Someone Asks Europeans What Problems Are Too American For Them To Understand, They Deliver (88 Answers)

Even though both Europe and the USA belong to the Western World and agree on most fundamental democratic principles, they don't see eye-to-eye on everything. According to a recent study, Americans and Europeans often have different perspectives when it comes to individualism, the role of government, free expression, religion, and morality.

However, reddit user IBringTheGinger wanted to know how these differences manifest themselves in everyday life. So they created a post, asking Europeans to list the problems that are too American for them to understand. It immediately blew up, and, as of this article, has nearly 64K upvotes and 57,5K comments. Scroll down to read some of the most popular ones and let us know if you agree with them!

#1

Here is one I can't understand:

Strong violence on tv: No one bats an eye...

Nipple slip: Everybody loses their minds.

#2

MM/DD/YYYY.

#3

Paying for an ambulance. Seriously, like wtf?

#4

Joining the army for college money and free healthcare. Also how religious they are

#5

You Americans eat like you've got free health care.

#6

Why the big amount of flat-earth and antivax people?? Is your education system not doing well??

#7

The confusing Imperial measurements system and US customary units.

#8

Expensive required textbooks that you HAVE to buy to take a university class

#9

The lack of maternity rights and maternity leave.

#10

The fact that Americans refer to a 24h clock as “military time” you mean just regular time?

Also, suing culture. Got injured? Sue! Fell down some stairs? Sue! Fight with neighbour? Sue!

#11

Not being able to afford to study

Not being able to afford to pay medical bills

Not being able to afford school lunch

Not being able to have schools without security guards

Not being able to drink water straight from the tap

Not being able to walk because you are morbidly obese

toddlers involved in politics

#12

Why people censor swears that are totally obvious

#13

21 Drinking age like whaaaat you can vote , go join the army , get married , have children and drive but you're too immature to drink ???!!???!

#14

The idolization of politicians. They are public servants, similar to a courthouse clerk or a city hall coordinator. They are not rock stars. You don't need to scream their name, buy their merch, fully commit your life to them and believe everything they say. Just... treat them like public servants. Sure, they get power and position but hold them accountable when they abuse it. Don't let corporations and politicians take over, the political system is created by the people, FOR the people. It just... boggles the mind.

#15

Having to take out a second mortage because you twisted your ankle in the wrong state.

#16

Why tipping is considered part of someone's paycheck.

#17

People going bankrupt for getting sick. Stupidly expensive "education". Gun control. No repercussion for police brutality.

Why are you paying taxes for?

#18

Being scared of the police.

#19

Don't know if it's already mentioned but your delivery drivers just leaving packages outside your front door. I can't wrap my mind around this, how did this ever came acceptable?

Here you sign for deliveries. If you're not there they'll leave a note when they'll come again. If still not delivered you can pick it up yourself. Also if you didn't sign for delivery it's marked as not delivered.

#20

Why doesn't the guy with the most votes just win the election?

#21

Limited sick days

#22

How much do I tip? 10%? 15%? Do I tip everywhere? Why isn’t the tax included? Why does the tip vary? Why are the waiters so underpaid?
Also, why do you have to do your tax bill? You could literally go to prison but it’s like a guessing game from what I heard?

#23

30 degrees fahrenheit

#24

Nipples, or in general the hyper-sexualization of nudity.

#25

Student debt. I pay €20/Semester tuition in Austria.

#26

Their obsession with celebrities, media and “perfect” looks. How often do I read comments from Americans saying:”Bad European teeth“ while in reality they are totally healthy, just aren’t bleached.

#27

Living "paycheck to paycheck" despite making like 4 grands a month

#28

Saying "thank you for your service" whenever someone says he is/was in army

#29

I don't understand the concept of punching holes in the wall. If you tried that here in Ireland, you'd just break your hand.

#30

European here, why are all your houses made from cardboard if you have a problem with hurricanes? My country has no natural problems and our houses are made from reinforced cement.

#31

Their toilet stalls are so fuc**d up it’s unbelievable. Huge gaps in the side you can see people through, huge gaps at the top and bottom, and they don’t have “occupied” signs that show when the door is locked. I was listening to an American podcast recently where they suggested having a light above the stall to show when it’s in use... they don’t have a clue lol

#32

Having to remember that cars can turn on a red light.

I know this is a thing. I've known this for ten years. I still forget and nearly die every time I need to cross a road when I'm in the US.

#33

I'm too European to understand how swearing and curse words are such a big deal in movies and songs, but violence and guns are taken with a grain of salt

#34

Tipping, paying for health care (thank god for the NHS), ridiculous living costs, not having holiday time

#35

You have $4.50 in your pocket. The fancy drink is advertised at $3.99. Do you have enough money to buy it? Dunno!

#36

How strongly Americans feel about the flag. I saw a photographer get torn to pieces online because someone was standing on the tiniest bit of the flag and people went fuc**ng ape s*it. In the UK most people probably couldn’t spot if the Union Flag was round the wrong way.

