AskReddit posted a survey polling non-Americans on “the weirdest thing about America that Americans don’t realize.” The survey received over 18,000 responses. Here are some of the responses:
- Turkey legs at theme parks
- Commercials for lawyers everywhere
- Drive through everything – “From wedding chapels in Las Vegas to drive-through daiquiri stands in Louisiana.”
- The size of roads and parking lots – “I know the US is a huge area (and of course big, cramped cities like New York City are exceptions), but the size of the roads and parking lots just seemed really strange as a central European.”
- Americans are outdoorsy – “I guess one thing that’s odd is that the average American seems a lot more attuned to the outdoors than we are. I’ve seen Americans sporadically ask their friends if they want to go on a night hike or go hunting. Generally if you hunt animals in the UK, you’re part of the nobility.”
- Commercials for prescription drugs and surgeries
- A surplus of flags
- Smiling at strangers – “Come visit the Midwest. People who just met you feel perfectly comfortable acting like an old friend.”
- Prices are always displayed without tax – “Having tax added on when you get to the till, i.e. price tag says $5, you take a $5 bill out of your wallet, then bam — you’re asked to pay $5.86 or whatever.”
- Red solo cups – “Met some Swiss guys at a house party after a mutual friends wedding. They couldn’t believe that we were all actually drinking out of red solo cups, it blew their minds. They kept on taking pictures and saying, ‘It’s just like the movies!'”
- Huge portion sizes at restaurants.
- Air conditioning everywhere. All the time.
- The huge gaps between the stalls in public restrooms.
- People wearing workout clothes when they’re not at the gym and flip flops when they’re not at the beach.
Sources: AskReddit, Business Insider, BuzzFeed,