Swift boats, and the veterans thereon.
Wal-Mart.
Jack Chick.
Corked bats.
Grits.
Janet Jackson’s nipple.
All these things mean nothing to me. I love being able to turn the page, skip the thread, switch my brain off, when these things are mentioned.
(Is this SIMS M and P enough for y’all?)
All those things, and sports I couldn’t possibly be any less interested in American sports threads.
Then again, I can’t imagine you guys are at all interested in distinct society and the notwithstanding clause, either. 
Can you hear a noise in hear, Lobsang?
No? Thought not. 
Nothing except the hamster-wheels.
Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet! So There! 
Sports, politics, car racing, monster trucks, Janet Jackson’s nipple, what’s on TV. Goes right by me.
I know it says Florida in my location, but I’m from out of town. WAY out of town.
I’ll take the apple pie and hot dogs, thanks. You can keep the other two though.
You should really turn on your taste buds to the miracle that is grits. All the other shit is inconsequential. Grits are necessary.
And okra. Don’t forget the okra.
I never thought I’d side with a pack of furriners against my fellow Americans, but you two need to get lost.
Okra Winfrey? 
Wait a sec. . . Grits have taste???
Hey, You guys should be flattered that the need even exists to list things American that pass you by. If this board were mostly furriners nigh on ALL of it would pass you guys by!
(not ranting, Just saying)
No, they don’t. They are merely a vessel for getting butter, salt and pepper (or any other combination of condiments) into your gullet.
The first time I had them was when I was in the hospital in NC (I was a transplanted Yankee at the time) and they were horrible. I tried them again this year at a Waffle House during a visit to Raleigh. Still horrible.
I don’t get the appeal, but then I’m not Southern.
Allow me to clarify for you the origin of grits.
There was this good ol’ boy who was Thomas Alva Edison’s distant cousin, and he fancied himself something of an inventor too.
There was a bumper crop of corn one year, and he’d taken a bushel or so of it and was experimenting with it to figure out what else could be made from it.
He’d boiled up a mess of ground corn on the stove one day, and realized that the gritty, sticky mess would make excellent traction. Since it was winter, and the roads iced over every time there was a cold snap, he decided to make up a mess of it when that happened and use it for a demonstration.
His neighbor stopped over to visit as he was preparing his miracle highway-traction compound, and, before he could stop him, took a ladle and ate a bite.
“This would be good with a mite more salt,” was the comment.
The inventor calmed himself, and resolutely decided to market the highway traction compound as a foodstuff, retaining the name he’d picked out to describe its traction-giving ability.
And that, my friend, is the origin of grits!
Let me just state that I have learned more about American culture (as well as a lot of other things) here on the SDMB, than anywhere else. So I actually know what the OP is talking about. Mostly. Except for the corked bats.
Where I come from, “Grits” are members of the Liberal Party. We do not eat them.
Of course, where I come from, “liberal” isn’t an all-purpose insult either.
Hmmm… what’s this ‘column shift’ you Yanqies talk of?
I had grits for breakfast this morning and they were quite good. Much better than the oatmeal my boss had. The great thing about them is that you can put anything in them and they’ll still taste great although the more traditional Southerners would turn their nose up at the honey grits I had this morning. Their loss though.
And so far as this thread goes, I’m American and almost all of this goes right past me too. None of it interests me although I’d much rather read page after page about Jack Chick condemning Janet Jackson at Wal Mart than have to read one about David Beckham, marmite, and cross dressing comedians.
Be fari, reading about David Beckham and Marmite would make anyone cross.