There’s 2 places that serve Pancakes as part of a meal? U guys have it all!!!
He’s joking but yes, there are several. Even Chicken & Waffles.
It gets better. This is definitely something foreigners should know - Many IHOP restaurants are open 24 hours a day.
So you can get pancakes at 3am if you want, although I would warn you that IHOP often has really poor service. On the other hand, for much of the world that may make you feel right at home. 
I would rephrase that as “standards about what’s considered good service are very different”. Many of us see the friendliness as fake and the attentiveness as obstrusive (why are you asking whether everything was fine? My plate is clean, it wouldn’t be clean if things hadn’t been fine!).
I’m now wondering why the reason the girl inside google’s GPS sounds like a damned aerobics teacher: “iiiin! one kilo-meteeeer! take the… riiiight! exiiit!” She’s been told to sound “perky” because that’s what Americans expect and associate with good service.
Interestingly, Michael loves IHOP, too.
What is it about Glaswegians and three out of four German nihilists that makes them prefer pancakes?
(And I promise no more youtube links, two in a row is my limit.)
As a Canadian non-US doper I can honestly say that culturally there’s nothing that really strikes me as out of the ordinary.
I’ve pretty much felt at home regardless of where I’ve traveled in the US. For the most part I’m able to fit in and not appear as a foreigner though, and I’m sure that helps.
I try to limit my “ehs” and “abouts.”
This was it for me. Visiting from New Zealand, where the penalties for not displaying the full, everything-inclusive price were significant and heavily enforced, the practice of not including tax in the price and then just expecting people to accept the (different to the advertised) magic number the retailer named instead came across then (and does even now) as some form of underhanded chicanery.
The fact Americans were not only OK with, but actively defended, this practice was also baffling.
You’d love the new grocery store in my town. It uses what it calls “cost plus” pricing. They put a number they claim is their cost on the price tag, and you pay 10% more at the register. This is explained on a notice at the front door, and I think it’s in fine print on their ads, but when you’re browsing the store or looking at the giant numbers in the ad, all you see is the (claimed) “cost” that’s actually 10% higher when you pay. (Most stuff in the store is tax-free food, but anything taxable will then have sales taxes added on to the 110% figure.)
I think it’s the only store of its type in this part of the country, but I’ve heard it’s more prevalent in the south. (In case you don’t believe me, and I didn’t believe it when I saw it, here’s an article about a store somewhere changing to this system.)
Its that pesky 1st amendment thing.
That’s the way the commissary works, though it’s only a 5% surcharge there. Still much cheaper than civilian supermarkets, though…
I was not prepared for the nasty miserable attitude of the border crossing guards.
This was well before 911. I was driving to Las Vegas for a two week holiday and I wanted to run some Blackjack simulations on my PC. So I took it with me in my sports car. It was a small RX-7 and this was before the day of portable computers. It seemed like half my car was filled with my PC (and printer and other attachments).
The border guards treated me as if I was an arch criminal. I had all my proper identification. I had copies of my reservation at a Las Vegas hotel for two weeks. But these customs jerks basically ripped apart everything in my car looking for some kind of illegal stuff. I have no idea what their problems was. I treated them with courtesy and respect.
It seems like the thing that really got them angry was when I kept telling them I was telling them the truth and I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I told them this several times and each time I did, they just reacted with greater anger. After telling them this about 3 times, I figured that I better not do that anymore. Lord have mercy!
I had a personal diary in which I had kept notes of my business dealings. They tore it apart and tore out many pages and kept them. It was just blatant “theft”. They had no business doing that.
Finally, after huffing and puffing and blowing everything apart, they basically told me to “fuck off” and let me go.
I have never understood why they would have reacted that way. They acted like unprofessional, uneducated ruffians and I never understood why.
I just wish I could tell you that I got back at them somehow. But I never did. This happened around 1987.
I think hiding the tax into the overall price is the greater chicanery.
Is it against the law in NZ to display the following:
Price: $10
Tax: $2
“Everything Inclusive”: $12
on the products?
(Essentially I’m wondering if the price and tax are displayed, or if only the “everything inclusive” price is allowed to be displayed?)
Why would you, as a consumer, want this? I mean, it would be interesting to see what was the cost of transport and how much went to overhead or employe benefits or sales tax or whatever, but at the end of the day you have to pay one price, and you don’t get to negotiate.
I was born & raised in America and live in Canada, which has the same stupid system, and I have just never understood the appeal.
If it makes you feel better, this U.S. citizen was similarly treated in the 1980’s. It’s just a tiny minority, but some Americans (whether policing officials or not) have a sense of entitlement different from elsewhere.
I’m curious: Do you like being reminded how much the E.G. is stealing?
I, as a taxpayer want this information. What’s so difficult about this concept?
Do note that with the fragmented governments of the US who set sales tax rates, a 5 minute drive could save you hundreds of dollars on a large purchase. Again… why wouldn’t I want to know this?
VAT-type taxes must always be printed on the receipt, so businesses can deduct it. Is that really not enough?
From the NZ Government website:
I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.
So the sales tax is broken down, but you’re informed after the purchase is made?
Again, with over 30,000 varying sales tax rates in the US, it’s easy to understand why we do it the way we do it. When you have only a national sales tax, then the all-inclusive way makes better sense.