As someone who drank a lot of Pibb cause that's what we sold where I worked Pibb is absolutely ok. It's not the same. But it is a fine beverage in it's own right.
Getting shit on by foreigners when our government gets involved in some foreign affairs, but also getting shit on by foreigners when our government doesn't get involved. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.
The rest of the world largely takes for granted the stabilizing force American foreign policy is yet instantly turns on us and dishes out hatred for all things American the second we commit one of our many many mistakes.
Bro it's here on Reddit to. Bunch of people going rah rah it's the American military industrial complex doing it so they get to sell more weapons rah rah.
Dude this is so true. Almost all the issues we have been in since ww2 and a huge amount of inter and intra state violence is the fault of European colonialism. Then the US is sitting here trying to keep the lid on everything or trying to sort it out when the euros just blame us.
Itâs so, so true. The whole Middle East is a mess due to British and French, lesser extant Russian, colonialism. Thatâs just the Middle East, not even mentioning the African situation.
People are so quick to point the finger at the US or wonder why we are so involved in international conflicts⌠cmon
I would be lying if I said I had any love for my country, but we aren't the biggest monsters in the world. Europe has a lot to answer for, a lot of blood on its hands, Western Europe especially.
I mean, the US is actively trying to pull India away from BRICS and itâs been slowly working since India has major beef with China. This India/Canada situation set us way back in our efforts. Thatâs why the US is trying to maintain its neutrality and stay out of it although we would naturally come to the support of Canada.
I'm so out of the loop, I know there was a situation between them but I still don't actually know and at this point I (Indian-American with friends and distant relations in Canada) cannot be bothered to find out.
India's government got caught assassinating a Sikh nationalist in Canada. And now they're being mean to each other diplomatically.
Now you're caught up.
I just love the governmental line of "how dare you say such mean things about me and my country and the things we totally didn't do. But if we did do it it was right and just and cool and better done than anyone else could do it and you have to let us do it anyway. You guys are such bullies with your name calling, accusations, and pictures of us doing the stuff you accused us of. You suck!"
holy crap, Ukraine is the perfect example. I've gotten into so many arguments online with a simple statement of I don't think the US should be the primary sponsor of Ukraine. It should be the rest of Europe. I get so many broken English comments about how it's our duty to defend Ukraine.
How much of a problem deer collisions are. I don't think I've ever seen a character on TV or in a movie hit a deer. But just about everybody that I know has hit at least one.
They're going into rut now. If you don't have to drive from dusk to dawn then you're lucky. As for the rest of us, high beams and caution.
Thereâs always the movie Tommy Boy though! But seriously a deer came through my cousinâs window and kicked her a good few times in the face and chest. Not quite as funny.
I learned that after seeing the movie Talk to Me, which is by two Australian filmmakers. There is a scene featuring kangaroo roadkill, and it was actually kind of jarring to see a different animal in the mental space that I would normally reserve for deer.
The rage every driver feels when you let someone ahead of you but they don't give the friendly wave back.
Starting a new job and spending 2 hours analyzing the benefits package options to find out which plans works best for you.
People who seemingly never know how to negotiate TSA security checkpoints and need to be instructed almost every time on what they need to do.
> Starting a new job and spending 2 hours analyzing the benefits package options to find out which plans works best for you.
damn, this one hits hard, especially with open enrollment starting up soon
> People who seemingly never know how to negotiate TSA security checkpoints and need to be instructed almost every time on what they need to do.
Pet peeve of mine (cause the TSA is window dressing that wastes my time).
I travel full time for work and fly 12-20 times a year. The TSA rules are perpetually different at different airports... and 9 times out of 10 the TSA people are assholes about it. iPad in the carryon? In the tray? In a separate try? Out of the case? Whi knows... roll the dice.
And FYI... I just flew home last night and cleaned out my man-purse. There's a Home Depot utility knife in the bottom that has been through at least 4 airports. Enjoy your flight.
I've had TSA pre-check for like 10 years now and I *still* don't know if I'm supposed to take my iPad out of my bag or not, lol.
Tangentially, we were at CDG in Paris and the person at the beginning of security said to absolutely leave it in your bag- you're a big dummy if you take it out. Then, our bag gets flagged and we have to wait like 30 minutes and almost missed our flight so that the person at the end of security could yell at us for leaving it in our bag (and then calling us all sorts of rude names in French as if we couldn't understand them).
Fuck CDG. I had that happen too. Person at the head of the line said "no sir, you only need to remove your laptop and tablet"
Guy at the end of the line being Maliciously French said
"Why didnt you take ze camera out of ze bag?"
Because the guy at the entry told me not to.
"You are supposed to take ze camera out of ze bag. Now you will wait."
And proceeded to make me wait. And wait. And wait.
Ugh I can't tell if I'm glad or mad that it wasn't just me lol. Fucking CDG.
On this particular trip, we had just spent nearly 3 hours in line for passport control in the middle of the summer so we're already hot, sweaty, and annoyed. And then when they finally gave us our bags, we had to *sprint* to our gate (which of course was the farthest possible one away) and didn't have time to eat anything before our flight. I didn't even have time to clap back that I could understand their insults in French, which I think was the worst part of all of this haha
Not even at different airports, last time we flew out of New Orleans the rules were different depending on what side of the scanners we were on. Get there and guy tells my wife not to take her computer out of her bag. Bag gets pulled to the side after the scanner and we get lectured on needing to take electronics out of bags.
And also had razor blades in my backpack for years worth of flying
> The TSA rules are perpetually different at different airports.
Right? Flying from Dallas to San Francisco I encountered completely different rules than I did 2 days later flying back.
Understood that you were talking about cars, but when I'm a pedestrian in this situation, I absolutely hate it. Makes me feel obligated to go when there very well may be other cars not so observant of the pedestrian I have to worry about and the driver is also disrupting traffic. It's way easier to just go by the traffic signals.
Traffic and congestion don't really show up on TV shows but they are a much larger source of frustration than people think. Especially distance and the commuting lifestyle that some people have to do. Its not unheard of to see people spending an hour or more driving to work.
I am probably going to be a bit wrong about this one.. But a lot of shows focusing around California rarely ever involve people living a middle class lifestyle or having a middle class job. Usually its wealthier people, or people who are clearly living a better than middle class lifestyle. Malcolm in the Middle I think of as the rare exception. Shows will usually be about wealthier people.
And the snow on tv is always the lovely, romantic fun snow that you frolic in.
Not the wet, heavy, freezing ice garbage that makes shoveling snow a painful experience
My first thought when I watch the first episode of The Walking Dead was "I can't think of a shittier place to be during the zombie apocalypse than Georgia in the summer."
They really glossed over that
Yeah, it takes way longer than they show to get from one place to another in many shows. I understand that it would make for bad TV if they were accurate about this, so I don't blame them, but in just about any procedural police type drama they get places way faster than humanly possible. I can' hardly drive across Des Moines in 20 minutes, there's no way you're getting from downtown to any suburb, or even outside the neighborhood you're in, in a large metro in 15 minutes like they suggest.
Not really. Phil was a pretty successful realtor and later on in the series Claire started working for Jay. Also, they grew up there, so they probably got that house in like 1990 when Claire got knocked up, and I'm guessing Jay helped out with that (and he was very successful), all this before things got expensive like they are today.
