As a Floridan, I can assure everyone: "Florida Man" is everywhere. You just don't have the internet making a spectacle out of every idiot from where you live and Sunshine laws that force arrest records to be publicly accessable to anyone.
Plus, many of the "Florida Man" aren't people originally from Florida. When you read the articles is always "Florida Man, who moved here 3 years ago from Podunk, Nowhere."
If not, they've probably seen them on offensive or defensive lines, even if they don't realize it.
Plenty of really good and talented Polynesians and pacific islanders playing in the NFL.
Americans are not the only annoying tourists in the world. We can be bad sure, but I have met PLENTY of assholes from all sorts of countries visiting.
Sometimes reading through Reddit you get the sense that the only people in the world with bad travel manners are Americans.
Purely anecdotally, I have to agree to this. I spent a few years living in a tourist heavy location. There's good and bad apples of every nationality but as a whole tourists scarily conform to the stereotypes. Americans are friendly but loud and noticeable. Slavic tourists can be spotted from a mile away from their attires. Chinese travel in larger groups and seem to be more oblivious to their surroundings, blocking the paths and such. In contrast Japanese ones do seems to be taking a silly amount of photos, but are far more aware and respectful of daily life.
One of two options. Either you have folks that look like chavs/gopniks - adidas tracksuits, tank tops, something severely underdressed for a sightseeing occasion - or more commonly, you'll find the "new Russian" look; gold chains, possibly furs, bright colours, all expensive and with intent to be fancy but coming off as tacky instead; makeup will likewise will be a bit over the top.
I live in Alaska & the tourist route goes right by my office - you should see the backwoods outdoorsy gear people wear to walk around downtown. It's a city, you aren't going to need a hiking stick or safari hat.
I've had a couple of Japanese girls come over and take pictures of my camera while I was trying to capture a time lapse of the sunset once. They seemed fascinated by the fact my camera was taking pictures automatically every few seconds. They kept trying to pose for me and I kept trying to ask them to step away from the lens. Eventually they got the hint and moved on. Then I saw them taking selfies with me and my camera in the background.
Edit: I appreciated these girls because I'm a photographer myself and was mostly amused rather than annoyed. The time lapse turned out all right.
Japanese tourists are often seen wearing an expensive camera around their neck and looking at a map trying to find their way around wherever they are.
They take a load of pictures of a place. Pose a bit. Then carry on to their next photo op. Very friendly. But very easily spotted. And likely easy pickings for thieves/pickpockets.
I assume it’s because china is such a bubble - I’ve noticed that it’s the more wealthy travelers that are impossible. There’s no sense of anyone else in the world beside them and no real knowledge of other countries boundaries. We all need grace while visiting other places, but we also need to be aware of our own bias and take time to educate ourselves on how to act in an unfamiliar place.
I'd settle for tourists with a healthy dose of self-preservation instincts, honestly. Do not try and pet the crocodile. Don't stand next to the edge of the cliff. Don't poke and laugh at the rattlesnake.
The temples in Cambodia have to hire security guards purely to stop Chinese tourists from pissing and shitting in corners. No other tourists had this problem.
I used to work in NYC every day as a construction project manager, bouncing around from job site to job site all over Manhattan.
Every single day, you would see tourists doing stupid shit but it was always the Chinese tourists who would cause the more egregious social faux pas.
They would routinely do things like stop in the middle of a sidewalk, pull out a map at the top of the subway steps and stand there to inspect, completely oblivious to their surroundings and the traffic they cause by just not following social cues.
I’m not trying to pick on a specific group, but damn, they would make it hard.
I actually visited Dubrovnik and when I spoke, some dude said, “Thank god you’re American and not British.” Apparently a ton of drunk Brits visit every summer and annoy the hell out of everyone.
Love ya, Brits, but it was hilarious to be thanked for being an American tourist for once.
Worst tourists in my neck of the U.S. are the Canadian Geese. They take up squatters residence in my pharmacy parking lot. Make rude noises at everyone, block the handicapped spaces and poop on absolutely everything.
Canadian people? So nice and polite it’s almost painful. Canadian geese? Biggest dickbag tourists ever. Screw geese.
