# What do you like from the US that you can't get at home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194 "2003-12-10T20:56:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 10, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/1 "2003-12-10T20:56:52Z")
A few weeks ago, I posted a thread in which I expressed disgust because it’s seemingly impossible to get good tea in the US, while the UK has amazingly wonderful tea. So, non-US dopers, what do you want/miss that’s available in the US? (I guess this question could be extended to regions within the US, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Chavardz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@Chavardz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chavardz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/2 "2003-12-11T02:19:23Z")
Dr. Pepper, 3in. Steaks, Clothes that I like and fit me. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/3 "2003-12-11T03:24:49Z")
3-inch steaks? We call that “pot roast,” **Chavardz**. 🙂 Anyway, I forgot to ask anyone who contributes to this thread to mention what country they are from. ---
**Author:** ![Palewriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@Palewriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palewriter)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/4 "2003-12-11T05:49:59Z")
I agree with Chavardz. Three-inch steaks are for grilling, not pot roast. At least here in **Texas**. - PW ---
**Author:** ![wendyrules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@wendyrules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendyrules)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/5 "2003-12-11T05:51:50Z")
I like the US Marines in their dress uniform!! Certainly don’t seem to get _them_ over here! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/6 "2003-12-11T06:35:57Z")
Things you can get easily in the US that you can’t in Australia - Mail order electronic components and gizmos - a decent range of computer games - supermarket ice cream with lots of good flavours - frozen juice concentrate Access to Amazon and Ebay is a plus as well. I agree completely about the tea thing. Everything in the US is Orange Pekoe from South America. I used to get care packages of tea and cadbury chocolate from home. Finding a good teapot and a tea strainer was a real challenge in Boston. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/7 "2003-12-11T06:59:03Z")
From India: Inexpensive Electronics - the Sony discman I bought online from Bestbuy (and had brought here with a friend) cost $80. At the SonyWorld here, the same thing costs almost $200. Don’t even get me started on my PDA… Hershey anything - It’s available, but hard to find. And more often than not, the expiry date is tomorrow ☹ Cheap broadband - this is based on what my US-based friends tell me, and I don’t doubt them. ---
**Author:** ![brainfizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/8 "2003-12-11T12:47:46Z")
Huge, gas guzzling, massively polluting, road-hogging cars that handle like boats. Can’t get 'em anywhere else, but they’re a marvel, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/9 "2003-12-11T13:04:24Z")
I’m from Australia. I want an I-Pod, but I haven’t seen one around here. I haven’t been looking though, and I’ve seen ads, so imagine they’re available. They just don’t seem to be as widespread as in the U.S. And I found a U.S. candy store in Sydney that sold Butterfingers. Mmm… I wish they sold those here. ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/10 "2003-12-11T13:19:10Z")
Things in the US I can’t find here would be… anything a normal person would be able to afford. Everything’s available here but at around three times the normal price. Maybe if we were a little closer to civilization… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/11 "2003-12-11T13:34:35Z")
Really creamy peanut butter, even the crunchy stuff. Huge pots of Smucker’s grape jelly. Arby’s beef sandwiches with Horsey sauce. Enormous steaks so delicious they make you cry. Cruise control and roads so wide and straight that you don’t really have to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/12 "2003-12-11T13:55:02Z")
As an American who loves these boards for their diversity may I interject a few things… Steak…SUV’s…Wide Roads…Butterfinger’s Ahh the things we Americans take for granted. On the flip side, when I was on holiday in Europe I backpacked with my wife in 1994 we flew into Heathrow and made our way onto the main continent and up to Finland to essentially start our trek to Rome. By the time we left Amsterdam, and headed to Belgium and then on to France we were marveling at all the **Small Roads, small cars, good chocolate, and country dining…** I guess the tables turned for us, even if it was only for a few months. Then again, I absolutely adore driving across my country, it is four days of some of the most amazing scenery I have ever experienced. And the Steaks from Colorado…UUHH GOD THEY ARE GOOD!!! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/13 "2003-12-11T13:57:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wendyrules \* > \*\*I like the US Marines in their dress uniform!! Certainly don’t seem to get _them_ over here! 😃 \*\* Just stop sending us oil. Then you’ll get all the US Marines you can handle. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/14 "2003-12-11T14:46:25Z")
Schlitz Malt Liquor Can’t find it at any beer store in Toronto area, you can find other Schlitz products but not the malt liquor. It may not taste great, it may be dirt cheap, and I may not be able to buy it in the states, but the comedic value of it is great. If you’ve ever seen the movie Double Take, (which I pray you haven’t, it’s a horrid movie), there’s one good scene involving Schlitz Malt Liquor. And that scene is a huge joke among my friends and I, it can be recited line for line. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/15 "2003-12-11T15:27:01Z")
TiVo. We have hard drive video recorders, but last time I checked, there was nothing that comes close to TiVo’s software capabilities. Another thing I miss is decent TV programs. So the lack of TiVo isn’t a big deal, I suppose. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/16 "2003-12-11T18:44:44Z")
My sister is a French teacher and she used to get over to France fairly often (taking the kiddies on summer field trips, usually). One of her dear friends over there, whom she met in college, became addicted to – drum roll – Sugar Corn Pops while she was going to school in Moorhead, MN! So when my sister goes to visit, she packs 2 family-sized boxes of Corn Pops in her suitcase as a present. Apparently, it has raised a few eyebrows going through customs. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/17 "2003-12-12T06:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by skeptic\_ev \* > A few weeks ago, I posted a thread in which I expressed disgust because it’s seemingly impossible to get good tea in **the US** , while the UK has amazingly wonderful tea. You misspelled “KC MO”. I’m in a Pacific Rim city and have easy access to several dozen different kinds of tea. (And yes, there’s at least one English import shop where I could get UKish tea if I wanted.) So there’s definitely regional differences in availability. ---
**Author:** ![wendyrules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@wendyrules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendyrules)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/18 "2003-12-12T06:35:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*Just stop sending us oil. Then you’ll get all the US Marines you can handle. 😛 \*\* LMAO! I’ll speak to the “Powers That Be”!!! 😉 _makes mental note_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/19 "2003-12-12T07:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hunter Hawk \* > \*\*You misspelled “KC MO”. I’m in a Pacific Rim city and have easy access to several dozen different kinds of tea. (And yes, there’s at least one English import shop where I could get UKish tea if I wanted.) So there’s definitely regional differences in availability. \*\* I travelled through CA and never came across a decent cup of tea. Coffee aplenty, but hotels and restaurants never seemed to offer a nice easily-available cuppa. Specialty shops maybe, but it’s not the same as having access nice tea in every home, restaurant, cafe and hotel. \ What do I want that’s available in the US? – cheap booze–from the supermarket or gas station! – great, cheap and tasty Mexican food – cheap electronic goods and cars ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194/20 "2003-12-12T08:25:18Z")
If you want good tea here in the US, I recommend [www.teasource.com](http://www.teasource.com). I heard about it here on the SDMB and it is _wonderful_. The guy who owns it is Bill Waddington, who can occasionally be heard as the tea expert on NPR’s cooking show The Splendid Table. This is loose tea, mind you. I can’t really help you if you insist upon bags. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-from-the-us-that-you-cant-get-at-home/218194.md?page=2)