上位 200 件のコメント表示する 500

[–]jpow33 3294ポイント3295ポイント  (339子コメント)

Our restaurant food portion sizes. A lot of people in other countries don't take home their leftovers. That $12.00 Fiesta Platter is three meals right there.

[–]Hodr 1337ポイント1338ポイント  (230子コメント)

And unless other countries are automatically serving me 'Merican portions, they are just as large. England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Spain. About the only place I ever felt I got an undersized portion in Europe was in France.

And honestly, I think it's the drink size that throws them off more than anything. And that's because those wankers put like one ice cube in the drink. When your 16 ounce cup is filled to the brim with ice first, your drink is less than half the volume.

[–]45b16 628ポイント629ポイント  (168子コメント)

It's why I always ask for no ice. The drink will be cold anyway

[–]DefinitelyNotLucifer 115ポイント116ポイント  (22子コメント)

Plus you can't trust anyone's ice-machines to be mold free. I've seen some that would make a CDC agent weep.

[–]jessie_k_grey 4536ポイント4537ポイント  (713子コメント)

American beers sucks.

Not any more bitches. We fixed that shit.

[–]snellnici 70ポイント71ポイント  (7子コメント)

I'm in Finland drinking an American beer right now. It's delicious.

[–]elocfrodslig 786ポイント787ポイント  (391子コメント)

Come to Wisconsin for some of our craft beers.

Shit the stuffs like candy for adults here.

[–]sartaingerous 487ポイント488ポイント  (154子コメント)

San Diego. Brewery on every corner.

[–]Metzger90 102ポイント103ポイント  (31子コメント)

Stone, Iron Fist, Green Flash, Karl Straus, Ballast Point, Coronado, Lost Abbey, AleSmith, Mike Hess, Mission, Saint Archer, Rough Drafy, and my very own home towns Pizza Port to name just a few.

[–]6thFairway 3016ポイント3017ポイント  (295子コメント)

Speaking English only. Do you know how far we have to go to find some place that doesn't have English as a primary language? You travel across Europe and hear many languages. I leave Georgia and go 2000 miles to California without leaving a primarily English-speaking area. I learned Spanish in high school, but never got to practice it and now I don't speak it anymore.

[–]Falkjaer 142ポイント143ポイント  (6子コメント)

I learned Spanish in high school, but never got to practice it and now I don't speak it anymore.

This was me too. I got pretty good at it in HS, but then never had reason to use it. Just don't really know anyone who speaks primarily spanish and certainly never needed it for work. And I live in California...

[–]BaconIsFruit 959ポイント960ポイント  (120子コメント)

We learn a 2nd language in Europe. We go to France/Spain on holiday where people don't want to speak French/Spanish to you, they'd rather improve their English. IMO it's reasonable to only speak 1 language in any context.

[–]ElegantRedditQuotes 983ポイント984ポイント  (73子コメント)

This is such a universal thing. I am trying to learn Dutch. I have a Dutch friend. Getting him to help me practice my Dutch is like pulling teeth - but speaking in English and writing in English? Oh of course, so he can practice his already near-perfect English! It's some real bullshit.

[–]RQK1996 511ポイント512ポイント  (33子コメント)

I am sorry for the dutch trading habit, it is hard to break something that is ingrained in our genetic history, try finding a flemish friend

[–]Knoflookperser 94ポイント95ポイント  (23子コメント)

Flemish people share that habit with the Dutch. We switch to the language because why who'd you even want to learn Dutch.

[–]fruple 38ポイント39ポイント  (5子コメント)

Can confirm, lived in Flanders for a year and people kept asking why I wanted to learn Dutch, and proceeded to only speak English to me.

[–]SyanticRaven 26ポイント27ポイント  (5子コメント)

I'm Scottish. A lot of US friends think because they get so much shit for not speaking more than 1 language then all of Europe must be multilingual. We aren't I learned French in school and lost it because I didn't use it at all, I learned some Gaelic but again ever rarer used.

In fact the language I know best is Japanese and thats purely because the music/anime I used to watch. (still watch, but not in such large volumes). I holiday all over Europe and I really do not need to know anything other than English to enjoy my time - I like to know a little to be polite but it is never needed.

But maybe we British just have that in common, we don't learn other languages - we mostly don't need to.

[–]su5 3819ポイント3820ポイント  (492子コメント)

We have very different laws in different states. Hell, some of our states have legalized marijuana, while others had sodomy laws on the books after the year 2000. What people need to keep in mind is how incredibly large the US is. Texas is bigger than France, and the distance between Maine and California is 3,300 miles (5,400 km), almost the same distance as England from Russia.

Edit: I was a little off on the distances. From the UK to Russia is nearly HALF the distance from Portland Maine to LA

[–]Denny_Craine 2032ポイント2033ポイント  (180子コメント)

The sodomy laws thing doesn't actually matter. Regardless of what laws are still written down the supreme court invalidated all sodomy laws in 2003

[–]novags500 3675ポイント3676ポイント  (69子コメント)

That's what I told my wife but she's still, all like, "NO"

[–]shoetiefreely 69ポイント70ポイント  (7子コメント)

She has other reasons, like you know, if you have sex in the butt you can get her pregnant with twins.