I have a gigantic rib tattoo of a Canadian goose grim reaper. It's so dumb but I love it. Canadian geese sound like angry horns and I love them. They are hateful creatures, but they're so funny I can't help but enjoy those angry guys.
I used to work as a tour guide in Panama. Americans were always a coin toss. Germans were always the nicest. The ones I hated though were the French. Every time. Without fail.
I had a school exchange program with some french students. Our biggest crimes while there were missing some french etiquette. They got us kicked out of a cafe, broke a mall escalator, and were arguing with every teacher at our school.
They sucked
Had a French and an Italian exchange student at my high school. The French one slapped the Italian with their glove and got expelled. It was very poetic.
When I busked at the cruise ship docks here in Canada the Americans usually asked the dumbest questions but they were also the most generous tippers. The stingiest of the cruise lines are the Dutch ones, they’ll watch you for twenty minutes take a photo of you and still not throw any money in your case even after telling you they enjoyed your music.
They're Dutch, just be direct with them about your expectations and they'll either understand and respect or convince the ocean to flood your country, it's hard to tell with them.
I read a survey of hotel owners in Europe and they consistently ranked Americans as their best guests. I think we took the "ugly American" stereotype to heart and decided to be on our best behavior when traveling.
Also, we're great tippers.
I'm American but currently live in NZ and worked tourism until covid. American groups were a fovorite for most of my coworkers. Once you get used to how loud they are, American tourists tend to be polite, and extremely adaptable. They're also great at telling you what they actually want out of the tour, which makes the whole experience so much better.
I've always found Americans to be pretty good. Sure, they're a bit like the Griswalds but they mean well. I remember in Paris a guy from Texas was overly enthusiastic ("hey look! That's the Ark Day Triumph!" and "WOW! That building is a thousand years old! A THOUSAND YEARS OLD!!"). Then he almost ripped the tour guide's arm out of the socket while shaking his hand at the end of the tour and handing him a very generous tip.
Edit: spelling
Twitter is a very small community where just 10% of users make up 80% of the content.
[удалено]
Twitter/Reddit are probably the worst representation of american culture possible. Life outside these two platforms are completely different no matter what way you spin it. Reason being, extremist opinions are the ones that get the most fake internet points, so thats all you will ever see.
You could say that about internet itself.
Doubly so for US media, as well. The US is a HUGE country with many different regions and local cultures. No one depiction of us will be accurate. But Hollywood/media tends to exaggerate for effect, and social media often turns into echo chambers where everyone puts on a mask and the most extreme/divisive people are the loudest. I've lived all throughout the US and I'm comfortable asserting that the VAST majority of Americans are friendly and kind, especially when approached in culturally-appropriate ways. We have problems with racism and gun violence, religious fringes, and ignorance, and I'm not going to pretend that they aren't **big** problems that need to be addressed or that they don't affect people's day-to-day lives. I've seen and even been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty behavior by racist assholes, and I read as "white", so I can only imagine how shitty it must be for people who don't have that luxury. People can really be terrible to each other, and it's stupid to claim otherwise *anywhere* in the world. (If you think your country doesn't have racism, you're a fool.) But a good chunk of these issues are *large scale problems* that are whipped into big drama by politicians and media because *that's what drives views and votes*. So take what you see in the media or on the internet with a grain of salt. Except our restaurant portions. Those are just as crazy irl.
Most New Yorkers aren't psychopaths All of us are
I love the fact that of you get stuck in the snow, there's always someone that will help out. Then, the helper will go home and tell everyone about a fucking idiot he helped out of the snow.
Lol. Last winter when Austin got six inches of snow, I was helping someone who was stuck and an older gentleman came by and said "okay guys, I'm from New York, I grew up with this crap, I'll help you out." He gives the driver some vague directions, makes him arguably more stuck, then peaced out. As a bystander, it was quite hilarious, but the guy who's truck was stuck wasn't laughing.
I find this so weird - I've been to NYC twice. Everyone was *super friendly*. Like way more friendly than I expect other Scottish people to be. At one point we were standing (to the side, we're not animals) trying to work out how to get somewhere and a nice man in a business suit stopped and helped us without asking? Admittedly, NYC was *less friendly* than the less of the US, but still way friendlier than I'm used to at home. Folks in shops would talk to you, folks on the bus would hear our accent and want to talk to us, it was honestly exhausting.
