# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/41 "2003-08-09T13:23:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > \*\*… > > 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? > > …\*\* It exists but there isn’t one set of rules for the whole country…it is rather large. Planning and zoning are usually regulated at the local level. Rural locations along a highway that depend heavily on dollars from passing motorists are more likely to look kindly on this kind of thing than, say, an upscale image-concious residential area. I know at least one other country that has this type of thing: Bill Bryson describes many such giant roadside artifacts in Australia. Again, rural areas mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/42 "2003-08-09T13:30:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph \* > \*\* > I know at least one other country that has this type of thing: Bill Bryson describes many such giant roadside artifacts in Australia. Again, rural areas mostly. \*\* Thankfully they’re a bit spread out, I’ve only actually been to the big pineapple. It’s a giant fibreglass pineapple you can go inside. Whee. (small hijack, why’d the title of that book get changed from “Bill Bryson Down Under” to “From a Sunburned Country”?) ---
**Author:** ![skeptic\_ev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/43 "2003-08-09T13:40:53Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by bbart4_ > > \*\*There are quite a lot of comfy heels that can be worn to work, no? \*\* Um, no. The phrase “comfy heels” is along the same lines as jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, etc. If they’re truly heels, that is. Chunky mules, clogs, etc., are much more comfortable than pumps but still not something you want to walk a mile in. I’d like to (posthumously) smack Queen Elizabeth (or whoever it was that started this whole high heel thing). As an American, I have to say that I also have always been mystified by the prescription drug ads … but no one’s ever asked me to haggle for anything. Ooh, ooh, I’ve got one! This might not be just an American thing, but who ever thought it would be a good idea to stir your coffee with a tiny little straw? What’s wrong with a SPOON? And who convinced the entire country that those things were the way to go? THAT’S marketing genius. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/44 "2003-08-09T13:41:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*…(small hijack, why’d the title of that book get changed from “Bill Bryson Down Under” to “From a Sunburned Country”?) \*\* All I know is the “In a Sunburned Country” part comes from a song, although Bryson himself admits the song actually goes “In a Sunburnt Country”. I never heard the Down Under title…was it published as that elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/45 "2003-08-09T13:45:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by skeptic\_ev \* > \*\*… > > Ooh, ooh, I’ve got one! This might not be just an American thing, but who ever thought it would be a good idea to stir your coffee with a tiny little straw? What’s wrong with a SPOON? And who convinced the entire country that those things were the way to go? THAT’S marketing genius. \*\* I think the idea is that the little straw thingy is cheaper than a plastic disposable spoon, and the difference in price adds up over thousands of cups of coffee. I’ve only ever gotten the straw or wooden stirrers in coffee to go, where a real spoon isn’t an option. I think the prescription drug adds are weird too, but apparently the pharmaceutical companies keep doing them because they work…enough people go to their doctor and ask to be put on the new drug that they end up selling more of it. It works best for people that are already taking something for that particular condition, and want to try something else. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/46 "2003-08-09T13:57:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*You whaa? > > All the marshmallows I can buy are made in China! 🙂 \*\* Well, this was many years ago, before the great China marshmallow revolution. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/47 "2003-08-09T14:18:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph \* > \*\*All I know is the “In a Sunburned Country” part comes from a song, although Bryson himself admits the song actually goes “In a Sunburnt Country”. I never heard the Down Under title…was it published as that elsewhere? \*\* That’s what my copy is titled, also, it was published in 2000. I thought “Sunburned Country” was maybe a new book on Australia but on examination in a bookstore it’s the same book. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/48 "2003-08-09T14:28:03Z")
It was called “Down Under” in the UK and Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/49 "2003-08-09T15:14:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > \*\*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? \*\* As a planner, I can definitely say “yes.” The philosophy of land use control tends to vary from place to place, though. Texas and Georgia are known for massive, extremely tall business signs and minimal land use controls. Go to someplace like the Phoenix, Kansas City, or Denver areas, and sign regulations tend to be quite strict. US cities are increasingly adopting very strict architectural control, andscaping and signage regulations. Most places in the US (and Canada, Australia and New Zealand) also have zoning, which is quite different than the land use control system in the UK and Ireland. As for the giant lizards, lumberjacks, cows, and other kitschy civic displays … it’s something that’s quite common in small towns in the US, Canada and Australia. ---