#37

People not using all of their annual leave.. ‘vacation’ days. And you have so few. I get 9 weeks and I still feel deprived.

#38

Having to fear death by not being able to pay

#39

The American Dream. Basically every other developed county is living the ‘American Dream’ while Americans really just think they are, but if you describe the way their country works to someone it sounds like you’re describing a third world country.

#40

Humongous food portions

#41

”Ask your doctor about THIS DRUG” ads.

#42

While watching Chelsea vs Manchester United yesterday on NBCSN, during halftime there was a Good Rx commercial where the guy is asking a woman if she would like to fill her prescription, he pulled up the phone and showed her that the same pill can cost from $10 to $90 depending on the area. And that Good Rx can help her fill the prescription with the cheapest prices. Now someone please explain to me how in the ever-loving f**k is it possible for a drug to cost 10x more depending on your location !? Don't they have constant prices like in the rest of the civilized world !?

#43

With no intend to be rude, but I can't understand how so many people eat themselves to the point of needing a mobility scooter or the point of being bedbound. I live in Sweden and I believe that the absolutely heaviest person I've ever seen in 30 years was about 400 pounds.

#44

Double standards. E.g. being prude but having the largest porn industry in the world, praising religion but disregarding Christian values IRL.

#45

Why the hell does anyone still use checks? Like actual, paper checkbooks that you write on and then deposit to a bank? How is that still a thing?

I know a lot of phrases like "write a check" or "the check had bounced", but I assumed they were leftovers in the language from the pre-internet era.

#46

The amount of homeless people and the amount of homeless mental patients.

#47

Why insulin is so expensive. Even with an insurance.

#48

That you can get fired just like that and have no income.

Here if you are fired your employer needs to pay you at least 3 months after you were fired.

#49

Many people do not vote because they cannot get time off work to do so.

#50

Kim Kardashian

#51

Tick your "race" box on a form.

#52

Why are American ADULTS offended by swear words being spoke if there are no children around?

#53

Why do you guys wear shoes in the house??

#54

Paid holiday leave seems to be non existent?
A lot of countries give you 3 or more weeks a year paid holiday (and also around 5 sick days per year also).
I honestly don't know you all haven't marched or rioted.

#55

Probably not really European but Finnish, memes about forgetting to connect your phone to wifi. Here we have unlimited internet and it's working almost everywhere. Edit: Also the unlimited mobile data costs here like 30€ in month

#56

Lobbying, I never understand how every politician on both sides gets away with legalized bribery and everyone just accepts it, I understand the need for specialist interest groups to promote their ideas but to be allowed to visibly finance a politician and rate their friendliness to your cause with no repercussions is insane to me. Its bribery no matter how you dress it up.

#57

Not using the metric system. Counting in football fields/moon landings instead... I don't get it.

#58

2 party system and both are messed up

#59

i never understood four things in us:

healthcare (or mostly healt-don't-care)

prices are written on goods without taxes

toilets that looks like small lake

shower that have only one knob to set intensity and temperature of water

#60

That there's no such thing as free higher education.

In my country there's paid education as well, but... I think that in many cases free education is better than various grants and money benefits. It makes education more available.

#61

Virtually no vacation!

#62

How your credit score system works. I will never understand why using a debit card, so only spending money you actually have, doesn't have a positive effect on your CS but paying your credit card every month has.

#63

Been watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix and it reminded me of something really odd about US telly. You can show people being brutally murdered, tortured, raped, overdose on drugs, hint at child sex abuse, and have a story arc start with a school shooting. Cant say f**k though. What's that about?

#64

Getting an uber to the hospital because of the ambulance cost

#65

The entire entertainment industry. Everything looks so fake. Even European films feel so ‘American’ now, it’s extremely off-putting

#66

A dozen inches is a foot, 5280 feet are a mile or 1760 yards. 231 cubic inches are a gallon or 256 american tablespoons. Not to be confused with british tablespoons which would only take about 213.165 to fill an US-gallon, but not exactly.

When I was little I asked myself: How the fuck did you come up with landing people on the moon? Then I dug deeper into that and found out about Wernher von Braun who was the leading engineer and rocket scientist behind the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 to the moon and back to earth. Braun was german and I'm almost certain that if he had to deal with a fuckton of imperial units, America would've missed the moon by about 10 billion furlongs, which is another bullshit unit.

#67

Food portions, the amount of fat and sugar in food. I have been to the us a few weeks ago. I couldn't deal with the nasty food after 2 weeks.

#68

Caring about other people's food.

As a Pole I don't care how do you like your pierogi, pyzy, kartacze, bigos, etc.

But damn me if I ask in the US for a "well done" steak. Or if I order a Hawaiian Pizza.

#69

That alcohol needs to be covered in paper bags

That you can and will sue for anything

Asking how someone is, but not wanting to hear the real answer

That any type of leave is essentially non-existent: sick, maternity... and related to this that you have so little PTO in the beginning of your career that it is really inhumane

That Whole Foods is such a big deal. Looks like any normal European food store to me..