[–]weealex 476ポイント477ポイント  (85子コメント)

For the most part, stuff like sodomy laws are the result of congressional laziness. Even after the courts ruled that sodomy laws weren't kosher, it'd take time out of the various state legislatures to actually strike the law from the books. Until someone actually gets arrested for the laws, it's just not worth the effort for the government to get rid of the laws. It's assumed that everyone knows that the laws aren't enforced.

[–]Grrrmachine 354ポイント355ポイント  (29子コメント)

almost the same distance as England from Russia.

From Dover to the Russian border with Belarus is barely 1250 miles (2000km). As the crow flies, 5400km is nearly England to China.

[–]SneeKeeFahk 52ポイント53ポイント  (14子コメント)

Imagine how we feel in Canada. Such a small population spread over such a great area. Sometimes you can go days, weeks or even months without seeing another Canadian.

[–]-eDgAR- 2917ポイント2918ポイント  (225子コメント)

Hollywood. As much as people complain about the industry, the stars, etc. America is a powerhouse for entertainment, not just for ourselves, but for the rest of the world.

[–]deathgrinderallat 1707ポイント1708ポイント  (132子コメント)

Yes, and also, Hollywood produced a lot of thought provoking works of art not just Transformer movies.

[–]TheDunkirkSpirit 3390ポイント3391ポイント  (118子コメント)

And to be fair, the Transformers movies were rather thought provoking. I remember very clearly thinking "why did someone make a Transformers movie?" and "Could this be the worst movie I've ever seen?"

[–]soggyindo 228ポイント229ポイント  (4子コメント)

I had a spiritual moment in one Transformer movie when I thought "what is that chaotic colorful noise all over the screen? Are all things one?"

[–]baccus83 155ポイント156ポイント  (19子コメント)

Entertainment and culture is one of our biggest "exports".

EDIT: should've written pop-culture.

[–]dick-nipples 1855ポイント1856ポイント  (595子コメント)

Pretty much every American enjoys some greasy, salty fast food every once in a while.

[–]overdramaticteen 1134ポイント1135ポイント  (184子コメント)

I'm not even American, but those little square packaged cheese things you guys have are fucking delicious. I'm Dutch and my family is a bit of a cheese snob, but if I'm in the States, I will proudly order a grilled cheese sandwich just for the processed cheese.

[–]starrynight451 640ポイント641ポイント  (52子コメント)

to be fair even us Americans know it's not really cheese. it even says on the packaging "CHEESE FOOD PRODUCT"

But American sharp cheddar is awesome so stick it up yer cheese holes.

[–]pumpinpat 427ポイント428ポイント  (140子コメント)

Maybe this is more of being from a big city, but when being asked where you're from saying the city or the state instead The United States.

I travel a lot and constantly introduce myself to people from all over. When asked where I'm from I just say Chicago...everyone knows Chicago.

If I say "the states", then it's "where?" "Illinois." "Where in Illinois" "Cook Country" "Oh, and where in Cook County" "Chicago"..."why didn't you just say Chicago?"

A lot of people give me shit for it. Particularity Aussies.

I know people from Paris will Say Paris...I feel like Londoners do as well.

[–]Rouwan 195ポイント196ポイント  (81子コメント)

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but for brevity I would say I was from Chicago if asked.

In the back of my mind, though, lurked the knowledge that people really from Chicago HAAATTE suburbanites saying they're actually from Chicago, probably because the suburb life is quite different.

I moved to the actual city a few years ago. I'm kind of smug now I can say I really live in the city.

[–]Bodley 92ポイント93ポイント  (45子コメント)

Its the same with "up state" NY. People north of me hate that i say upnstate, and everyone outside of NY think we all are from the city.

[–]Unknownentity7 4951ポイント4952ポイント  (2437子コメント)

That a lot of Americans haven't traveled to another country. It's considerably more difficult and expensive for us to do it, especially if you live in the middle of the country. Plus there's so much to see here (for the record, I have traveled).

EDIT: OK Australians, I get it, your flights are expensive too, and your location relative to other countries isn't great either. But you guys get 20 days paid time off plus 10 public holidays, a lot of Americans are lucky to get any paid time off at all. My first job out of college I had 5 paid days off, you can't really plan a lot of travel with that. Thankfully it's different now though, I'm actually going to Toronto this weekend.

[–]Ugbrog 2582ポイント2583ポイント  (364子コメント)

It's a quicker drive from Paris to Berlin than from Miami to Atlanta.

[–]bgrueyw 1262ポイント1263ポイント  (218子コメント)

Another fun fact, Cleveland is further from Cincinnati than London is from Paris.

[–]Yuri-Girl 1432ポイント1433ポイント  (170子コメント)

I think it's important to point out that Cleveland and Cincinatti are both in Ohio.

There's a ridiculous amount of distance between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, too.

