I never understood the need to display multiple US flags in your yard. We get it, you live in america. You love America. We get that too. Are you afraid someone will think you no longer wish to be American if you took your flags down?
Honestly I assume most people with an American flag in their yard are racist trump fans these days
ok so, i hate to do this to you, but have you ever considered that these people would probably just… Have a trump sign.
I think for some it’s a mix of patriotism and having poor taste in decor. I know people who also have American flag swim shorts, sunglasses, etc. Also, it’s not exclusive to America. My British side of the family (especially the ones who’ve met the former Queen) have a weird amount of UK flag decor too, ranging from clock faces, throw pillows, and even an armchair covered in a giant union jack.
As long as it’s the UK flag, and not the English flag, I’ll give them a pass. Stay clear from anyone in an England flag, drunk or sober, football or naught.
You know what’s a funny one? Flag pins. Every politician in America, take a look, they will ALL be wearing a little American Flag pin, always.
I have to assume other politicians in other countries don’t always wear a pin of their country.
Funnily enough this is exactly how people think including our house.
I took mine down when Roe v Wade was overturned and the Progress Pride flag went up. I had been considering putting the American Flag back up recently if Democrats start winning again.
People from every country like to pretend that patriotism isn’t a natural part of living but will stick their heads so far up their own asses when talking up all their food, culture, teams, or any other number of arbitrary things.
And while there has been some divergence in Patriotism vs Nationalism, they’re essentially the same damn thing but with better connotations for one now lol.
And while there has been some divergence in Patriotism vs Nationalism, they’re essentially the same damn thing but with better connotations for one now lol.
ok to be clear, nationalism is generally a hinge point in a fascism/authoritarian political party. Patriotism is just being proud of the country you’re a part of. A lot of people are very patriotic about their states, or sports teams. Brits especially.
The flag patriotism and intense praise of military action was a lot for me. I remember going to a mall, and seeing what would typically be reserved as disabled parking was instead veteran parking?? And then the cinema in the mall loudly advertising its discount for veterans as well. We do have a general discount in my country too, but it’s not so… intense. Like no one else has to know it’s happening because it’s more of a state benefit than it is a form of patriotism.
Neighbourhoods in general are what I found the strangest when I stayed in the States. Flags everywhere as you say, but also just the intense size, and the lack of walkability (the kurb drops felt massive compared to my country). Beyond that I remember walking for around 20 minutes through a suburb and counting upwards of 10 different company logos on rubbish bins. This neighbourhood seemingly had 10 different bin days rather than one centralised service.
It’s a political thing. Signals that you are a nationalist chud.
Shoes in the house
I grew up in a home where we just never thought about wearing, or not wearing, shoes in the house. Like, we obviously didn’t track mud all over the place if our shoes were that dirty, but if we were wearing our shoes inside, nobody said anything or cared, it was just whatever. Married a Kenyan who put her foot down and was like, “Are you crazy?” It’s apparently a big thing elsewhere in the world. In Kenya alot of roads aren’t paved, things get dusty, and it’s just common sense that you don’t walk all over the house with dirty shoes, so I get it from that perspective.
Yeah that’s a huge part of it. Few Americans (me included) frequently walk outdoors on anything but sidewalks or paved roads in their normal day to day travels. When I go hiking I take those shoes off before I get back into the car, but my daily driver boat shoes which rarely touch actual dirt? I don’t have a problem leaving those on in most places, my house included. Same I imagine for Americans where their job is construction or something where your shoes are dirtied, take the work shoes off when you get home, but it’s fine to wear more casual shoes
Edit: what a strange thing to get downvoted about
Double edit: I guess the first downvotes were just from people who very much don’t like shoes in the house under any circumstances. That’s ok. If I come to your house my shoes will come off. If you come to mine, feel free to leave them on if they aren’t muddy.
As an American, it drives me crazy. Then there’s those heathens who lay on the bed with shoes on!
American of asian descent, absolutely ludicrous! It would perhaps be more forgiviable if all of the floors were furnished in hardwood and tile, but they’ll wear shoes even on carpet! Immediately after entering one of these heathen’s houses, I long for the soft, lucious, kempt, carpets of my own abode, compared to the repuslive, stiff, flat and even crunchy carpets of my white friends. Frankly it offends me, deeply. I must slap my friends silly before entering my home to remove their filthy clogs.