**Author:** ![herwono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9f8e36/32.png) [@herwono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herwono)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/50 "2003-08-09T15:14:31Z")
Free drink refills at the fast-food restaurants. And the huge drink sizes. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/51 "2003-08-09T15:27:50Z")
The Irish girl I work with says she was amazed that in five years here, she’d never seen anybody carrying a gun besides a cop and only three people wearing cowboy hats. I had to remind her she lives in Queens. And oh yeah, on a more serious note, she was amazed that people could be fired so easily here. Apparently in the EU they have to find you with one hand pinching a co-worker’s butt and the other clutching money from the till before they can tell you to take a hike, and even then there’s a lot of paperwork. ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/52 "2003-08-09T18:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Inscrutable Fury \* > \*\*Never been at the states but I’ve just read that you’ve changed the french fries to Freedom Fries in the time of the Iraq situation… > I just can’t grasp the stupidity of this idea. \*\* I can’t either, and I’m a native. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/53 "2003-08-09T19:08:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Euphemisms. Saying “bathroom” when of course you mean “shitter”. 😉 The best one I’ve ever heard of was one my father saw on a plane, where the sick bag was marked: > > **Flight discomfiture receptacle (or doggy bag)** \*\* Huh?😕 I think that you have a doggy bag and airsick bag mixed up there. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/54 "2003-08-09T20:58:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mehitabel \* > \*\* > And oh yeah, on a more serious note, she was amazed that people could be fired so easily here. Apparently in the EU they have to find you with one hand pinching a co-worker’s butt and the other clutching money from the till before they can tell you to take a hike, and even then there’s a lot of paperwork. \*\* Depends on where you work and how good a union you have. I know somebody who works for the post office and he’s telling me that It’s very hard to fire somebody because of their union, even if said person never comes into work. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/55 "2003-08-09T21:39:00Z")
Well every countries currency looks odd to a visitor, but are we the only one’s whose money is all similar looking? I’ve heard plenty of comments about how difficult it is to tell the bills apart. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/56 "2003-08-09T23:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*Huh?😕 I think that you have a doggy bag and airsick bag mixed up there. \*\* Well, given the quality of airline food, I can see how it might be hard to tell the difference… I was talking to a German guy a few months ago, and he asked me why Americans moved around to different parts of the country so much. I couldn’t think of a good answer, since I’d always taken it for granted that moving long distances was normal … but come to think of it, I suppose it _is_ rather odd, especially since Americans get almost no vacation time and then have to use it all just visiting family members. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/57 "2003-08-10T01:59:03Z")
Most countries I have been to, their currency has different colors or major design difference in the denominations of their paper money. With the new bills we have, I have to look on the back to see the big number printed there. The numbers on the front are all blurred by the boundary. Most other countries I have been too also have one “dollar” and higher coins. But they make those coins thicker or odd shaped to distinguish them from “change” (unlike our dollar coin travesty). ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/58 "2003-08-10T03:18:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by skeptic\_ev \* > \*\*been mystified by the prescription drug ads … but no one’s ever asked me to haggle for anything. > \*\* I think the haggling for consumer electronics experience is very much a New York thing. It happens in these stores in NYC where the front windows are stuffed full of as many types of electronics as it is humanly possible to fit in a window. I’ve never had it happen anywhere else(the phenomenon also seems to be less pronounced now than it was back in the 80s.) ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/59 "2003-08-10T03:31:50Z")
In Centenial Wyoming, the diner at the hotel we stayed at had “freedom toast”. I actually had to ask to make sure what it was (and got me some funny looks). ---
**Author:** ![BethCro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@BethCro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BethCro)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691/60 "2003-08-10T03:33:29Z")
Why is paper money all the same colour and size? Why don’t Arkansas and Kansas rhyme? Why do Americans seem to think that Americans living abroad are probable terrorists and/or traitors. Why can the US predict the weather a week in advance reasonably accurately, and the UK can’t? How is it possible to have so many ads in a half hour show? Why can’t I get a job here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-things-about-america/193691.md?page=4)