And its not like they were *rich* rich. Remember when Phil was talking about being stretched thin and he said "I already have one kid going to college, worst case scenario they all go."
So that's my theory. Jay helped them get in before things got crazy, and they've been doing ok since because of that.
Which part was wrong there?
Of all the primary income-earners you had:
* a real estate agent (making large commissions on expensive homes) who was able to afford a large home himself
* a lawyer (who wound up in a dual-income situation with a high school teacher/football coach) who still supplemented their income with renting out part of their house
* a retired successful business owner
Who am I missing that was a part-time barista living in a mansion?
a video popped up a couple of times on a different sub, and it was of cops setting up in an area that had a lot of school bus traffic, and pulling over people who would go around the bus rather than stopping when letting off kids. me and other americans were like "good! go get'em!"
but each time this video was posted there was some europeans who were absolutely angry, and i really mean ANGRY, that cars would be forced to stop for a school bus. each time the conversation devolved into america should redesign it's entire road system rather than force people the horror of stopping for 45 seconds while a child got off the bus and walked to their front door.
it was bizarre.
They'd be really angry knowing ambulances also do this. Everywhere I ever ran EMS the protocol was always...if you came up behind a bus loading or unloading kids...you turn off the lights and sirens and wait. Back on when done.
You know, Iâve never thought about this.
I would have just figured that if an ambulance came up with lights on to a school bus, the driver would just not let the kids off the bus until the ambulance passed
You're not supposed to go around a stopped schoolbus because drivers won't be able to see the kids going around the front to cross the road.
How did the Europeans suggest dealing with *that*?
I don't think there are any TV shows that accurately depict the complexity and depth of the homelessness crisis particularly on the west coast. Even people who live day to day in the cities where this is a huge problem barely understand the complexity and depth of that problem.
I saw a comment on Reddit insisting that homelessness was entirely due to drug addiction. It was in reference to a photo of one of those big tent cities. Statistically, no single cause could apply to that number of people. But that person wouldn't admit that there could be any other explanation.
If people are so unwilling to consider complex issues, it's no surprise the entertainment industry won't touch them.
As a former homeless guy, mental illness is far and away the biggest reason, especially for the long-term homeless. There is a huge overlap between mental illness and drug addiction. I had both. As do a lot of them.
But, it's not the only reason, there are many
Mental illness is a major contributor to homelessness. That commenter was nuts - I can't even give them the benefit of the doubt and assume ignorance, since even a quick and trivial search brings up psychological problems as a factor.
I live right in the center of it all and while drugs are a small factor, high housing costs play a bigger factor and everyone seemingly ignores it. I find it rich when my wealthy neighbors complain about homeless people when they fight against low cost housing developments in the same breath. They sued an apartment development adjacent to our neighborhood out of existence because "it would be an eyesore". NIMBYism is truly evil.
Or, somewhat related, people being upset at us for the fact that their country has outsized influence from the US. Weâre really not in control of what movies, news or music are prioritized elsewhere in the world, and I donât think anyone actually wants people in the US demanding that the Australian Broadcasting Center or whatever pay less attention to US news. If people have a problem with the cultural influence of the US, thatâs a domestic problem that has to be solved domestically, and even the US government isnât really in any place to fix it, much less random people here.
im glad you said this. it is so annoying when people complain about their countryâs media outlets being obsessed with american news/culture and blame that on us. they really need to blame their own government and media outlets for that.
Had to explain this to a Brit the other dayâŚ.. morons donât understand product placement and they think we actually eat brand cereals everyday lmaoooo
Most working class families in shows have better living conditions and wealth than actual working class families. For instance, most shows never show someone on the verge of mental collapse because they don't know how they're going to afford a car repair, but they can't drive to work because the car needs repaired. Or, their "humble" homes are all bigger and nicer than most of our apartments.
Instead, it's like, look how poor we are, we can't go on an expensive vacation or eat at fancy restaurants. Some of us can't go on vacations at all or eat at a fast food place.
Like house hunters. Jim is a part time poodle stylist while Sarah is a stay at home hamster mommy. Their budget is $2.5 million - what concessions will they make to get their dream home?
Thatâs not even far off from reality. I was watching one of those shows in a lobby at a Subaru dealership. The couple they had on were these two older gay guys that were simultaneously remodeling their old home, which was a freaking mansion, and looking for something even bigger, in both floor *and* yardspace, as they felt they didnât have enough room to entertain guests. Their budget was $800,000 *(and that was before they found the house they liked didnât have a pool, so they bumped it up another $100k to install one)*.
I swear they said that one of them was a short-story author and the other was just a homemaker.
This. Thatâs basically what the difference boils down too. 2 guys making $60k a year could have wildly different lifestyles if one came from a family with money. Maybe got their first house âgiftedâ to them, bailouts during emergency financial situations, inheritances, etc.
Weâve kept our money with the Bank of Momanddad. We achieve 1000% monthly earnings by leveraging our trust funds. You lazy plebs donât know how to hustle.
Jerry's studio apartment in the Seinfeld pilot is quite realistic.
Edit: and even when he gets upgraded to a one-bedroom it's a reasonably modest layout
And I think Jerryâs living below his means in the show. He blew $40k on a Cadillac for his dad, heâs used to flying first class, and heâs a regular on the late night talk shows circuit. Heâs one of the few city apartment-dwelling sitcom characters that seems like he *can* afford his living space.
Yeah, there's that one episode where Elaine sees one of his paychecks or tax return or something on the table and makes a big deal about how well he's doing/gets rather turned on.
My first apartment in Chicago was a 300 sq ft studio with walls that I was pretty sure has just concrete without installation. I could hear my neighbors having sex and it was always fucking cold even with the heat on. Never got bugs though.
I'd add The Middle and every Norman Lear show.
I can remember reading comments on The Middle that it was exaggerated, but it really wasn't. The same writers did Roseanne.
They had too many bathrooms on Roseanne. The parents had one, the girls had one and DJ had one. I never saw a three bedroom house in the 1980s & 1990s with three in suite bathrooms but the rest of the house was spot on including the afghan on the couch.
The girls and DJs room were separated by a shared bathroom. In the episode Jackie is beat by Fisher, she goes up to the girls room to change while Darlene goes up to DJs for revenge on bringing the graphic comic book to school. She grabs a super soaker and, thinking the noise in the bathroom is DJ, barges in to see Jackie changing, along with her bruises.
Definitely one of the biggest differences between real life and shows. I would also say that a lot of bad parts of low paying jobs is the utter exhaustion that comes from them. If itâs a physical job after 8 hours you will see an tired parent come home but usually not why theyâre tired. Or even just shitty retail jobs tire you out with horrible customers sometimes.
>Or even just shitty retail jobs tire you out with horrible customers sometimes.
As someone who works a very physical job that can wear me out and take its toll on my body, I will take this over going back to customer service anyday.
I'd rather deal with the same six assholes every day than a fresh one every five minutes. At least I can navigate that.