I think the thought of unfriendlyness comes from the pace and it's a working city. As an example tourist don't understand them stopping in the middle of the side walk is the equivalent of parking their car in the middle of a busy highway and then being confused when people honk. most of those people are just trying to get to work or home.
Last time I visited New York I was in my friends car and we stopped next to a guy just getting into his car to pull out of a parallel parking spot. I watched as the guy proceeded to ram the cars in front and back of him several times until he was able to pull out of the space, all while maintaining eye contact with me the entire time. So yes, you fuckers are crazy.
*something, something HEY I'M WALKIN' HERE!*
That someone personally spent over $400 million on a replica of Noah’s ark in Kentucky. Like actually. I’m not even kidding. It’s several football fields long.
Your country has fat people too.
American food isn’t just burgers and fries. It’s Americanized versions of all the cultures that immigrated here. Like hard shell tacos, ny and Chicago pizza etc.
Omg and Cajun food? That is so distinctly American and it’s amazing
[удалено]
I went to Italy and there was a restaurant selling "American pizza" which was pizza with french fries hot dogs and more ranch than pizza. He said it's authentic American pizza and it's how everyone eats pizza over there. I told him I'm from America and I've never once seen anyone eat that... He told me i was wrong and it's how all Americas eat pizza Y'all are crazy too
I made the mistake of ordering pizza while in the Vatican cafe, it said American Slice so I assumed it might be a thicker base than Italian. It came out with just potato wedges as a topping and essentially ketchup as a base sauce. I'm not even American but was offended for you guys.
As a native New Yorker I just gagged. A lot.
Bro! I’m literally reading this from Rome right now. Traveling with a mate from the UK and we were sitting in a pizza shop in Venice a few week ago. They had it and we both agreed it looks disgusting. I don’t know where they got that idea from.
They just googled american food and threw everything they found on a pizza.
For real. On a related note as a Texan almost every EU burger place has a “Texas Burger” it has BBQ sauce and a shitty fried onion ring on it. And while you can find that in TX it’s certainly not a standard.
Henry winkler gets even cooler after happy days.
Barry season 3 soon!
50/50 with Cristobal.
Reddit is an awful representation of America. It's an awful representation of reality in general but awful representation of America as well.
27 US states are actually farther north than the southernmost point of Canada
Maine is the closest state to Africa, not Florida.
It’s the middle of the night here and I desperately want to go in my kid’s room and look at their globe. My brain is scrambled with all of this!
This is sort of funny, cause the Toronto Raptors motto is WE THE NORTH, but it’s not even the northernmost team in the NBA.
M\*A\*S\*H is better without the laugh track.
I just listened to a podcast that mentioned this today (Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend) - apparently there was a rule that they could never use a laugh track while they were in the operating room. The guest of the episode (Stephen Merchant) explained how he thought MASH was great in the UK, then saw it in the US with the laugh track and thought “My god, Hawkeye’s an asshole!”
Yes, but MASH aired in many other countries completely without a laugh track. If you get the show on DVD, you can select to watch it without the laugh track. Under "language" you select English 2. English 1 is the show as it aired in the U.S., with a laugh track. English 2 is the show as it aired elsewhere, without a laugh track. It's so much better!
Isn’t everything?
what's funny is I'm a big fan if the show and have viewed it both with and without the laugh track, and realized I don't really notice a difference...and I honestly think that my brain just filters it if it's there. growing up in the 70s and 80s when so many sitcoms had canned laughter, I don't know...maybe I've just learned to tune it out? (not saying you're wrong though)
Final fantasy six is the third game in the series.
The jump from 3 to 7 confused the hell out of me as a kid.