Edit 1: Buffalo to New York City is another one. Same state, 400 miles between the two. I had a friend coming from New Jersey pick me up out on Long Island to go to NYCC last weekend because "I was within 100 miles"

Edit 2: So many people are mentioning Texas, have you even stopped to think about Alaska? If you could drive from one side of Alaska to the other without a ferry, it would take you A DAY AND A HALF.

Edit 4: And now my highest upvoted comment is about states. I need to make another comment about cute girls now.

Edit 5: No there's no edit 3 I work for Valve now.

Edit 6: Did you know it takes more time to read my edits than it does to read the original comment?

Edit 7: I'm gay PM me your boobs

Edit 7 episode 1: Top notch /r/CancerousEdits edits - /u/anincompoop25

Edit 7 episode 2: I gotta get my comment about cute girls back to the top spot somehow. I have a brand to maintain. - /u/Yuri-Girl

[–]UnacceptableUse 182ポイント183ポイント  (4子コメント)

"The British think 100 miles is a long way, the Americans think 100 years is a long time"

[–]hockeycyl 112ポイント113ポイント  (35子コメント)

And it's such a boring drive. Sorry, I've driven from NJ to the midwest too many times and western PA into Ohio and Indiana is just mind numbingly boring.

[–]matmsl14 48ポイント49ポイント  (5子コメント)

And Miami and Atlanta are on the same side of the country

[–]hateitorleaveit 606ポイント607ポイント  (59子コメント)

Would like to highlight how much there is to see in the U.S. Really underrated even by people here. Get out there folks

[–]lbeaty1981 316ポイント317ポイント  (39子コメント)

Exactly. New England is vastly different from the Pacific Northwest, which is vastly different from the Grand Canyon, and so on and so forth. Each of those places uses the same currency and speaks the same language, though, and is pretty damn cheap to fly to (plus, no passport required).

Don't get me wrong, I've traveled internationally and think everyone who can afford it should, but there's a helluva lot to see in the USA too.

[–]zigmeister22 996ポイント997ポイント  (170子コメント)

Obligatory: Texas outline over Western Europe

full disclosure: I have traveled throughout Europe (and really enjoyed it).

[–]seanathan19 90ポイント91ポイント  (13子コメント)

Driving from Houston to LA is a 24 hour trek. Half of that time is in Texas.

[–]Tejasgrass 425ポイント426ポイント  (39子コメント)

Yep. I live right in the middle of that state. Just within this year so far I've "vacationed" (mostly just long weekends) to eight completely different places within its borders, all of them new to me (and I've been traveling around the state for 20+ years). I've gone from hill country to desert to mountains to swampland; from red canyons to green forests to brown plains.

[–]PapercutOnYourAnus 51ポイント52ポイント  (7子コメント)

Hey, looks like we're neighbors!

Been unusually warm out here this year.

[–]valeyard89 18ポイント19ポイント  (1子コメント)

I just drove 600 miles (1000 kms) last weekend, and didn't leave the state.

[–]HungryMoose1 3452ポイント3453ポイント  (515子コメント)

I remember having a conversation with someone and they were amazed at how a lot of Europeans can speak 4 languages. I just said "Imagine if every state had a completely different language, you would probably speak 4 different languages too"

[–]jackwoww 1543ポイント1544ポイント  (154子コメント)

God help me if I had to learn New Jersian.

Fuck that.

[–]Oreo_Speedwagon 1769ポイント1770ポイント  (59子コメント)

'EY I'M WALKIN HERE

/furiously pages through translation book

"Good-afternoon."

[–]dja4go 134ポイント135ポイント  (37子コメント)

Pittsburgiese, the dialect no one understands, except people from Pittsburgh

[–]Denny_Craine 1029ポイント1030ポイント  (340子コメント)

Also we don't get much if any paid time off so vacations in the sense Europeans understand them just don't exist

[–]octopuspingpong 892ポイント893ポイント  (34子コメント)

It's also the case that American families tend to be scattered, as children move to big cities to pursue jobs or leave town for college. Thus our vacations are taken up by family obligations, traveling to see family rather than vacationing elsewhere.

EDIT: more scattered than European families. I suspect language and cultural differences might account for this, but I don't have evidence to back this up. However, it's telling that Europe has had to put in place treaties to help and encourage people work and study across national lines.

[–]lilbluehair 287ポイント288ポイント  (11子コメント)

Exactly! I would love to vacation outside the US, but all my vacation days are taken up with visiting my sister in the summer and the rest of the family at xmas. If I didn't, G-ma might literally fly here and strangle me

[–]dogfish83 433ポイント434ポイント  (10子コメント)

Tell her she can fly to Italy and strangle you there.

[–]Aycoth 59ポイント60ポイント  (3子コメント)

Might as well have everyone come out to Italy then, it'll be cheaper to do Xmas and a funeral all at the same time

[–]fuckingbeech 56ポイント57ポイント  (2子コメント)

good point.

My family/hometown is relatively close to me by US standards. We are just talking opposite ends of northern new england, not opposite ends of the continent.

But when I think about having some time off, getting on a plane to Europe is the last thing I think about. All I really want is to be able to make the 5 hour drive back home, and rather than having it be a whirlwind long-weekend visit before driving back the other way, actually have the time to chill and visit and do activities for a while with my parents/brother/hometown friends. Spend a week deer hunting with my buddy from home who I used to hunt with all the time but haven't for a few years since moving away. That kind of shit.

