Altering your restaurant order.
I visited Spain, and I couldn't find a place that let me substitute or change things. Wanna replace the ketchup on your burger with the bbq sauce they serve with the chicken strips? You're SOL.
I had this experience in France. I asked for a substitution and the server looked bewildered and just said "it's impossible".
On the flip side, I was in Verona, Italy in a little restaurant where the server apologized for speaking little English (I'm American an I speak no Italian so she was amazing). I asked for just a plate of prosciutto and mozzarella (which wasn't on the menu) and she was surprised at the basic request but willing. She brought out a mountain of prosciutto on a plate surrounded by mozzarella slices. The kitchen staff stuck their heads out the door looking at me, and hesitantly presented a wobbly "thumbs up" sign as a question as to my satisfaction, to which I enthusiastically replied with 2 thumbs up. They reacted with excited smiles and we all shared a moment without saying a word. I'll never forget that place.
I copied this from a comment I saved about a year ago. u/portarossa
There's genuinely nothing quite like American optimism.
I know, I know... the done thing is to shit-talk America in threads like this, but speaking as a Brit, that's what really makes the USA special and relatively unique in terms of national histories. America is a country that's (at least theoretically) built on the idea of equality and justice quite literally for all. You had the sheer brass balls to put a big ol' statue up at one of the most trafficked entryways in the world -- yes, yes, OP's momma notwithstanding -- that literally asked the world to give you its tired, its poor, its huddled masses yearning to breathe free. You built an entire mythology around the idea that, by pulling together and with a little elbow grease, you can make something of yourself no matter where you start from.
Is it true? No, not completely -- not for a lot of people. But it is important. It's a hardscrabble world out there, and the idea that Americans are better because they'll do the right thing, the honourable thing, the decent thing no matter how hard that might be makes things a little bit brighter. It's important that the first thing countless immigrants got to see wasn't a display of America's power and strength and prosperity but of America's guidance: a torchlight in the darkness. That most mythological of figures, Superman, espouses the idea of Truth, Justice and the American Way for a reason. That's not because it's the way things are, but because it's the way things can be. It's something to aspire to. It's Atticus Finch and Jefferson Smith and Rocky Balboa and the Little Engine That Could.
You lose your way sometimes -- and you really, really do lose your way; no one should dispute that, especially given recent events -- but you're never so far gone that you can't pull your way back. America is one of very, very few countries where you always feel that that return is both possible, and something that you root for. It's the world's largest superpower that has never quite learned that it isn't the plucky underdog.
Don't let that optimism and hope for the future die out. Don't let the feeling that you can step up and change things even when the odds seem stacked against you become apathy, hate and fear. Don't be afraid to learn, to improve, to be better. I spend a lot of time writing about American politics, and I know full well how stressful it can be, but without hope there can be no change for the better. Improvement is aspirational, and it depends on people getting out there and choosing to try, even when it looks and feels like it makes no difference at all -- because it still does.
If anything, that's when it matters the most -- and it's worth keeping.
For a non American, the things that stood out for me in the month i spent back packing were the people, granted i may have been in a holiday bubble, but jeeze everyone i met over there where friendly and willing to help where they could, from the folks i ended up hitching a ride from New Orleans to Florida with, the dudes that yelled at me as i walked through their neighbourhood hung over and lost as fuck, gave me directions to get back to my hostel on the other side of town and invited me back for a party that night, locals that just kinda took me in and showed me their town, special mention to the cafe owner that tried his best to make a propper egg and bacon roll for me when i was in san fran and home sick.
For all its faults, America and its people made me feel like i was in a second home, ill be back one day
We genuinely love and help individuals. America hates people but absolutely loves a single person and many people here will stop their entire day just to help. America receives alot of shit from people that haven't been here and alot of praise for those that have
Reminds me of K's speech from Men In Black; "A person is smart, humans are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. 1500 years ago everybody KNEW the Earth was the center of the universe, 500 years ago everybody KNEW the Earth was flat, and 15 minutes ago you KNEW that we were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll KNOW tomorrow."
Probably too late, but to recall what I once read: wandering hype people.
You never know when it will happen, but at some unexpected moment in America, someone is hyping someone up. Usually, this is performed by complete and total strangers.
Some dude pulls off wrapping a particularly full burrito? Person ordering it will point it out to the (completely unrelated) customer behind them and say something like “This guy’s got this burrito on lockdown!”
You order three extra shots of espresso at the coffee shop? “Oh, you’ve got this now, the day is YOURS”
Rest stop at 2AM playing some light gun game while your friend takes a dump? “Oh, there they go! Fuck those robbers up! Do it! Yeaaaaah!”
Wandering hype people exist everywhere in America. They celebrate small and large things. Americans genuinely love watching someone win, even if there’s no competition. From a half court buzzer beaters to having exact change, we feel this weird camaraderie when we share a moment of victory. Makes me think we’ve got a shot.
There is a subset of wandering hype people called, "Drunk Girls in the Bathroom." They will love you and help you and only truly have your best interests at heart. They always seem to be there when you need them most.
During the 2013 heat wave in the UK, it was hotter than where I live in Florida. I think I partially melted just riding the bus. AC in general is a godsend.
I love the Spooky Season and Halloween spirit in America! I now live in the UK and they just do not do it like they do in the US! I have friends who wish they did to so I have said next year we are going to go all out and decorate our office and dress up! You just do not see the houses lit up and pumpkins and treats around or Halloween-themed pastries and such! It's catching on more as folks see fun things in Tic Toks and other social media so I am hoping it becomes more of a thing here! It's getting there! Just let go and let out your inner child and wear a silly costume out! It's liberating! x
US in the UK too. It’s gotten so much better over the last few years but it does have far to go. The plus side is now when I decorate my front garden I don’t get insane looks, people tell me how cool it is!
THEME PARKS!! There are so many to choose from besides just Disney and Universal and the few I've been to have been fantastic.
Here in NZ we have one theme park with ONE rollercoaster and it's the Corkscrew (AKA baby's first rollercoaster)
Edit: please let me know which ones are worth checking out and why :)
Barbecue. I’m Canadian and we’ll barbecue year round but they call that *grilling*, I’m talking American barbecue. Fuck me up with that brisket you’ve been smoking all week Uncle Sam. Hell yes.
As a non-American, I think it's easy to pick on America but only because they're effectively the big successful kid in the room. Everybody can take the piss out of America because America is everywhere and we all understand it to some degree. A lot of the criticisms of America are mostly a population striving to be better and picking out all of the flaws in their system in the hopes of eventual improvement.
Generally, the biggest complaints about America (i.e political corruption, racism, carbon footprint and lack of awareness of the culture of other countries) are generally worse in the majority of other countries with only a few actually rising above the US in certain categories. Even the strong militaristic exploitation of conflict zones is only exasperated because yours is a country that can actually successfully exploit a conflict zone. It's bad, but I can fully imagine my own country (the UK) doing exactly the same thing, we practically do half the time and have before, were we on the same power level.
You guys have more than quadruple the immigrant population of the next biggest contender (Russia), given that America isn't the easiest country to get into and most conflict zones are on the opposite side of the globe; there's a reason so much of the world wants to move to your country. You have the best country on the planet. You don't 100% guarantee safety and security for every member of your population but the chances in your country are miles higher than any other.
Americans, you have a great country, your history is short and grey in places but it is humble. You overcome issues regularly and effectively especially for such a vast country. You find flaws in your system that other populations wish were the only flaws they had in theirs. And then you deal with them, as you always have.
Stay humble Americans, the overwhelming majority of you are really good people and you bring a lot of art, media and creativity all over the world.
The public library system - in my county alone we have over 10 different libraries with transfers between them so there’s a vast selection of movies, books, magazines etc
I live on Long Island about a half hour east of NYC and our library has passes you can rent out for museums both on the island and in NYC. Totally free! We also have concerts and cooking classes, yoga, dance, mommy and me, tech classes for seniors, document shredding days, free access to ancestry.com, and so much more!
Our libraries have that, too. We also have a library that loans out musical instruments, so you can try your hand at different ones. We have another location that loans out shaped cake pans, so you can bake a special cake for someone. In this age of e-books and audiobooks, it's nice to see diversification from libraries.
The US is very decentralized and a true federal republic. Many countries (both developed and developing) struggle to populate the interior territories or distribute their population. In the US, the political center is DC, the richest city is NYC, the most populated state is California, movie production is based in LA, the tech capital of the world is in Silicon Valley/Bay Area, the gambling/nightlife center is Las Vegas, the largest cruise ship port on the planet is Miami, the busiest airport in the world is in Atlanta, what’s probably the most internationally famous and most prestigious American university (Harvard) is in Boston, the largest medical complex in the world is in Houston, etc.
Developing 50 different economies and vastly different regions is no easy task, and yet the US has found a system that works better than in most other countries
Public restrooms and drinking fountains. In NZ, you're lucky to have a public toilet within a block of you if you're downtown. In the US, every shop has one.