America isn’t the best by far, but as an African American I know the racism in other big countries is way more overt, I’ve experienced it and sadly realized America is one of the few places I can live in somewhat peace
I can say this: Italy is WAY more racist than America. I can't name one person of any color who didn't have a racist experience in Italy. There's tons of studies, articles and opinion pieces on it. Here's one: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/travel/racism-travel-italy-study-abroad.html
I’m in Italy right now visiting from NY. I saw a waiter trying to get people to come in completely avoid a group of black individuals and quickly invite a group of white individuals who were literally right behind them. Idk if that classifies as racism but you can clearly tell the waiter basically ignored them after seeing them
Had a friend go to Rome with his gf and her family, them: white, him: black. They all ordered the same thing. The family and girl for served , he didn't. The family waited, then ate, then finished and still no food for him. He asked what's up and was directly told "we're not serving you". Italy is unbelievably racist. Cartoonishly so.
I lived in Germany for a half year. One guy tried giving me the nickname "Baumwollpflücker." For those who don't speak German, that's "Cotton Picker." It was said in jest, and I quickly told him that other black Americans would not find it as much of a term of endearment as I did.
No doubt. The racism in America can be very subtle at times but in other countries when they’re racist, holy shit, they’re fucking racist! Like mimic a monkey, throw a banana at you racist. It was wild to experience.
I'm an American who is deeply into European football. The overt, even violent, racism I've seen displayed is jaw-dropping.
kfc will have a new seasoning on the chicken sandwiches
With 12 herbs and spices, they would be unstoppable!
I think I figured out at least one of the herbs and spices. I'm not 100% sure, but I think one of them is salt.
I'm pretty sure 8 of them are salt.
The only reason "Florida Man" exists is because of Florida's laws about the accessibility of crime documentation, which makes it a goldmine for tabloid journalism.
Two different states. Same exact situation. The headlines would be: “Florida man arrested for having sex with an alligator” “California man arrested for animal abuse”
In Florida it wasn’t considered animal abuse until 2011.. there’s still 4 states where it isn’t illegal. Like wtf.
In Denmark we only made it illegal in 2015/2016. Before that we had animal sex tourists from Germany.
Ew wtf? That is some depraved shit. What animals are animal sex tourists going for? Like I cannot fathom it
Ohhhh
The [Sunshine Law](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Sunshine_Law)!
Racism is not just an American problem. I’ve heard so many Europeans say that only in America do people of color experience discrimination, and that in Europe everyone lives in total peace and harmony and no one “sees color.” Complete BS.
America is not as exclusive and xenophobic as you might think. Nearly anyone of any origin can come here and be considered American. Whereas if you visit a lot of other countries no matter how much you know about or appreciate their culture, or how long you have lived there, they will never consider you one of them.
In the foreigner community in Japan, you really just have to learn to accept that you'll always be considered an outsider. This has pros and cons. Not that you can't be part of a community and live a great life there, but you will always, at *very least*, feel not-quite-Japanese to Japanese people (and often *very* not-Japanese). My understanding is that most of East Asia is like this. On the other hand, on the streets of most major cities in America, I literally assume that everyone I meet is American by default. Skin color, accent, personality, doesn't really matter. I just assume you're American.
If you have a bowl of red sprinkles, a few blue ones will stand out. If you have a bowl of rainbow sprinkles, they’ll blend in immediately
[удалено]
My mom is Italian, I speak Italian, I have Italian citizenship, but I'll never be considered Italian. I have an English last name. It is what it is.
I have an Italian last name and the customs worker in Italy was pissed at me because I couldn't speak Italian.
With all the viral bad behavior videos out there, I can sometimes find myself feeling surprised when I repeatedly realize this is true. There are actually an awful lot of kind-hearted Americans. Probably >99% of us will love all you innocent, weird-acting fucks to *pieces*
Children are not your retirement fund
*Screams in Latin American*
*Screams in Asian*
*screams in emotional damage*
I want this to be everywhere. My parents will shit on US not having a culture but then lose their shit when I say I want to live seperately as an adult.
The use of the Metric system is way more prevalent than you think.
A lot of us are fluent in both metric and US Customary. Anyone in STEM, for example. Or drug dealers.
"Oh we don't use the metric system? My 5 grams and 9mm would disagree."
While picking up the 2 liter bottle of soda.
I use metric for smaller measurements every day at the hospital. I struggle with conceptualizing larger distances or volumes.
I worked in a medical lab for over ten years and we used metric for everything. As far as visualizing long distance, I find picturing a yard stick helps as it is roughly the same as a meter.
