Non-Americans Are Sharing The Weirdest Things About America That Americans Don't Realize Are Weird

Recently, Reddit user u/rickyjones75 posed the question: " Non-Americans who have been to the US, what is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird? "

Here are some of the top-voted responses:

1. "The toilet is so FULL of water. I always have to convince myself that I'm not about to dunk my cheeks."

— u/Hazz3r

2. "Some of the coins don’t have the denomination/value on them. For instance, the 10-cent piece just says, 'One Dime.' How the fuck are tourists supposed to know how much a dime is worth? Oh well, it’s the smallest so it must be worth the least, right? WRONG."

— u/RelevantPuns

3. "Putting the real estate agent's face on the for-sale signs."

— u/toastehmonstah

4. "The gigantic open spaces everywhere. SO. MUCH. SPACE."

— u/Murmurmira

"Read a book once, can't remember it for the life of me. Just the quote that stuck out of 'Americans can't understand how old Europe is, but Europeans can't understand how big America is.'"

— u/KhaosElement

5. "I went there for university and honestly Americans just do a lot of little things that are generally nice, like holding the door open! I didn't even really notice the door-holding thing after the first few days, but when I went back to my country, I actually missed it. Not that I ever expected someone to hold the door even in America, but the absence of it was surprisingly noticeable back home."

— u/faeriefountain_

6. "Time zones. When I was a kid I couldn’t grasp why US TV shows were on at, example, '9/8c.'"

— u/Bryschien1996

7. "They have those angry sinks that chop shit (garbage disposals)."

— u/Mind_Extract

"It's the middle of the night. It's dark. Everyone else in the apartment is sleeping. There are two light switches in the kitchen. Do you choose the one that turns on the kitchen light, or do you choose the one that turns on THE NOISIEST THING IN THE APARTMENT? Choose wisely."

— u/rckid13

8. "The work culture is wild. I worked there and some people just…don’t take time off. They are basically on call all the time — evenings, weekends, whatever."

— u/Hashtagbarkeep

9. "Prescription drug ads on TV that casually say 'side effects may include death.' I was shocked. In most other countries, you can't advertise prescription drugs, especially those with egregious side effects that may, in fact, include death. In my country, you have OTC drugs like cold and headache drugs being advertised, or basic supplements."

— u/Lattice-shadow

10. "The billboards on the interstates: 'Only 20 miles to...' or 'Only 15 miles to...'"

— u/Iracing_Muskoka

11. "Y'all can strike a conversation with a tree. You literally don’t need anyone to respond and you’ll yabber away relentlessly. It’s a generalization, as I know there are some quiet Americans, but I was just down in a Publix trying to decide what beer to buy, and some woman suddenly talked to me about how she met her husband. I love it — just being able to stream your consciousness out like that is just something truly remarkable."

— u/Muter

12. "How enamored you are with British culture, people, and the accents. I’ve traveled extensively and have met many other nationalities, whilst in their country. I’ve been made to feel welcome in almost all, but how I was treated once my accent was heard in the US was on another level. One time I was invited to a BBQ, in a public place, by someone that I met because he liked the t-shirt I was wearing. I felt like some sort of celebrity! I’m an average guy, but everyone wanted to chat to me."

— u/bungle_bogs

13. "The restaurants expect you to NOT finish the food and take it home. My mother finds taking home leftovers from a restaurant to be embarrassing and will not do it. But American restaurants have portion sizes that seem to expect this."

— u/Repulsive_Tear4528

14. "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

15. "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

16. "BIG everything, from food to trucks."

— u/tiny_gingerrr

"Huge amounts of food! And cars you have to climb into (I’m also looking at you, Australia) McMansions (also looking at Australia!)."

— u/VeganMonkey

17. "The fact that cashiers in stores stand instead of sit."

— u/Schifty

18. "Your news channels display FAR TOO MUCH info on the screen."

— u/Raioc2436

"DON'T BLINK YOU'LL MISS SOMETHING! Except they repeat everything every half hour anyway."

— u/EatYourCheckers

19. "Drive-thru ATMs never stop being funny to me, for some reason."

— u/bolyai

20.

21. "The tax isn't automatically added to the price shown in shops, restaurants, etc. If I only have a dollar in my pocket I'd like to see straight away what I can buy for that dollar, without trying to find out the tax rate and calculating it."

— u/Casey_19

22. "Porch sitting. People sit on their porches and watch passers-by."

— u/bolyai

23. "The flags everywhere."

— u/davorg

24. "The gaps in toilet stalls."

— u/Affectionate-Emu1374

"You can literally see in. So weird."

— u/Eyupmeduck1989

25. "There are radically different laws for each state. Like one thing could be illegal in one state, then travel a few miles and, boom, you're safe."

— u/Frequent_Print7915

26. "Tipping is super weird. Pay your staff properly, and set your prices accordingly."

— u/RevolutionObvious251

27. And finally, "How easy it is to make friends. I lived in California for three years. I made more friends there in that time than I did living in my home country for over three decades."

— u/Statesbound

Is there anything on this list that surprised you? Let us know in the comments!