That was a joy to read.
I’m sorry to tell you I am one of those people, as is my family. Every so often I have a moment of clarity about it, but it doesn’t last long.
Your existence is nauseating
I wear my street shoes inside except winter. Both my work boots come off regardless. Also have house slippers. But I’ll be damned if me or someone put their shoes on a bed, or even a couch for that matter.
Both my work boots come off regardless.
No one asked, but now I need to know: when would you only take ONE work boot off?
I have two sets, one summer and one winter. Though not sure why put it that way lol
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urp….i think I may vomit…
Only place I’ve live where this is taboo is Chicagoland. And that’s to be expected with the muddy snow.
Here in the South we usually don’t have carpets, no reason to take our shoes off.
Thinking that there is no reason to take your shoes off is the most American thing in the world. There is poop, pee, puke, pollen, pollution, parvo and prions out there, among other things.
In Japan the entryway of a house is usually a step lower than the rest of the house. It is considered part of the outside, where the shoes stay, as well as all of the dirty things from the outside that are on the shoes. And symbolically, your troubles from the outside world are not brought into the house either. It’s a major faux pas to wear your shoes in the house past this step and bring all that shit inside. Interesting contrast
Thinking that there is no reason to take your shoes off is the most American thing in the world. There is poop, pee, puke, pollen, pollution, parvo and prions out there, among other things.
you’re already breathing it, unless you’re literally licking the floor it’s probably not a huge concern.
Are you japanese? I know they generally have pretty strict social rules.
Ever walked into a public toilet? Well, that piss is now all over your floor at home.
As is spit from the street. Remnant dog poo, bird poo, etc etc.
Take your shoes off. Please.
Yeah. No carpets, dogs coming in and out. I only take mine off if they are legit muddy, it’s a lost cause, I am not going to make everyone take off their shoes. We aren’t eating off the floor. I am also willing to sit on the ground outside, turn cartwheels, etc. Really just not that paranoid about dirt.
Up north I understand everyone has carpets.
Some places there is much more sitting on the floor.
It seems situational to me.
Nobody is putting their shoes on the furniture though, they are putting them on the floor.
As an American this is gross to me too
Do I just live in a weird bubble? I live in the US and I am rarely at someone’s house who doesn’t remove their shoes nowadays. I certainly grew up wearing shoes at home, but that’s changed significantly over the past 20 years or so.
Anecdotally this is also my experience. I grew up with shoes off in the house, but even up to the early 00’s it seemed to be a cultural outlier in the US.
These days I think the majority of people who I go over to visit have a shoes off rule. Seems like the split is between the older half of millennials and up shoes on, and younger half and down shoes off for the most part.
American flags everywhere. Like EVERYWHERE. I get a bit of national pride but holy crap, every other house in the street is flying a flag, clothing has flag patterns, bumper sticker American flag, it’s everywhere. And no, it wasn’t even close to July 4.
It’s like Americans are afraid they might forget what country they’re in if they aren’t in sight of a flag at all times.
Low effort patriotism
like there is a good kind
Examine photos of of Germany after 30 Jan 1933, you will see plenty of similarities.
Yeah every time I see an american flag, I’m like yeah, I know where I’m at. I saw a Greece flag under the American flag at a house and I thought to myself, it would’ve looked much nicer with just the Greece flag.
Murica! Fuck yeah!
It’s worse now. Israel flags are everywhere now too.
It’s kind of a warning marker. You dip into a small neighborhood with flags all over the place and it’s not near 4th of July You’ve stumbled into a very anti-immigrant, anti minority* area. Their weaponizing patriotism.
Edit: f’ing dictation
Family eating at shooters (and the whole hooters/twin peaks concept)
Need to take the car for a 500m trip because there is no sidewalk and a highway to cross
The car thing really blew my mind. My hotel was 400m from the office but 1.6km by car. Colleagues were waiting for a taxi while I walked. I had to cut over a couple of car parks and a bit of grass (zero sidewalks) and was there in a few minutes while they turned up 15min later since they were waiting for a taxi.