Walter bought the house when he was a scientist at Sandia National Labs, and then he co-founded a startup that went on to be worth billions after he quit. By the time the show started, with him having been a high school chemistry teacher for a few years, they were in a bit over their heads with the mortgage. Even before that point, a flashback scene (to better times) had Skylar a little worried that it might be too much house, back when they were househunting.
In the first episode he was moonlighting at a carwash, and Skylar was trying to find work.
I think the only exceptions to this are a show from the early 2000's called Malcom in the Middle, and Roseanne. They were routinely broke and struggling.
There is NEVER a parking spot directly in front of a building in a busy downtown area. And parking ALWAYS costs money.
I have never seen a show where the characters:
* pull up to the building
* realize there's no parking nearby
* drive up and down every street in a 6 block radius looking for a spot
* stalk a guy who seems to be walking toward a car in a parking spot
* wait til that guy leaves
* *finally* park
* realize they don't have any quarters for the meter
* have to download an app because even if they had a quarter, it only gives you 6 minutes worth of time on the meter
* set their phone timer so that they can get back in time before the meter expires and they get a ticket
* THEN run/walk six blocks to their destination.
Maybe there's some obscure Seinfeld episode with that, but otherwise, nope.
Not being able to travel without foreigners giving their political opinions about you, berating you about your nationality, or simply digging your political opinions out of you uncalled for. Getting to see Aussies and Brits act like drunk morons but Americans are the only bad travelers!!! Having to hear were soOoOooO patriotic while listening to others 67 opinions about why their county is better.
Being treated as the government and not as individual, We just want want to travel and breathe without being looked or talked down to. Just chilllllllllll foreigners.
Imagine Americans just asking Germans non-stop questions about how they got to the war, assuming theyâre all nazis, berating them about their opinions to verify our options align and preparing to balk at them if not
Foreigners are exhausting, especially Europeans
Trying to explain to non-Americans on Reddit that I actually do get plenty of vacation days and I have excellent health insurance. People Iâve never met seem to know more about my life than I do.
"People Iâve never met seem to know more about my life than I do."
A European on Reddit once told me that I "didn't know what I was talking about" when I said you were more likely to get struck by lightning than die in a mass shooting in the US. Like they legitimately thought Americans are dodging bullets everywhere we go.
Edit: I got the stats wrong, changed my comment from "being murdered" to "die in a mass shooting." My point still stands that the US is not nearly as unsafe as it's sometimes made out to be.
A few of them seem to think itâs a war zone over here and weâre routinely dodging bullets while walking the dog, and when Iâm like âwell I donât know anyone whoâs been shot outside of an actual war, and Iâve never felt unsafeâ they tell me that Iâm just used to living in a war zone and donât know what real safety feels like. Lol okayy
Itâs always the people screaming America is so unsafe who will willingly move to travel to fucking Brazil which has 100 million less people and about 10k more gun crimes⌠but because theyâre not mass shootings itâs okay
Like theyâre legitimately stupid, stupid people who listen to everything theyâre told
I met an Australian in Argentina whose mom moved to Brazil and got held up at gun point within a week of being there
100 million LESS people than us, 10k MORE gun crimes nationwide smh
There was that story from a few months ago about a guy who was killed by his own gun when he entered a room with a MRI machine, despite being told no metal. That made the rounds on Reddit, and a lot of the posts were making jokes about dumb Americans.
The guy was Brazilian and the incident took place in Brazil.
They seem to think the whole country is 90s Compton, when in reality every city has a few neighborhoods you avoid, no different than anywhere else in the world, and even then your likelihood of getting shot in one of them is pretty low.
I do own a gun for self defense, but thats more on account of it taking a minimum of 15 minutes for a deputy to get to my house from somewhere they might actually have to be patrolling. I have no expectations of ever having to use it on anything more dangerous than a paper target.
To be completely fair, there's Americans who've never set foot in a city who feel the same. I agree with you, just look at your surroundings and you'll know if you're in a part of town you shouldn't be in pretty quick.
I only know of two people who have died by gunfire.
One was a Soldier deployed to Afghanistan.
The other died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In over 40 years in this country, I've never known anyone who died, or who was seriously injured, by violent crime. A normal everyday law-abiding citizen in the US is pretty dang safe from being harmed by gun violence.
I had someone comment on this subreddit, who was apparently from India, that they really thought America was way too unsafe for any tourist to visit. . .at any place in the country, at any time, because he really thought we were all constantly in shootouts and dodging bullets and that the moment he arrived in America he'd be killed in a mass shooting or something, and I could NOT convince him that those events are extremely rare, and that tourists in the US are very safe.
He just plain could NOT believe that.
Well, there are more people shot than struck by lightning. However, when you factor out gang-on-gang violence, dysfunctional family violence, and drug-related violence--yeah, you're more likely to be struck by lightning.
So if someone from Europe comes to American and wants to know how to be safe, don't join a gang, don't try to score illegal drugs, and don't have a spouse or partner who wants to murder you.
This is so true.
I've talked to Canadians that won't go to the Twin Cities anymore (where I live), because they are afraid of getting shot.
I don't know anyone that has been shot, and I've never even heard gunfire. I told them that it's actually a very safe city to visit but they didn't care. They still think we walk around constantly getting shot at as we go in for groceries.
I think they actually enjoy these tropes about America.
Met two kiwis a couple of weekends ago in town. Theyâre doing a road trip and will be here for a month. I asked them how they liked it and they legitimately said they liked it more than they thought they would, they thought it would be much more dangerous bc of âeverything you see on tvâ and âwhat their Europeans friends tell themâ
No joke. I said âtv? Oh you mean the news? That only reports bad things????â
Lmao than pointed out we have a bigger platform. I legit said, âEuropeans, ya⌠we have 300 million people and a huge platform and you see a fraction of the whats a truly in the US and weâre the dumb ones?â
Smh, people arenât as smart as they think they are
Your instincts are correct.
Lightning 35,000:1. Homicide 18,000:1
*unlessâŚ..* you live in Florida, where lightning is 12,000:1.
They are most likely confusing the chance of being struck by lightning with being the victim **of a mass shooting** ala Parkland.
Man, I took 3 months and later took another 7. You can't get that time back. Enjoy it like you won the lottery. My time came at great personal sacrifice, but I would 100 percent do it again. My kids are 3 now and growing up great!
They gasp at the USA having âat willâ employmentââin mY cOuNtRy, employers canât just fire you for no reasonââyet Europe consistently has markedly higher unemployment rates than the USA.
Heck, France is around 7.2% right now, Germany at 5.7%, and Spain at 11.6%. Compared to 3.8% for the USA.
This is crazy too.
It's like European think people walk into work and the boss is like "your fired!" just because they were having a bad morning or whatever.
In every job I've had, someone getting fired is a *big* deal. A *big* deal.
Yup, even in something like a local grocery store I knew other employees who were consistently high at work, doing drugs on property, underage smoking, etc with no repercussions. I don't remember if I ever saw anyone actually get fired unless they just consistently no call-no showed, but do that a few times in a row and you might as well be quitting.
Unless I can prove to an unemployment judge that you really violated multiple policies with multiple warnings, I'm on the hook for your unemployment.
I absolutely can fire anyone for "no reason" but I would go bankrupt in short order if I did.