For me things like traveling to other countries to explore might come some day when I'm in the position to regularly take very large chunks of time off. Which isn't going to happen for a while.

[–]mgzukowski 867ポイント868ポイント  (410子コメント)

To be fair its easy for a member of the EU to go to another because their countries are the size of our states. Hell Sweden has only about the population of the NYC and its suburbs.

Any of our states also have a GDP that can compare to a European country's GDP.

[–]soonerguy11 1434ポイント1435ポイント  (202子コメント)

Sweden has only about the population of the NYC and its suburbs

When considering metro size, it's more of the size of Chicago. Here's some more:

  • Belgium = LA

  • Denmark = Dallas

  • Norway = Atlanta

  • Ireland = Phoenix

[–]LikeCurry 867ポイント868ポイント  (119子コメント)

This is blowing my mind.

Edit: You people giving me all your facts, I love you all.

[–]Gehalgod 510ポイント511ポイント  (60子コメント)

If Iceland were a US city, it would be something like the 58th largest US city.

[–]Eurynom0s 580ポイント581ポイント  (176子コメント)

There's also no Ryanair equivalent here. Air travel in the US is fucking expensive. DC to Boston for instance bottoms out at about $179 round trip. Amtrak costs about the same and takes significantly longer. For many people the cost isn't feasible, and driving would take too much time relative to the amount of time they have for the trip.

Also getting to Europe is a minimum of something like $650 due to all the taxes, fuel costs, etc. In fact IIRC a big chunk of the taxes are that the EU sets high fees to enter EU airspace.

Finally, going from NYC to Texas isn't as big a culture gap aa going from the UK to France, but I think Europeans downplay (not necessarily on purpose, I think many just don't get it) the extent to which regional cultures DO vary within the US.

[–]acrobaticrabbit 161ポイント162ポイント  (56子コメント)

Don't forget blackout dates.

Also, we just got back from Ireland. Cheapest tickets were $850 each RT. Not bad, but I've never ever seen tickets as low as $650 to anywhere in Europe. But then again, I guess if your origin was near one of the big international hubs like SFO, LGA, or ATL, it might be cheaper than flying to one of those hubs from elsewhere in the states.

[–]Justice_Man 720ポイント721ポイント  (84子コメント)

Everyone gets so pissed when we call ourselves "Americans."

"What Jerks! There's South America, Middle America, we're all 'Americans'

Yea, except Brazilians have the luxury of calling themselves Brazilians ... You know what sounds stupid as fuck? United Statesian. That's what.

That's why we call ourselves Americans guys, it was the easiest shit to say.

No doubt this is going to get buried, but dude am I passionate about that one.

[–]Nulono[S] 1711ポイント1712ポイント  (268子コメント)

It irritates me when people make fun of America for having bizarre laws like "it's illegal to whistle underwater" or "it's illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket". These tend to be laws in specific cities, not all of America, and they're usually instituted because some specific incident made them necessary. The latter one, for example, is an attempt to deter cattle theft; if any animal who wanders onto your land becomes your property, all you have to do to steal an animal is lure it onto your property with a tasty treat, and if it's in your pocket you can claim that you didn't do so intentionally.

[–]Iposthigh 720ポイント721ポイント  (110子コメント)

Wait, cattle like ice cream?

[–]DivinelyMinely 1301ポイント1302ポイント  (79子コメント)

Did you know the cows in Hershey, PA, eat chocolate and then the farm sends their milk to Hershey's Chocolate to make more chocolate?

[–]Iposthigh 694ポイント695ポイント  (36子コメント)

No, no I didn't. Had to look it up cause I thought you were joking. TIL.

[–]DivinelyMinely 233ポイント234ポイント  (17子コメント)

I learned that with my kids at a farm during a cow milking presentation. I was far more impressed than they were.

[–]Category3Water 34ポイント35ポイント  (15子コメント)

I feel like kids would just say " well no crap they feed them chocolate, how else would we get chocolate milk?"

[–]Ansalo 468ポイント469ポイント  (40子コメント)

In Fairbanks, AK, it's illegal to push a live moose out of an airplane.

This is because there was (not sure if it's still going on, but maybe) an annual moose dropping festival. As in, the droppings left by moose. Moose poop. Someone, somewhere, misinterpreted the name of the festival, and wrote a complaint. So, they made a law about it.

I might not be remembering the facts exactly, but IIRC that's more or less how that one came to be.

edit: a letter. Also, apparently it is in Talkeetna, not Fairbanks.

[–]a_great_thinker 184ポイント185ポイント  (43子コメント)

I'm from America and I still don't understand how someone couldn't come up with a less specific law than "don't carry ice cream in your back pocket" to deter cattle theft buy luring it onto your property. Put it in your front pocket and you bypass the law completely while committing essentially the same act.