The worst part, they all jumped in cars to go 300m down the road for lunch. Yeah, I walked. With looking for a parking space then walking from the space to the restaurant, they got there after me.
I adore Americans; they’ve been nothing except kind and generous to me in every part of the country I’ve visited but damn, the money they’re wasting alone just starting their engines and the wear and tear on the vehicles blows my fucking mind. Build some sidewalks, guys!
Many of us would like this, but it’s dangerous or even illegal to get to some places by walking in large parts of America. And zoning laws make it really difficult to change.
It’s illegal to walk to Costco
It’s illegal to cross the street some places
How so ?
Ilegal to walk to to Costco sounds so much non sense to me ? like you can’t go shopping without a car ? Legally speaking ? That makes no sense
It’s a joke, buddy.
and the whole hooters/twin peaks concept
I haven’t thought about Hooters in years. It always did seem like a dated concept from the 1980s that was somehow still clinging to life in the 90s. It’s still in business, so obviously somebody must be going to them, but I don’t know if I’d call it normal for most Americans.
It’s not the healthcare that bothered me most, although it did.
It’s the cognitive dissonance around the unavailability of healthcare in order to avoid anxiety over the fact that a traffic accident can bankrupt you with no relief. Ignoring the risk takes some serious mental gymnastics and basic math failure to get there, but when brought up in this environment - where a TV show about a teacher who has to cook and sell meth to get hospital money is actually a plausible plot where no one actually examines the mercenary care at all and the main character just pays it - it’s just a part of their existence.
Not understanding that few other people live like this - cubans don’t live like this - is absurd.
Yeah, as an American it’s disturbing and makes it hard to believe we can change things. You’ve described it very well.
Maybe that explains the amount of mental health issues in the population?
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Probably because you until the 80s you could get thrown into an assilym and given a labotomy or worse.
yeah idk about this one, it wasn’t good but the asylum shit was killed in the 50s from what i can remember. Obviously we didn’t do much after that, but it probably wasn’t as bad. Most of those people probably just ended up in prison to be honest. Again for lobotomies, it looked like we stopped doing that in the mid 50s, by the 60s probably entirely.
Also the reason mental healthcare sucks is that we don’t have enough practitioners right now. It’s a bit of a problem.
Why were Cubans emphasized out of all people?
A natural impoverished (by us) enemy just a stones throw away.
What’s natural about a blockade?
obviously nothing, but we did it anyway and forced a nearby country into near starvation, thankfully they were resilient enough to hold out but not before we labelled them our enemy
It really is a tremendous injustice. Hopefully with global shifts in power they get some breathing space. The world would grow with a growing and prospering Cuba. They’ve had and have a lot to offer.
Because cubans are considered a poor, third world country (despite the definition being something different) and because USA considered them an example of evil communism. Sure, communism then was far from ideal, but at least now they have healthcare (according to OP)
Signs telling you not to bring guns into shopping centers.
In some states, these signs don’t even mean that a person can’t carry a concealed weapon into the shopping center. In my state, for instance, assuming you are otherwise able to legally carry a gun (meaning you took a class and aren’t a felon), the list of areas where you can’t legally carry a gun is very limited: Federal buildings, courthouses, etc. If a business has a sign posted stating “no guns allowed,” you can still legally carry your weapon in that business. If an employee sees that you’re armed, they can ask you to leave, and you’re trespassing if you refuse, but nothing legally stops you from carrying a gun into the establishment in the first place.
As a disclaimer, I’m not arguing this one way or another. I have a license to carry a concealed handgun, in fact. Just sharing information.
Yeah I’m sure minimum wage clerks are going to totally feel comfortable asking the armed person (someone who believes they need to arm themselves to enter a shopping center) to please leave.
Most people who have a concealed carry permit are generally law-abiding. I would certainly leave immediately if asked.
Yeah I’m sure minimum wage clerks are going to totally feel comfortable asking the armed person (someone who believes they need to arm themselves to enter a shopping center) to please leave.
yeah, they probably would. Shooting someone is very fucking illegal.
also most larger establishments are going to have security, and, you can call the police if you wish.
If a business has a sign posted stating “no guns allowed,” you can still legally carry your weapon in that business.
I’m sure that’s the practicality, but I am skeptical of the legality of a CCW permit trumping the rights of the property owner.
