"We're all living in America," once sang the cult German rock band Rammstein, implying that the entire modern world is in fact Pax Americana, and that it is incredible to imagine a contemporary person who is not involved in American culture and customs in any way.
"We're all living in America" - that is, even the Japanese, far from Christianity, celebrate Christmas at KFC, with Colonel Sanders as Santa. "We're all living in America" - and every newly elected US President becomes TIME Person of the Year simply by the fact of being elected. "We're all living in America" - and the inflation rate in most countries of the world is unofficially measured by the Big Mac index.
The main country of the world unconsciously dictates its preferences to this planet, but it also plays in the opposite direction. It often happens, when Americans travel abroad for the first time, they are massively surprised - it turns out that there is a huge world beyond the stars and stripes, and its inhabitants not only don't follow American traditions, but even consider then weird and sometimes bizarre.
Do you want a good example? Well, not exactly perfect, since Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen announced their impending divorce, but still - over the past ten years or so, Americans have gotten used to thinking of Gisele as "the wife of the great Brady", and almost the rest of the world, if any had an idea about the football GOAT, knew him only as "the husband of the incomparable Bundchen".
And so, a few days ago, a thread appeared in the AskReddit community, the author of which asked the question: "What is an American thing but Americans think everyone outside of America does it?" As of today, there are already over 22.4K upvotes and around 27.7K various comments in the thread, written by both Americans and representatives of other countries living or ever having lived in the USA.
Bored Panda has put together a special selection for you with the most interesting, unexpected and just incredibly popular comments from the original thread, so please feel free to scroll this list to the very end, mark the submissions you enjoy best and don't forget to leave comments in case you have something to add. After all, "we're all living in America"...
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#1
no issue with violence shown to kids in tv and movies, while simultaneously losing your s**t if someone flashes a breast at any time
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158points
#3
Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. It's alarming to me how many Americans I've met who think all countries do their own version of the pledge. It is a uniquely American thing.
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150points
#4
UK here, the price you see in a shop is the price you actually pay
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147points
#6
Flags on everything always seemed weird to me, flags on their houses, flags on their cars, flags at the beach, flags f**ken everywhere.
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130points
#7
American college culture is the weirdest s**t on earth.
Frats, sororities, all of it.
Literally no other country is like that, anywhere.
120points
#8
The sheer amount of ad breaks when watching a tv show. In the US, there seems to be one every 10 mins, but here in the UK, you get a break halfway through a show and then in between shows and that's it.
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110points
#9
Circumcision. It is actually not very common outside North America & Africa.
109points
#10
Having garbage disposal unit installed under kitchen sink.
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102points
#12
Having the waiter take your credit card at a restaurant. Most other countries bring the machine to you so you can pay at the table and at least reduce the risk of having your credit card information stolen...
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99points
#14
Having public bathroom stall doors that do NOT go all the way to the floor.
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95points
#15
The over the top customer service attitude.
On a trip abroad my wife thought that she upset the waiter somehow because he was generally neutral in his interaction.
It was generally neutral because it was a generally neutral interaction. No need for that customer service attitude!
92points
#16
Identify as the nationality of their great grandparents.
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90points
#17
No joke I knew a girl who really thought every country lit fireworks on the 4th of July.
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89points
#18
The first amendment. I just howled with laughter when some Canadian convoy protestor claimed he had first amendment rights, when the first amendment in the Canadian constitution actually provided for the government of Manitoba.
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84points
#19
Born and raised in the US (Massachusetts). When I went to Australia, I automatically assumed that the waiter would bring the bill over when they think we're done eating and just tell us to pay whenever we're ready. I sat at the table for a good 15min just browsing my phone with no food or drink on the table until I decided to call a waiter over. They told me when I'm ready, I can pay at the front counter.
Went to Brazil to visit my wife's family and we ordered some street food. I tried to pay upon order and my wife told me they take payment after we finish eating even if it's street food... After eating, we totally forgot that we haven't paid yet and just got up and walked away because we're so used to paying upon order. About 50metres of walking, I was like, wait... We didn't pay for the food. We rushed back to pay and the cooks had a good laugh about it.
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81points
#20
Immense portions in restaurants and then taking a slightly less immense (but still big) boxful of leftovers home. Calling the main course an entrée, when entrée means starter/appetiser.
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81points