# Non-Americans - name a thing you know about the US you got from the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930 "2012-09-07T00:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/121 "2012-09-15T01:14:35Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > 1. That americans are still dispensed medicines in bottles by pharmacists. Um … how else would we get them? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/122 "2012-09-15T01:18:20Z")
One thing I’ve noted from the SDMB that I’ve mentioned in previous threads: the continual concern/angst about one’s credit score/rating. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/123 "2012-09-15T02:12:34Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Um … how else would we get them? blister packs ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/124 "2012-09-15T03:37:39Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I seriously doubt this is what you learned from the SDMB. I can fathom how you may use what you read on the SDMB to reinforce these stereotypes (as a form of cognitive dissonance advoidance) , but these are stereotypes about Americans learned elsewhere. Nope. I had heard \*of \*these things before joining the SDMB, but I assumed it was hyperbole. I had never been to the US before about 10 years ago (around when I started reading here), and every American I had ever met seemed pretty much just like most Canadians. In retrospect I think I just never encountered a conservative, religious-right type and I assumed that their existence was blown out of proportion by TV shows and news. It wasn’t until I joined here that I found out that there really are Americans who carry a gun \*everywhere \*and consider it a big deal to have that right, for example. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I have noticed that in the US it’s usually called a Restroom, whereas in Canada it’s usually called a Washroom. Yeah, if you ask to be directed to the washroom in the US you’ll often be met with a blank stare. It is kind of silly - it sounds like you’re going to have a bath in there or something. But so does ‘bathroom’ I guess. And ‘restroom’ sounds like you might lie down and have a nap. There really is no non-euphemistic term for the place. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/125 "2012-09-15T03:50:01Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > It’s a child safety issue. It is required by law that any medication dispensed via prescription be provided in a child proof top bottle or child safe blister pack unless otherwise requested by the customer. (my husband is a pharmacy student 🙂 ) > > Here is a little background on it > [http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/384.pdf](http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/384.pdf) In the rest of the world, medication comes in childproof packaging too… but it’s not counted by the pharmacist. The blisters or bottles never, ever, get opened before used by the patient (or their caretaker). You believe you’re the only ones who think of the children? The only ones who’ve ever heard the expression “safety feature”? Really? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/126 "2012-09-15T06:34:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And now you’ve reminded me of another one - that couples in the US never, ever fart around each other. They hold it and run off to the bathroom every time they have to pass gas. 🙂 Sometimes I think we fart at each other more then we talk. Either way, it’s productive. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/127 "2012-09-15T07:59:58Z")
Geoducks - pronunciation “gooeyducks” and their erm… phallic appearance. Thanks Straight Dope ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/128 "2012-09-15T12:44:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > You believe you’re the only ones who think of the children? The only ones who’ve ever heard the expression “safety feature”? Really? :rolleyes: Is that really what you got from her post? Take a (pharmacist-provided, non-blister pack) chill pill. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/129 "2012-09-15T13:11:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In the rest of the world, medication comes in childproof packaging too… but it’s not counted by the pharmacist. The blisters or bottles never, ever, get opened before used by the patient (or their caretaker). > > You believe you’re the only ones who think of the children? The only ones who’ve ever heard the expression “safety feature”? Really? :rolleyes: And I used to have to pass off the blister pack to my ex roomies 8 year old kid to peel a dose out when my brain was misfiring and I could neither see straight nor coordinate my hands. [wicked bad migraines to the point of vomiting.] Loose pack pills are more prevalent here because the bean counters in the insurance companies want to make sure they limit access to medication. They want the doc to prescribe the absolute minimum number of pills possible. I personally wouldn’t mind blister pack, I got to where unless it was a humidity control issue I was peeling anything out and putting them into [pill keepers](http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy176/aruvqan/Miscellaneous/2010-01-29151627.jpg) a week or two ahead of time whenever I got given blisterpacks. The one BP med that was blisterpacked for humidity control came where you could subdivide the packs into 1 pill blisters. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/130 "2012-09-15T13:55:58Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Loose pack pills are more prevalent here because the bean counters in the insurance companies want to make sure they limit access to medication. They want the doc to prescribe the absolute minimum number of pills possible. Which has got nothing to do with child-proofing. In general, the American system puts more power/relies more on the “pros” (in quotes because often they aren’t particularly qualified) than on the patient; other places rely more on the patient. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/131 "2012-09-15T15:13:58Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Loose pack pills are more prevalent here because the bean counters in the insurance companies want to make sure they limit access to medication. They want the doc to prescribe the absolute minimum number of pills possible. And all pharmacists aren’t white knights. Some purposefully short-count pills. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/132 "2012-09-15T15:28:08Z")