It sounds more like breaking the law and just not getting caught. Do you have any links to CCW permit overriding property owner rights?
Property owner rights do not magically override the 1A.
Property owners are welcome to write scary notices. They are just not legally enforceable.
I don’t know the statutes offhand; I’m basing this on what I was taught in my CCW class years ago.
The general idea is that the state sets limited laws on where you can’t carry concealed. Government buildings, etc. These restrictions hold the force of law. For a private property owner, they can certainly say “no guns,” but it has the same legal weight as if they said “no hats.” They can set rules for their property, but those rules don’t magically become law. That’s where trespassing laws come in; if you’re asked to leave, they have the right to ask you to do so.
Some states do have laws in place stating that “no guns” signs are legally binding, but the signs must meet certain legal criteria as far as wording. Surprisingly, I think Texas is one of these states, but I could be wrong.
My state is solidly blue, so it does seem strange to me that the laws are written as they are.
Never seen this where I live. Not every state is a complete shit hole thankfully
I haven’t seen it many times, but the first was definitely a bit surprising.
based on knowledge of the US : many things that other places take for granted or fight to preserve, you guys struggle to obtain.
based on my trip : fucking nothing, I visited new york and stayed at a run down, pre paid hotel. I ate food from stores or carry out. I can’t exactly critique the healthcare system, tipping culture, driving culture when I had access to a fairly modern public transport system, didn’t need medical assistance and didn’t need to tip 50 people just to eat one thing.
EDIT: it’s like asking tourists in antalya at the beach what they think of turkey, they’re fucking tourists, they aren’t affected by the dictator and his bullshit
I was just in Göcek and Ankara and I had some wildly interesting interactions with locals when they asked me how I liked Turkey.
“I like it, very beautiful country, lovely people, great food.”
“So you’d move here?”
“Uh… perhaps not”
“So you don’t like Turkey”
👀
lol
those fuckers have some nerve asking you that shit, when we have so much brain drain that most high streets are basically completely catering to elderly people with hearing aid and similar stores on each one, because all the working age people leave to live abroad.
No shit rich foreigners don’t want to move to turkey.
source : part of the brain drain for both turkey and the UK. fuck them countries.
My girlfriend and her sister are also in the brain drain. Definitely a sad state of affairs, so many of her friends and friends family’s have been either political prisoners, or had ongoing court cases, etc.
I’ve been trying to learn Turkish so we can move her family over here too and I can actually chat with them, but I fear they’ll need to work on their English so they can get around.
many of her friends and friends family’s have been either political prisoners, or had ongoing court cases, etc.
wow. I’m assuming the people asking you “wanna move to Turkey?” aren’t aware of this.
Best of luck to your gf’s family , gurbet recognise gurbet.
Teşekkürler!
I hope where you are now is more stable.
Tipping
Oh we realize, but it’s difficult to stop once it’s been ingrained in the culture. Not only that, employers took advantage of that and therefore tipped employees have a much lower minimum wage.
I only stopped there for transit on a flight to Mexico. Just before boarding my flight I was told that I need a visa for the US, which is extremely weird because normally airports have transit zones where you don’t need any visa. But apparently the US is special, so you actually have to enter the country before going right back into the airport. This nonsense made me miss my flight.
Also I remember in the airport there was a security guard doing nothing but shouting nonstop that it’s not allowed to carry water. Why not simply put up a sign?
Americans don’t read.
We read, just not posted signs without a skull on it or something cool like that.
If it is important they would put it on a hat.
I’d also say sign fatigue (plus general fatigue) is a thing. When you go to an airport security line there’s like these giant signboards stood up like the 200 Commandments, each with a mix of pictures and walls of text of for things you’re not allowed to bring on a plane. Or some things you can check and not carry on or you can carry on and not check. And you’re also expected to know all of that while you are in transit, stressed, and maybe also sleep deprived.
Too many signs to properly pay attention to them all.
We weren’t elected to read.
Am American, don’t know what this says
i dont obey bullshit signs. like there are still signs demanding i wear mask in a restaurant, but nobody cares.
its a diff story if someone gives me a hard time: `sure if it|l make you shut up´
You sound pleasant.