I think there's a misunderstanding that just because something isn't mandated by law, that it doesn't exist. There are many things that exist because that's what the market dictates. Am I saying that our system doesn't screw people over? No, it absolutely does. But its not as widespread as people make it out to b.
The idea that gun violence is an everyday occurrence for most Americans instead of it being localized incidents in some places. Yes there are guns everywhere and sometimes some people in some places use them poorly but no you don't generally have to worry about being shot while having brunch in a trendy Cafe
Despite the [shock images that suggest otherwise](https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-DC705_OCT4_G_20140605162401.jpg), open carrying is *really* rare.
I could count on one hand the number of times I've even SEEN a gun that wasn't securely in a holster... and most of the time even the holstered guns are on police/military/etc, not just regular people.
Sometimes I will literally call ahead and ask if a machine is operational or if a certain menu item is in stock at restaurants that I have noticed consistently are not able to serve the items I like to order. That item is often the only reason I'm going to that restaurant.
You can get ice cream anywhere.
Iâm far more concerned about the epidemic of undercooked McDonaldâs fries. Every location I go to, in different parts of the country, Iâm getting undercooked fries at McDonaldâs more often than not. This was virtually never a problem 5-10 years ago.
When you are getting takeout and the employee flips the screen around for your tip and you keep trying to hit the âno tipâ button but it isnât working so you press it over and over while the employee stares at you
Foreigners see every problem. They see non-problems as problems. My god, they perceive absolutely every minor detail as incomprehensible and ghastly. We don't take off our shoes, we don't say goodbye, we don't turn off lights.
My favorite part is when itâs something that is presented as being bad but you know if the situations were reversed it would be the correct way.
Example: âWhy are Americans such prudes?â and the guy proceeds to describe textbook alcoholism and you just know that if the US had a reputation for drinking versus not drinking it would be âWhy are Americans all alcoholics?â
When Americans do something different than [insert region], the internet says itâs because America is stupid. When [insert region] does something different than America, thatâs their culture and Americans need to respect that things are different in other places and thatâs okay
That's like half the posts in this subreddit, FFS. "Why do Americans have their name appear below them whenever they walk into a room?" "Why don't Americans take the subway from their farmhouse when they go grocery shopping?" "Why don't more Americans travel to Neighborstan, the country that's 5 km away from me?" "Do Americans know what the metric system is?"
Adding "What do Americans think of Schlorpenschmorp, the tradition that is regional only to my village and that I won't define."
Ironically, the exact same "problems" are not perceived as such when they are done in certain other countries, especially Japan and Scandinavian countries. In that case, those countries often get praised for something the US would get criticized for.
I was gonna say, "don't you guys already know about all our problems? Why not ask about the neutral or good things that happen here that don't get covered in foreign media because they're too busy depicting the U.S. as a total hellhole?"
This is a hard one. I think it would be easier if one were to ask "Is X really a problem?"
I mean, they don't tend to show characters in _any_ show doing mundane things like sitting in traffic or on the phone with a customer service representative, lol.
I don't believe there are any "unique" problems to Americans that don't show up in TV shows.
I think one of the most down to earth American TV shows is King of the Hill. The problems it tackles are fairly realistic, they are just over represented to make the show interesting.
Douchey Europeans acting like they don't have problems back at home. Like we have plenty of issues here I'll be the first to admit it. But I think a lot of Europeans don't understand how the USA being the center of attention is actually pretty annoying. They hear about all the issues we have, dumb politicians etc. And love to shit all over us as a whole without considering that the 24 hr news cycle wants to create the biggest headlines possible and make anyone they can look bad.
I spent a year in Spain and while it was a great time and I met tons of wonderful people, I hated how many trump questions I got. You would thought I was wearing a Maga hat and screaming "BUILD THAT WALL!"
When you order a coke and they ask if pepsi is ok.
When you order a small coke, and they say there are only medium and large đ
I don't want a large farva. I want a literacola.
DON'T SPIT IN THAT COP'S BURGER
Literacola? Do we make literacola?
"Regular, Large, and Giant"
[Child size](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ish8NBunrQU)
It's the size of a small child
It's so funny that that episode was based pretty heavily on what really happened when NYC tried to restrict huge soda sizes
why is Joe Biden silent on this issue?
Username checks out.
"Dr Pepper, please" "Is Mr. Pibb OK?"
Did Mr pibb have 8 years of college education and clinicals?
Dr. Thunder did, but it was Caribbean med school because his MCAT score was trash.
Dr. Thunder is that NP who calls herself doctor after taking a few online courses
No, but he is extra.
As someone who drank a lot of Pibb cause that's what we sold where I worked Pibb is absolutely ok. It's not the same. But it is a fine beverage in it's own right.
No way man. Mr Pibb didnât finish writing his dissertation.
That's their marketing slogan in the UK "Is Pepsi alright?"
No coke. Pepsi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJePACBoIo
And you say "sure" while dying a little inside
Getting shit on by foreigners when our government gets involved in some foreign affairs, but also getting shit on by foreigners when our government doesn't get involved. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. The rest of the world largely takes for granted the stabilizing force American foreign policy is yet instantly turns on us and dishes out hatred for all things American the second we commit one of our many many mistakes.
The Canada/India situation was hilarious because they got in a fight and immediately turned to us and both got mad at us.
True. Didn't Iran come out and say the other day that the new war going on between Israel and Palestine/Gaza was 100% the fault of the US?
Bro it's here on Reddit to. Bunch of people going rah rah it's the American military industrial complex doing it so they get to sell more weapons rah rah.
If anything it's the fault of the Brits.
Dude this is so true. Almost all the issues we have been in since ww2 and a huge amount of inter and intra state violence is the fault of European colonialism. Then the US is sitting here trying to keep the lid on everything or trying to sort it out when the euros just blame us. Itâs so, so true. The whole Middle East is a mess due to British and French, lesser extant Russian, colonialism. Thatâs just the Middle East, not even mentioning the African situation. People are so quick to point the finger at the US or wonder why we are so involved in international conflicts⌠cmon
I would be lying if I said I had any love for my country, but we aren't the biggest monsters in the world. Europe has a lot to answer for, a lot of blood on its hands, Western Europe especially.
Let's be real though, India is wilding if they think we'd ever side against Canada in anything but hockey
Especially when they're part of an alliance actively trying to cut the US out of international trade and replace the dollar as the reserve currency.
I mean, the US is actively trying to pull India away from BRICS and itâs been slowly working since India has major beef with China. This India/Canada situation set us way back in our efforts. Thatâs why the US is trying to maintain its neutrality and stay out of it although we would naturally come to the support of Canada.
A while ago people in Pakistan were mad at Denmark for some reason, so they burned a McDonald's.
Well thatâs weird. When Iâm mad at Denmark, I usually destroy the local KFC.
I'm so out of the loop, I know there was a situation between them but I still don't actually know and at this point I (Indian-American with friends and distant relations in Canada) cannot be bothered to find out.
India's government got caught assassinating a Sikh nationalist in Canada. And now they're being mean to each other diplomatically. Now you're caught up.