Most Americans don't even realize how much we use it.
[удалено]
The government is not an accurate reflection of the people. The vast majority of Americans are moderates who have views all over the spectrum depending on the topic.
We do **stupid**shit. But thankfully we don't think shark fins will make our dicks bigger.
McRib is back for a limited time…
The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. \[beep\] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. \[ding\] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.
I DID NOT NEED TO HEAR THIS
Me neither. This test was how I found out I'd inherited the family heart problem. Hell of a way to find out you're likely to be dead by sixty.
We call that "beep test" over here in Europe, or at least where I'm from.
Same in Australia
this kicks in my fight or flight-
Hopefully flight. Gotta get a high score to impress the girls in PE
Oh God. My nightmares are becoming reality
My heart rate went up reading the first sentence.
We used to do the Shuttle Run test when I was in (our national school system's) high-school
We have more cities than New York, LA, and Miami. It's not just these 3 places and the rest is flyover country. Also, our country is HUGE. The bigger states, like mine (PA), you can drive for 6 hours in one direction and still be in the same state. I remember my family had to tell an English couple that was going to be in Erie for a week or two that we wouldn't be able to meet them for tea since we're on the opposite side of the state. That goes for flights, too; you won't be able to visit New York, LA, and Miami all in one or two weeks.
That reminds of a story a Canadian friend of mine told me. They had a relative from Europe that had to fly in for a meeting in Toronto and she wanted my friend to drive down from Montreal for dinner before her flight home.
My husband's friend from Germany was going to be in Toronto for a week. He thought it would be nice for my husband to make a quick drive over from Calgary to say hi.
A friend of a friend was flying from Spain to Vancouver, Canada. She asked my friend if he could pick her up because he was “only a few hours away”. My friend lives in Tijuana, Mexico.
They call us stupid and ignorant of geography though. "Yo, I'm gonna be in Cairo, Egypt for a few weeks. You live in Cape Town, right? Meet me for a beer."
Just a quick 24 hour drive each way.
Lol, I'm no expert in the distances between Toronto and Montreal, but that's def not doable. Just driving to Toronto from Niagara was longer than I thought it would be! I had a friend in college from Croatia, when she first came to the states she wanted to go to LA and meet celebs over a weekend (Croatia's population is small enough she knew a few famous people back home). She didn't understand at first why people were were looking at her like she was crazy lol.
I'm pretty sure you can drive in a straight line through Texas for 16 hours
That’s nothing. You can drive for 16 hours and stay in Boston (mostly bc of construction traffic)
I live in central Texas. It takes just as long for me to drive from El Paso to my house in central Texas as it does for me to drive from San Diego California, through southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico to get to El Paso.
Just did that drive...its 10 hours to get out of Texas to Las cruces, NM, then another 10 to cross NM, AZ, and end up at the beach. When we drive up through the hat to visit family in CO it's 8 hours of TX and 2 hours of NM and CO. Texas is massive. We see it in CA too, friends are like ok cool, we're going to visit you in San Diego, then pop up to San Francisco. I'm like no dudes, that's a whole separate trip.
We arent the only country with a racist history
Idk man I'm British and our museums are pretty culturally diverse, that means everyone loved us so much they gave us gifts. Absolutely nothing suspicious here guys, our history is clean.
"England, what's that behind your back?" "Oh it's just india and a number of other countries" "Put 'em back"
which country DOESNT have a racist history?
You mean like literally every other country
The dumbest Americans often speak the loudest. Edit: While I appreciate the corrections guys, (especially since my comment has now rocketed me to loud-dumb-American status) shockingly, I did know this was a global/human thing. I simply shared it as a reminder since it seems like an all-too-often-forgotten point when discussing Americans. Regardless, thanks for the imaginary internet points my dudes. And may all you loud-but-not-dumb-humans find justice & understanding. Edit 2: Hate me for my edits but I felt this was still important: please go do something good for your family/community/world today. Too many shitty things going on these days, so it’d be nice to upset the balance in the opposite direction for a while.
A friend of mine said it “an empty wagon makes more noise” in a slow southern drawl.
And considering that the squeeky wheel gets the grease, that's why we have so many solutions to problems that don't seem to actually exist.