Just before boarding my flight I was told that I need a visa for the US […] This nonsense made me miss my flight.
I WOULD HAVE FUCKING LEFT IF YOU’D LET ME ASSHOLE
Not like that, they didn’t let me board my flight from Europe to Texas. Even though I had a connecting flight to Mexico few hours later. Why can’t they have a visa free transit zone like every other country in the world?
A couple of times I’ve travelled Air NZ route that goes London-Auckland via LAX. The plane has to stop to refuel I guess. All the passengers are forced to queue up to be fingerprinted and have their eyeballs scanned, while a security guard walks up and down screaming “STAY IN THE LINE!” Then they’re herded into a lounge barely big enough to hold everyone (first class passengers have their own little pen next to the toilets). Apologetic air crew distribute apples, crisps and bottles of water. For hours. Through a glass wall is a view of the rest of the airport: shops, cafes, bars, space to stroll. But hey, at least you get to not miss your flight, and the US is safe from Kiwi tourists.
I don’t know if they still do this, I avoid the route.
So they can rob noncitizens using asset forfeiture laws. Never travel in or through the US if you need to transport large sums of money or valuables.
Actually, the better advice is never travel in or through the US. I wish that were an option for me.
Because fuck you, that’s why.
Also, freedoms or something, I dunno.
Because fuck you, that’s why.
America in a nutshell.
I only stopped there for transit on a flight to Mexico. Just before boarding my flight I was told that I need a visa for the US, which is extremely weird because normally airports have transit zones where you don’t need any visa. But apparently the US is special, so you actually have to enter the country before going right back into the airport. This nonsense made me miss my flight.
Not like that, they didn’t let me board my flight from Europe to Texas. Even though I had a connecting flight to Mexico few hours later.
I am no longer on your side. if your journey is :
European country X -> Somewhere in the US -> Texas -> Mexico
Then of course you’re going through security controls, etc etc. You’re going from the international processing and flights part of the airport to the domestic flights part of the airport, which is the zone where any asshole in that country can travel in, so you’re properly entering the US. Of course you need proper clearance and visas and all that.
I initially assumed your journey was
Non US country-> Somewhere in the US -> Mexico
which you’d be completely right
No domestic flight, just Europe -> Texas -> Mexico.
i’m back your side fuck that airport
The US doesn’t do sanitized transport because there’s not really a need in most airports. The vast majority of passengers are Americans or coming into America. It’s also self reinforced, because once others learn they stop doing layovers in the US. It might make sense for a few large airports like Atlanta, JFK, and LAX.
The fear of naked (intact) female bodies, i.e. censoring of even the slightest nudity, when at the same time, it’s totally fine to have minors play computer games where they can dissect other humans in great bloody detail.
Oh, and chocolate that tastes like somebody barfed into it during manufacturing.
The chocolate thing is because American chocolate manufacturers use butyric acid to preserve the milk. Basically, using fresh milk in chocolate is expensive, because you need to get it shipped directly and be located near enough to the dairy farm. So they intentionally spoil the milk in a controlled manner. This allows them to preserve the milk (as opposed to having it spoil naturally and go completely rancid,) which allows them a much more relaxed manufacturing process. This controlled spoiling method produces butyric acid in the milk.
The issue is that butyric acid tastes like vomit. Americans are used to the sour taste and don’t even really recognize that it’s not what chocolate is supposed to taste like. To them, that sour note is just part of chocolate. But Europeans come to America (and are used to fresh milk in their chocolate), and they are horribly disgusted when they taste American chocolate for the first time. Because Europeans aren’t used to having that sour note in their chocolate.
This is also why so many Americans fawn over foreign chocolate. It is seen as more luxurious, but most Americans can’t really place why it tastes so much better. The reason is the lack of butyric acid.
Can you explain why all milk tea tastes like it has playdoh in it? I just want a freaking Chai tea like the glass coffee Starbucks drinks but all the Asian teas with milk have an odd flavor from whatever is going on with the milk
Sex is bad but graphic footage akin to war carnage is just superhero stuff totally appropriate for kids /s
Also Smarties! These are Smarties everywhere else in the world apart from the US as far as I can tell.
