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Culture

Brits share the most 'bizarre' things Americans do that seem unbelievable across the pond

united states, united kingdom, british, pledge of allegiance
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From an outside perspective, the pledge of allegiance seems "culty."

You know how you were raised in a household where things were done a certain way, and then at some point, you went to other people's houses and saw that other people's families lived completely differently and it sort of blew your mind? Different rules, different standards, different consequences, different habits—all of which were considered normal to them? Some of those differences may have made you thank the heavens for your parents, or they may have made you realize your own family had some issues you didn't recognize.

The same thing happens when you are born and raised in a specific culture. Your sense of what's normal is molded by it—so much so that you may never even think to question whether certain things are actually rather bizarre.

That's why it's nice to have some outside perspective sometimes.

A Reddit user asked "What is the most bizarre thing Americans do that feels unbelievable by British standards?" and the answers are eye-opening.

Pledging allegiance to the flag

The first response was "Having kids pledge allegiance to the flag in school. Seems culty."

Most adult Americans were trained as young children to place our hands over our hearts, face the flag and recite the pledge every morning at school. Every single morning. Swearing our allegiance to our country and its flag, out loud, in unison.

"I went to an American school while I lived in Italy; I was one of the only English kids there. The pledge of allegiance was indeed every morning, and it felt as culty as you think. They called my parents when I wasn't joining in ffs," wrote one commenter.

"Never mind seeming culty, it just flat out is," wrote another.

And another: "As an expat, I can confirm that having to pledge allegiance to the American flag was definitely one of the weirdest things that contributed to the culture shock."

Let's be real. If we saw children from any country deemed unsavory to American sensibilities (let's say Russia, China, North Korea, for example) being required to stand in unison and recite a pledge of allegiance to their country's flag every single morning, we'd consider it brainwashing.

There's a reason that first comment got more than 5,500 upvotes.

The way we do healthcare

The comment "Going bankrupt because you needed your broken leg realigned. Being homeless as a result of needing to pay for cancer treatment" garnered 2,000 likes because the U.S. approach to healthcare is genuinely bizarre.

Everything Americans accept about healthcare is asinine: the for-profit health insurance industry, the fact that health insurance is tied to employment (but not all employment, because that would make too much sense, apparently), the fact that we pay way more for healthcare than other wealthy nations and yet have worse health outcomes, the fact that virtually no one understands how their health insurance works because it's so complicated, the fact that medical bankruptcy is a thing, etc.

And on top of that, the fact that there is a baffling number of Americans who actually defend this system when all evidence points to the superiority of universal healthcare is absolutely mind-blowing.

How we don't do guaranteed paid parental leave

"No paid maternity/paternity leave and new mothers having to go back to work within two weeks of giving birth. Insane," wrote one commenter.

After Americans tried to say this wasn't true because their company offers paid leave, the commenter clarified that the U.S. doesn't require paid leave. It's up to the discretion of companies, which is, indeed, insane.

"I've always thought this was barbaric but since having my baby it horrifies me even more," someone wrote in response. "My baby is 12 months old next weekend and I'm still on leave. My mat leave is just finishing and I'm about to start annual leave which will see me through until January. I've been on around half pay for the year which has been tough financially but I wouldn't give up this time for anything.

"At 2 weeks I could still hardly sit (episiotomy), my boobs were painfully full and leaking all the time, I was barely managing to get dressed, my baby was wanting to be held at all times day and night... I was hardly functioning.

"We don't separate kittens and puppies from their mothers that early, how can it possibly be okay to separate babies from their mothers."

School shootings and the active shooter drills that go along with them

Well, yeah. Not exactly a point of pride.

It's not that other countries never ever have school shootings, but the U.S. is in a league of our own here.

"My cousins in America do school shooting practises every term," wrote one commenter. "It's awful that that's a thing they need. Scary."

"You can buy bulletproof school bags," wrote another. "It's nuts."

To be fair, most Americans would agree that school shootings and active shooter drills are bizarre. We just can't agree on what to do about it.

Our lack of electric kettles, apparently

One commenter wrote:

"On a less serious note, boiling water in a pan (or microwaving it!) for a cup of tea or coffee. I've seen it when watching regular people do videos, not just on tv or whatever. Where are all the kettles??(There are a lot about guns and stuff, so I thought I'd do one that's less sad.)"