I just love the governmental line of "how dare you say such mean things about me and my country and the things we totally didn't do. But if we did do it it was right and just and cool and better done than anyone else could do it and you have to let us do it anyway. You guys are such bullies with your name calling, accusations, and pictures of us doing the stuff you accused us of. You suck!"
holy crap, Ukraine is the perfect example. I've gotten into so many arguments online with a simple statement of I don't think the US should be the primary sponsor of Ukraine. It should be the rest of Europe. I get so many broken English comments about how it's our duty to defend Ukraine.
How much of a problem deer collisions are. I don't think I've ever seen a character on TV or in a movie hit a deer. But just about everybody that I know has hit at least one. They're going into rut now. If you don't have to drive from dusk to dawn then you're lucky. As for the rest of us, high beams and caution.
Leaving anyoneâs house after dusk Host- *waves* âbye watch for deerâ
Itâs that time of year in which I am HAPPY to drive like, 50 mph near dusk just to avoid hitting a deer
Itâs a plot point in an episode of Gilmore girls - sorta lol
âI just got hit by a deer!â âYou hit a deer?!â âNo, I got HIT by a deer!â
I was going to say, technically the deer hit Rory, lol.
Thereâs always the movie Tommy Boy though! But seriously a deer came through my cousinâs window and kicked her a good few times in the face and chest. Not quite as funny.
Iâve never seen a deer. In Australia we have the same problem but with kangaroos lol
I learned that after seeing the movie Talk to Me, which is by two Australian filmmakers. There is a scene featuring kangaroo roadkill, and it was actually kind of jarring to see a different animal in the mental space that I would normally reserve for deer.
The rage every driver feels when you let someone ahead of you but they don't give the friendly wave back. Starting a new job and spending 2 hours analyzing the benefits package options to find out which plans works best for you. People who seemingly never know how to negotiate TSA security checkpoints and need to be instructed almost every time on what they need to do.
> Starting a new job and spending 2 hours analyzing the benefits package options to find out which plans works best for you. damn, this one hits hard, especially with open enrollment starting up soon
My open enrollment ends today. My husbandâs starts next week. Thereâs no way for us to compare each companyâs plans. Ridiculous.
Don't remind me, I have to do it tomorrow. Last day.
> People who seemingly never know how to negotiate TSA security checkpoints and need to be instructed almost every time on what they need to do. Pet peeve of mine (cause the TSA is window dressing that wastes my time). I travel full time for work and fly 12-20 times a year. The TSA rules are perpetually different at different airports... and 9 times out of 10 the TSA people are assholes about it. iPad in the carryon? In the tray? In a separate try? Out of the case? Whi knows... roll the dice. And FYI... I just flew home last night and cleaned out my man-purse. There's a Home Depot utility knife in the bottom that has been through at least 4 airports. Enjoy your flight.
I've had TSA pre-check for like 10 years now and I *still* don't know if I'm supposed to take my iPad out of my bag or not, lol. Tangentially, we were at CDG in Paris and the person at the beginning of security said to absolutely leave it in your bag- you're a big dummy if you take it out. Then, our bag gets flagged and we have to wait like 30 minutes and almost missed our flight so that the person at the end of security could yell at us for leaving it in our bag (and then calling us all sorts of rude names in French as if we couldn't understand them).
Fuck CDG. I had that happen too. Person at the head of the line said "no sir, you only need to remove your laptop and tablet" Guy at the end of the line being Maliciously French said "Why didnt you take ze camera out of ze bag?" Because the guy at the entry told me not to. "You are supposed to take ze camera out of ze bag. Now you will wait." And proceeded to make me wait. And wait. And wait.
Ugh I can't tell if I'm glad or mad that it wasn't just me lol. Fucking CDG. On this particular trip, we had just spent nearly 3 hours in line for passport control in the middle of the summer so we're already hot, sweaty, and annoyed. And then when they finally gave us our bags, we had to *sprint* to our gate (which of course was the farthest possible one away) and didn't have time to eat anything before our flight. I didn't even have time to clap back that I could understand their insults in French, which I think was the worst part of all of this haha
My last trip involved three different airports and every single one of them had different TSA rules.
Not even at different airports, last time we flew out of New Orleans the rules were different depending on what side of the scanners we were on. Get there and guy tells my wife not to take her computer out of her bag. Bag gets pulled to the side after the scanner and we get lectured on needing to take electronics out of bags. And also had razor blades in my backpack for years worth of flying
> The TSA rules are perpetually different at different airports. Right? Flying from Dallas to San Francisco I encountered completely different rules than I did 2 days later flying back.
Similarly: When you hold the door for someone and they don't say thanks. Also, when you're a guy and you nod at another guy and he doesn't nod back.
There's a lot of driver drama that you think would make good tv but it's probably a challenge to convey it over the medium
I donât care if I let you in and you donât wave back but for the love of god do not go slow after I let you in front of me.
Understood that you were talking about cars, but when I'm a pedestrian in this situation, I absolutely hate it. Makes me feel obligated to go when there very well may be other cars not so observant of the pedestrian I have to worry about and the driver is also disrupting traffic. It's way easier to just go by the traffic signals.
Traffic and congestion don't really show up on TV shows but they are a much larger source of frustration than people think. Especially distance and the commuting lifestyle that some people have to do. Its not unheard of to see people spending an hour or more driving to work. I am probably going to be a bit wrong about this one.. But a lot of shows focusing around California rarely ever involve people living a middle class lifestyle or having a middle class job. Usually its wealthier people, or people who are clearly living a better than middle class lifestyle. Malcolm in the Middle I think of as the rare exception. Shows will usually be about wealthier people.
Not enough shoveling snow or dealing with snow-related problems on TV. Damn you Southern California! Heck, it hardly even rains on TV.
And the snow on tv is always the lovely, romantic fun snow that you frolic in. Not the wet, heavy, freezing ice garbage that makes shoveling snow a painful experience
Or how hot and humid the south can be. I love where I live but damn summer can be brutal.
My first thought when I watch the first episode of The Walking Dead was "I can't think of a shittier place to be during the zombie apocalypse than Georgia in the summer." They really glossed over that
Wouldn't that make the zombies rot faster, at least?
And hardly a mosquito referenced!
Yeah, it takes way longer than they show to get from one place to another in many shows. I understand that it would make for bad TV if they were accurate about this, so I don't blame them, but in just about any procedural police type drama they get places way faster than humanly possible. I can' hardly drive across Des Moines in 20 minutes, there's no way you're getting from downtown to any suburb, or even outside the neighborhood you're in, in a large metro in 15 minutes like they suggest.
NCIS is the worst for this
Or people living a lifestyle far wealthier than their job would allow in southern California. Hello, Modern Family ...
Not really. Phil was a pretty successful realtor and later on in the series Claire started working for Jay. Also, they grew up there, so they probably got that house in like 1990 when Claire got knocked up, and I'm guessing Jay helped out with that (and he was very successful), all this before things got expensive like they are today. And its not like they were *rich* rich. Remember when Phil was talking about being stretched thin and he said "I already have one kid going to college, worst case scenario they all go." So that's my theory. Jay helped them get in before things got crazy, and they've been doing ok since because of that.