Just googled it out of curiosity:
Our smarties is because those ones hadn’t made it over from the UK yet, so it got the “I was called that first” power
I think in the UK we have a similar thing but they’re called Refreshers.
So those are actually the exact same thing, apparently
More googling lead to the smarties Wikipedia page, which says the Dee family also owns Swizzles Marlow, and the first product on their page? Refreshers, bi-concave candy disks!
Other chocolate I’ve tried from other countries through import stores definitely tend to beat our chocolate. Definitely gotta agree to a degree with that one.
it’s totally fine to have minors play computer games where they can dissect other humans in great bloody detail.
funny that you didn’t mention porn. I feel like that would probably be more relevant, although conservatives are trying to ban it now, so there’s that.
Shoes. Indoors, in your own house, on your furniture?!
Yeah as someone living in Canada that seems wild to me. I can’t imagine they still do that in places with snow, that would be madness.
How can you guys get any work done around the house if you’re constantly swapping shoes?
Pffft
Just go barefoot everywhere
You buy shoes that are easy to swap - like no need to use hands kind of easy. You can also go barefoot at home, because the floor is clean.
Hard agree, but you won’t gain any friends by mentioning this to Europeans. I guess they just stopped for tea after bringing in a single grocery bag, then change back into their shoes to get the rest of the bags, followed by a nice cigarette outside, another shoe change, and some black pudding for dinner.
I don’t really do this but I knew people who did growing up so I’ve got experience:
Laced shoes go on for big outdoor trips. If you’re walking around your yard or the immediate area it’s loafers/flip-flops/Crocs/etc, something you can slip on/off easily as you come in/out the house
It’s not really much of a time investment at all except if you live where it gets rainy and muddy, because then youre gonna put on more hardcore outdoor shoes like wellies
I bought a pair of Ariat western style work boots last winter exactly for this situation. I didn’t want to track all the water and pine needles all over my floor, but I was sick and tired of spending 1.5 minutes lacing up my work boots every time I went outside. It’s still a little bit of a pain, but much better than floozie shoes while doing manual labor, or dealing with boot laces a dozen times in a work session.
Cascadian here to confirm. Throw on an insulated flannel and a pair of muck boots and you can stay in your pjs when you chore in and out.
on your furniture?!
Carpet counts as furniture?
Otherwise, no, I don’t tend to walk on my tables, chairs, and couch very often. If I do need to do that for some reason I tend to do it barefoot for the grip, tho
First thing I (another Canadian) noticed when we switched from the car to a shuttle to the airport (crossed the border by car to take a flight to Florida) was that there were multiple people on that shuttle that were at least as big as the most obese person I’d ever seen in person up to that point.
Even though our cultures overlap quite a bit, there’s something different in that aspect.
The obesity epidemic really depends on where you are. I don’t see any fat people where I live now, but they were absolutely everywhere in the city I lived in before.
This was in Detroit. It wasn’t as noticable in Florida, or on separate trips to California. Like I’m sure I saw some pretty obese people in those locations (as I do in various places in Canada), but it wasn’t to the point where my mind made specific note of it for me to remember over a decade later.
Central California has tons of fat people, especially at places like Walmart. They all seem to congregate there. But then places like Huntington Beach, San Diego, and San Francisco, have almost no fat people. I think the better the socioeconomic situation is, and the more accessible walking is, the less likely people are to be overweight in an area.
Yeah, I was in SF and then LA and spent the free days of the LA trip hiking Hollywood Hills and visiting six flags, which probably skews more towards people fit enough to hike or fit in rollercoaster seats.
I also visited a market near the hotel that had prices low enough that my assumption at the time was it had to be mostly stolen and got a great duffel bag for like a quarter of what I’d expect to pay for that back home.
Amusement parks tend to bring some pretty hefty people off the couches. The Hollywood Hills are usually pretty healthy. What did you think of SF and L.A.? SF used to be my favorite city in the world. That was twenty years ago though. I’ve heard that it is in serious decline now. Some parts of Hollywood can be cool to visit, but L.A. in general is completely overwhelming to me. I want to get the fuck out after 2-3 days. To be fair to L.A., I have the same reaction to NYC. I think they’re really neat and amazing for a day or two and then I just want to escape and get away from the oppressive concrete jungle.