[–]yellowjacketcoder 306ポイント307ポイント  (6子コメント)

Because the way the law is usually reported is not how it is written. I'm almost certain the "ice cream in the back pocket" law is actually written out like

Any person who, using an item of food as defined in section 3.26.7.18, attempts to lure livestock as defined in section 7.2.8, on their property for purposes of a claim of salvage under section 7.5.6.14, shall be guilty of a Class B Misdemeanor, and subject to penalties as defined in section 2.7.3.

And then someone goes "huh, well, ice cream is food according to 3.26.7.18, and a cow is livestock according to 7.2.8, so this law makes it illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket!"

The other version I hear is "It's illegal to tie your pet giraffe to a parking meter next to city hall" which is often written as the much more reasonable "It's illegal to tie any animal to a parking meter in this city".

[–]XirallicBolts 75ポイント76ポイント  (1子コメント)

Recent example I saw was some people trying to set up a lemonade stand on government property, defying the police and selling after being told to stop. They get arrested so they can shout about how America is a Nazi state where you get arrested for selling lemonade! when the law they were breaking was a simple "vendors on government property must have a permit."

[–]theblackfool 184ポイント185ポイント  (10子コメント)

A lot of the laws were also written by small town folks 100 years ago.

[–]wofroganto 267ポイント268ポイント  (6子コメント)

Probably in reference to one asshole who kept pulling the same "Ice cream pocket cow lure" trick until the whole town agreed to make it illegal just so they could throw him in jail.

[–]The_Crooked_Man 180ポイント181ポイント  (9子コメント)

To be fair, 90% of these ridiculous laws are just not enforced. All they're really good for is a good chuckle while reading them online.

[–]joegekko 91ポイント92ポイント  (2子コメント)

...and before the internet, we read them in Reader's Digest and by gum, we liked it!

[–]compleo 202ポイント203ポイント  (56子コメント)

I'm not American but the US seems to get a lot of shit for being racist. It actually seems more like Americans are just very vocal about racism when it happens when other countries don't care or keep it quiet.

[–]ArcherofArchet 52ポイント53ポイント  (8子コメント)

I grew up in Eastern Europe, and I swear, people on average were far more racist. Everyone hated the gypsies, because their skin color is darker, they are poor, and they're criminals (ie. prone to property crime because they're poor and can't get jobs). Even when I was in high school (2000's), it was totally OK to call a Black person a nigger. When I first started dating my (white, American) husband, my mom's first question was literally "He's not a nigger, is he?" But we're not vocal about it, because... well, because we don't have a lot of them around. I think in my first 20 years I saw maybe 3 Black people living in my country, and two of them were "imported" Cuban players for our national handball team. (And no, they were still referred to as "the nigger guy on the handball team," but adored to death by the nation, because our team was decent at the time.) When I moved here, I was very surprised that 1) there were a lot of folks with skin colors ranging from stark black to pale white, and everything inbetween; 2) "Mexicans" (Hispanics/Latin@s... I know better now!) are a whole separate thing; 3) Asians? What the hell is a "Hmong"?

Joke aside, it was a big change. And I started to realize that people around me back home were very, very, very racist in a very quiet way. So the difference is really, Europeans on average are more racist, but less vocal; whereas States-side, there are few racist people, but they are loud.

[–]HarveySpecs 787ポイント788ポイント  (160子コメント)

Lawsuits. For example, accidents happen, but so do the medical bills that often follow, and not everyone has adequate/any insurance to pay those bills.

[–]MrMoth 583ポイント584ポイント  (112子コメント)

And for the most part, the crazy people suing over petty things don't actually win. The papers report on it when it happens, but a year latter when it gets thrown out no one notices.

[–]Renown84 434ポイント435ポイント  (54子コメント)

Or they spin it to sound crazy. Like the mcdonald's coffee lady. Who had 3rd degree burns on her genitals. Which the media spun to sound like a ridiculous lawsuit

[–]hannahprettyinpunk 178ポイント179ポイント  (24子コメント)

It honestly makes my blood boil when people talk about "that stupid lady who was dumb enough to sue McDonald's cuz her coffee was hot." I think I read in one place that her vagina fused together because the burns were so bad. Even if that part isn't necessarily true, she still got 3rd degree burns all over her genitals and thighs. Like would the story somehow be different if she opened it and spilled it on her hands?

[–]RainTea 171ポイント172ポイント  (9子コメント)

I read up on this for a college class. iirc, she was like 90 years old, needed skin grafts, and couldn't pay the hospital bill. She admitted partial fault, and so originally only asked for partial med costs, but the company refused so she sued out of desperation. After getting thrashed in court, they settled for way more than what she originally asked.

[–]NoUrImmature 97ポイント98ポイント  (2子コメント)

That McDonald's was warned several times that their coffee was too hot (they kept it hot so it would have longer shelf life after brewing) and then the lid was put on improperly. That was an extremely valid suit.

[–]hegemonistic 157ポイント158ポイント  (48子コメント)

This is pretty much the entire point behind the documentary Hot Coffee. Big corporations use those ridiculous (and rare) cases, and exaggerate the hell out of them, in order to spread this idea that people are coming up with all of these crazy, money-grubbing, frivolous lawsuits all the time, in order to push through tort reform that just makes it harder to come forward with legitimate suits against these companies (or large associations, like doctors). Almost every frivolous lawsuit the average person can name (like the McDonald's hot coffee one) are actually completely reasonable in context but have been distorted for political (and entertainment) reasons.