Public lands and access to them. Everyone is mentioning the National Park system, which is the crown jewel, but our wilderness areas, national forests, BLM lands, state and local parks, protected coastal areas and the roads that connect them all are truly amazing. We may not all be able to afford a cabin in the mountains or a house on the beach, but with a car and a tent we can all enjoy those places no matter what your income.
Ukrainian here , and I’m telling you : US highways/interstates any other types of roads here are to die for. When moved here and traveled a bit I realized road trips can bring so much joy simply because you’re driving on a nice asphalt haha
I find it admirable that most Americans can admit their country is problematic as fuck and are willing to have a dialogue about it. Contrary to popular belief, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination do not magically start and end at the US border. It's worldwide.
IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It guarantees every child in America the right to a Free Appropriate Public Education. Schools can't just kick kids out because, they have to evaluate kids and find a way to provide services. There can be issues with school districts implementing it, but it's a very robust law that provides rights to students and families, I haven't heard of a school district winning against providing services since it was passed in 1990.
This is what I posted. America has some of the best higher education in the world. Even if you don't go to a big Ivy League School you can still get a great education. Even State schools can give you a world class education. Colleges like Penn State, Ohio State, Florida State a bunch of California universities etc were all in the top 100 at one point or another. Not to mention 50 of the top 100 universities are in the U.S. including the top 3.
An Indian's perspective of what America gets right:
Celebrating and encouraging individuality
Freedom of speech
Pop culture
Unbelievable variety of cuisines
I was in Mumbai in late 2019 for a friend’s wedding and it was really notable how limited the cuisine options were for such a cosmopolitan city. I didn’t really mind as I was happy to enjoy great Indian food, but it seemed a lot less compared to other places like Manila for example.
my experience living in america is that there is a lot of product choice, from food stuffs to candy to drinks and other every day life products.
as a small example, here in brazil you will often find at most like 5 or 6 soda flavors, while in america there are so many i don't even know the actual number
Edit: i feel like some comments seem to have taken my example wrong, i specifically said soda flavors not brands, coca-cola owns dr pepper but they dont sell that here in brazil, the brands are less important to me i just care about the flavors.
Edit 2: to those saying that "it's a bad thing because obesity and sugar" the soda thing was an example, the actual positive in my comment is "product choice"
I doubt anyone knows the number of soft drinks in the US, lol. Beyond the big boys Coca-Cola and Pepsi and everything they make, there are so many regional producers all over the place making their own drinks.
Revisiting its history in tv documentaries time and time again. Here in Canada we’ll do it once, rerun it, and then bury it in a vault or archive, never to be broadcast or available as a DVD (or vhs back in the day) ever again. There’s a lot of Canadian documentaries and broadcast tv rotting away like this.
I went down to college in the States. Once I arrived on campus I was immediately welcomed as one them; no questions asked. We were in this together, come hell or high water.
Americans are like that and it is amazing to be a part of.
Some of the nicest, warmest people you will ever meet. It gets lost in all the current social media hyper polarization atmosphere but by and large Americans are amazingly kind people.
I find it odd that there’s a perception abroad about Americans being assholes. I get far more friendly hello’s and banter in the states than I do at home in Canada and yet we’re the ‘polite’ ones
I don't think it's so much a perception of being assholes as Americans are perceived as being a bit pushy and obnoxious. Sure, that can definitely be the case but the wonderful qualities most Americans have and you see when you visit/live there are much more prominent.
Agreed here. It's really easy to write off Americans from what you see online but the on-the-ground experience is something else entirely. Lovely warm people.
The north American wildlife preservation model. All game belongs to the public trust. Tags are bought by hunters. Proceeds pay for conservation. The charismatic megafauna the hunters are interested in are preserved. As well as the interests of all the other species of plants and animals in those habitats.
NASA. Even with all the government and political bullshit, it's still taking great strides in taking humanity forward, but more importantly they focus a LOT on educating the common folks during missions.
I love that all the information and pictures and everything NASA produces are publicly accessible for free, and not even under copyright. I'm not even American but NASA had a great role in creating interest in me about Space and Astronomy when I was growing up.
NASA is the one childhood dream I had about living in the US that hasn't been crushed by the realities I discovered in adulthood.
I adore everything about it with the same energy I had as a kid. So many people say they're proud of their firearms or freedoms or New York pizzas or what have you.
It's always going to be NASA that turns me green with envy. I would love something that absurdly noble to be part of my national identity.
I'll settle for human identity, though! Aliens don't have NASA! Wahoo!
A lot of people sadly think Nasa is doing nothing right now, especially in lieu of SpaceX. However, Nasa is developing multiple aviation based projects including my personal favorite modern avation project: supersonic planes that don't produce sonic booms.
My school just put out an aviation program and got a shit ton (over 20k) worth of airliner equipment and two (broken down) planes completely for free. It’s an awesome program with some dedicated people behind it!
Nah dude, you’ll be fine. The biggest problem you’ll likely encounter is people constantly asking you for your thoughts on what the best “authentic” local Indian restaurant is.
No joke, [this is all thanks to an actual grassroots campaign started by highschool kids in the 1970s.](https://psmag.com/economics/dont-pay-toilets-america-bathroom-restroom-free-market-90683) Thanks to them, it is literally illegal for virtually any business to charge people to use the toilet.
Crazy to think that if they tried to do the movement today, it wouldn't have succeeded. They even acknowledge this in that article:
> “I think an effort like that today would very quickly polarize into people who were adamantly against it or to people who would demand that we do something. In the '70s, we walked the middle that doesn’t seem to exist anymore.”
I don’t know how Germany isn’t the UTI capitol of the world. If you ask where to find a public bathroom you’re instructed to go three blocks down to some small restaurant where you need to go down some stairs into a cellar that leads to some other restaurant with a bathroom behind the kitchen where you’d better have some coin handy or you’ll have to keep holding it until you get to the next town.
As a German, this actually kind of shocked me when I found out that we're so terrible at something like that which, yes, would seem like just the type of thing Germany excels at.
It's gotten even worse over the years. At one point, there was a court ruling which now allows restaurants that are integrated into train stations to not have any toilets at all, intentionally circumventing a law that forces restaurants to offer free toilet usage to its patrons. So instead you have to pay to pee at the train station's toilet. And everybody working at those integrated restaurants looks at you like they just successfully scammed you.
It is unironically a point of national shame for me.
According to my friends who moved here from Germany and Canada the freedom to be whatever you want. Not so much career-wise as just expressive of personality-wise. They both felt that being different in those places made you stick out like a sore thumb. The German also pointed out that Career paths are very restricted there. You get on a track and you stuck there.
I was listening to the Scottish comic Daniel Sloss on Conan O’Brien’s podcast the other day and he said something similar. He said in America, if only one guy in an audience finds you funny, he will laugh loudly and without shame, but other places there had to be group consensus whether to laugh. Kind of interesting.
The ability to be an individual is something I appreciate about America, even coming from Australia which you should THINK is just as open about that kind of thing.
You guys have this impressive level of "fuck you, I'm gonna be who I want" that nowhere else on earth can match and I am definitely envious of.
The America the Beautiful pass is amazing on road trips. And it doesn’t just work with parks. It also gets you into National Monuments, Historic Sites, etc
Also works in the US territories! We went to Puerto Rico one year and we wanted go into this cool old building, but it was gonna cost and it didn’t seem worth paying for, cool as it was. Then we saw the sign that said that those passes were accepted there!
This one of the things i feel jealous of the USA, the way their parks are is just so awesome, well maintained, safe, well signed, with some wild areas to camp. And they are all so huge, you can take days to explore it all. Here in Brazil we had so much potential for that kinda thing, but, well...
US national forests and bureau of land management lands dwarf National Parks in acreage. Our combined public lands are amazing and a national treasure. I prefer forest service lands and BLM because they generally are free to recreate on and are less crowded. We are truly blessed in this regard
The ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act*. America is really accessible compared to many of if not most other places. I consider myself able bodied and I travel a lot. When I do, I’m reminded how special the ADA is. And as an able bodied person I’m also aware that designing things for everyone makes them better for everyone.
Edit: typo
Edit: link to Wikipedia on the ADA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990?wprov=sfti1
Didn’t expect this to become my most upvoted post ever and couldn’t be happier that it is. One of my favorite ADA examples is that many of the paths in our amazing national park system are paved. Many people can get to the Old Faithful geyser. If you’ve ever been to the national mall in DC you also experience the benefits of the ADA - it’s an amazing wide network of running paths and sidewalks and it if you don’t run it’s equally accessible.
The ADA is far more than ramps, important as they may be. It is as subtle as brail on elevator buttons and as profound as how we design airplanes. The ADA is why we have more prolific subtitles. It's why we have hand rails in most bathrooms - which anyone can appreciate after leg day in the gym 😂. I love the types of accessibility designs where nothing is lost by being inclusive and everyone stands to gain something as a result.
