#1
We LOVED our visit - loved the whole bloody place, but i was absolutely gobsmacked when I found Froot Loops with marshmallows. I genuinely did not think it was possible to make Froot Loops more unhealthy, but you guys did it - love your work!
#2
It was just like stepping into the People of Walmart page.
#3
From politics and pop culture to Hollywood movies and endless internet debates, we've all heard countless stories about the United States. It’s one of those countries that feels strangely familiar even to people who have never set foot there. We know about New York's skyline, Route 66, giant food portions, and yellow school buses.
But here's the thing: beneath all the headlines and stereotypes lies a treasure trove of strange, surprising, and downright unbelievable stories. Some sound so ridiculous that you'd assume they're made up. Yet they're completely true. And as today's post proves, no matter how much you think you know about America, there's always another fact waiting around the corner.
#4
#5
I’m from England, so I don’t think I’ll ever quite get over just how casual he was having an alligator in his arms.
#6
Take the postal service, for example. Believe it or not, there was a brief period when people could technically mail their children. When the U.S. Post Office introduced its Parcel Post service in 1913, the rules didn't specifically forbid shipping humans. Rural families quickly noticed this loophole. In a handful of cases, parents paid postage, attached labels, and sent their children to relatives through the mail system. Thankfully, the kids weren't stuffed into boxes. Instead, trusted mail carriers personally accompanied them on their routes and ensured they arrived safely. It sounds absolutely wild by today's standards, but it also reveals how deeply communities trusted their local postal workers. Unsurprisingly, postal officials stepped in and banned the practice just a year later.
#7
1. A huge confirmation of stereotype
2. Really touching and sweet (pie was also wonderful btw)
3. A bit weird because we knew our neighbours wouldn't care and we felt bad :/.
#8
I took a 40 minute trip in a Uber from the Keys to Ebor and, I’m not kidding, this guy talked, seemingly without taking a breath, the entire time.
As a Brit this was very very uncomfortable.
#9
- You can't walk to places. Even if the nearest Walmart is a mile down the road, you'll be walking along a slither of grass or dirt by the side of a twelve-lane highway. And people will think you're weird, especially walking back with your shopping.
- although walking is a pain, it's easy to navigate because everything is in a grid system. Flying over the country you can see endless straight roads intersecting. I found myself missing the winding streets of the UK, the nooks and crannies and irregularities steeped in history.
- Nothing is near anything. In the UK, we have high streets, mostly pedestrianised streets with all the main shops and restaurants in one place so you can get a bus or drive, park, and walk around all day doing your shopping or hanging out. In the USA, if you want a smoothie, you drive to the smoothie place; if you want to buy some clothes, you drive to the clothes store; if you want to go to the movies, you're driving there. Admittedly they have malls, but even then they're often a few miles out of town down a freeway.
- Come to think of it - towns! America has a totally different concept of towns, cities, and settlements. In the UK major towns and cities are spaced relatively far apart, with the settlements in between acting as commuter towns or villages. In the US, a settlement of 3000 people might be called a city, and a massive city like Phoenix might have 3 or 4 other places within it that are also called cities. It's confusing.
- Customer service is almost always excellent. Even in a cheap market in a poorer neighbourhood, people at the till always smile and ask how you're doing, have a nice day, etc. As a Brit used to 'meh' service this both pleased me and worried me; it wasnt quite genuine friendliness. It felt a bit like I was paying these people to be nice to me. Which, I guess I was.
- Sugar is hard to avoid. And if you do avoid it, you'll then have to avoid sweetener too. Some places I had to specify that I wanted no sugar or sweetener in my coffee. Oh, and the coffee is almost always bad. Sorry Americans. The exceptions I found were hipster places, one in Charlotte NC and a place in Billings MT. They were nice.
- The landscape is ridiculous. As a trail runner and outdoorsy guy, I was stunned by the richness of the scenery in the Midwest and west coast. To get off the tour bus and see a city surrounded on 3 sides by mountains was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever experienced. To live with such a landscape within a few hours drive...I can't even imagine. It's fantastic. Use it more.
- Americans vary in temperament as much as Europeans do. Someone from Oregon and someone from Florida might as well be from Italy and Norway.
- Whole Foods is your go-to place if you are stuck and need healthy food. But be prepared to burn a hole in your wallet.