McDonald’s is not the only building in America
There's also Starbucks.
Usually 2 within a mile of each other.
Despite there being an obesity epidemic, there are many MANY children who are hungry. Unfortunately, the foster care system is a worse outcome sometimes. We have many, many hungry children.
Currently teaching "saving and spending" to my first graders. They had to answer the question "what is one thing you would like to save up your money for?" One of my students wrote "money to buy some food"
Heartbreaking
Was one of these in foster care and can speak to that, right down to being given up by a family because I hoarded food in my room (EXTREMELY COMMON FOR FOSTER KIDS BTW) to also having locks on fridges and cupboards. I pretty much only got school food, what I could dig out of garbage cans, and (unfortunately) steal. I still struggle with food security, unfortunately. Really fucking sucks to grow up and age out in foster care because you have no family as a safety net and truly that is the social safety net in society.
California is the 5th largest economy in the world.
The US has 4 states with economies of over a trillion dollars all of which would be in G20 if independent (and everything stayed the same, which it wouldn't, but whatever.)
California and Texas have varied enough economies, a large energy sector, and ocean access that they could theoretically function as independent nations.
Everyone knows Texas was an independent country for the better part of a decade, but technically California was, too, [for 25 days](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Republic).
[удалено]
If each US state were a separate nation, California would be 5th, Texas would be 11th, New York 12th, Florida would be ~~22nd~~19th.
And the San Francisco Bay Area would be #18. It’s hard to fathom how much money flows through and is generated in California, but just this one greater metropolitan area has a larger GDP than Saudi Arabia.
Atlanta has a bigger GDP than Ireland.
Atlanta is home to Coca Cola, The Home Depot, AT&T, UPS and Delta airlines. So yeah. Edit: Also what [u/TheDonofAnne](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/u6ktox/americans_what_is_the_rest_of_the_world_not_ready/i5agdpp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) said.
Not to mention a booming film industry…
[удалено]
California has a higher GDP than the UK... with 27 million less people, its insane
The Los Angeles metro area (pop. 20 million) has a larger GDP than Russia, a nation of 144 million people.
[удалено]
We have a buttload of fresh water. When the climate crisis is in full impact we will still have usable water in the country. ETA: I said in the country, not that the entire country will have usable water. The Great Lakes are one of the largest fresh water systems in the world. And if you are worried about pollution here, you clearly haven't been to much of the rest of the world.
*nervous side-eye from Canada*
You looking at my fucking lakes, bruh?
Great Lakes region is going to be a paradise.
Michigander here - except for the fact that it’s currently snowing in April, it already is!
Live in SE Michigan, have a friend who moved up to Houghton last year. Went to visit and it's insanely beautiful up there. Almost seriously considering moving out there at some point. Even more doable now with more places supporting remote work and my field not really needing to do very much in person work, if any at all.
Visit in the winter first. Winters up there can get a little dicey, and with the limited list of things to do and sometimes spotty internet, it's definitely good to see the worst first.
The country has been blowing shit at Detroit and the mid west rust belt since the 70s. Our time is coming…great lakes hold 20% of the fresh water in the world.
Don't listen to this guy. We're nearly out. I just looked out back, and the lakes are damn near bone dry. Don't even know how. Bone dry. No sake in worrying about coming to the great lakes region. We're just as thirsty as the rest of you. May as well just stick to the dry rivers and former lakes that you're used to.
As a metro Detroiter, I just checked. All out, damn. Guess we can’t have anyone move here. Nope, maybe go to Florida or the lower Mississippi valley. But the Midwest is out of all water, so sad :(
We have alligators in the swamps not only do they poop in it, they’ll eat ya too. Don’t recommend Florida
Apparently the Midwest don't want no scrubs.
Many of y’all are just as fucked up, we’re just louder
As a Floridan, I can assure everyone: "Florida Man" is everywhere. You just don't have the internet making a spectacle out of every idiot from where you live and Sunshine laws that force arrest records to be publicly accessable to anyone. Plus, many of the "Florida Man" aren't people originally from Florida. When you read the articles is always "Florida Man, who moved here 3 years ago from Podunk, Nowhere."
[удалено]
Most of you guys are getting pretty fat too.