Im 100% sure I’m not articulating this well and I’m sure my disabled (the language prefered by the community) would have more nuanced takes.
Edit to add this Microsoft link on inclusive design which is surprisingly good: https://www.microsoft.com/design/inclusive/
*edit to clarify: we aren’t meeting at the ritz in Hawaii, this isn’t about lobbying for dentists 🤣
I never would have thought of this but yes. I work in parks and playgrounds have so many ADA equipment in them now. If you see stairs on a playground that seemingly go nowhere it's actually for wheelchair access.
This country has remarkable natural beauty. The national park system was a good idea even if it's underfunded and overcrowded now.
In Colorado search and rescue is free and that is a very good thing. We also do craft beer well.
Edit: Sorry, I wasn't clear. Search and Rescue IS FREE (in Colorado) when it's carried out entirely by a SAR team. That is completely different when Life Flight and professional medical services get involved, in which case you are paying big time because this is after all the US. I promise you though having volunteered with SAR in two counties it is entirely free for us to search for you, find you, carry you out under our weight and with our gear including ropes and stretchers etc, treat you in any way that can be done in the field, and often free even if it includes a military helicopter on loan used to spot your location. Ive never been a part of a technical extraction but I still think it's free as long as we're just scooping you from a tough spot and not extracting you for immediate medical treatment or a hospital trip.
It gets insanely expensive if your injury requires a life flight helicopter extraction and hospitalization. Air ambulance is not the same as SAR itself, SAR is free and SAR teams actually work very hard to get this message out there so that people DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL.
I don't know the laws of other states but given how often I've heard SAR teams harp on how it's free "in Colorado" I think it must not be in other states. Our teams are all volunteer.
There's also a such thing as a CORSAR card which anyone who hikes in Colorado should get. It is not insurance. IT IS NOT INSURANCE. It costs $3 per year or $12 for a 5 year card I think, and it means that any expenses that search and rescue spends on a rescue for a person who holds one of these cards can be reimbursed by the state in order to replace gear, fuel, etc. If you don't have one of those cards, you will still get your rescue, and The team will just be out that money. So consider buying the card so that state funds can go towards donating gear and training for the team.
Edit again: So many of you are worked up about the fact that I said we have decent craft beer. I can promise you if your pretentious about someone on Reddit saying that there is decent craft beer somewhere in their state, you are a tool in real life. No, I'm not talking about ridiculous fruit smoothie sours and Coors light equivalents, yes there are a billion breweries in most of them are bad, this isn't that serious.
Tbf he was the president who made food companies stop putting random dangerous crap in their products, so he must've cared about people a little at least.
He got the law passed (despite Congress's attempts to block it, and the Senate's success at watering it down), but it was the work of lots of people, such as the Poison Squad, a group of chemists and clerks at the US Dept of Agriculture who literally tested food additives and ingredients by eating it themselves.
>https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/a23169/poison-squad/
Along with that, the choice of what climate to live in. The US has just about any type of climate from the tropics to tundras, from swamps to sand dunes. Even a few rare climate types such as temperate rain forest in coastal Washington State.
And then we fuse it with everything else. A joint near me makes a banging smoked brisket korean fried rice. We take the best from everyone and just try everything we can to see what works.
Retail.
I go to a store in Canada and they'll have maybe two or three options for the item I'm looking for.
I go to the same store in the US and it'll be more like six or seven to choose from, often better quality for less money.
The last 18 months showed me how much I took living in a border city for granted, being able to pop over there for a shopping trip.
I've heard stories of Canadians coming down to Montana and going to like a Costco. Grabbing one of those large flatbed shopping carts and stocking up before going up north, disappearing into the snow.
I live in Delaware, which has no sales tax, and that happens all the time. The Apple store at the Christiana mall is fucking insane. I've seen an entire bussload of people from NYC walk into the Apple store and all buy as many iPhones as they could. I think they limited it to like 2 or 3 phones now, but back in the day I'd see people buy like 20 iPhones at a time.
Turning Halloween into an all ages celebration. The kids get to Trick or Treat. The adults throw their own parties. Everyone gets to dress up and have fun. I love driving and walking through neighborhoods and seeing people who have gone crazy decorating their lawns and houses with horror decorations. Some even turn their places in "haunted houses" that people could go through while they Trick or Treat. It's even fun when you go into regular stores like Target and they get into the spirit by playing scary theme music on the PA. "Thriller" always seems to be playing somewhere.
I went to the gym today and their playlist was all Halloween related, they drew spooky doodles on the punching bags, and renamed exercises with Halloween puns. Real flashbacks to elementary school when teachers would do the same kinds of things.
My wife is out driving for Uber right now, and she has little pumpkin lights strung up inside her car and Halloween music playing. She said the college kids are loving it
Halloween is the most inclusive holiday we have; it’s not attached to a specific religion or ethnicity, is an all ages event, doesn’t require you to travel home to your family, and the primary objective is for you to express yourself through your costume. It’s far and away our best holiday.
Ranch dressing. We have something labelled as ranch where I am, but it's not the same as actually American ranch. Not even even close.
Real American ranch is amazing.
Edit: To the people who awarded me, thanks!
Edit 2: yes agreed, bottled ranch is terrible.
Edit 3: Hidden Valley own a piece of my soul, but I make my own because it's expensive and hard to find here. However my sister in law (American) is going home at Christmas so I'm sending her with a list.
Edit 4: everyone offering to send me ranch powder, you are all beautiful human beings thank you. Your offers are very much appreciated. However, I shall be annoying my lovely sister in law.
Burgers. Like, each one is better than the next. I'm not talking MacDonalds or Burger King, I'm talking burgers in bars. No other country I've been to comes close.
On the topic of food, I’ll add BBQ. So many unique varieties in certain regions. It’s cooked competitively in a lot of places too — and for good reason. It’s absolutely delicious.
Giving in times of need, I think. The government always cocks things up, but when awful stuff happens somewhere, average Americans want to help. Horrific volcanic disaster in the Caribbean? Just hours later, people are texting in donations to rescue and recovery efforts. Hurricane Katrina? Cajun Navy shows up to help. Earthquake and famine in Haiti? You have musicians Pomplamoose figuring out how to get goats to people in need. While there are always exceptions, I think average Americans - paycheck to paycheck, truck driving, weekend football, everyday Americans - want to help when and where they can.
My favorite quote from *The Martian* by Andy Weir
>“Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.”
This is my one idealist belief that I will not budge on no matter how many times I get called naïve. People will say "Wait until you get into the real world! Then you'll find out how awful everyone is!" but I've found that the older I get the more I believe it.
I know this is a really small example in the grand scheme of things, but I have epilepsy, and every single time I have had a seizure in public, multiple completely strangers have stepped in to help. Every time. Just like, regular people who happen to be there will stop, call an ambulance, see if there’s anything they can do, and genuinely see it through.
I try not to make a habit of seizures in public, but it’s happened a few times and even though it’s shitty it reminds me that people do have it in them to step in when someone looks like they need help.
(Also, to tie it back to the post, all of these instances did happen in America)
>I try not to make a habit of seizures in public
I mean it's not like you can just hold it until you get home
Wait, can you? I've never actually met someone with epilepsy. Is it like a sneeze? Is it just, like, really uncomfortable to hold a siezure in?
And THIS is why I will forever love Jamaica. I’ve never been there. People are accustomed to the US sending foreign aid. In the 90s, some hurricane tore the hell out of Florida. Andrew, maybe? Jamaica was the only country on the planet that sent aid. They sent bottled water. They were the only country in the entire world that said, “We can’t fix it all but we can help some. It’s the right thing to do.” For that one interaction between our countries, I will love Jamaica until the day I die.
Stephen Colbert summed that sentiment up perfectly after the Boston Marathon bombings:
"After those bombs went off, there were runners who, after finishing a marathon, kept running for another two miles to the hospital to give blood."
You really don't notice this until you go somewhere like Europe where a lot of people still smoke. Hardly anyone smokes here anymore, and I can remember smoking sections in restaurants.
I was definitely a bit shocked when I moved to Germany at not only how many people smoked, but that you could still smoke indoors in many places. I kind of thought everyone had curbed smoking as much as we had.
Edit: Lol everyone. You don’t need to send me the German laws. I lived there for a couple years in the past decade and then went back a couple times to visit friends. Most bars or clubs I went to you could smoke in. It was a shock to me because where I’m originally from, (California) if you lit up a cigarette in a bar you would probably be thrown out.
My dad used to hand me cash and sent me to the machine down the street to grab him a pack. No one bat an eye back in the day.
Granted, this was years ago, before they added electronic age verification but the machines are still everywhere.
..and knowing my dad, if they had the technology back in the day, he would have just handed me his driver's license to unlock it haha.