[–]dqsg22 2545ポイント2546ポイント  (761子コメント)

Beer. I was so excited to try beer in England. To my dismay they mostly drink a beverage that is identical to bud/Miller/Coors only they call it carlsberg/carsling/ or 1554 (is it 1664?).
Edit it's 1664. 1554 is an American brew I had it mixed up with.

I admit that the cask ales were amazing.

As for craft beers the average pub had less than a dozen choices. In America it's easy to find places with over a hundred to choose from. The US is a beer mecca right now

[–]Anonate 2756ポイント2757ポイント  (195子コメント)

I had a colleague come from Germany to work with us for about 6 months. He said, "The US makes the best beer in the world. The US also makes the worst beer in the world."

[–]FishTacos 1596ポイント1597ポイント  (111子コメント)

Kind of true for a lot of things in the US

[–]IDGAF1203 627ポイント628ポイント  (99子コメント)

Yet Europeans import the worst we have to offer, sell it everywhere, then complain about it.

Go figure.

Edit: Everyone is asking me for beer recommendations. Okay, I'll give a few, even though they're my tastes. So if you're going to be a dick about not liking them, up yours. On the West Coast I've loved everything that comes out of Sierra Nevada, they're big enough to be distributed most places stateside these days. On the super cheap end of things Yuengling out of Pennsylvania blends in with much more expensive beers, theyre expanding on the East Coast. There is an endless array of tiny breweries to pick favorites from though; I live in one of the tiniest states in New England and I have at least 3 breweries with tasting rooms and/or bars within an hour of me. Alesmith also out of CA has some great brews, but my favorite local ones are Beer'd, Cottrell, and Two Roads

[–]IamDDT 95ポイント96ポイント  (46子コメント)

And the amazing thing is that the worst beer is actually harder to make than the best. A very light, consistent (but not good) lager like Bud is a lot harder to make than a simple decent ale.

[–]negativeyoda 707ポイント708ポイント  (81子コメント)

America is killing it on beers right now. There are actually breweries in England producing American style IPAs now. IE, the English are copying an American take on an English style

[–]Prodigy195 850ポイント851ポイント  (125子コメント)

Absolutely. I went to Australia and people were shitting on American beer. I asked them what they had and it was mostly Bud, Bud light, Coors, or some of the other basic domestic stuff.

Well no shit, you didn't try one of the literally hundreds of better craft beers that are easily available.

[–]DeanBitterman 667ポイント668ポイント  (59子コメント)

Meanwhile they're sitting there drinking VB like it isn't Budweiser in a red stripe bottle.

[–]aces_of_splades 404ポイント405ポイント  (44子コメント)

Oi, lads this Yanks making fun of the hard earned thirst quencher.

Seriously though VB is a completely subpar beer but the bottle is called a stubby and I'll drink a case of the demons on Australia Day because it's the thing to be done.

[–]lukepa 1773ポイント1774ポイント  (320子コメント)

Not having a passport or speaking a second language. This place is fucking YUGE (and classy) and everyone more or less speaks English. You couldn't explore everything there is here in one lifetime much less the world.

[–]mitch_fwbsbpt 876ポイント877ポイント  (110子コメント)

Was gonna correct your spelling, but YUGE actually sounds okay out loud.

I agree though. I'd say the majority of americans are never put into a situation where they need to speak anything other than English anyways. It would more or less be a waste of time for most people

[–]scottevil110 3304ポイント3305ポイント  (778子コメント)

The fact that we don't have mass public transportation everywhere. Our country is simply too large and spread out to have the kind of rail or bus network that European countries have. Outside of the northeast, our major cities are hundreds of miles apart, with very little in between. It just isn't feasible to connect all of our cities with a nice, frequent train service that's going to be anywhere near affordable.

[–]wjbc 1850ポイント1851ポイント  (193子コメント)

We also have a very effective rail system -- for freight. Subsidizing passenger service cuts into the efficiency of a highly-profitable freight service.

[–]wgc123 1255ポイント1256ポイント  (83子コメント)

This never gets enough attention - rail development went one way in the US and the other way in Europe

[–]UCMCoyote 414ポイント415ポイント  (88子コメント)

I took Amtrak a few times across country as a kid. Often the train would have to wait for a freight train because they got priority on the tracks.

Edit: Spelling.

[–]Smart_Dumb 199ポイント200ポイント  (50子コメント)

I've heard that Amtrak is supposed to get priority.

Big carriers like BNSF, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are required under a 1973 law to make way for Amtrak trains. Yet the freights often treat Amtrak not like a visiting royal but a drunk party crasher. Dispatchers habitually make passenger trains wait for the “hotshot” trains carrying coal or liquid crude, even though the federal law says clearly: “Amtrak has preference over freight transportation in using a rail line, junction, or crossing.”

