The United States has some customs that the rest of the world finds very odd. A user on a popular online forum asked others to answer this question: “What has been normalized in America that would be strange to other countries?” Americans and foreigners alike replied with their opinions.
1. Pharmaceutical Commercials
If you live in the U.S., chances are you’ve seen a TV commercial advertising prescription medication. But across the world, this practice is rare. Many commenters believe you won’t find pharmaceutical commercials in most countries because selling prescription medication to desperate consumers is immoral.
2. Taxes Counted at Checkout
When you shop in the U.S., you only see the taxes on the prices of the items you choose once the cashier scans them at checkout. In many other countries, the taxes are included in the shelf price so consumers know exactly how much they will have to pay when they check out.
3. Fahrenheit
The U.S. loves to use any system of measurement that isn’t the metric system. That means Americans use a completely different scale instead of measuring temperature in Celsius like most of the planet. Only three countries in the world use Fahrenheit over Celsius.
4. Ambulance Prices
It can cost an injured or ill American over $1,000 to pay for an ambulance to take them to the hospital without insurance. While many countries worldwide offer free healthcare, the U.S. opts for a system that forces sick people with little resources to pay massive bills to get better.
5. High Fructose Corn Syrup
The U.S. population consumes more high fructose corn syrup per capita than any other country. We eat tons of processed foods and sugars that would make people from different countries feel nauseous.
6. School Shootings
Did you know there are already over 285 school shootings in 2023 alone in the U.S.? The vast majority of the world’s school shootings occur in the United States. The country with the second-highest number of school shootings in 2023 is Mexico, which has seen eight so far.
7. Crappy Public Transportation
Unless you live in a major city like New York, Chicago, Boston, or Washington D.C., chances are you don’t have access to excellent public transit. When China’s high-speed rail system exists, many users question why the U.S. can’t do something similar for its citizens.
8. Tipping
In many parts of the world, a server’s employers pay them a wage that doesn’t require them to rely on tips. But in the U.S., the system is different. Patrons have complete control over a server’s pay because they choose how much they want to tip. Many commenters see this system as cruel to waitstaff and counterintuitive to customers.
9. Portion Sizes
The U.S. is famous for its massive portion sizes. People from other countries in the comments share that when they visited the U.S., they were shocked to see how much food sat on their plates. They often split meals with fellow travelers to avoid food waste.
10. Expectation for Kids To Move Out at 18
In many Asian countries, it’s normal for kids to live with their parents into adulthood, even after they get married and start a family themselves. But in the U.S., many people think it’s weird when an eighteen-year-old still lives at home with their parents. While things are beginning to change because young people in the U.S. struggle to pay for rent with high housing costs and low wages, the perception that young adults who live with their parents are lazy is still thriving.
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