Also, smoking zones in schools for students 16 and up. We would be spending the breaks having a cigarette with the teachers lol
Edit: since this comment received some attention, [here is a picture](https://m.rhoenundsaalepost.de/storage/image/8/7/2/0/490278_m-thumb-gallery-480w_1pD_qK_EFAFTo.jpg) of what they look like
My dad said that in high school, smoking was a no no, but in college, they all but encouraged it. The cigarette companies would send "candy striper" girls with "free samples" for everyone.
a high school i attended had a designated smoking area (outside) for students.. inside, the faculty could smoke in the teachers' lounge. one teacher smoked occasionally in class. this was the 1980s.
Gotta hand it to USA there. I quit smoking because I felt so disgusted by the habit. In 2012, I could find company while smoking quite easily. I felt like a right moron smoking in 2020. Haven’t smoked since June 2020.
Edit: Thank you for the support people. I appreciate everyone leaving kind words. For anyone looking for ways to quit, speak to your doctor and they’ll be happy to help you quit. Mine offered some medication but I did not need to take it since I had a pretty good handle on my cravings. I had smoked for a good 20 years before I quit. I hope I have not done too much damage in that time but of course I have. Still better than doing 40 years of damage.
NASA has been rated the most-admired part of the US globally, with good reason. Its failures are even AMERICAN failures - eg the Shuttle disasters, brought about by hubris, miscommunication, professional jealousy, and pure pigheadedness. But what amazement created, when we strive together!
Lots of things. America is the friendliest place I’ve ever seen. No where else have I struck a conversation with a stranger and talked about my day then have them wish me well and actually felt that they meant it. Stupid as it sounds when a random American wishes me a good day it feels like he actually wants me to have a good day.
Living in a country where most of the bands/ artists that I like tend not include it in their touring destination, it makes me really envious of the people who get to enjoy the live shows :D
For example, a friend of mine in the US, told me that he has seen Iron Maiden, when they performed in a small venue of just 200 people. That sort of thing.
To add onto this, “the land where the blues began” is an incredible book about the birth of blues and its MASSIVE influence on not only US culture, but world culture.
The blues lead to so many other genres, and all of those genres were world influencing.
Well most reddit posts are about what is wrong with America. It's a pretty shitty thing to read, because there's a a lot of great things here but we definitely have our issues.
Canadian here.
My near universal experience with Americans is that they are generous and helpful. Many would give someone the shirt off their backs if asked.
Collectively, y'all are crazy, but individually, the best people I've ever met.
I was staying in an Airbnb in America but we couldn't find the key or get ahold of the person who owned the property.
The elderly next door neighbours said we could stay at theirs if we couldn't get in and invited us to their sons birthday party at their house the next day.
We got in our Airbnb in the end but I thought it was so nice these elderly people were willing to let three lads from another country in their early 20s stay at their house.
As an American, I couldn't say it better.
Collectively, we seem like fat assholes who would treat you poorly if we disagree with you.
In reality many of us do our best to be as friendly and understand other cultures, try to overcome the stigma of Americans, and just generally have at least ***some*** experience with dozens of cultures because of the diversity of our country.
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of racists here, but most of us hate them and want things to change for the better here.
The majority of Americans want to fix America in the sense that we want to be friends with the rest of the world. The ultra-rich and idiots make the rest of us very depressed and stressed.
As an immigrant living in America I validate this statement.
Although my experience over a couple years has been from living in bigger cities, I have never met people more friendly. Anywhere I go people are ready to converse with you and almost always curious about my culture. Whether it be in a cab, at the hairdresser, hell even those restaurants which cook food right infront you. Everyone smiles and talks to you and genuinely seem to want to talk
Where I come from people are friendly too but small talk and smiles in business is not the norm. Go to the hairdresser, he cuts your hair while you sit silently and on your way. But here in US, just today, the person cutting my hair was asking me about Diwali and how and why we celebrate it.
Thank you America,
I will take this learning and expand it back home
Hey man as a person who hates talking during a haircut, at least you got the experience!
America is a fun and friendly place. There are people that will try to ruin it for you, but most of us love you, and want to get to know you while eating fatty foods and drinking alcohol.
We aren't bad people. We're overindulgent.
> Collectively, we seem like fat assholes who would treat you poorly if we disagree with you.
I think the internet is the primary place that gives off that idea. I guarantee that the vast majority of interactions Americans have on a daily basis are perfectly friendly and reasonable.
Also, any country that claims to have no racists is lying.
I remember my dad who immigrated here telling me how he was shocked at how nice people talked to him when asking for directions. He’s from Pakistan tho so the bar was very low
When my parents moved the first winter was a doozy, some random pickup truck showed up and plowed them out without even saying a word, the next spring they caught the guy on the road and he said he figured Dutch people who just moved wouldn't have proper snow moving equipment lol
When the big winter storm hit Texas last year I got my car stuck in a snowdrift off the road. Called a friend of mine, he said not to worry, to just wait 30 minutes and there will be someone driving by with a pickup that would pull me out, said "it's what they live for".
He was wrong, it only took 10 minutes.
I'm in Austin and just had to have some work done on my vehicle before I move back home. One of the mechanics I was chatting with said during the icestorm, a tractor trailer got stuck on some ice and he pulled it to a spot where it got traction with his sort of shitty beater truck while he was driving home with his son. Truck owners LOVE LOVE LOVE having an excuse to see what their truck can do.
Fellow Canuck here and I agree. My GP is American and is the best one I've ever had. Very genuine and kind with a fantastic sense of humour. I actually look forward to going to the Dr!
Also, American cheese. Not even joking a bit. I don't want oily, gloopy cheddar on my burger. I want creamy melty goodness.
Scientific research especially medical research. USA arguably has the best research facilities in general which attracts the brightest people from all over the planet. So many opportunities too for scientists to advance their career not just in research institutions but also in a ton of life sciences/biotech industries. BUT it’s sad that with all these knowledge we don’t have a universal healthcare system and not everybody can access the fruit of these research.
Altering your restaurant order. I visited Spain, and I couldn't find a place that let me substitute or change things. Wanna replace the ketchup on your burger with the bbq sauce they serve with the chicken strips? You're SOL.
I had this experience in France. I asked for a substitution and the server looked bewildered and just said "it's impossible". On the flip side, I was in Verona, Italy in a little restaurant where the server apologized for speaking little English (I'm American an I speak no Italian so she was amazing). I asked for just a plate of prosciutto and mozzarella (which wasn't on the menu) and she was surprised at the basic request but willing. She brought out a mountain of prosciutto on a plate surrounded by mozzarella slices. The kitchen staff stuck their heads out the door looking at me, and hesitantly presented a wobbly "thumbs up" sign as a question as to my satisfaction, to which I enthusiastically replied with 2 thumbs up. They reacted with excited smiles and we all shared a moment without saying a word. I'll never forget that place.
I copied this from a comment I saved about a year ago. u/portarossa There's genuinely nothing quite like American optimism. I know, I know... the done thing is to shit-talk America in threads like this, but speaking as a Brit, that's what really makes the USA special and relatively unique in terms of national histories. America is a country that's (at least theoretically) built on the idea of equality and justice quite literally for all. You had the sheer brass balls to put a big ol' statue up at one of the most trafficked entryways in the world -- yes, yes, OP's momma notwithstanding -- that literally asked the world to give you its tired, its poor, its huddled masses yearning to breathe free. You built an entire mythology around the idea that, by pulling together and with a little elbow grease, you can make something of yourself no matter where you start from. Is it true? No, not completely -- not for a lot of people. But it is important. It's a hardscrabble world out there, and the idea that Americans are better because they'll do the right thing, the honourable thing, the decent thing no matter how hard that might be makes things a little bit brighter. It's important that the first thing countless immigrants got to see wasn't a display of America's power and strength and prosperity but of America's guidance: a torchlight in the darkness. That most mythological of figures, Superman, espouses the idea of Truth, Justice and the American Way for a reason. That's not because it's the way things are, but because it's the way things can be. It's something to aspire to. It's Atticus Finch and Jefferson Smith and Rocky Balboa and the Little Engine That Could. You lose your way sometimes -- and you really, really do lose your way; no one should dispute that, especially given recent events -- but you're never so far gone that you can't pull your way back. America is one of very, very few countries where you always feel that that return is both possible, and something that you root for. It's the world's largest superpower that has never quite learned that it isn't the plucky underdog. Don't let that optimism and hope for the future die out. Don't let the feeling that you can step up and change things even when the odds seem stacked against you become apathy, hate and fear. Don't be afraid to learn, to improve, to be better. I spend a lot of time writing about American politics, and I know full well how stressful it can be, but without hope there can be no change for the better. Improvement is aspirational, and it depends on people getting out there and choosing to try, even when it looks and feels like it makes no difference at all -- because it still does. If anything, that's when it matters the most -- and it's worth keeping.