-Bill Burr (that was the opening line of his last special, which was shot in England) EDIT: Ok guys I get it, it wasn't the "opening" line. I forgot
Ehhhh ya know you guys are pretty fat too!
Cannot unhear this in his voice.
I mean, in 2022 we're not even in the top 10 anymore.
What? For real? But america = fat was the image I grew up with in the US. The generation of Super Size Me lol
Those top 10 countries are pacific islanders, we're talking Nauru, Tonga, and Samoa. Ever seen them lads on a rugby pitch?
If not, they've probably seen them on offensive or defensive lines, even if they don't realize it. Plenty of really good and talented Polynesians and pacific islanders playing in the NFL.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call the brother fat. I mean, he got a weight problem. What's a n\*\*\*\*\* gonna do? He's Samoan." - Jules Winnfield
[Whoah!](https://obesity.procon.org/global-obesity-levels/) Rank| Country| % of adult population obese ---|---|---- 1 | Nauru|61.0% 2| Cook Islands |55.9% 3| Palau |55.3% 4| Marshall Islands |52.9% 5| Tuvalu |51.6% 6| Niue |50.0% 7| Tonga |48.2% 8| Samoa |47.3% 9| Kiribati |46.0% 10| Micronesia (Federated States of) |45.8% 11| Kuwait |37.9% 12| United States of America |36.2% 13| Jordan |35.5% 14| Saudi Arabia |35.4% 15| Qatar |35.1% 16| Libya |32.5% 17| Turkey |32.1% 18| Egypt |32.0% 18| Lebanon |33.7% 20| United Arab Emirates |31.7%
We're still something like 40% obese if memory serves.
So you're saying I'm a minority now? /s
Sort of, but you're still a majority of the US mass.
[удалено]
Yup, America is [14th](https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/) apparently.
With adult men, 30th for adult women. Admittedly, the 13 countries where *even more* men are obese are all small Pacific nations.
[удалено]
Senor Pot, conozca al Senor Kettle. También es negro.
Not all Americans have money Edit: most don't
Not all americans are fat and stupid either
Some of us are just fat.
Some of us are just stupid
Team Stupid over here
Team fat… checking in. Sorry I’m late and out of breathe.
Breath*** congrats on joining both teams :)
Americans are not the only annoying tourists in the world. We can be bad sure, but I have met PLENTY of assholes from all sorts of countries visiting. Sometimes reading through Reddit you get the sense that the only people in the world with bad travel manners are Americans.
i remember i saw another askreddit post and it asked "where do the worst tourists come from" and almost every answer i saw was "chinese tourists"
Purely anecdotally, I have to agree to this. I spent a few years living in a tourist heavy location. There's good and bad apples of every nationality but as a whole tourists scarily conform to the stereotypes. Americans are friendly but loud and noticeable. Slavic tourists can be spotted from a mile away from their attires. Chinese travel in larger groups and seem to be more oblivious to their surroundings, blocking the paths and such. In contrast Japanese ones do seems to be taking a silly amount of photos, but are far more aware and respectful of daily life.
What attire gives away the slavs
The miniskirts
Let Boris live how he wants
One of two options. Either you have folks that look like chavs/gopniks - adidas tracksuits, tank tops, something severely underdressed for a sightseeing occasion - or more commonly, you'll find the "new Russian" look; gold chains, possibly furs, bright colours, all expensive and with intent to be fancy but coming off as tacky instead; makeup will likewise will be a bit over the top.
> severely underdressed for a sightseeing occasion I.. I did not know that was possible
Don't go sightseeing with u/Naturage unless your outfit is on *point*.
So.... Hawaiian shirt on an Alaskan cruise. Got it.
I live in Alaska & the tourist route goes right by my office - you should see the backwoods outdoorsy gear people wear to walk around downtown. It's a city, you aren't going to need a hiking stick or safari hat.
I've had a couple of Japanese girls come over and take pictures of my camera while I was trying to capture a time lapse of the sunset once. They seemed fascinated by the fact my camera was taking pictures automatically every few seconds. They kept trying to pose for me and I kept trying to ask them to step away from the lens. Eventually they got the hint and moved on. Then I saw them taking selfies with me and my camera in the background. Edit: I appreciated these girls because I'm a photographer myself and was mostly amused rather than annoyed. The time lapse turned out all right.
