# Perceptions about USA from non-Americans that Americans might be surprised to learn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2015, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918 "2015-05-13T06:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/41 "2015-05-13T14:33:39Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > 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. > [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Goddammit, if we go to single payer then poor people who aren’t as deserving as me will receive health care that’s just as good. Freedom! There may be something to this, in addition to the Republican Party successfully convincing its constituents to vote against its better interest to maintain a system that is ridiculously expensive for the consumer and just as ridiculously lucrative for the medical insurance industry. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/42 "2015-05-13T14:36:08Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > When in college, I advocated metric to my FIL, who suggested that retooling the construction industry, the automotive industry and every one’s tools would be prohibitively expensive. The automotive industry went metric a long time ago, I believe it’s true for most manufacturing in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/43 "2015-05-13T14:38:00Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > How often does one encounter the Pledge of Allegiance? Isn’t it weird that we sing the national anthem at sporting events? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/44 "2015-05-13T14:42:20Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > When in college, I advocated metric to my FIL, who suggested that retooling the construction industry, the automotive industry and every one’s tools would be prohibitively expensive. That’s true enough. But that’s a reason not to switch (and, to be fair, a good one) - it’s not a reason that US system is inherently better, which I have seen people claiming. Like [this blog](http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/03/metric%20system%20doesn't%20measure%20up.html), for instance - a whole load of vague points that make no sense or aren’t even relevant (A whole section on Harry Potter? Really? On a science blog?). I have to say, though, I do like the cups system for cooking. That does make sense to me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/45 "2015-05-13T14:48:31Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > How often does one encounter the Pledge of Allegiance? City council meetings, functions at the local school, and for students, and their teachers, every damn day. I’m very happy to be a citizen of this nation, but the pledge is creepy as Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/46 "2015-05-13T14:52:25Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Only America has change? Every time I go to Canada I come back with a huge handful of loonies and toonies. > > Good thread though. Only Americans get Canadian change. Canadians use debit cards. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/47 "2015-05-13T14:55:37Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > Only Americans get Canadian change. Canadians use debit cards. 😃 I still don’t get how you guys tip your strippers. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/48 "2015-05-13T14:55:59Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > 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. In some ways it gets worse; those volunteers often have to raise the money for their equipment (including the trucks) themselves. Including insurance for when we get injured or killed. We’re just a strange people like that; ready to risk ourselves for a neighbor we may have never met. But the trend is playing out; many departments are really struggling to find people to volunteer. Our volunteers train and learn standing next to the professionals in many cases, so there really isn’t a lot of difference person-to-person. What makes it needed is our size and how much is rural/small town. Something like 95% of Pennsylvania (in terms of square miles and not population) or better falls under VFD protection. To turn all those positions into government paid and funded jobs would break our budget more than it is already broken. The option to leave it unprotected just isn’t something we “Americans” are comfortable with. So we have the system we have. > [@Leaffan](#): > > You’re way too religious. That’s my perception. You won’t find another developed first-world country that’s as religious as the US. Something for the YMMV department; I think the same thing about Canada every time I hear their National Anthem sung. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/49 "2015-05-13T15:00:13Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The automotive industry went metric a long time ago, I believe it’s true for most manufacturing in the US. I won an argument with my Father in law? _Dammit, he’s dead._ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/50 "2015-05-13T15:00:38Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > 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. You can leave “rural” out of that last sentence; in my part of Dallas, the beer selection is highly dependent on the income level of the clientele. A gas station in say… Uptown, Allen, Plano or Frisco might have offerings from New Belgium, Odell, and a few Euro imports as well as the Big 3 beers, Corona, Dos Equis and usually Tecate. Go to a gas station in a poorer part of town, and it’ll be the Big 3, various malt liquors and cheap stuff like “Steel Reserve”, the common Mexican beers, and _maybe_ Heineken as the only non-Mexican import. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/51 "2015-05-13T15:01:40Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > it’s not a reason that US system is inherently better, which I have seen people claiming. Do not most people believe that their own way of doing things is the best? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/52 "2015-05-13T15:03:07Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Only America has change? Every time I go to Canada I come back with a huge handful of loonies and toonies. > > Good thread though. You may come back with a bunch of loonies and toonies, but you won’t come back with any pennies (at least not any that you didn’t arrive in Canada with). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/53 "2015-05-13T15:05:23Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > When in college, I advocated metric to my FIL, who suggested that retooling the construction industry, the automotive industry and every one’s tools would be prohibitively expensive. I think this is the only valid objection to adopting metric. Other than that, I’m all for it. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/54 "2015-05-13T15:07:02Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I still don’t get how you guys tip your strippers. Wait until they’re asleep or nearly so, then come up behind them and push. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/55 "2015-05-13T15:08:17Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Shops close ridiculously early. Actually I’ve found it to be the opposite. When I was in the UK & Ireland I was surprised how early most places closed, and on Sunday how a lot of places weren’t even open! ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/56 "2015-05-13T15:12:05Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I still don’t get how you guys tip your strippers. You don’t want to think about where the card reader is. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/57 "2015-05-13T15:12:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Do not most people believe that their own way of doing things is the best? > :rolleyes: Good point. 🙂 However, I can speak with some authority on this - in the UK, we only recently switched over to metric, and I’m old enough that I was taught both systems, but grew up with imperial as the prevalent one. But despite growing up with imperial, as soon as I realised metric was a thing that I could use, I was all over that. It was so much more intuitive to me. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/58 "2015-05-13T15:12:46Z")
Europeans: “Americans are hung up on incomprehensible dating rituals. Imagine having to pick the girl up at her house! They’re so repressed it’s pathetic.” Asians: “My first day in an American school, I thought I was in a live-action porn movie because boys and girls were holding hands right out in the open. Americans are so decadent!” I’unno. They can’t both be right. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/59 "2015-05-13T15:22:50Z")
… you do realize that Europe and Asia are on different continents, right? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/60 "2015-05-13T15:24:43Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > Good point. 🙂 > > However, I can speak with some authority on this - in the UK, we only recently switched over to metric, and I’m old enough that I was taught both systems, but grew up with imperial as the prevalent one. > But despite growing up with imperial, as soon as I realised metric was a thing that I could use, I was all over that. It was so much more intuitive to me. I became familiar with it in engineering school. I am curious if you have a technical education. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918.md?page=4)