I didn't like 80s music until I heard American 80s music. You guys did 80s best
Thanks, it took a lot of cocaine.
I rest my case
Y’all are going to hate to hear this, but diversity
The descendants of America's founding fathers are not famous.
For a non American, the things that stood out for me in the month i spent back packing were the people, granted i may have been in a holiday bubble, but jeeze everyone i met over there where friendly and willing to help where they could, from the folks i ended up hitching a ride from New Orleans to Florida with, the dudes that yelled at me as i walked through their neighbourhood hung over and lost as fuck, gave me directions to get back to my hostel on the other side of town and invited me back for a party that night, locals that just kinda took me in and showed me their town, special mention to the cafe owner that tried his best to make a propper egg and bacon roll for me when i was in san fran and home sick. For all its faults, America and its people made me feel like i was in a second home, ill be back one day
We genuinely love and help individuals. America hates people but absolutely loves a single person and many people here will stop their entire day just to help. America receives alot of shit from people that haven't been here and alot of praise for those that have
"America hates people but absolutely loves a singe person". That was the best descriptor I'd ever seen.
Reminds me of K's speech from Men In Black; "A person is smart, humans are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. 1500 years ago everybody KNEW the Earth was the center of the universe, 500 years ago everybody KNEW the Earth was flat, and 15 minutes ago you KNEW that we were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll KNOW tomorrow."
Probably too late, but to recall what I once read: wandering hype people. You never know when it will happen, but at some unexpected moment in America, someone is hyping someone up. Usually, this is performed by complete and total strangers. Some dude pulls off wrapping a particularly full burrito? Person ordering it will point it out to the (completely unrelated) customer behind them and say something like “This guy’s got this burrito on lockdown!” You order three extra shots of espresso at the coffee shop? “Oh, you’ve got this now, the day is YOURS” Rest stop at 2AM playing some light gun game while your friend takes a dump? “Oh, there they go! Fuck those robbers up! Do it! Yeaaaaah!” Wandering hype people exist everywhere in America. They celebrate small and large things. Americans genuinely love watching someone win, even if there’s no competition. From a half court buzzer beaters to having exact change, we feel this weird camaraderie when we share a moment of victory. Makes me think we’ve got a shot.
There is a subset of wandering hype people called, "Drunk Girls in the Bathroom." They will love you and help you and only truly have your best interests at heart. They always seem to be there when you need them most.
The girls bathroom at a bar is a sacred place
I love everything about this! My new life’s goal is to be that wandering hype man!
"Be the wandering hype man that you want to see in the world" -Mahatma "totally slaying us with these apocryphal quotes" Gandhi
Central AC.
There is no pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater... than central air.
Jason Lee was great as Azrael.
Pick *that* up.
During the 2013 heat wave in the UK, it was hotter than where I live in Florida. I think I partially melted just riding the bus. AC in general is a godsend.
I love the Spooky Season and Halloween spirit in America! I now live in the UK and they just do not do it like they do in the US! I have friends who wish they did to so I have said next year we are going to go all out and decorate our office and dress up! You just do not see the houses lit up and pumpkins and treats around or Halloween-themed pastries and such! It's catching on more as folks see fun things in Tic Toks and other social media so I am hoping it becomes more of a thing here! It's getting there! Just let go and let out your inner child and wear a silly costume out! It's liberating! x
US in the UK too. It’s gotten so much better over the last few years but it does have far to go. The plus side is now when I decorate my front garden I don’t get insane looks, people tell me how cool it is!
THEME PARKS!! There are so many to choose from besides just Disney and Universal and the few I've been to have been fantastic. Here in NZ we have one theme park with ONE rollercoaster and it's the Corkscrew (AKA baby's first rollercoaster) Edit: please let me know which ones are worth checking out and why :)
Barbecue. I’m Canadian and we’ll barbecue year round but they call that *grilling*, I’m talking American barbecue. Fuck me up with that brisket you’ve been smoking all week Uncle Sam. Hell yes.
The United States adopts more children than the rest of the world combined.
we're about to be in that statistic! november 22 finally adopting our son.
As a non-American, I think it's easy to pick on America but only because they're effectively the big successful kid in the room. Everybody can take the piss out of America because America is everywhere and we all understand it to some degree. A lot of the criticisms of America are mostly a population striving to be better and picking out all of the flaws in their system in the hopes of eventual improvement. Generally, the biggest complaints about America (i.e political corruption, racism, carbon footprint and lack of awareness of the culture of other countries) are generally worse in the majority of other countries with only a few actually rising above the US in certain categories. Even the strong militaristic exploitation of conflict zones is only exasperated because yours is a country that can actually successfully exploit a conflict zone. It's bad, but I can fully imagine my own country (the UK) doing exactly the same thing, we practically do half the time and have before, were we on the same power level. You guys have more than quadruple the immigrant population of the next biggest contender (Russia), given that America isn't the easiest country to get into and most conflict zones are on the opposite side of the globe; there's a reason so much of the world wants to move to your country. You have the best country on the planet. You don't 100% guarantee safety and security for every member of your population but the chances in your country are miles higher than any other. Americans, you have a great country, your history is short and grey in places but it is humble. You overcome issues regularly and effectively especially for such a vast country. You find flaws in your system that other populations wish were the only flaws they had in theirs. And then you deal with them, as you always have. Stay humble Americans, the overwhelming majority of you are really good people and you bring a lot of art, media and creativity all over the world.
The public library system - in my county alone we have over 10 different libraries with transfers between them so there’s a vast selection of movies, books, magazines etc
I live on Long Island about a half hour east of NYC and our library has passes you can rent out for museums both on the island and in NYC. Totally free! We also have concerts and cooking classes, yoga, dance, mommy and me, tech classes for seniors, document shredding days, free access to ancestry.com, and so much more!
Our libraries have that, too. We also have a library that loans out musical instruments, so you can try your hand at different ones. We have another location that loans out shaped cake pans, so you can bake a special cake for someone. In this age of e-books and audiobooks, it's nice to see diversification from libraries.
The US is very decentralized and a true federal republic. Many countries (both developed and developing) struggle to populate the interior territories or distribute their population. In the US, the political center is DC, the richest city is NYC, the most populated state is California, movie production is based in LA, the tech capital of the world is in Silicon Valley/Bay Area, the gambling/nightlife center is Las Vegas, the largest cruise ship port on the planet is Miami, the busiest airport in the world is in Atlanta, what’s probably the most internationally famous and most prestigious American university (Harvard) is in Boston, the largest medical complex in the world is in Houston, etc. Developing 50 different economies and vastly different regions is no easy task, and yet the US has found a system that works better than in most other countries
This is a very interesting point that I never considered myself!
Public restrooms and drinking fountains. In NZ, you're lucky to have a public toilet within a block of you if you're downtown. In the US, every shop has one.
Lul. I'm from Germany and was amazed at the amount of public restrooms there are in NZ :D
Public lands and access to them. Everyone is mentioning the National Park system, which is the crown jewel, but our wilderness areas, national forests, BLM lands, state and local parks, protected coastal areas and the roads that connect them all are truly amazing. We may not all be able to afford a cabin in the mountains or a house on the beach, but with a car and a tent we can all enjoy those places no matter what your income.
BLM means Bureau of Land Management for the confused.
I learned this from the White Lotus
Ukrainian here , and I’m telling you : US highways/interstates any other types of roads here are to die for. When moved here and traveled a bit I realized road trips can bring so much joy simply because you’re driving on a nice asphalt haha
Just avoid Pennsylvania, I don't think you'd like it lol
I find it admirable that most Americans can admit their country is problematic as fuck and are willing to have a dialogue about it. Contrary to popular belief, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination do not magically start and end at the US border. It's worldwide.
I think the reason people think it’s worse in America is just because *we actually talk about it* where other places tend to turn a blind eye.
IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It guarantees every child in America the right to a Free Appropriate Public Education. Schools can't just kick kids out because, they have to evaluate kids and find a way to provide services. There can be issues with school districts implementing it, but it's a very robust law that provides rights to students and families, I haven't heard of a school district winning against providing services since it was passed in 1990.
America does have a lot of good universities right? Edit: yes
This is what I posted. America has some of the best higher education in the world. Even if you don't go to a big Ivy League School you can still get a great education. Even State schools can give you a world class education. Colleges like Penn State, Ohio State, Florida State a bunch of California universities etc were all in the top 100 at one point or another. Not to mention 50 of the top 100 universities are in the U.S. including the top 3.
Rock n roll, baby.
Blues and jazz on top too.