I was only in SF for one day and had an event most of that day, unfortunately, so I didn’t get to see much of the city. I think I saw the golden gate bridge from the plane. The hotel they put me in was nice, though, most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.
LA was hot and the traffic was pretty crazy. I was there for about a week for siggraph with work. Santa Monica was nice, it was cool seeing the Hollywood sign in person, and I do remember looking back at the city and seeing all the haze.
Six flags had rollercoasters that lasted longer than the longest one at Canada’s Wonderland (at least at the time, their 3 newest ones are a bit more comparable). I won a giant Scooby Doo stuffy because they had a game where I figured out the trick to it on my first play and returned later to upgrade my small Scooby-Doo to the large one (and bought the bag for the plane trip). The stuffy was pretty cheaply made though, so they might have still made money from the two plays I paid for lol.
Other bits and pieces I remember are the different vegetation they had (my first time seeing palm trees) and noticing the barbed wire on a bunch of flat roofs. Also it was weird to see commercials for prescription drugs.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot one of the highlights of the trip, going to Fry’s during it’s heyday. I was buying my own hardware at that time but it was the first time I saw an aisle of motherboards where you could actually see the boards on display. I think we ended up going there twice, once for cables we forgot to pack for our booth, then later for our own shopping trip.
Ah, it’s too bad you didn’t get to see more of SF. The city itself is neat because it’s built on top of landfill, has tons of hills, good public transportation, and embraces weirdness. The areas surrounding the city are the real gem though. The view from the top of Twin Peaks where you can see the whole bay, the land across the golden gate, all of SF, and the Pacific Ocean, is stunning enough that it caused the Brit who was with me to declare that it’s enough to make one believe in God.
Man, I miss Fry’s! I was fortunate enough to visit that L.A. Fry’s in its heyday too! That place was heaven for a computer nerd such as myself. I was so stoked when we moved to the Seattle area and discovered there was a Fry’s in Renton (near Seattle). Both my wife and I were extremely bummed when covid killed Fry’s. They were already in decline, but covid really finished them off.
Anyways, the USA definitely has some beautiful and amazing places. I’ve only been to B.C. and Victoria in Canada, but I love it there too. I always feel like we’re so crass and aggressive whenever I come back across the border from a Canada trip. You guys are all so friendly up there, and I love it. It’s a beautiful country too.
You need to visit a Walmart and good luck trying to forget.
In Canada or the US? At least where I am, the Walmart shopping population doesn’t seem that different from the general pop, though I generally avoid going there so maybe I’m just not looking enough.
Disclaimer that I am aware of the people of Walmart meme, but kinda assumed that it was more of a “Walmart is popular therefore you’ll run in to people who live at the extremes” than a “Walmart uniquely attracts those who live at the extremes”.
Walmart’s in the USA. I am amazed how the electric scooter frames hold together.
Where are you crossing? Around here the population on both sides of the border are pretty indistinguishable, except for accent.
I forget which crossing it was exactly. Might have been Windsor or might have been farther north. We drove several hours before switching to the shuttle in any case and didn’t get out to look around on the Canadian side of the crossing.
It could have been a biased sample. I mean, for all I know, one very obese family just happened to get on that same shuttle rather than it being a random sampling of what people were like in that area. Hell, they could have even driven several hours to get there themselves and thus didn’t represent the local population at all.
Could have been bias confirmation rather than culture shock.
Your urban planning. Your cities are unwalkable, the scenery makes me depressed af, everything is scaled up for cars, even restaurants are for cars, the highways are huge, all I can see is tar. I don’t know how you can live like that.
Going out in public in your pajamas.
How difficult it is to find fresh produce in small shops (food deserts)
How much fat is in all the meat.
How old and badly maintained many of the roads and bridges are (I am from Africa, so that says something)
The levels of national arrogance.
How old and badly maintained many of the roads and bridges are (I am from Africa, so that says something)
The US is very large, and this varies wildly by state. Some states actually care about funding/repairing infrastructure. Others, not so much.
Going out in public in your pajamas.
I have seen this on very few occasions, and each time, the pajama-wearing individual is very obviously only out in public so they can either stock up at the liquor store or meet their meth dealer. I don’t think this is common.