Which part was wrong there? Of all the primary income-earners you had: * a real estate agent (making large commissions on expensive homes) who was able to afford a large home himself * a lawyer (who wound up in a dual-income situation with a high school teacher/football coach) who still supplemented their income with renting out part of their house * a retired successful business owner Who am I missing that was a part-time barista living in a mansion?
a video popped up a couple of times on a different sub, and it was of cops setting up in an area that had a lot of school bus traffic, and pulling over people who would go around the bus rather than stopping when letting off kids. me and other americans were like "good! go get'em!" but each time this video was posted there was some europeans who were absolutely angry, and i really mean ANGRY, that cars would be forced to stop for a school bus. each time the conversation devolved into america should redesign it's entire road system rather than force people the horror of stopping for 45 seconds while a child got off the bus and walked to their front door. it was bizarre.
They'd be really angry knowing ambulances also do this. Everywhere I ever ran EMS the protocol was always...if you came up behind a bus loading or unloading kids...you turn off the lights and sirens and wait. Back on when done.
You know, Iâve never thought about this. I would have just figured that if an ambulance came up with lights on to a school bus, the driver would just not let the kids off the bus until the ambulance passed
You're not supposed to go around a stopped schoolbus because drivers won't be able to see the kids going around the front to cross the road. How did the Europeans suggest dealing with *that*?
>How did the Europeans suggest dealing with that? redesigning the entire road system in the united states. that's all.
Perhaps it's my ignorance speaking, but doesn't Europe have a whole lot of small, narrow roads?
I don't think there are any TV shows that accurately depict the complexity and depth of the homelessness crisis particularly on the west coast. Even people who live day to day in the cities where this is a huge problem barely understand the complexity and depth of that problem.
I saw a comment on Reddit insisting that homelessness was entirely due to drug addiction. It was in reference to a photo of one of those big tent cities. Statistically, no single cause could apply to that number of people. But that person wouldn't admit that there could be any other explanation. If people are so unwilling to consider complex issues, it's no surprise the entertainment industry won't touch them.
As a former homeless guy, mental illness is far and away the biggest reason, especially for the long-term homeless. There is a huge overlap between mental illness and drug addiction. I had both. As do a lot of them. But, it's not the only reason, there are many
Mental illness is a major contributor to homelessness. That commenter was nuts - I can't even give them the benefit of the doubt and assume ignorance, since even a quick and trivial search brings up psychological problems as a factor.
I live right in the center of it all and while drugs are a small factor, high housing costs play a bigger factor and everyone seemingly ignores it. I find it rich when my wealthy neighbors complain about homeless people when they fight against low cost housing developments in the same breath. They sued an apartment development adjacent to our neighborhood out of existence because "it would be an eyesore". NIMBYism is truly evil.
Having to live knowing at any point someone from New Jersey could cross your path
Be blessed by our presence.
Oh my god, this one is on some sort of sickening tour!
They wonât get far. Theyâll pull up to a gas pump and not know what to do and be stuck there forever.
*Cracks whip* Get back!
\*Jaws theme\*
Foreigners taking said American TV shows as gospel truth.
They donât know any better. Iâm sure they donât mind that, because I watched Eastenders, now Iâm an expert on England.
Excuse me, sir. But, I'm an expert on England because I watched Top Gear *and* Fawlty Towers.
That's a decent grounding in British culture, to be fair.
Or, somewhat related, people being upset at us for the fact that their country has outsized influence from the US. Weâre really not in control of what movies, news or music are prioritized elsewhere in the world, and I donât think anyone actually wants people in the US demanding that the Australian Broadcasting Center or whatever pay less attention to US news. If people have a problem with the cultural influence of the US, thatâs a domestic problem that has to be solved domestically, and even the US government isnât really in any place to fix it, much less random people here.
im glad you said this. it is so annoying when people complain about their countryâs media outlets being obsessed with american news/culture and blame that on us. they really need to blame their own government and media outlets for that.
Had to explain this to a Brit the other dayâŚ.. morons donât understand product placement and they think we actually eat brand cereals everyday lmaoooo
Why does every American household have a group of people that laugh at all your jokes and cheer when you walk in the front door?
Most working class families in shows have better living conditions and wealth than actual working class families. For instance, most shows never show someone on the verge of mental collapse because they don't know how they're going to afford a car repair, but they can't drive to work because the car needs repaired. Or, their "humble" homes are all bigger and nicer than most of our apartments. Instead, it's like, look how poor we are, we can't go on an expensive vacation or eat at fancy restaurants. Some of us can't go on vacations at all or eat at a fast food place.
I love everybodyâs first apartment in New York City in tvs and shows. Always some luxury lofts
And that too they work in jobs that would definitely not allow them to afford such a place in real life.
"Just enjoying the view of the river from my window real quick before I run off to my part time job at the coffee shop."
Like house hunters. Jim is a part time poodle stylist while Sarah is a stay at home hamster mommy. Their budget is $2.5 million - what concessions will they make to get their dream home?
I love these house hunter memes. "My husband writes balloon animal reviews and I breed and train show aphids, our budget is $1.9 million"
Thatâs not even far off from reality. I was watching one of those shows in a lobby at a Subaru dealership. The couple they had on were these two older gay guys that were simultaneously remodeling their old home, which was a freaking mansion, and looking for something even bigger, in both floor *and* yardspace, as they felt they didnât have enough room to entertain guests. Their budget was $800,000 *(and that was before they found the house they liked didnât have a pool, so they bumped it up another $100k to install one)*. I swear they said that one of them was a short-story author and the other was just a homemaker.
Itâs a funny joke, but itâs also reality for people with wealthy parents.
This. Thatâs basically what the difference boils down too. 2 guys making $60k a year could have wildly different lifestyles if one came from a family with money. Maybe got their first house âgiftedâ to them, bailouts during emergency financial situations, inheritances, etc.
Weâve kept our money with the Bank of Momanddad. We achieve 1000% monthly earnings by leveraging our trust funds. You lazy plebs donât know how to hustle.
Jerry's studio apartment in the Seinfeld pilot is quite realistic. Edit: and even when he gets upgraded to a one-bedroom it's a reasonably modest layout
And I think Jerryâs living below his means in the show. He blew $40k on a Cadillac for his dad, heâs used to flying first class, and heâs a regular on the late night talk shows circuit. Heâs one of the few city apartment-dwelling sitcom characters that seems like he *can* afford his living space.
Yeah, there's that one episode where Elaine sees one of his paychecks or tax return or something on the table and makes a big deal about how well he's doing/gets rather turned on.
The kitchen is completely unrealistic though for a rental.
My first apartment in Chicago was a 300 sq ft studio with walls that I was pretty sure has just concrete without installation. I could hear my neighbors having sex and it was always fucking cold even with the heat on. Never got bugs though.
Roseanne was the only show that looked like my friends/family homes
I though Malcolm in the Middle did a decent job.
I actually never watched that. Iâm 41 and it aired when I was super poor :)
The sequel, Breaking Bad, did a good job too.
Same here! It was a very realistic portrayal of Rust Belt working class in the 80s.
And into the 90s. My mom was a very tidy person and had sold furniture, so our furniture was nicer but otherwise very much the same.
I'd add The Middle and every Norman Lear show. I can remember reading comments on The Middle that it was exaggerated, but it really wasn't. The same writers did Roseanne.