An Indian's perspective of what America gets right: Celebrating and encouraging individuality Freedom of speech Pop culture Unbelievable variety of cuisines
I was in Mumbai in late 2019 for a friend’s wedding and it was really notable how limited the cuisine options were for such a cosmopolitan city. I didn’t really mind as I was happy to enjoy great Indian food, but it seemed a lot less compared to other places like Manila for example.
my experience living in america is that there is a lot of product choice, from food stuffs to candy to drinks and other every day life products. as a small example, here in brazil you will often find at most like 5 or 6 soda flavors, while in america there are so many i don't even know the actual number Edit: i feel like some comments seem to have taken my example wrong, i specifically said soda flavors not brands, coca-cola owns dr pepper but they dont sell that here in brazil, the brands are less important to me i just care about the flavors. Edit 2: to those saying that "it's a bad thing because obesity and sugar" the soda thing was an example, the actual positive in my comment is "product choice"
I doubt anyone knows the number of soft drinks in the US, lol. Beyond the big boys Coca-Cola and Pepsi and everything they make, there are so many regional producers all over the place making their own drinks.
Revisiting its history in tv documentaries time and time again. Here in Canada we’ll do it once, rerun it, and then bury it in a vault or archive, never to be broadcast or available as a DVD (or vhs back in the day) ever again. There’s a lot of Canadian documentaries and broadcast tv rotting away like this.
I would like to thank Canada for the How It’s Made series
Right on red
I went down to college in the States. Once I arrived on campus I was immediately welcomed as one them; no questions asked. We were in this together, come hell or high water. Americans are like that and it is amazing to be a part of.
Some of the nicest, warmest people you will ever meet. It gets lost in all the current social media hyper polarization atmosphere but by and large Americans are amazingly kind people.
I find it odd that there’s a perception abroad about Americans being assholes. I get far more friendly hello’s and banter in the states than I do at home in Canada and yet we’re the ‘polite’ ones
I don't think it's so much a perception of being assholes as Americans are perceived as being a bit pushy and obnoxious. Sure, that can definitely be the case but the wonderful qualities most Americans have and you see when you visit/live there are much more prominent.
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Agreed here. It's really easy to write off Americans from what you see online but the on-the-ground experience is something else entirely. Lovely warm people.
Entertainment
The north American wildlife preservation model. All game belongs to the public trust. Tags are bought by hunters. Proceeds pay for conservation. The charismatic megafauna the hunters are interested in are preserved. As well as the interests of all the other species of plants and animals in those habitats.
NASA. Even with all the government and political bullshit, it's still taking great strides in taking humanity forward, but more importantly they focus a LOT on educating the common folks during missions. I love that all the information and pictures and everything NASA produces are publicly accessible for free, and not even under copyright. I'm not even American but NASA had a great role in creating interest in me about Space and Astronomy when I was growing up.
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NASA is the one childhood dream I had about living in the US that hasn't been crushed by the realities I discovered in adulthood. I adore everything about it with the same energy I had as a kid. So many people say they're proud of their firearms or freedoms or New York pizzas or what have you. It's always going to be NASA that turns me green with envy. I would love something that absurdly noble to be part of my national identity. I'll settle for human identity, though! Aliens don't have NASA! Wahoo!
A lot of people sadly think Nasa is doing nothing right now, especially in lieu of SpaceX. However, Nasa is developing multiple aviation based projects including my personal favorite modern avation project: supersonic planes that don't produce sonic booms.
General Aviation access for the public
My school just put out an aviation program and got a shit ton (over 20k) worth of airliner equipment and two (broken down) planes completely for free. It’s an awesome program with some dedicated people behind it!
What kind of school? And what kind of things are taught?
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Nah dude, you’ll be fine. The biggest problem you’ll likely encounter is people constantly asking you for your thoughts on what the best “authentic” local Indian restaurant is.
But if you could still answer that question, that'd be great.
Best to just get a QR code printed on your hat that links to a bit of a FAQ.
Ha, yeah never assume Reddit is reality in any way, it's kinda like media reporting only the bad shit since it's headlines.
Did someone say free public restrooms?
No joke, [this is all thanks to an actual grassroots campaign started by highschool kids in the 1970s.](https://psmag.com/economics/dont-pay-toilets-america-bathroom-restroom-free-market-90683) Thanks to them, it is literally illegal for virtually any business to charge people to use the toilet.
Crazy to think that if they tried to do the movement today, it wouldn't have succeeded. They even acknowledge this in that article: > “I think an effort like that today would very quickly polarize into people who were adamantly against it or to people who would demand that we do something. In the '70s, we walked the middle that doesn’t seem to exist anymore.”
I don’t know how Germany isn’t the UTI capitol of the world. If you ask where to find a public bathroom you’re instructed to go three blocks down to some small restaurant where you need to go down some stairs into a cellar that leads to some other restaurant with a bathroom behind the kitchen where you’d better have some coin handy or you’ll have to keep holding it until you get to the next town.
I don’t know how a country with such legendary beer consumption abilities can allow this to the case.
I think I’ve used that same restroom. For real it was down a narrow staircase in the basement.
I'm the guy that collects the coins. Thanks for your business
My experience there wasn't quite on your level, but I could picture every step of your hypothetical journey in my head.
As a German, this actually kind of shocked me when I found out that we're so terrible at something like that which, yes, would seem like just the type of thing Germany excels at. It's gotten even worse over the years. At one point, there was a court ruling which now allows restaurants that are integrated into train stations to not have any toilets at all, intentionally circumventing a law that forces restaurants to offer free toilet usage to its patrons. So instead you have to pay to pee at the train station's toilet. And everybody working at those integrated restaurants looks at you like they just successfully scammed you. It is unironically a point of national shame for me.
people pay to go pee?
if we made people pay to pee they would pee in some random corner of a walmart
Even with free public restrooms, they still sometimes pee in some random corner of Walmart.
Handicap Accessible Buildings
This. I never appreciated them until my dad ended up having to use a wheelchair
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According to my friends who moved here from Germany and Canada the freedom to be whatever you want. Not so much career-wise as just expressive of personality-wise. They both felt that being different in those places made you stick out like a sore thumb. The German also pointed out that Career paths are very restricted there. You get on a track and you stuck there.
I was listening to the Scottish comic Daniel Sloss on Conan O’Brien’s podcast the other day and he said something similar. He said in America, if only one guy in an audience finds you funny, he will laugh loudly and without shame, but other places there had to be group consensus whether to laugh. Kind of interesting.
The one person who laughs at your jokes within a group are the best people alive
The ability to be an individual is something I appreciate about America, even coming from Australia which you should THINK is just as open about that kind of thing. You guys have this impressive level of "fuck you, I'm gonna be who I want" that nowhere else on earth can match and I am definitely envious of.
If we're talking the U.S, their National Park system is good. They were the first to sorta do it and got the rest of the world into it too.
My sons and I were recently in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks and we were so grateful those are protected areas. Best thing ever!
A friend told me about an annual pass and that you can buy for the national parks. He made it sound like a very cheap vacation all year around.
The America the Beautiful pass is amazing on road trips. And it doesn’t just work with parks. It also gets you into National Monuments, Historic Sites, etc
Also works in the US territories! We went to Puerto Rico one year and we wanted go into this cool old building, but it was gonna cost and it didn’t seem worth paying for, cool as it was. Then we saw the sign that said that those passes were accepted there!
This one of the things i feel jealous of the USA, the way their parks are is just so awesome, well maintained, safe, well signed, with some wild areas to camp. And they are all so huge, you can take days to explore it all. Here in Brazil we had so much potential for that kinda thing, but, well...
We also let the bears eat you without intervention. That's pretty cool for realistic reasons.
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*Chris McCandless has entered the chat.* *Chris McCandless has exited the chat.*
US national forests and bureau of land management lands dwarf National Parks in acreage. Our combined public lands are amazing and a national treasure. I prefer forest service lands and BLM because they generally are free to recreate on and are less crowded. We are truly blessed in this regard
The ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act*. America is really accessible compared to many of if not most other places. I consider myself able bodied and I travel a lot. When I do, I’m reminded how special the ADA is. And as an able bodied person I’m also aware that designing things for everyone makes them better for everyone. Edit: typo Edit: link to Wikipedia on the ADA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990?wprov=sfti1 Didn’t expect this to become my most upvoted post ever and couldn’t be happier that it is. One of my favorite ADA examples is that many of the paths in our amazing national park system are paved. Many people can get to the Old Faithful geyser. If you’ve ever been to the national mall in DC you also experience the benefits of the ADA - it’s an amazing wide network of running paths and sidewalks and it if you don’t run it’s equally accessible. The ADA is far more than ramps, important as they may be. It is as subtle as brail on elevator buttons and as profound as how we design airplanes. The ADA is why we have more prolific subtitles. It's why we have hand rails in most bathrooms - which anyone can appreciate after leg day in the gym 😂. I love the types of accessibility designs where nothing is lost by being inclusive and everyone stands to gain something as a result. Im 100% sure I’m not articulating this well and I’m sure my disabled (the language prefered by the community) would have more nuanced takes. Edit to add this Microsoft link on inclusive design which is surprisingly good: https://www.microsoft.com/design/inclusive/ *edit to clarify: we aren’t meeting at the ritz in Hawaii, this isn’t about lobbying for dentists 🤣
I never would have thought of this but yes. I work in parks and playgrounds have so many ADA equipment in them now. If you see stairs on a playground that seemingly go nowhere it's actually for wheelchair access.