- Trump voters aren't all idiots or racists.
- nothing is the price it says it is, and you have to tip everyone.
- the TV is terrible, the news is sensationalist, and if you popped the kettle on every time there was an ad break you'd burn the house down.
- but you can't, because they don't have KETTLES!!! Can't even begin to express how lost I was. I never realised how much I depend upon having access to a kettle.
- People are very respectful generally, in an independent, 'you keep to yourself and I'll keep to myself' kind of way. It's not isolating, its kind of empowering. In the UK we tend to avoid really seeing each other.
- Americans aren't all fat, but some of the fat ones make British fat people look like they aren't really trying.
- the scale of the place is awesome. You can't disappear in the UK on a multi-day hike or bike tour, except maybe in northern scotland. In the USA there is so much wilderness you could spend a life time exploring it and you'd never come close to seeing it all.
According to National Postal Museum historian Nancy Pope, writing for The Washington Post, one of the first documented cases occurred in Ohio in 1913. Jesse and Matilda Beauge mailed their 10-pound infant son to his grandmother's house, located about a mile away. The trip cost them 15 cents in postage, plus $50 worth of insurance just to be safe. If that sounds unbelievable, wait until you hear about Edna Neff. The six-year-old girl was reportedly "mailed" from Florida to Virginia—a journey of roughly 720 miles. Today, the idea sounds absurd, but at the time it was viewed as a practical solution in close-knit communities where mail carriers were trusted almost like extended family members.
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#11
My little sister had to put on her Florida accent to order for us, the manager who eventually took the order said she was sorry as the staff were only used to "normal" English lol.
#12
Also the driving distances are immense. An hour commute in the morning is normal for people.
Then there's one of America's most iconic landmarks: the Statue of Liberty. Most people know it was a gift from France, but fewer know that there was a moment when the entire project nearly stalled. The statue itself had arrived safely in New York Harbor, but there was one major problem; the city didn't have enough money to build the pedestal it needed to stand on. As public interest began to fade, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer launched an ambitious fundraising campaign.
He promised to print the name of every donor, no matter how small the contribution. The response was incredible. Children donated pennies, workers sent what little they could afford, and baseball fans passed collection hats through stadium crowds. In just five months, more than 120,000 ordinary citizens helped raise the remaining $100,000 needed to complete the monument.
#13
*edit: for those of you wondering: it was somewhere in Texas, it was something like 30years ago, and for all I know he was breaking the law and just didn't get caught in the minute or so I remember looking at him.
#14
We were both shocked at the state of information people seem to get over the media. Note this was during the Trump Election rally so in hindsight I am not too shocked anymore.
#15
"Britain! Wooooooo Briiitttaaaaainnn"
I nod slightly.
I go back there in a month for the first time since.
Another remarkable story comes from the world of medicine and one man whose decision changed millions of lives. In 1955, American virologist Jonas Salk successfully developed the first effective polio vaccine. At the time, polio terrified families around the world, leaving thousands of children paralyzed every year. When a television interviewer asked Salk who owned the patent for the vaccine, he gave a response that would become legendary. "Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" By choosing not to patent the vaccine, Salk gave up what could have become an enormous personal fortune—estimated by some to be worth billions of dollars today. Instead, his decision helped ensure the vaccine could be distributed widely and save countless lives around the globe.
#16
Houston: the people were as friendly as they were huge. And loud. Hugely loud. And loudly huge, I guess.
Nashville and other places I went kinda blend together in my head, except for the delicious food.
Oh, and the person who asked if my country had coins and traffic lights. I.. what.. yes? I mean.. wat.
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Sometimes history-changing discoveries come from the most unexpected places. During World War II, scientists were racing to produce enough penicillin to treat wounded soldiers and fight deadly infections. The problem was that existing strains of the mold weren't producing enough of the life-saving medicine. Then came an unlikely hero named Mary Hunt, a laboratory worker in Illinois. One day, while shopping at a local market, she spotted a moldy cantaloupe that looked unusual and brought it back to the lab. Remarkably, the mold growing on that fruit turned out to be a strain that produced around 200 times more penicillin than previous versions. That single cantaloupe dramatically boosted production efforts and played a major role in making penicillin one of the most important medical breakthroughs in human history.