Perceptions about USA from non-Americans that Americans might be surprised to learn

Based on what I have read so far on the Internets, I think mostly from Australians and Europeans (would LOVE to get comments from other cultures around the world):

-Tipping in restaurants. I thought tipping was universal, but not only is it not, many non-Americans feel wait staff is TOO pushy and too attentive and just trying to get a bigger tip; meanwhile, for us Americans, poor wait service is a top gripe of common everyday life, and the topic of what and what to not tip in certain restaurant situations is major internet fodder

-Large gaps in bathroom stall doors creating less privacy

-Our bread is too sweet

-The Pledge of Allegiance is weird. I get the comments about there being flags all over the place, too much patriotism, but are we the only country with a Pledge of Allegiance?

-Easy access to pharmaceuticals, and advertising pushing the patient to ask the Doctor for them, rather the Docter dictating to the patient what they will or will not take.

-We apparently have over-positive attitudes and outlooks on life, and think everything is “cool”, “awesome”.

-This one stunned me: Americans are too politically correct

-Taxes not included in pricing.

What other things shocked you when told so by foreigners, Americans? Also, non-Americans, what things about us do you think we should know that might shock us about ourselves?

Just to cross off your list we know:

–We are loud
–Fat and our food portions are too large
–Are patriotic assholes
–Our cities are poor
–We have too many guns
–We dont know how to speak your language
–We dont like soccer

Bring it on, World!!!:D:D:D

When I was in elementary school here in Canada, we’d stand and listen to the national anthem in the morning. That’s pretty similar.

A co-worker of mine from South America informs me we don’t know shit about political or civil unrest.

A friend from South Africa likewise tells me that comparing the American situation to Apartheid is ridiculous.

Our public toilets do not play music. :slight_smile:

Everyone in the USA is rich, at least a millionaire.

Shops close ridiculously early.
Fruit are big and tasteless
Corn is awesome
Infrastructure is pretty rundown
People are sincerely friendly and outgoing to complete strangers. Its quite endearing.
LEAs think that the public are to be feared and controlled rather then served
There are about 7084 regulations for everything…7083 of which make no sense and each and everyone has to be followed to the letter.
Natural resources are beyond abundant.

One I hear a lot is people’s irrational anger that the final transaction price never ends on a round number. Between sales taxes and tipping and the like, you end up always paying something like $36.43. Americans are largely inured to this because they just use credit for everything nowadays but foreigners who are used to dealing with cash end up with piles and piles of change at the end of the day.

Actually, we’re mostly just angry that we have to pay more than what it says on the sticker.

Observations from a Brit:

*Not only is the US one of the only countries still left in the world not using the metric system, but a lot of you guys actually think the US system is better (to be fair, I’ve also spoken to a lot of USAians that would prefer to use metric). I find that weird.

*You guys really don’t know what cheese is. Also, beer.

*Commercials. Like, everywhere. How do you guys put up with that? It’d drive me nuts.

*Admittedly, IME, this has got better in recent years, but as a culture you are perceived to be very ignorant on other countries and cultures. I remember a few years ago, having to explain to a woman why I, as a Brit, wasn’t going to be celebrating 4th July :smack:

*Everyone in Europe hates you when you complain about petrol (sorry, gas :wink: ) prices. We would be so, so happy to be able to pay what you guys pay.

Also, your accents: I think this sums it up quite well. :slight_smile:

(Don’t worry, I do actually like you guys. :slight_smile: )

Peanut butter and root beer.

I agree with you on cheese but some of the craft beer coming from the States these days is some of the best stuff in the world.
They have some great I.P.A.'s.
I know it’s easy to scoff at Miller Lite etc but that’s not a representation of what they truly have to offer.
I find their obsession with ice to be odd, there’s ice machines in every hotel/motel on veyr floor; at Walmart I was asked if I wanted to buy ice when I checked out my cases of soda and beer; the fridges in my rented villas have all dispensed ice.
They love ice.
Ice.

Also, a lot of Americans are surprised foreigners find eating corn on the cob to be disgusting. Corn seems like such an innocuous foodstuff to have strong feelings about.

Someone else in this thread mentioned foreigners finding corn in the USA amazing, I think both of these are because I’ve heard outside the USA sweet corn is uncommon and most corn is feed corn as it is called in the USA.

I know the only fresh corn on the cob I can find is disgusting and has no flavor.

OK, I’ll give you that - I’ve been hearing interesting things about the craft beer scene for a while now. Not yet had the opportunity to try any, though.
The mainstream market, though, is still pretty poor - I was shocked a few weeks ago to discover that Bud Lite is the most popular beer in the US.
Admittedly the UK isn’t much better (I think Carling is the most popular, which is pretty awful stuff) but there are still a lot of decent beers around that you can get in pretty much any pub you can go to.

There’s a class/culture divide with American beer. If you’re in any hip, urban enclave, you can’t get away from an abundance of high quality craft beer options. It’s often harder to find a non-PBR macrobrew than a craft beer in some bars.

Then you have the rural, more working class parts of the country where the big three still have their strongholds and which accounts for the large aggregate consumption of macrobrews.

I love corn on the cob. tastes amazing.

The fact that most American hospitals are profit-making businesses is mind-boggling to Europeans. As is the fact that so many Americans are against universal healthcare. You guys actually like spending thousands of dollars when you fall ill, even if you’ve already spent a fortune on insurance payments?!

(Of course, there are some private hospitals here for the rich, and some hospitals in America run by non-profit organizations.)

Also, the fact that so much of the country has to rely on volunteer firefighters (according to Wikipedia, 69% of firefighters in the US are volunteers). I’m sure the volunteers are wonderful people, and are very kind to give up their time and safety in this way, but damn, if my house were on fire, I’d want professionals, not Joe from the hardware store! Also, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, and the government doesn’t even compensate these guys for risking their lives? That’s just sad.

I think that’s more a function of America;s size than anything else. While cities have professional firefighters, rural areas are just too big and spread out to make professional coverage financially viable.

69% of the firefighters being volunteer does not mean that 69% of the population of the U.S. has a volunteer fire department.

Ditto for Canada. Volunteer firefighters are just as able and well-trained as their paid counterparts. In rural areas the fire department might get deployed a half dozen times a year. Hardly worth staffing a full department.

I agree with Alessan. I think the last I read about 90% of the land area in NSW was covered by volunteer fire fighters, while 10% was by the paid (metro) force. The volunteer fireys are pretty well trained, have continual ongoing training and a wealth of experience - they aren’t “less than” the paid force by any stretch. They just tend to focus more on different things. The volunteers are found in more rural areas generally, so while they do learn about house fires, a lot of their experience is around bush fire, hazard reduction burning and unfortunately, first repsonder to vehicle accidents; while the paid force tend to do more house and factory fire fighting.