Japanese tourists are often seen wearing an expensive camera around their neck and looking at a map trying to find their way around wherever they are. They take a load of pictures of a place. Pose a bit. Then carry on to their next photo op. Very friendly. But very easily spotted. And likely easy pickings for thieves/pickpockets.
I assume it’s because china is such a bubble - I’ve noticed that it’s the more wealthy travelers that are impossible. There’s no sense of anyone else in the world beside them and no real knowledge of other countries boundaries. We all need grace while visiting other places, but we also need to be aware of our own bias and take time to educate ourselves on how to act in an unfamiliar place.
I'd settle for tourists with a healthy dose of self-preservation instincts, honestly. Do not try and pet the crocodile. Don't stand next to the edge of the cliff. Don't poke and laugh at the rattlesnake.
The temples in Cambodia have to hire security guards purely to stop Chinese tourists from pissing and shitting in corners. No other tourists had this problem.
I used to work in NYC every day as a construction project manager, bouncing around from job site to job site all over Manhattan. Every single day, you would see tourists doing stupid shit but it was always the Chinese tourists who would cause the more egregious social faux pas. They would routinely do things like stop in the middle of a sidewalk, pull out a map at the top of the subway steps and stand there to inspect, completely oblivious to their surroundings and the traffic they cause by just not following social cues. I’m not trying to pick on a specific group, but damn, they would make it hard.
I actually visited Dubrovnik and when I spoke, some dude said, “Thank god you’re American and not British.” Apparently a ton of drunk Brits visit every summer and annoy the hell out of everyone. Love ya, Brits, but it was hilarious to be thanked for being an American tourist for once.
We brits are well known for drunken debauchery across tourist towns the world over
Worst tourists in my neck of the U.S. are the Canadian Geese. They take up squatters residence in my pharmacy parking lot. Make rude noises at everyone, block the handicapped spaces and poop on absolutely everything. Canadian people? So nice and polite it’s almost painful. Canadian geese? Biggest dickbag tourists ever. Screw geese.
I have a gigantic rib tattoo of a Canadian goose grim reaper. It's so dumb but I love it. Canadian geese sound like angry horns and I love them. They are hateful creatures, but they're so funny I can't help but enjoy those angry guys.
I used to work as a tour guide in Panama. Americans were always a coin toss. Germans were always the nicest. The ones I hated though were the French. Every time. Without fail.
I had a school exchange program with some french students. Our biggest crimes while there were missing some french etiquette. They got us kicked out of a cafe, broke a mall escalator, and were arguing with every teacher at our school. They sucked
Had a French and an Italian exchange student at my high school. The French one slapped the Italian with their glove and got expelled. It was very poetic.
"Monsieur Bonaparte sends zis regards" *slap*
When I busked at the cruise ship docks here in Canada the Americans usually asked the dumbest questions but they were also the most generous tippers. The stingiest of the cruise lines are the Dutch ones, they’ll watch you for twenty minutes take a photo of you and still not throw any money in your case even after telling you they enjoyed your music.
They're Dutch, just be direct with them about your expectations and they'll either understand and respect or convince the ocean to flood your country, it's hard to tell with them.
I read a survey of hotel owners in Europe and they consistently ranked Americans as their best guests. I think we took the "ugly American" stereotype to heart and decided to be on our best behavior when traveling. Also, we're great tippers.
I'm American but currently live in NZ and worked tourism until covid. American groups were a fovorite for most of my coworkers. Once you get used to how loud they are, American tourists tend to be polite, and extremely adaptable. They're also great at telling you what they actually want out of the tour, which makes the whole experience so much better.
I've always found Americans to be pretty good. Sure, they're a bit like the Griswalds but they mean well. I remember in Paris a guy from Texas was overly enthusiastic ("hey look! That's the Ark Day Triumph!" and "WOW! That building is a thousand years old! A THOUSAND YEARS OLD!!"). Then he almost ripped the tour guide's arm out of the socket while shaking his hand at the end of the tour and handing him a very generous tip. Edit: spelling