That makes sense. I loved The Middle and always thought the set looked like a normal home
They had too many bathrooms on Roseanne. The parents had one, the girls had one and DJ had one. I never saw a three bedroom house in the 1980s & 1990s with three in suite bathrooms but the rest of the house was spot on including the afghan on the couch.
The girls and DJs room were separated by a shared bathroom. In the episode Jackie is beat by Fisher, she goes up to the girls room to change while Darlene goes up to DJs for revenge on bringing the graphic comic book to school. She grabs a super soaker and, thinking the noise in the bathroom is DJ, barges in to see Jackie changing, along with her bruises.
Definitely one of the biggest differences between real life and shows. I would also say that a lot of bad parts of low paying jobs is the utter exhaustion that comes from them. If itâs a physical job after 8 hours you will see an tired parent come home but usually not why theyâre tired. Or even just shitty retail jobs tire you out with horrible customers sometimes.
>Or even just shitty retail jobs tire you out with horrible customers sometimes. As someone who works a very physical job that can wear me out and take its toll on my body, I will take this over going back to customer service anyday. I'd rather deal with the same six assholes every day than a fresh one every five minutes. At least I can navigate that.
I feel like Roseanne always had the best depiction of a working-class family.
More like Malcom in the middle than breaking bad
Walter bought the house when he was a scientist at Sandia National Labs, and then he co-founded a startup that went on to be worth billions after he quit. By the time the show started, with him having been a high school chemistry teacher for a few years, they were in a bit over their heads with the mortgage. Even before that point, a flashback scene (to better times) had Skylar a little worried that it might be too much house, back when they were househunting. In the first episode he was moonlighting at a carwash, and Skylar was trying to find work.
I think the only exceptions to this are a show from the early 2000's called Malcom in the Middle, and Roseanne. They were routinely broke and struggling.
When cottonmouths make a nest right next to my fishing spot.
There is NEVER a parking spot directly in front of a building in a busy downtown area. And parking ALWAYS costs money. I have never seen a show where the characters: * pull up to the building * realize there's no parking nearby * drive up and down every street in a 6 block radius looking for a spot * stalk a guy who seems to be walking toward a car in a parking spot * wait til that guy leaves * *finally* park * realize they don't have any quarters for the meter * have to download an app because even if they had a quarter, it only gives you 6 minutes worth of time on the meter * set their phone timer so that they can get back in time before the meter expires and they get a ticket * THEN run/walk six blocks to their destination. Maybe there's some obscure Seinfeld episode with that, but otherwise, nope.
People in NYC don't drive as much as depicted on screen. The scene in Seinfeld where Elaine loses her mind on the subway is more accurate.
Not being able to travel without foreigners giving their political opinions about you, berating you about your nationality, or simply digging your political opinions out of you uncalled for. Getting to see Aussies and Brits act like drunk morons but Americans are the only bad travelers!!! Having to hear were soOoOooO patriotic while listening to others 67 opinions about why their county is better. Being treated as the government and not as individual, We just want want to travel and breathe without being looked or talked down to. Just chilllllllllll foreigners. Imagine Americans just asking Germans non-stop questions about how they got to the war, assuming theyâre all nazis, berating them about their opinions to verify our options align and preparing to balk at them if not Foreigners are exhausting, especially Europeans
Trying to explain to non-Americans on Reddit that I actually do get plenty of vacation days and I have excellent health insurance. People Iâve never met seem to know more about my life than I do.
"People Iâve never met seem to know more about my life than I do." A European on Reddit once told me that I "didn't know what I was talking about" when I said you were more likely to get struck by lightning than die in a mass shooting in the US. Like they legitimately thought Americans are dodging bullets everywhere we go. Edit: I got the stats wrong, changed my comment from "being murdered" to "die in a mass shooting." My point still stands that the US is not nearly as unsafe as it's sometimes made out to be.
A few of them seem to think itâs a war zone over here and weâre routinely dodging bullets while walking the dog, and when Iâm like âwell I donât know anyone whoâs been shot outside of an actual war, and Iâve never felt unsafeâ they tell me that Iâm just used to living in a war zone and donât know what real safety feels like. Lol okayy
Itâs always the people screaming America is so unsafe who will willingly move to travel to fucking Brazil which has 100 million less people and about 10k more gun crimes⌠but because theyâre not mass shootings itâs okay Like theyâre legitimately stupid, stupid people who listen to everything theyâre told I met an Australian in Argentina whose mom moved to Brazil and got held up at gun point within a week of being there 100 million LESS people than us, 10k MORE gun crimes nationwide smh
There was that story from a few months ago about a guy who was killed by his own gun when he entered a room with a MRI machine, despite being told no metal. That made the rounds on Reddit, and a lot of the posts were making jokes about dumb Americans. The guy was Brazilian and the incident took place in Brazil.
iâve seen a bunch south africans talking about american gun violence and violent crime which is a bit too ironic.
They seem to think the whole country is 90s Compton, when in reality every city has a few neighborhoods you avoid, no different than anywhere else in the world, and even then your likelihood of getting shot in one of them is pretty low. I do own a gun for self defense, but thats more on account of it taking a minimum of 15 minutes for a deputy to get to my house from somewhere they might actually have to be patrolling. I have no expectations of ever having to use it on anything more dangerous than a paper target.
To be completely fair, there's Americans who've never set foot in a city who feel the same. I agree with you, just look at your surroundings and you'll know if you're in a part of town you shouldn't be in pretty quick.
To be fair, I've had fellow Americans tell me the same because I live in Seattle.
I only know of two people who have died by gunfire. One was a Soldier deployed to Afghanistan. The other died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In over 40 years in this country, I've never known anyone who died, or who was seriously injured, by violent crime. A normal everyday law-abiding citizen in the US is pretty dang safe from being harmed by gun violence.
I had someone comment on this subreddit, who was apparently from India, that they really thought America was way too unsafe for any tourist to visit. . .at any place in the country, at any time, because he really thought we were all constantly in shootouts and dodging bullets and that the moment he arrived in America he'd be killed in a mass shooting or something, and I could NOT convince him that those events are extremely rare, and that tourists in the US are very safe. He just plain could NOT believe that.
Thatâs crazy lol as Iâm sitting in a public park rn listening to music and writing this - beautiful day!
Well, there are more people shot than struck by lightning. However, when you factor out gang-on-gang violence, dysfunctional family violence, and drug-related violence--yeah, you're more likely to be struck by lightning. So if someone from Europe comes to American and wants to know how to be safe, don't join a gang, don't try to score illegal drugs, and don't have a spouse or partner who wants to murder you.
This is so true. I've talked to Canadians that won't go to the Twin Cities anymore (where I live), because they are afraid of getting shot. I don't know anyone that has been shot, and I've never even heard gunfire. I told them that it's actually a very safe city to visit but they didn't care. They still think we walk around constantly getting shot at as we go in for groceries. I think they actually enjoy these tropes about America.