The rise of blister packs has something to do with wasting drugs too, by the way. If you, for instance, nurse someone with an illness, to their death, you’ll be buried under drugs. Medications will be changed swiftly, tried and discarded in the weeks leading up to the end. We are talking about expensive drugs that never got used, and CANNOT be reused out of fear they may be contaminated. So you end up destroying, perfectly useful, already paid for, drugs that, somewhere in the world, someone else is screaming for! More pills than you imagine, I promise. Blister packs change that. Drugs in blister packs CAN be recycled to 3rd world countries, where they are often desperately needed, without fear of contamination. I do realize they can be an annoyance to some, and just wanted to point out there is an upside, too. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/133 "2012-09-15T15:33:25Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > And all pharmacists aren’t white knights. Some purposefully short-count pills. Ummm… If they want to lose their license as a pharmacist (and it doesn’t take much-- they’re very strict. A friend of mine snuck a few pills out for herself over the course of a week, got a visit from The Men In White and within two days was not a pharmacist – ever again, I believe). But they sure do limit pills here in the States. You have to plead and get a note from the prescribing doctor to get more than 30 days’ worth of most meds. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/134 "2012-09-16T03:14:54Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ummm… If they want to lose their license as a pharmacist (and it doesn’t take much-- they’re very strict. A friend of mine snuck a few pills out for herself over the course of a week, got a visit from The Men In White and within two days was not a pharmacist – ever again, I believe). > > But they sure do limit pills here in the States. You have to plead and get a note from the prescribing doctor to get more than 30 days’ worth of most meds. That’s your insurance company , your doctor or the prescription is for something you wouldn’t normally take for 30 days. My husband and I get 90 days worth of prescription medication all the time.The insurance company will only pay for 90 days at a time. The doctor will write the prescription to allow refills for six months or a year. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/135 "2012-09-16T06:47:54Z")
I’ve never had a co-worker ask me religion. But if one did my reaction would be a lot closer to “oh, you’re one of those” than to “I am surprised at your conduct, because it is in conflict with the cultural values I assumed we shared.” You learn a lot more about America – or anywhere – from what people take for granted, as normal, than from what they explicitly say. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/136 "2012-09-16T07:49:29Z")
Columbus Day= Italian American heritage celebration. I had no clue but probably because I call that day [Thanksgiving](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(Canada)). Again, the fact that anyone you work with would care where or if you go to church. Thirty years ago or more, it might have made a difference between Protestants and Catholics in [Ontario](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separate_school#Ontario), especially with the school system but other than that… ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/137 "2012-09-16T08:18:01Z")
As an American from Detroit, Michigan (and who has traveled to many diverse places in the US, currently posting from San Francisco on business), I’m finding this thread equally bizarre, amusing, and unsettling. Remember, this board is comprised largely of opinionated, vocal, liberal/progressive Americans. There’s a huge, diffuse middle ground out there, so you’re sort of parsing a lot of the collateral hyperbole. Besides some really strange political/religious times and yes, some very poor gang-ridden patches in some ghettos—in reality, I can’t imagine anything more than a few odd, but minor culture-shocks. Anyhow, continue away, it’s sort of interesting… ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/138 "2012-09-16T18:29:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In the rest of the world, medication comes in childproof packaging too… but it’s not counted by the pharmacist. The blisters or bottles never, ever, get opened before used by the patient (or their caretaker). > > You believe you’re the only ones who think of the children? The only ones who’ve ever heard the expression “safety feature”? Really? :rolleyes: NO. I was just explaining why the bottles exist. Medication is counted because it comes in bulk and different patients get different dosing and different refill schedules. They need the pharm or pharm tech to count and make sure the right amount, dose, and type are dispensed to the correct patient. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/139 "2012-09-16T18:37:51Z")
I like this list better. You may not have previously learned this from the SDMB, but now you have! > [@http://destinationamerica.tumblr.com](#): > > We’ve scoured the country, from mountains to coasts, to create great content on Destination America, and we’ve seen some strange things along the way. Check out the Top 10 surprising trivia twists we’ve collected about America that made the journey a lot more fun! > > Check out our favorite strange American factoids, and meet our crew: > > 1. Moose-vehicle collisions cost Alaskans nearly $14 million per year. That’s $63 per Alaska moose. – Cassie, Digital Producer > > 2. Although English is the most commonly spoken language used in the U.S. and is the language used in government, the country has no official language. – Pam, Executive Assistant > > 3. Montana has three times as many cows as it does people. – Leah, Scheduling Coordinator > > 4. In the state of Kentucky, it is illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket. – Fay, Executive Producer > > 5. In Maine, it is against the law to stroll down the street playing the violin. – Alyshia, Marketing Manager > > 6. Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant. – Matt, VP of Scheduling > > 7. George Washington grew marijuana in his garden. – Paul, Production Coordinator > > 8. It’s against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas. – Sierra, Development Coordinator > > 9. The first Harley built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor. - Nicole, Talent and Casting Manager > > 10. Yellowstone Park sits on a supervolcano—packing enough wallop to destroy much of North America and start an ice age. There are two other supervolcanos in the United States—Long Valley in California and Valles Caldera in New Mexico. - Marc, SVP of Content and Strategy ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/140 "2012-09-16T19:02:52Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > blister packs Still confused. How do they get the right number of pills? Do they cut off the extra? What happens to those? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930.md?page=8)