# Dumb questions you have about other nations/cultures. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427 "2012-05-09T21:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/81 "2012-05-11T12:48:28Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > OK… but what are the British guys doing in the Thai bars if they are not there to meet Thai women ? I thought the purpose of bars was to buy drinks. They might be there for that. That would explain the fighting. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/82 "2012-05-11T12:59:43Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I thought the purpose of bars was to buy drinks. They might be there for that. That would explain the fighting. Not these bars, they are not at all similar to “Cheers”. The bars that I refer to have dozens of naked or half-naked dancing girls that you can take home for a price. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/83 "2012-05-11T13:03:50Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > Why do some Brits seem to prefer fighting over sex? Bar brawls art part of the **English** (not necessarily British) tradition. A Scotsman once put it like this “We fight each other in Scotland and we definitely fight Englishmen but outside the island we leave it to the English to take care of their bad reputation themselves”. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/84 "2012-05-11T13:11:19Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > OK… but what are the British guys doing in the Thai bars if they are not there to meet Thai women ? Is this a woosh? They’re on holiday and they are drinking. > [@simple\_homer](#): > > Yes, not every man that goes to Thailand is there to meet Thai women, but, I am talking about Thai bars that exist almost exclusively for men to meet Thai woman. > > Why is it that the British men are known as being the ones that are there to start fights ? They may not know that that is what they are there for. We Brits see a boozer, we go there to booze. Brits fight for a variety of reasons. It is a part of my homeland that I really don’t miss. But it happens in the UK too and we still manage to have sex there (for example, see our [teen pregnancy rate](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079321/figure/fig1/)). ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/85 "2012-05-11T13:17:00Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > A Scotsman once put it like this “We fight each other in Scotland and we definitely fight Englishmen but outside the island we leave it to the English to take care of their bad reputation themselves”. Who said that? Sounds like a pile of shite to me ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/86 "2012-05-11T13:28:48Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Is this a woosh? > > They’re on holiday and they are drinking. > > They may not know that that is what they are there for. We Brits see a boozer, we go there to booze. Maybe, but I would guess that when the bar is full of half-naked dancing prostitutes then most Brits would realize what type of bar it is. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/87 "2012-05-11T13:59:00Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Averages are difficult, but I’d estimate that the average scotsman wears a kilt only once in his life, at a wedding (his own or someone else’s). Then at the reception he gets drunk and flashes the bridesmaids, and is never allowed to wear one again. Just add this to the list of why I like Scottish people so much. 🙂 > [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Oh man > > [http://www.crackerbarrel.com/restaurant/breakfast-menu/traditional-favorites/](http://www.crackerbarrel.com/restaurant/breakfast-menu/traditional-favorites/) > > Thats just one page of the menu, Part kitsch store part restaurant, you have to see it to believe it. > > Big chain that serves homestyle cooking all over the US mostly on the Interstates, just one of those things you have to do in the states. One meal and you need heart bypass surgery > > Capt Kirk I’ve heard of Cracker Barrel - it’s the chain of restaurants who won’t hire gay people, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/88 "2012-05-11T14:13:46Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > Maybe, but I would guess that when the bar is full of half-naked dancing prostitutes then most Brits would realize what type of bar it is. But the opinion would be that it doesn’t mean you can’t go there to drink. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/89 "2012-05-11T14:31:33Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > But the opinion would be that it doesn’t mean you can’t go there to drink. Ok, many Brits love to drink and fight, got it. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/90 "2012-05-11T14:34:30Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > As Lisa Simpson once wondered about the red dot on the forehead of Hindu(?) women, “what’s the deal with that dot?” > [@Anaamika](#): > > Traditionally it meant “married woman” but now even little girls wear it. It just means “female” now, and it’s just another decoration. > > Also I am Hindu… I will defer to your background but add that I always thought it had something to do with designating one’s caste. (Ignorance fought, and all that.) