I’m not sure if I understand this cellphone thing?
Like most, I bought my phone cheaper being subsidized through my carrier (AT&T) with a 2-year contract, and picked a plan that suits me. 400 rollover minutes, nights and weekends free, call to call free for others on the same carrier, and I included unlimited data & texting.
The only time I remember blister packs was antibiotics for myself, which are already prepackaged for a strict dosage. Also stuff like birthcontrol, again, prepackaged to follow a strict regimen.
On the rare occasions when it is necessary, they may cut off the extra (it happened to me recently, when a doctor had only prescribed me 7 sleeping pills). I Don’t know what happens to them (probably trashed). For the most part it is not an issue because either you are getting a pre-packaged complete course of treatment (such things antibiotics) or you are getting a 28 day supply, which you will probably get renewed when you run out.
Anyway, although most pills may still be counted out and dispensed into phials in America, blister packs of prescription drugs are far from unknown. I used to get some of my stuff from Wal-Mart dispensed in blister packs, with the cards inside bulky plastic sleeves. (I have no idea what the sleeves were for. You could not readily remove the cards from the sleeves, but had to slide them part way out to pop the blister, and then slide them back in again. It seems like the sleeves wold be an unnecessary expense, but, being Wal-Mart, I presume they bought them in this form because it was cheaper than the “regular” way. I was only using Wal-Mart because they were cheaper than other pharmacies.)
It’s funny that I have the opposite impression when comparing the U.S. (Northeast) and Canada.
In Canada there’s a lot of very casual talk about personal religion and it seemed that just about everyone went to church on Sunday and wore a cross necklace…
In the Northeast U.S., talk about personal religion is much more muted (not too far from a taboo subject) and not discussed at all in the workplace. Seems like everyone is very careful not to burn any bridges in case they are dealing with someone of a different religion. Hardly anyone wears a cross necklace either!
When I went to the Midwest U.S., it felt like I was back in Canada.
Having said that - there’s a lot less mixing of federal politics and religion in Canada.
In the USA it’s common that the carrier’s cheapest plans charge you per text message or gives you a pathetic number of X free texts, the next pay level is that you are charged after passing the (X+Y)th message and so on until you get to unlimited, with the per-message charge for those “excess” texts being significant. Menwhile, again in their base plans many US carriers count both sent and received calls against your regular-charge minutes so both the originator and receiver are being charged.
Apparently in a number of other countries, unlimited texts are the norm right off the bat (and they really should be here, too, it costs the carriers virtually nothing), and received calls never count against your minutes.
But as **cmyk **points out, many of us DO already choose to subscribe to a cell phone plan where for a varyingly higher flat rate we do not get aditionally billed for text messages or received calls.The question becomes one of what are the real costs at the end of the month.
just thinking about my cell phone plan makes me sad/angry so I’d rather practice a form of willful ignorance.
Exactly - there’s nothing uncouth about saying “I had to get a new valve for the toilet” or “No, I can’t go out, I have to fix the toilet” or “Asshole left the toilet seat up and I fell in and got stuck again” (okay, maybe that last one) - IOW the word isn’t indiscreet, it just isn’t used for anything but the fixture.
On the other hand, it might be indiscreet to say “I need to use the toilet.” Just ask for the bathroom or the restroom or the ladies’ room or the men’s room. We don’t need to know exactly what you’re going to do in there.
On the other end of the spectrum, it is hilarious to hear somebody say “My dog just went to the bathroom on your sidewalk!” I didn’t even know I had a bathroom on my sidewalk!
on the other other other hand I usually just say I gotta pee.:eek:
I get strange looks from everyone, no matter the nationality, so everyone wins!
To be safe just call it a terlet like Archie Bunker did.
Some of the debates here remind of of a story from an organisation I worked for.
A group of senior managers, even after debating thoroughly, couldn’t agree on how many pages should a printed invoice have.:smack:
Another thing I learnt was that American blister packs for drugs are difficult to open. I found that quite strange. The blister packs I’ve come across in Europe and India are extremely easy to open.
How expensive is the US for cell phones? For comparison, in India at nominal(not PPP) exchange rates, I pay 5 USD a month for rental, 1 cent per minute for calls within the same city, 2 cents per minute for calls in the same state, 3 cents per minute for calls within the country. 500 minutes are free, sending a text is 0.2 cents. Receiving calls and messages is free(for all rental plans).
Where in Canada were you? There are certainly parts of Canada where religion is a common topic and most people go to church - usually more rural areas, especially in the prairies and the maritimes. But in other places, not so much. I’m sure that’s true in the US too.
here in Seattle I have encountered occasional christian whackyness, including one place that was hiring for a job I was certainly qualified for (and needed) that had a crystal clear christian message and a subtle (like a brick to the face) message implying that you need not apply if you aren’t christian.
a few gun owners.
fuck health care, I have in my entire adult life had health care for a few years. I went to the dentist a couple years ago for the first time in over 20 years. it never fails to amaze me that people can so easily be convinced to vote against their own self interests so easily.
I pay $225/month for 2 phones and 1 air card. (AT&T)
The air card is for 5GB of data for $60.
The Blackberry is unlimited everything except for daytime cell to land line minutes. The android is 3MB of data, unlimited text, unlimited talk except for daytime cell to land line minutes The two phones share 700 rollover minutes of daytime cell to land line minutes.
I pay $2.99/month for roadside assistance and .99/month for having a ring back tone and I think 7.99/month insurance on android.
The roadside assistance more than pays for itself. It goes with the phone so it covers any car I am with, you get up to 4 service calls a year.
My friend pays $240 for two phones and 1 tablet. (Nextel)
The tablet is $60 for 5GB of data and unlimited text.
Two android phones with unlimited everything except they share 1400 of cell to land line daytime minutes. One of the android phones pays an extra $10 for 4G service and both of those phones have insurance on them.
You can get cheaper service, but AT&T and Nextel are very reliable in this area. My friend is a truck driver and he very seldom loses service, sometimes it can get bad when he is in the mountains. I never lose service. Can’t say the same for my friends with Verizon and Cricket.
That was southern Ontario around Huron, Lambton and Middlesex counties. It’s fair to call it semi-rural.
At that time, in urban areas like London, Ontario or Toronto, people just turned their crosses upside down and did the vampire/satanist/pagan/Anne Rice thing 
This has been my favorite thread in a long while here. We’re not a very introspective nation and the outside perspectives are really interesting.
I, too, have been following this thread with much interest. I’ve just found out that Americans (well, some of you) give money at a funeral. I was stunned.
I’ve seen a collection taken up and given quietly after a wake or a viewing to help defray the cost of an unexpected funeral; nothing overt or like the ‘wishing well’ or card basket one would see at a celebratory event, though. Can you point out where you saw what you’re referring to?
Another thing that’s done in the States on a regional basis is pulling over to show respect when a funeral procession approaches on the other side of the road.