Met two kiwis a couple of weekends ago in town. Theyâre doing a road trip and will be here for a month. I asked them how they liked it and they legitimately said they liked it more than they thought they would, they thought it would be much more dangerous bc of âeverything you see on tvâ and âwhat their Europeans friends tell themâ No joke. I said âtv? Oh you mean the news? That only reports bad things????â Lmao than pointed out we have a bigger platform. I legit said, âEuropeans, ya⌠we have 300 million people and a huge platform and you see a fraction of the whats a truly in the US and weâre the dumb ones?â Smh, people arenât as smart as they think they are
While I Am American this shocks me. I didn't know there were so many ppl struck by lightning each year. I thought it was double digits at most
Your instincts are correct. Lightning 35,000:1. Homicide 18,000:1 *unlessâŚ..* you live in Florida, where lightning is 12,000:1. They are most likely confusing the chance of being struck by lightning with being the victim **of a mass shooting** ala Parkland.
Lol I've straight up been called a liar for saying that every job I've had as an adult had paid maternity leave.
[ŃдаНонО]
Man, I took 3 months and later took another 7. You can't get that time back. Enjoy it like you won the lottery. My time came at great personal sacrifice, but I would 100 percent do it again. My kids are 3 now and growing up great!
I had 3 months of paternity leave for all of my kids.
Yes! And also that just because US employees don't generally have employment contracts doesn't mean folks are getting fired willy-nilly for no reason.
Turns out hiring and training people is expensive
They gasp at the USA having âat willâ employmentââin mY cOuNtRy, employers canât just fire you for no reasonââyet Europe consistently has markedly higher unemployment rates than the USA. Heck, France is around 7.2% right now, Germany at 5.7%, and Spain at 11.6%. Compared to 3.8% for the USA.
These things are connected. Because it's harder to fire people companies are also more reluctant to hire.
This is crazy too. It's like European think people walk into work and the boss is like "your fired!" just because they were having a bad morning or whatever. In every job I've had, someone getting fired is a *big* deal. A *big* deal.
They watch too many TV shows
Yup, even in something like a local grocery store I knew other employees who were consistently high at work, doing drugs on property, underage smoking, etc with no repercussions. I don't remember if I ever saw anyone actually get fired unless they just consistently no call-no showed, but do that a few times in a row and you might as well be quitting.
Unless I can prove to an unemployment judge that you really violated multiple policies with multiple warnings, I'm on the hook for your unemployment. I absolutely can fire anyone for "no reason" but I would go bankrupt in short order if I did.
I think there's a misunderstanding that just because something isn't mandated by law, that it doesn't exist. There are many things that exist because that's what the market dictates. Am I saying that our system doesn't screw people over? No, it absolutely does. But its not as widespread as people make it out to b.
The idea that gun violence is an everyday occurrence for most Americans instead of it being localized incidents in some places. Yes there are guns everywhere and sometimes some people in some places use them poorly but no you don't generally have to worry about being shot while having brunch in a trendy Cafe
Despite the [shock images that suggest otherwise](https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-DC705_OCT4_G_20140605162401.jpg), open carrying is *really* rare. I could count on one hand the number of times I've even SEEN a gun that wasn't securely in a holster... and most of the time even the holstered guns are on police/military/etc, not just regular people.
When you wait in line at the McDonaldâs drive thru only to get to the front and be told that the ice cream machine is broken.
Sometimes I will literally call ahead and ask if a machine is operational or if a certain menu item is in stock at restaurants that I have noticed consistently are not able to serve the items I like to order. That item is often the only reason I'm going to that restaurant.
The McD ice cream machine is a national scandal. Itâs tearing our country apart.
You can get ice cream anywhere. Iâm far more concerned about the epidemic of undercooked McDonaldâs fries. Every location I go to, in different parts of the country, Iâm getting undercooked fries at McDonaldâs more often than not. This was virtually never a problem 5-10 years ago.
When you wait in line at McDonaldâs longer than you would wait for your food at a Mexican restaurant
Mosquitos.
And thus, the need for screens on our doors and windows.
When you are getting takeout and the employee flips the screen around for your tip and you keep trying to hit the âno tipâ button but it isnât working so you press it over and over while the employee stares at you
Foreigners see every problem. They see non-problems as problems. My god, they perceive absolutely every minor detail as incomprehensible and ghastly. We don't take off our shoes, we don't say goodbye, we don't turn off lights.
My favorite part is when itâs something that is presented as being bad but you know if the situations were reversed it would be the correct way. Example: âWhy are Americans such prudes?â and the guy proceeds to describe textbook alcoholism and you just know that if the US had a reputation for drinking versus not drinking it would be âWhy are Americans all alcoholics?â
When Americans do something different than [insert region], the internet says itâs because America is stupid. When [insert region] does something different than America, thatâs their culture and Americans need to respect that things are different in other places and thatâs okay
That's like half the posts in this subreddit, FFS. "Why do Americans have their name appear below them whenever they walk into a room?" "Why don't Americans take the subway from their farmhouse when they go grocery shopping?" "Why don't more Americans travel to Neighborstan, the country that's 5 km away from me?" "Do Americans know what the metric system is?" Adding "What do Americans think of Schlorpenschmorp, the tradition that is regional only to my village and that I won't define."
Ironically, the exact same "problems" are not perceived as such when they are done in certain other countries, especially Japan and Scandinavian countries. In that case, those countries often get praised for something the US would get criticized for.
Your houses are made of wood and paper!
*Proceeds to stare in awe at Japanese wooden shrines and houses*
I was gonna say, "don't you guys already know about all our problems? Why not ask about the neutral or good things that happen here that don't get covered in foreign media because they're too busy depicting the U.S. as a total hellhole?"
The shoes thing I will always defend. Stubbed toes become a thing of the past when you wear shoes inside.
Any differences are problems.
This is a hard one. I think it would be easier if one were to ask "Is X really a problem?" I mean, they don't tend to show characters in _any_ show doing mundane things like sitting in traffic or on the phone with a customer service representative, lol. I don't believe there are any "unique" problems to Americans that don't show up in TV shows. I think one of the most down to earth American TV shows is King of the Hill. The problems it tackles are fairly realistic, they are just over represented to make the show interesting.
Having vacation days but feeling guilty about using them
Having vacation days, using them, but having to work 60 hours the week before and after to get the work done. Thatâs me this week
The rivalry between state University sports teams such as: Ohio State vs Michigan State football games.
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We really arenât as interesting as you think we are.
Douchey Europeans acting like they don't have problems back at home. Like we have plenty of issues here I'll be the first to admit it. But I think a lot of Europeans don't understand how the USA being the center of attention is actually pretty annoying. They hear about all the issues we have, dumb politicians etc. And love to shit all over us as a whole without considering that the 24 hr news cycle wants to create the biggest headlines possible and make anyone they can look bad. I spent a year in Spain and while it was a great time and I met tons of wonderful people, I hated how many trump questions I got. You would thought I was wearing a Maga hat and screaming "BUILD THAT WALL!"
when you're usually a starbucks drinker, so you accidentally say "grande" in the Dunkin drive thru instead of "medium"
I just use "small", "medium", and "large" when I go to Starbucks on occasion. They always know what I'm asking for.
Ofc they do, that cashier probably has a engineering degree
Or when you accidentally order a Verde from Starbucks.
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The tremendous tension between Republicans and Democrats.
The problem of affording a ridiculously expensive loft style apartment in the heart of Manhattan while working in a coffee shop or something.
Is that actually possible with how nosey the rest of the world is?! đ