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/91 "2012-05-11T15:20:13Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > This may come across as rather impolite, but my thinking, and I’d imagine the view of others from the UK, is that countries like Thailand that are known for sex tourism would be a very dangerous place to be picking up women in bars for sex (as an example the AIDS rate in Thailand is [seven times](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_adult_prevalence_rate) that of the UK). Lest foreign tourists be dissuaded from helping our economy, let’s point out that your own cite shows Thailand with “only” about twice the rate of U.S.A. and less than one-twelfth the rate of South Africa. (Of course, you mention “AIDS rate” as just “an example.” Any other examples, or should we just leave it as a baseless smudge?) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/92 "2012-05-11T15:25:09Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Who said that? Sounds like a pile of shite to me It was a Scottish football fan interviewed by a Swedish newspaper in connection with the European cup in Sweden in 1992. It also coincided with the general observations here of the differences in behaviour between Scottish and English fans at that and other times. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/93 "2012-05-11T15:49:46Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > Ok, many Brits love to drink and fight, got it. Drink and _lose fights_, to be precise. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/94 "2012-05-11T16:08:32Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Just add this to the list of why I like Scottish people so much. 🙂 > > I’ve heard of Cracker Barrel - it’s the chain of restaurants who won’t hire gay people, isn’t it? Crap another place I have to cross off my list, really Cracker Barrel you have to be bigots It is getting hard to eat anywhere in the states ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/95 "2012-05-11T16:32:10Z")
Cracker Barrel’s [anti-gay founder died in January](http://www.edgeboston.com/news/workplace/news//129076/cracker_barrel%E2%80%99s_anti-gay_founder_dies_at_76). Maybe things will change? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/96 "2012-05-11T16:46:32Z")
There _are_ bars in Thailand where you can just go in and get a drink, no half-naked dancing prostitutes, right? Or if you just want a drink, do you have to do your best to ignore the prostitutes? > [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Crap another place I have to cross off my list, really Cracker Barrel you have to be bigots > > It is getting hard to eat anywhere in the states It’s not somewhere you should be eating very often if you value your health, anyway. But that’s true of most sit-down chain restaurants in the US. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/97 "2012-05-11T16:57:21Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > US: Other first world countries have rising obesity rates too but nowhere near as much as you. Why? Space and money. There is so much more livable space in the US compared to most other first world countries. This lead to the rise of suburbs which allowed everyone to have their own house and yard, but everyone has to drive to get anywhere. This means there is very little exercise that is unintentional. After WW2 the US economy grew like gangbusters, this led to a huge spike in living standards. Suddenly people had money to use on conveniences. One of those conveniences was packaged foods. Housewifes loved the convenience of being able to feed a family without toiling all day in the kitchen. Unfortunately most of this food was not as good tasting as made from scratch. As the economy kept getting better people starting going to restaraunts more and more. Here they could get convenience and better tasting food. Since food in america is cheap and labor expensive it was very cost effective for restaurants to serve increasingly large portions. Restaurant food is convenient relatively cheap and tasty so people eat alot of it. The US is about 10-33% richer than the rest of the first world countries so we are further along this progression than most other countries. There are other aspects of it that has to do with anti-smoking campaigns and a diverse population as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/98 "2012-05-11T19:39:12Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Bar brawls art part of the **English** (not necessarily British) tradition. A Scotsman once put it like this “We fight each other in Scotland and we definitely fight Englishmen but outside the island we leave it to the English to take care of their bad reputation themselves”. Strange, I’m English and I’ve never participated in, or even seen, a bar brawl. I don’t see any reason to think English people are especially prone to fighting anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/99 "2012-05-11T19:59:13Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Strange, I’m English and I’ve never participated in, or even seen, a bar brawl. I don’t see any reason to think English people are especially prone to fighting anywhere. I’ve seen a couple in 37 years. I saw one in the US in a two-week holiday. Stereotypes are stereotypes, but most people everywhere are just people trying to live their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/100 "2012-05-11T19:59:51Z")
Speaking as a Brit I’m afraid that the reason we like drinking and fighting is that many of us do, but couldn’t tell you why. I can only think that its a part of our Norse/Saxon cultural history. Unfortunately its not a GOOD thing. Not for us and not for anyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427.md?page=6)