# Weirdest things about America **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691 "2003-08-07T23:18:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/1 "2003-08-07T23:18:37Z")
Ok, you furriners, what’s the most arresting things you’ve found while in America? I love to hear these stories of different expectations. I knew a guy who went back to Japan after living the States for many years, and was semi-horrified to be back on the sardine-packed trains. “I can’t believe I used to do this both directions every day.” There was a thread like this that I started before, probably over a year ago, but I think it was swallowed in the Great Crash of 2002. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/2 "2003-08-07T23:26:23Z")
We recently had a training I delivered here and we had some Aussies, SE Asians, Europeans and Indians. To all of them the weirdest part was the commercials for perscription drugs (like Zoloft). They said, well you can’t just go out and buy it right? you need a perscription… so why advertise it? Wouldn’t a doctor know what to give you. They do sorta have a point. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/3 "2003-08-07T23:54:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > \*\*We recently had a training I delivered here and we had some Aussies, SE Asians, Europeans and Indians. To all of them the weirdest part was the commercials for perscription drugs (like Zoloft). \*\* I’m an American and _ **I** _ think they’re weird, too. The strangest one (IMO) is for some sort of liquid glue (that purple stuff) to be used in place of sutures. I can’t imagine being in the ER with a huge gash and questioning the doctor’s advice of regular sutures or that other stuff. “Oh, excuse me, doc, could you use that liquid purple stuff? Not that I’m questioning your years of med school and years of training and experience, but I saw this commercial…” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/4 "2003-08-08T04:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\*There was a thread like this that I started before, probably over a year ago, but I think it was swallowed in the Great Crash of 2002. \*\* I think I remember the thread you’re talking about. My favorite was the Dutch guy who was amazed that so many Americans eat out for breakfast. He was also amazed at how we eat PANCAKES for breakfast, since pancakes are a dessert/snack item in Europe. And he was _really_ tripped out by International House Of Pancakes – how, so many American leave the house to eat pancakes for breakfast, there’s actually a chain of restaurants that specialize in it! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/5 "2003-08-08T05:58:10Z")
Back when I was in high school, we had a foreign exchange student from Brazil. One day, on the bus, she became extremely animated, snapping photos and pointing at a semi hauling a mobile home down the highway. “It’s a house!” she shouted. “There’s a house on a truck! On the road! It’s riding down the road!” Then she burst in to laughter. “They’ll never believe this at home unless I send the photo.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/6 "2003-08-08T14:02:14Z")
The thing that always gets me when I go to the States is the use of _fractions_ on road signs: Smith Street 1/4 mile, I-275 3/4 mile, etc. Now, I can handle miles, even though I’m used to kilometres, but the fractions just look so odd. Still, I guess ‘1/4 mile’ is easier to to pick up in a glance than ‘440 yards’… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/7 "2003-08-08T14:09:29Z")
The size of the restaurant portions. ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/8 "2003-08-08T14:39:20Z")
The TV ads every five minutes, especially ads run directly after the opening credits and before the closing ones. When I was there in 1994, I used crack up at all the ‘when stunts go wrong’, ‘when animals attack’ etc. programmes with guys who introduced themselves Troy McLure style at the start. Since then though, these programmes have crossed the Atlantic in droves. I love the fibreglass monstrosities on the side of the road. God bless Paul Bunyon, cows, thermometers and their ilk. Does planning permission exist in the states? All you can eat for $7 - class. The obsession with supermarket vouchers. Filter right on a red light - great idea actually. Correct etiquette in bars. Between leaving my money on the counter, getting beermats put on top of it when someone bought me a drink, getting ‘buy backs’ from the barman and tipping, I didn’t know where I was. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/9 "2003-08-08T14:43:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Filter right on a red light - great idea actually. might not work here as we drive on the left 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/10 "2003-08-08T14:55:29Z")
Don’t be a sissy, **TwistofFate**. Reminds me of when I was in England, I was driving my friend’s car down this country road out near Winchester. It was a two lane road, but no lane markers. Anyway, I was pretty good about staying on the left hand side, but then I needed to make a right onto the main highway. That’s when my American instincts took over. I immediately drove like I would making a right in the States, and wandered over to the right hand side of the road to wait for traffic to clear so I could pull onto the highway. After I pulled into traffic, my friend deadpanned, “Pretty good, but over here we stay in the left lane.” I knew that… ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/11 "2003-08-08T15:08:11Z")
When I first got to the states, I was most amazed at the drive throughs. And to this day, places of business that are open 24 hours? My God, that’s amazing. Why the hell do they even need locks on their doors? I can go to Denny’s at two in the morning if I like. Also, the term “drug stores” throws me for a loop. It sounds illegal to me. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/12 "2003-08-08T15:16:12Z")
Oh, and the way people (outside the major cities) drive _everywhere_, like, to a place 2 minutes’ walk away. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/13 "2003-08-08T15:34:23Z")
The size of a take-away coffee (in New York). It usually comes in a paper cup with a covering, the whole thing being about the size of a soda at McDonald’s. Beef jerky. Maitre’d’s (or whatever those people are called who are positioned at the entrance of the restaurant and check whether you can be seated).People who bag your grocery stuff at supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/14 "2003-08-08T15:38:51Z")
Again, in New York: having to haggle to buy simple stuff like consumer electronics. When I ask how much something costs, I’m not used to get the answer ‘how much are you willing to spend?’. Not that it’s bad, but it seriously wierded me out. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/15 "2003-08-08T15:46:45Z")
**Tusculan** , were these ‘stores’ by any chance in the back of trucks or on sidewalks? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/16 "2003-08-08T18:29:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > \*\*The TV ads every five minutes, especially ads run directly after the opening credits and before the closing ones. > \*\* They serious don’t do this elsewhere? Man, the over-abundance of commercials is the reason why I only watch PBS! Oh, and $7.00 for an all-you-can-eat buffet? That’s a rip-off, man. There’s a Chinese buffet by my TKD school: $3.50 for an unlimited lunch. It’s good stuff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/17 "2003-08-08T20:16:05Z")
Laugh-tracks during episodes of MASH. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/18 "2003-08-09T02:29:01Z")
What’s weird about grocery baggers? ---
**Author:** ![drgnlvr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@drgnlvr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgnlvr)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/19 "2003-08-09T04:48:58Z")
After talking on-line with a friend in the Netherlands, I discovered that apparently, the satandard American bathroom…with tub/shower combo, sink and toilet all in the same room was unusual. At least to him. Is that odd to anyone else from eslewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_B.Goode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Johnny\_B.Goode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_B.Goode)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/20 "2003-08-09T07:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j66 \* > \*\*What’s weird about grocery baggers? \*\* In Europe (including the UK), unlike Asia, Australia and the US, it is usually the customer that bags their groceries. I know… different service ethic, I guess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691.md?page=2)