Link

[–]shindig369 146ポイント147ポイント  (38子コメント)

You are correct. However the reason why those hazmat trains carrying crude or even worse chemicals (like chlorine) get priority by the dispatcher is of fear of tampering the train while it's stopped, such as an IED being placed on it.

[–]Evixed 111ポイント112ポイント  (3子コメント)

Not surprised. I commute via train daily and I'd say at least 2-3 times a week my train gets stopped for anywhere between 5-20 minutes due to freight train interference.

[–]dlmcleo1 2881ポイント2882ポイント  (152子コメント)

Reminds me of a really cool saying: "In America, 100 years is a long time. In Europe, 100 miles is a long distance."

[–]TURBO_FAPPER 979ポイント980ポイント  (46子コメント)

It's cool because Europe got to start over a few times, too.

[–]FloydIV 263ポイント264ポイント  (39子コメント)

Do what Chicago did, start a great fire then rebuild!

[–]Chronsky 153ポイント154ポイント  (13子コメント)

We did that in London and once it was put out the owners of the buildings went out and put string markers to define the borders of their property and we built it back the same way.

Hitler leveled parts of it and we put it back the same way.

We've fulfilled our rebuilding part at least for a few hundred years thanks.

[–]zap283 74ポイント75ポイント  (2子コメント)

That's fascinating! In Chicago, after the fire, architects pretty much went nuts because they didn't have to match styles with anybody anymore, giving rise to a really cool and eclectic style.

[–]woguwoku 362ポイント363ポイント  (50子コメント)

Los Angeles was the first major city developed after the mass production of the car. That's why the city landscape is so spread out, people thought that everyone would just drive in the future instead of public trans.

That's also why there's so much smog many nice people.

[–]UCMCoyote 203ポイント204ポイント  (28子コメント)

And why whenever I'm going to San Diego from San Francisco I have to factor in the two hour traffic delay when nearing LA.

[–]Stockholm-Syndrom 480ポイント481ポイント  (186子コメント)

*Points at L.A.

Inner city public transportation should be manageable though.

[–]JohnnyBrillcream 103ポイント104ポイント  (23子コメント)

To piggyback on that, the land grab that would be required would be astronomical. There is a proposal for High Speed Rail from Houston to Dallas. I'm looking forward to see how Eminent Domain works for this one.

Edit: Word correction

[–]red2wedge 39ポイント40ポイント  (5子コメント)

Eminent Domain is the proper term. This is a common and understandable mistake.

"The term "eminent domain" was taken from the legal treatise De Jure Belli et Pacis, written by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius in 1625"

Per Wikipedia

[–]_ShutThatBabyUp 1296ポイント1297ポイント  (216子コメント)

We have all these big trucks, but its not our fault that we have so much farmland and nothing runs like a Chevy Silverado

Edit: and cabins in Gatlinburg

[–]HungryMoose1 989ポイント990ポイント  (80子コメント)

Dashing through the snow

In a recalled Chevrolet

Over the fields we go

Until our tie rods break

[–]BullyJack 723ポイント724ポイント  (75子コメント)

Balljoints disconnect,
Making front end shake,
What fun it is to die and scream.
In a recalled Chevrolet.

Ford guy here.

[–]Whisper 985ポイント986ポイント  (117子コメント)

  • "American cars have huge engines and lousy cornering."

Allow me to introduce you to the typical American road.

  • "America has a lousy public transportation system."

Let me explain the scope of the problem.

  • "America spends ludicrous amounts of money on weapons and fighting wars."

Yes, defense is cheaper when you have someone else do it for you.

  • "Americans are fat."

Nations have obesity epidemics in direct proportion to availability of refined sugar. This problem started in the US, but now other developed nations have it too. The more soda you drink, the fatter you are.

[–]Catzillaneo 86ポイント87ポイント  (13子コメント)

The great part about being having the most obese is the fact we are no longer number one in that position anymore.

[–]JosephND 23ポイント24ポイント  (5子コメント)

That you can't go see Texas, California, the Grand Canyon, etc all in one day. I meet too many Europeans who think traveling the US will be fast because it's all one country, and they completely fail to recognize it takes 10-12 hours to drive through Florida or California.

[–]copycat 401ポイント402ポイント  (59子コメント)

Raw milk being banned. Apparently we don't care because we're not all anti-gmo with no proof of harm, but pasterization has been proven to say lives.

[–]RiPont 198ポイント199ポイント  (17子コメント)

Raw milk is not banned. It's just regulated for safety and only the regulated stuff may be sold in stores.

Back in highschool, I worked at a local raw milk dairy that actually sold milk in stores. Stuff was great! The dairy moved, but they still sell raw milk you can buy in stores.

...it's just $8/quart.

The hippies get all the raw milk they want because there's an easy workaround. You buy "pet food" raw milk and you take your chances. As you might expect, these unregulated and completely unmonitored channels occasionally get a little lax on standards and a little severe food poisoning breaks out. Then they get raided and that particular back channel gets shut down. The hippie news sources publish a misleading headline that "POLICE THUGS SHUT DOWN RAW MILK" and completely ignore the reason why.