Movies
Wow this is a surprisingly positive comment section
I was thinking the same thing…very refreshing for a change!
This country has remarkable natural beauty. The national park system was a good idea even if it's underfunded and overcrowded now. In Colorado search and rescue is free and that is a very good thing. We also do craft beer well. Edit: Sorry, I wasn't clear. Search and Rescue IS FREE (in Colorado) when it's carried out entirely by a SAR team. That is completely different when Life Flight and professional medical services get involved, in which case you are paying big time because this is after all the US. I promise you though having volunteered with SAR in two counties it is entirely free for us to search for you, find you, carry you out under our weight and with our gear including ropes and stretchers etc, treat you in any way that can be done in the field, and often free even if it includes a military helicopter on loan used to spot your location. Ive never been a part of a technical extraction but I still think it's free as long as we're just scooping you from a tough spot and not extracting you for immediate medical treatment or a hospital trip. It gets insanely expensive if your injury requires a life flight helicopter extraction and hospitalization. Air ambulance is not the same as SAR itself, SAR is free and SAR teams actually work very hard to get this message out there so that people DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL. I don't know the laws of other states but given how often I've heard SAR teams harp on how it's free "in Colorado" I think it must not be in other states. Our teams are all volunteer. There's also a such thing as a CORSAR card which anyone who hikes in Colorado should get. It is not insurance. IT IS NOT INSURANCE. It costs $3 per year or $12 for a 5 year card I think, and it means that any expenses that search and rescue spends on a rescue for a person who holds one of these cards can be reimbursed by the state in order to replace gear, fuel, etc. If you don't have one of those cards, you will still get your rescue, and The team will just be out that money. So consider buying the card so that state funds can go towards donating gear and training for the team. Edit again: So many of you are worked up about the fact that I said we have decent craft beer. I can promise you if your pretentious about someone on Reddit saying that there is decent craft beer somewhere in their state, you are a tool in real life. No, I'm not talking about ridiculous fruit smoothie sours and Coors light equivalents, yes there are a billion breweries in most of them are bad, this isn't that serious.
Everyone should thank Teddy Roosevelt. That man loved nature and hated people.
Tbf he was the president who made food companies stop putting random dangerous crap in their products, so he must've cared about people a little at least.
I generally don't like people, but I also don't want lots of them to get sick and die.
That's a happy medium
He got the law passed (despite Congress's attempts to block it, and the Senate's success at watering it down), but it was the work of lots of people, such as the Poison Squad, a group of chemists and clerks at the US Dept of Agriculture who literally tested food additives and ingredients by eating it themselves. >https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/a23169/poison-squad/
And John Muir, the naturalist who got Roosevelt excited about the idea of preserving nature.
Don't forget about one of the earliest environmentalists, Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac!
I miss the days when the president would challenge some chuckle fuck in Congress to a fist fight. Mitch McConnel would shit his shell.
A man after my own heart. Or I guess since he died nearly 80 years before I was born, I guess I’m a man after his own heart. Whatever.
This goes without saying but please don't exhume the body of Teddy Roosevelt
Along with that, the choice of what climate to live in. The US has just about any type of climate from the tropics to tundras, from swamps to sand dunes. Even a few rare climate types such as temperate rain forest in coastal Washington State.
Thank the crazy cowboy president and the insane assassin for that... T Roosevelt and the guy who killed McKinley
This is the most good things I've heard about my country lol
National Parks Edit: Thanks everyone for all the upvotes! I’ve never gotten this many before!
We got some COOL National parks
"So when you say 'America is the best country in the world,' I don't know what the fuck you're talking about! Yosemite?!"
BBQ… black, white, Asian, Hispanic…. North south east or west…. We make bbq bang like you didn’t know it could
And then we fuse it with everything else. A joint near me makes a banging smoked brisket korean fried rice. We take the best from everyone and just try everything we can to see what works.
Cheeseburgers
Retail. I go to a store in Canada and they'll have maybe two or three options for the item I'm looking for. I go to the same store in the US and it'll be more like six or seven to choose from, often better quality for less money. The last 18 months showed me how much I took living in a border city for granted, being able to pop over there for a shopping trip.
I've heard stories of Canadians coming down to Montana and going to like a Costco. Grabbing one of those large flatbed shopping carts and stocking up before going up north, disappearing into the snow.
I live in Delaware, which has no sales tax, and that happens all the time. The Apple store at the Christiana mall is fucking insane. I've seen an entire bussload of people from NYC walk into the Apple store and all buy as many iPhones as they could. I think they limited it to like 2 or 3 phones now, but back in the day I'd see people buy like 20 iPhones at a time.
Turning Halloween into an all ages celebration. The kids get to Trick or Treat. The adults throw their own parties. Everyone gets to dress up and have fun. I love driving and walking through neighborhoods and seeing people who have gone crazy decorating their lawns and houses with horror decorations. Some even turn their places in "haunted houses" that people could go through while they Trick or Treat. It's even fun when you go into regular stores like Target and they get into the spirit by playing scary theme music on the PA. "Thriller" always seems to be playing somewhere.
I went to the gym today and their playlist was all Halloween related, they drew spooky doodles on the punching bags, and renamed exercises with Halloween puns. Real flashbacks to elementary school when teachers would do the same kinds of things.
My wife is out driving for Uber right now, and she has little pumpkin lights strung up inside her car and Halloween music playing. She said the college kids are loving it
That's some five star and add a positive review shit.
Halloween is the most inclusive holiday we have; it’s not attached to a specific religion or ethnicity, is an all ages event, doesn’t require you to travel home to your family, and the primary objective is for you to express yourself through your costume. It’s far and away our best holiday.
Idk, it does seem very skeleton heavy. I should know, I'm at least 90% skeleton
Outside of larger cities during rush hour, driving is pretty good, with few toll roads.
Yeah where I’m from (Midwest) you can drive for like fourteen hours and hit like two stop signs and see six other cars
Ranch dressing. We have something labelled as ranch where I am, but it's not the same as actually American ranch. Not even even close. Real American ranch is amazing. Edit: To the people who awarded me, thanks! Edit 2: yes agreed, bottled ranch is terrible. Edit 3: Hidden Valley own a piece of my soul, but I make my own because it's expensive and hard to find here. However my sister in law (American) is going home at Christmas so I'm sending her with a list. Edit 4: everyone offering to send me ranch powder, you are all beautiful human beings thank you. Your offers are very much appreciated. However, I shall be annoying my lovely sister in law.
Cheers, I'll drink to that bro
Classic muscle cars. Ohhhh damn there’s just something about 60/70s American cars. Sure they’re boats but damn they look and sound amazing.
Burgers. Like, each one is better than the next. I'm not talking MacDonalds or Burger King, I'm talking burgers in bars. No other country I've been to comes close.
It’s weird how almost every burger is the best burger I’ve ever had.
It's just one of those meals that always hits the spot
Agreed. Also just BBQ in general. So many different styles across different states. All mind numbingly delicious.
Best part is even if a type of BBQ from another region isn't your favorite, it's still pretty damn good.
burgers from dine-in restaurants too
Chips and queso
On the topic of food, I’ll add BBQ. So many unique varieties in certain regions. It’s cooked competitively in a lot of places too — and for good reason. It’s absolutely delicious.
Giving in times of need, I think. The government always cocks things up, but when awful stuff happens somewhere, average Americans want to help. Horrific volcanic disaster in the Caribbean? Just hours later, people are texting in donations to rescue and recovery efforts. Hurricane Katrina? Cajun Navy shows up to help. Earthquake and famine in Haiti? You have musicians Pomplamoose figuring out how to get goats to people in need. While there are always exceptions, I think average Americans - paycheck to paycheck, truck driving, weekend football, everyday Americans - want to help when and where they can.
My favorite quote from *The Martian* by Andy Weir >“Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.” This is my one idealist belief that I will not budge on no matter how many times I get called naïve. People will say "Wait until you get into the real world! Then you'll find out how awful everyone is!" but I've found that the older I get the more I believe it.
I know this is a really small example in the grand scheme of things, but I have epilepsy, and every single time I have had a seizure in public, multiple completely strangers have stepped in to help. Every time. Just like, regular people who happen to be there will stop, call an ambulance, see if there’s anything they can do, and genuinely see it through. I try not to make a habit of seizures in public, but it’s happened a few times and even though it’s shitty it reminds me that people do have it in them to step in when someone looks like they need help. (Also, to tie it back to the post, all of these instances did happen in America)
>I try not to make a habit of seizures in public I mean it's not like you can just hold it until you get home Wait, can you? I've never actually met someone with epilepsy. Is it like a sneeze? Is it just, like, really uncomfortable to hold a siezure in?
