# What is Your Favorite Thing About Living in America (USA)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764 "2026-01-17T02:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/1 "2026-01-17T02:40:06Z")
What is your favorite thing about living in the United States? For me, it is that it is acceptable to start up a conversation with a random stranger about any mundane topic. Whether you are standing in line in the store, sitting in the park, riding a train, etc., it seems to be OK to just start talking. Of course, religion and politics should be avoided, but this rule applies in almost all contexts. I understand that I might be considered weird in Finland and other European countries. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/2 "2026-01-17T02:45:07Z")
It’s where my cat lives. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/3 "2026-01-17T02:49:45Z")
I’ve lived in the US my whole life, and I would consider it pretty weird if a total stranger started talking to me about some random topic unrelated to the immediate situation. Sure, “this is a really slow line” might be ok, but “aren’t model trains cool?” might get me to start looking for another line. I don’t think I remember anything like that ever happening. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/4 "2026-01-17T03:00:31Z")
Freedom! Or at least it was. 😒 Not so into Freedumb. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/5 "2026-01-17T04:21:34Z")
That it contains California. As long as the current shitshow continues, I’m a Californian first. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/6 "2026-01-17T16:28:20Z")
Seeking out new life…and new civilizations. To boldly go into restaurants where I’ve never been before. _Come on, try it, you can buy it, you can leave it next week, yeah Somebody gimme a cheeseburger_ ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/7 "2026-01-17T16:56:02Z")
Probably the fact that we invest so much in R&D. We take R&D much more seriously than most european nations, and as a result the US is a hotbed of cutting edge science. We also have the world’s best tertiary educational system (at least when it comes to top level colleges and universities. Not so much with trade schools). The geography is nice, pretty much any climate you want you can find in the US. If you like snow you can find areas that snow, if you hate snow you can find areas that almost never snow. If you like heat there are hot areas, if you like cold there are cold areas. Mountains, plains, deserts, wetlands, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/8 "2026-01-17T18:36:30Z")
The incredible scenery in the Western third of the country. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/9 "2026-01-17T18:47:05Z")
I can speak the (dominant) language. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/10 "2026-01-17T18:48:13Z")
It’s where @Moriarty’s cat lives. Otherwise … I’d _so_ be outta’ here. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/11 "2026-01-17T18:52:37Z")
I like that it’s a place where people don’t bat an eye about race (usually,) in the sense that you can have people of 20 different ethnicities all speaking fluent English and nobody thinks there’s anything odd about it. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/12 "2026-01-17T18:53:23Z")
After visiting England and Ireland a few years ago, the abundance of public rest rooms and the ability to walk into a business and use theirs without necessarily being a customer. Also (generally) safe food and drinking water no matter where you eat. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/13 "2026-01-17T21:12:33Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve lived in the US my whole life, and I would consider it pretty weird if a total stranger started talking to me about some random topic unrelated to the immediate situation. Agreed. I’ll have to get back to you after November to tell you if I really have any favorite - other than this is where my friends and family live. For me I suspect Canada would be far preferable - just based on better health care and fewer guns alone - if only it were not colder. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/14 "2026-01-17T21:48:42Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > For me I suspect Canada would be far preferable - just based on better health care and fewer guns alone - if only it were not colder. It’s colder than much of the US, except the northern US midwest, but it’s getting warmer and parts of it are quite tolerable even for those allegic to cold weather – the BC coast, southern Ontario, and the Maritimes. The southernmost parts of Ontario have a lot of vineyards and these days make some very respectable wine indeed, partly due to improved grape varietals, but also due to climate change. 🙂 It’s true that I’ve been ranting in the Pit about all the snow, but that’s the La Lina effect producing lots of precipitation (some of which has been rain). We don’t usually get very much snow in this area. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/15 "2026-01-17T22:38:22Z")
Yeah, being from the Chicago area, I’m sure I could find a tolerable Canadian clime. Just hard to imagine moving anywhere north of where it is not predicted to get above freezing for the next 10 days… ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/16 "2026-01-17T22:40:03Z")
New England and New Orleans. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/17 "2026-01-17T23:19:08Z")
Probably the food, especially where I live, in Metro Detroit. You can have any kind of cuisine you want and it’s probably authentic. We have _the best_ Middle Eastern food around here. By which I mean to say, I love our immigrant heritage. I love Michigan nature, too. It’s beautiful here in the fall, and reasonable in the summer. Hmm. Maybe I’m a statist too. I love Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/18 "2026-01-18T02:17:09Z")
My little piece of America is quite pleasant. My kids and their kids are here. I couldn’t get in any other country if I wanted. I ain’t leaving. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/19 "2026-01-18T03:17:38Z")
_Looking hard for a drive in, searching for a corner cafe_ _Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day_ _Yeah, and a jukebox jumping with records like in the U.S.A._ _Well, I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the U.S.A. Yes, I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the U.S.A. Anything you want, we got right here in the U.S.A._ ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764/20 "2026-01-18T14:21:38Z")
Ice in drinks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-thing-about-living-in-america-usa/1026764.md?page=2)