#70

Why do you have so many Ads on TV? When I visited I swear there were Ads every 5 minutes and they last so long! I honestly don't understand why anyone watches TV when it's like that. Speaking of Ads, the prescription drug Ads are fu**ing creepy and weird and ya'll should stop that.

#71

Your indicator light is just a flashing tail light.

#72

Having to assemble a 22,000 person armed militia outside your state Capitol in order to terrify your Senate into rejecting a bill to turn you into a felon for obeying the law.

#73

Political campaigns costing hundreds of millions of dollars, and everyone donating to them. Wouldn't that money be better utilised in Govt funding? I appreciate US has huge population states to cover, but wouldn't it be better to cap it?

#74

The amount of lobbying a company can do to influence laws. Paying your way out of the crinimal system, if you have money you don't go to jail. The excessive prison sentences for minor crimes. The amount of black people in jail. The tax system. Inequality. The lack of social support. Its all pretty nuts

#75

Why Americans are so proud of being American and their obsession with military. Like what did they do other than being born American? What good does military do other than wasting money they could use for e.g. health care.

#76

Having a life long debt for education

#77

How everyone seems to think they're middle class. Like it seems to be like 90% of Americans... that's a big deviation from the middle. As a rule of thumb, if having your appendix out could bankrupt you, you're not middle class

#78

Crazy-ass non-metric totally random measuring units.

#79

Losing your house over medical bills.

#80

Not having taxes already put into the prices of items at stores

#81

the obsession with their military, like i feel like veterans are war heros , everyone has to thank them fr their service...

and then again, they dont really care about the veterans medical conditions...

there is a whole of a lot wrong with the USA

#82

Small talk. Every time when I’m in America I feel I have to be super extroverted and there is more drama everywhere. In Europe it’s more relaxed overall and I don’t need to be in a really talkative mood all the time.

#83

Ridiculous brand obsession (besides general corporate slavery). When I lived in Israel I saw a FB thread asking American expats what they missed most from home. I thought they'd mention something profound; instead, most people just listed whatever brands I had never heard of they missed and weren't available.

#84

Why european masculinity seems so gay to americans

#85

modern civilizations don't need to guns to defend themselves. If you need guns to defend yourself you're living in the wild west/savage land

bulk buying is cheaper, so universal health care is cheaper(not a rocket science)

lobbying is legalized bribery

electoral college? this 2020 not 1820

#86

Why don't y'all have bidets?

#87

Credit card debt.

You have a credit card, you buy something with your credit card, you pay it all off from your checking account in the same month.

The interest works never in your favor.

#88

Why don’t you guys drink tea?!?

#89

Tax, drinking age, tipping, college debt, dying because you can't afford hospital, school shooting... Yeah, America is weird for some !

#90

Tipping. I mean in England you just... Pay for your food, eat it and leave. What, I'm supposed to give extra money? I am so unfamiliar with the concept I don't even know if its a good idea or a bad idea.

#91

Massive Collage debt. University isnt free but with work and maybe BAföG you dont have debt you will never pay of with your arts degree.

#92

That tips is damn near mandatory. Screw that. Pay your god damn workers a decent wage and if I get good service I will tip. If I feel like it. And before anyone jumps on me. Yes, i do tip in the US but it’s mostly because i don’t want to offend anyone. It doesn't feel right to me.

#93

Credit Score.

You have to make debts to prove you can make more debt?

#94

Not sure if this qualifies but I don't understand how every american on the internet also thinks everyone else is an american (from experience at least) I sometimes talk about products and always get recommended to America exclusive stores or told where to go in America for it

#95

I will NEVER understand why you guys allow children to not be guaranteed free health care and dental care! Why aren't you up in arms over this, protesting in the streets? They're CHILDREN, why on earth would a rich country not guarantee free health care to all children?! I don't get it.

#96

Why most Americans i've spoken to are so opposed to universal free/ way cheaper healthcare. I'm from the Netherlands and if I fell ill and needed medicine i would either not have to pay because health insurance is mandatory and pretty cheap and almost everything is insured or i'd have to pay very little for a medicine my insurance doesn't cover. I've heard talk of people dying because they could not afford medicine for a chronic illness( e.g. insulin) when i'm fairly certain that here either your insurance covers it or its super cheap.

TLDR; Why do most Americans not want free/cheap healthcare

#97

I’ve never understood why in America movies with nudity are rated R but movies with violence and blood is PG13 or less. It’s opposite of other countries.

#98

Why the two Dakotas?

#99

I understand America's problems just fine. The real question is why so many of their solutions are too European for Americans to understand. It's almost like the only other country that exists in American politics is Venezuela.

#100

The complete and utter lack of physical affection. Two guys hugging is gay. Girls holding hands? Ah those lesbians. A guy and a girl can't even come close. Like folks just stop being touch hungry weirdos and hug!

#101

That abortion is even an issue, let alone the main thing people care about when they cast their vote!

#102

I don't know if this is considered a problem for Americans but it sure as hell was a problem/inconvenience for me while I was there. Unreasonably high water level in the toilets like, holy shit my balls were almost touching the water.