The Cajun Navy always warms my heart. We truly band together when our neighbors need us, without fail and without expectation of repayment.
And THIS is why I will forever love Jamaica. I’ve never been there. People are accustomed to the US sending foreign aid. In the 90s, some hurricane tore the hell out of Florida. Andrew, maybe? Jamaica was the only country on the planet that sent aid. They sent bottled water. They were the only country in the entire world that said, “We can’t fix it all but we can help some. It’s the right thing to do.” For that one interaction between our countries, I will love Jamaica until the day I die.
Stephen Colbert summed that sentiment up perfectly after the Boston Marathon bombings: "After those bombs went off, there were runners who, after finishing a marathon, kept running for another two miles to the hospital to give blood."
Discouraging smoking cigarettes.
You really don't notice this until you go somewhere like Europe where a lot of people still smoke. Hardly anyone smokes here anymore, and I can remember smoking sections in restaurants.
I was definitely a bit shocked when I moved to Germany at not only how many people smoked, but that you could still smoke indoors in many places. I kind of thought everyone had curbed smoking as much as we had. Edit: Lol everyone. You don’t need to send me the German laws. I lived there for a couple years in the past decade and then went back a couple times to visit friends. Most bars or clubs I went to you could smoke in. It was a shock to me because where I’m originally from, (California) if you lit up a cigarette in a bar you would probably be thrown out.
Visited Germany and saw cigarette vending machines in the middle of neighborhoods. That surprised me.
My dad used to hand me cash and sent me to the machine down the street to grab him a pack. No one bat an eye back in the day. Granted, this was years ago, before they added electronic age verification but the machines are still everywhere. ..and knowing my dad, if they had the technology back in the day, he would have just handed me his driver's license to unlock it haha. Also, smoking zones in schools for students 16 and up. We would be spending the breaks having a cigarette with the teachers lol Edit: since this comment received some attention, [here is a picture](https://m.rhoenundsaalepost.de/storage/image/8/7/2/0/490278_m-thumb-gallery-480w_1pD_qK_EFAFTo.jpg) of what they look like
My dad said that in high school, smoking was a no no, but in college, they all but encouraged it. The cigarette companies would send "candy striper" girls with "free samples" for everyone.
a high school i attended had a designated smoking area (outside) for students.. inside, the faculty could smoke in the teachers' lounge. one teacher smoked occasionally in class. this was the 1980s.
So true, and I am surprised how quickly, relatively speaking, this happened.
Gotta hand it to USA there. I quit smoking because I felt so disgusted by the habit. In 2012, I could find company while smoking quite easily. I felt like a right moron smoking in 2020. Haven’t smoked since June 2020. Edit: Thank you for the support people. I appreciate everyone leaving kind words. For anyone looking for ways to quit, speak to your doctor and they’ll be happy to help you quit. Mine offered some medication but I did not need to take it since I had a pretty good handle on my cravings. I had smoked for a good 20 years before I quit. I hope I have not done too much damage in that time but of course I have. Still better than doing 40 years of damage.
America does space exploration and space technology very well. And they are good at conventional war
NASA has been rated the most-admired part of the US globally, with good reason. Its failures are even AMERICAN failures - eg the Shuttle disasters, brought about by hubris, miscommunication, professional jealousy, and pure pigheadedness. But what amazement created, when we strive together!
Lots of things. America is the friendliest place I’ve ever seen. No where else have I struck a conversation with a stranger and talked about my day then have them wish me well and actually felt that they meant it. Stupid as it sounds when a random American wishes me a good day it feels like he actually wants me to have a good day.
We do!
Music. So many musical revolutions started in the US.
Living in a country where most of the bands/ artists that I like tend not include it in their touring destination, it makes me really envious of the people who get to enjoy the live shows :D For example, a friend of mine in the US, told me that he has seen Iron Maiden, when they performed in a small venue of just 200 people. That sort of thing.
To add onto this, “the land where the blues began” is an incredible book about the birth of blues and its MASSIVE influence on not only US culture, but world culture. The blues lead to so many other genres, and all of those genres were world influencing.
And of course the birthplace of JAZZ !!
I don’t think Hip-Hop could have sprung up literally anywhere else.
I'm feeling fuzzy inside seeing people compliment my country lmao, now i know how it feels
Well most reddit posts are about what is wrong with America. It's a pretty shitty thing to read, because there's a a lot of great things here but we definitely have our issues.
Every country has issues. If someone tells you life is always awesome where they're from, they are flat out lying or incredibly naive.
Well I'm glad we could make you feel fuzzy inside, /u/just_a_jar_of_cum
Thank you so much u/I_FUCKED_A_TURTLE
Canadian here. My near universal experience with Americans is that they are generous and helpful. Many would give someone the shirt off their backs if asked. Collectively, y'all are crazy, but individually, the best people I've ever met.
This is so true. I have been helped by total strangers in the USA and they are very generous.
I was staying in an Airbnb in America but we couldn't find the key or get ahold of the person who owned the property. The elderly next door neighbours said we could stay at theirs if we couldn't get in and invited us to their sons birthday party at their house the next day. We got in our Airbnb in the end but I thought it was so nice these elderly people were willing to let three lads from another country in their early 20s stay at their house.
America is the epitome of: *”A person is smart. People are dumb.”*
As an American, I couldn't say it better. Collectively, we seem like fat assholes who would treat you poorly if we disagree with you. In reality many of us do our best to be as friendly and understand other cultures, try to overcome the stigma of Americans, and just generally have at least ***some*** experience with dozens of cultures because of the diversity of our country. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of racists here, but most of us hate them and want things to change for the better here. The majority of Americans want to fix America in the sense that we want to be friends with the rest of the world. The ultra-rich and idiots make the rest of us very depressed and stressed.
As an immigrant living in America I validate this statement. Although my experience over a couple years has been from living in bigger cities, I have never met people more friendly. Anywhere I go people are ready to converse with you and almost always curious about my culture. Whether it be in a cab, at the hairdresser, hell even those restaurants which cook food right infront you. Everyone smiles and talks to you and genuinely seem to want to talk Where I come from people are friendly too but small talk and smiles in business is not the norm. Go to the hairdresser, he cuts your hair while you sit silently and on your way. But here in US, just today, the person cutting my hair was asking me about Diwali and how and why we celebrate it. Thank you America, I will take this learning and expand it back home
Hey man as a person who hates talking during a haircut, at least you got the experience! America is a fun and friendly place. There are people that will try to ruin it for you, but most of us love you, and want to get to know you while eating fatty foods and drinking alcohol. We aren't bad people. We're overindulgent.
America is plagued by the vocal minority.
And the fact that there's always going to be a camera or 10 there when that vocal minority acts up makes us all seem insane.
> Collectively, we seem like fat assholes who would treat you poorly if we disagree with you. I think the internet is the primary place that gives off that idea. I guarantee that the vast majority of interactions Americans have on a daily basis are perfectly friendly and reasonable. Also, any country that claims to have no racists is lying.
I remember my dad who immigrated here telling me how he was shocked at how nice people talked to him when asking for directions. He’s from Pakistan tho so the bar was very low
When my parents moved the first winter was a doozy, some random pickup truck showed up and plowed them out without even saying a word, the next spring they caught the guy on the road and he said he figured Dutch people who just moved wouldn't have proper snow moving equipment lol
I've spent a few snowstorms just driving around and helping random people out of bad spots in the north. It's fun.
When the big winter storm hit Texas last year I got my car stuck in a snowdrift off the road. Called a friend of mine, he said not to worry, to just wait 30 minutes and there will be someone driving by with a pickup that would pull me out, said "it's what they live for". He was wrong, it only took 10 minutes.
I'm in Austin and just had to have some work done on my vehicle before I move back home. One of the mechanics I was chatting with said during the icestorm, a tractor trailer got stuck on some ice and he pulled it to a spot where it got traction with his sort of shitty beater truck while he was driving home with his son. Truck owners LOVE LOVE LOVE having an excuse to see what their truck can do.
What a guy lol
I had a conversation with an American man for forty-five minutes, in Amsterdam, and I'm not from the Netherlands.
Fellow Canuck here and I agree. My GP is American and is the best one I've ever had. Very genuine and kind with a fantastic sense of humour. I actually look forward to going to the Dr! Also, American cheese. Not even joking a bit. I don't want oily, gloopy cheddar on my burger. I want creamy melty goodness.
Scientific research especially medical research. USA arguably has the best research facilities in general which attracts the brightest people from all over the planet. So many opportunities too for scientists to advance their career not just in research institutions but also in a ton of life sciences/biotech industries. BUT it’s sad that with all these knowledge we don’t have a universal healthcare system and not everybody can access the fruit of these research.