Edit: Yes, I get it. It's banned in some states. But it's not federally.

[–]bodymanccc 299ポイント300ポイント  (43子コメント)

As being a veteran of the us. It always surprises people that we disagree with alot of what goes on with the politics of the u.s. and that we don't totally support the political leaders of our country, we are just people who signed up, and protecting one another in a combat enviroment.

[–]roninjedi 345ポイント346ポイント  (49子コメント)

That we spy on other countries. What do you think your own country isn't spying?

[–]Vladimir_Putins_Cock 102ポイント103ポイント  (9子コメント)

Or when people blame Americans for stuff that our government has done.

WHY DID YOU GUYS INVADE IRAQ!?

I had no influence on the decision and was 12 fucking years old in '03 when we started the war in Iraq. I have pretty much no influence on our government's decisions about what countries to intervene in.

[–]SirThomasYorkeshire 4273ポイント4274ポイント  (424子コメント)

If we didn't have our guns, the king of England could just walk into our homes and start bossing us around.

[–]Photoshart 3246ポイント3247ポイント  (58子コメント)

The tyrant King George of course!

[–]chilly-wonka 1408ポイント1409ポイント  (34子コメント)

I'm 95% sure you're not the real Benjamin Franklin.

[–]TooBuyFor 1114ポイント1115ポイント  (454子コメント)

Having a military the size of our military.

[–]CripzyChiken 1759ポイント1760ポイント  (115子コメント)

largest air force in the world - the US Air Force. 2nd largest Air Force - the US Navy!

[–]iammandalore 757ポイント758ポイント  (92子コメント)

Another fun fact: if you count commissioned and reserve aircraft carriers, there are 40 in the world. We have half of them.

[–]canada432 419ポイント420ポイント  (61子コメント)

And most of the others aren't even remotely as large or advanced. US carriers launch F18s. Most of the other carriers can maybe handle some short takeoff or vtol aircraft.

[–]Anonymous3891 149ポイント150ポイント  (28子コメント)

Our amphibious flat-tops are about the same tonnage as what most countries call an aircraft carrier.

This graphic is a bit dated but gives a good idea.

[–]TheDunkirkSpirit 709ポイント710ポイント  (207子コメント)

Everyone complains about it until shit goes down, then everyone complains about how the US isn't sending military support fast enough.

[–]MooneySuzuki36 3457ポイント3458ポイント  (517子コメント)

Intervening all the time in foreign countries. It's a gray area really. We don't do something and we are being greedy and neglecting and the entire UN looks to the US to do something about it. We do something and now we are intervening on everyone's business and being the "world police".

We give more humanitarian aid than any other nation but we are seen as this huge aggressor/death machine.

[–]fallingalt 1081ポイント1082ポイント  (88子コメント)

Let's be frank here. Not all interventions are equal. America has done wonderful stuff in the past. Like defending South Korea from North Korean aggression in the 50s. Like driving out the Iraqis from Kuwait back in 91. But in the same vein, the US has also done more morally questionable stuff like the Iraq War and supporting little tinpot dictators in Latin America and Southeast Asia during the Cold War.

It's a gray area precisely because some interventions are iffier than others.

[–]gridster2 1311ポイント1312ポイント  (181子コメント)

Kinder eggs are illegal because of an FDA ruling against non-edible items inside food products. It's a sensible law, and it would be dumb to make an exception for a single candy.

[–]melance 277ポイント278ポイント  (60子コメント)

This is what fucked up King Cakes for those of us in Louisiana for a while. Many places have returned to having the baby inside before selling but only at local bakeries.

[–]iowaboy 901ポイント902ポイント  (121子コメント)

That Americans don't know much about other countries (political systems, cultures, languages etc.).

Here's the deal: America is the cultural hegemon of the world. Everyone watches American movies and TV shows and listens to American music. If you turn on a radio in France, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, or Japan, you'll be able to find at least one American Pop station, that might play some local music too. They also talk about American politics (generally at least) in most countries (e.g., I listened to Obama's first inaugural speech with a cabbie Amman).

The fact is, citizens of most countries only know a lot about two cultures: (1) their regional/national culture and (2) American culture. Europeans are just as ignorant about Chinese culture/politics as Americans. It's not our fault that Brazilian TV shows haven't gotten the international "star power" to make it on American TV stations, so we can't learn about their culture that way.

This also leads to the language thing. Most people learn English (or want to learn English) by watching US TV/movies. If China made 90% of the global blockbuster movies and music, I would probably have picked up quite a bit of Mandarin over the years.

[–]the8roundshock 600ポイント601ポイント  (27子コメント)

So, basically everyone became an American weabo, to the point of it being the norm, and not even noticed.

[–]bs22343 32ポイント33ポイント  (16子コメント)

I have a lot of family in Canada, they're reasonably nice people but very defensive. One of them once angrily asked me if I knew who the PM of Canada was. It took me a second but I knew the answer. I doubt very much she could have told me the leaders, such as they were, of France, Germany, the PRC, etc.

It's a bit like me walking up to a celebrity and angrily demanding that if I know what they wore on Oscar night last year, why do they not know what I wore.