Go to Walmart (not the neighborhood Walmart, the super Walmart) and look around
This was in early 2000 New York and Washington DC. Spent about a month there and saw it daily.
Once upon a time not long ago
when people wore pyjamas and lived life slow…checks out.
It’s common at the high school level. It’s a byproduct of pandemic lockdowns.
I had coworkers in the early 2000s who would do this, working in a white collar profession, and pretty sure they weren’t alcoholics or doing (hard) drugs.
That’s crazy. We couldn’t even wear polo shirts then and before 9/11 we had to wear ties.
They didn’t wear pyjama’s to work, but they did wear them out of the house to go buy snacks or such. Also, a number of us didn’t normally wear suits or ties to work, especially if we were technical and not sales or administrative. This might have been due to
notbeing in Canada. I did a few weeks in Toronto, and a number of guys followed the same rule.Edit: the most frustrating programming error.
I see that with adults, and WAY before the pandemic. First time I saw that, Bush Jr. was in his first term
I have seen thqt zero times.
But tbf I don’t live in a big metropolitan area.Ive done it before because im ill as fuck and need to go get food so I survive, I dont hate it.
I do it regularly because it’s comfortable and I do not give a single shit about what anyone thinks.
Canadian here, British Columbia.
Going to a Wal-Mart in a small-ish town and counting 38 CCTV cameras across the outside front of the building. Ours, in a city with 28× the population, has only 6.
Inside that same Wal-Mart, going into a checkout line without first checking out the customers, and the very next guy ahead of us was an open carry: a semi-auto (AR-15 like looking weapon) slung over his shoulders, a handgun in a holster on his waist, and a lump on his right ankle above his boots. And two knives on his belt. Dude looked like he was ready for some urban warfare.
The sheer amount of infrastructure decay. Sure, even Canadian towns that haven’t seen economic good times look run down and dilapidated, but American towns really kick that up a notch. Most small-town buildings look like they haven’t seen a makeover since the Carter administration.
Unusually authentic Mexican food. Up here 90% of Mexican places are run by white dudes who make semi-authentic “fusion” dishes that are mainly just spicy. Cross the border and less than 15 minutes in, there is one family-run chain (Rancho Chico, Rancho Grande) with super-cheap 100% authentic foods run and staffed solely by Mexicans. And like, holy shit, that’s good food.
The sheer number of people who support and vote for a party who will do absolutely nothing for them, and will enact policies that will drive them even further into poverty and destitution just so their Parasite-Class campaign donors can get even more obscenely wealthy. Conservative voters are just weird, man.
a semi-auto (AR-15 like looking weapon) slung over his shoulders, a handgun in a holster on his waist, and a lump on his right ankle above his boots. And two knives on his belt. Dude looked like he was ready for some urban warfare.
Ironically, the lump might have been what gets him into trouble. If he’s concealing a firearm without a permit, it can land him with some pretty hefty penalties. And if he has a permit but is printing (meaning the concealed weapon is visible through his clothes, like a lump) then it can also land him with some penalties.
It’s dependent on where you were, as each state has their own concealed carry laws. But in general, you’re not allowed to conceal a firearm without a permit. And if you do have a permit, you’re not allowed to have that concealed firearm be visible (even indirectly, like printing.)
Plus if you’re open carrying, Walmart internally bans them anyways. They’re a private business, and have the authority to dictate what people are or are not allowed to do while in their stores. The company has a blanket policy against open carrying, and (assuming they’re not barred from doing so by state law) the dude should have been told to leave his guns outside (like in his car) or be trespassed.
The company has a blanket policy against open carrying,
I guess the Omak, WA store didn’t get that particular memo. I did see another guy with a piece on his belt during that same visit, but this dude is the one we got into close proximity to. Scared the bejesus out of my wife, who has never gotten close to any firearm except for those carried by the RCMP.
And if he has a permit but is printing then it can also land him with some penalties.
I can’t find anything in a quick search the specifies printing as being illegal. In fact, a quick search brings up the opposite, that printing is not a legal definition and the discussion around it by laypersons often becomes muddled with confusion between printing and brandishing.
States will vary, but did you have a particular one in mind regarding the specifics of printing? Some of the search results I get mention some anti-printing laws but none I find get more specific than that.