Others chimed in:

"I'm a Brit living in the US and my electric kettle is viewed by some of my American friends as a revelation. I buy them as gifts."

"Both times I've been to America, I would go down to reception at the hotel and ask for a kettle. The receptionist would look at me dumbly and ask what a kettle was. And this wasn't once or twice. This was multiple times."

Some people explained some reasons for kettles being rare-but-not-unheard-of, ranging from the voltage being different in the U.S. to the fact that microwaving water is quick and easy. But there's also this:

"British/American living in the US... No one I know really drinks tea with enough regularity to warrant a kettle, specially living in tiny apartments with limited kitchen space. Coffee makers are a lot more common because coffee is more popular than tea that I've seen."

This is the truth. (And I do know a lot of people with electric kettles, but it apparently varies from region to region.)

We don't walk when we can drive

Several commenters pointed to Americans' resistance to walking anywhere that's farther than a block or two, as well as our lack of sidewalks and walkways to even make it possible:

"No pavements/sidewalks in some places. I went to Dallas for work some years ago, and was dismayed to find that I couldn't just 'go for a walk' from the hotel."

"Yes! Nobody there walks ANYWHERE. I have a friend who is from Iowa but lived in London for a few years. When she went back she said she really misses walking. I asked what she meant, she said if she just went on a random walk she'd definitely get people stopping for her thinking she's not okay, not okay in the head or just homeless."

"I was reading a book the other day that described a woman walking two miles to then get a bus home as a 'hike'. I mean, that's just walking? Sure it was alongside a road not on a pavement but it's still just walking!"

"Yep, that's really weird. I went to an IT conference in Orlando back in the late 1990's. The hotel was only about a kilometre from the conference centre, so obvs we walked as the weather was nice. Not only was it tricky due to the lack of any footpath, people thought we were mad. Also you can't just cross the road where you want to."

Sorry, Brits. Our land is big and our gas is cheap compared to yours. And also, you know we're notorious for our unhealthy habits.

Sales tax tacked on at the end of a purchase

"Taxes put on at check out," wrote one commenter.

Wait, what? This isn't normal?

Apparently not.

"The taxes infuriate me," wrote one commenter. "I was in Canada last week and they do the same thing. I kept thinking I was being overcharged until I remembered that advertised prices don't include taxes, and that you're expected to tip for pretty much everything."

"I only found out about the tax thing recently and it f*cking blew my mind," wrote another. "How tf do you know how much cash you'll need? Americans must be really good at mental arithmetic if they have to add tax every time they add something to their basket."

Spoiler: We're not all that good at mental arithmetic. We just know we need about 10% more money than what a thing actually costs.

Agreed, though. It's weird and annoying.

This isn't an exhaustive list, by any means. Other "bizarre" American habits include circumcision (just the messenger—please don't send me hate mail), televangelism, prescription drug commercials and spray cheese.

Definitely some food for thought as we consider what's "normal" and what's not. Different or even "bizarre" isn't necessarily bad, but we could certainly do some national soul-searching with some of the things on this list.

(And hey, British friends—the way you say "aluminum" is weird. So there.)

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Parenting

Man asks how to help his wife who works full-time with a baby at home and keeps getting the same answer

More and more families are trying to scrape by — by trying to do it all

Photo by Katie Emslie on Unsplash

There are times in parenting where you just feel kind of useless.

You can't carry the baby, take a late-night breastfeeding shift, or absorb any of the pain and discomfort of childbirth.

Sometimes the best you can do is to try to take care of your partner.

That's what brought user u/DietyBeta to the AskParents subreddit with a well-meaning question.

"My wife watches our 1yo, works, and is 12 week pregnant. How can I make her daily life easier while I'm away at work?"

He says that when he gets home from work, he takes over all parenting and homemaking duties.

But yeesh! That's still... a lot to handle. No wonder his wife is stressed out.

A few folks chimed in to pat the OP on the back. After all, it's great to see a dad who realizes how much is falling on mom's shoulders and actively looking for ways to lighten the load!

Some helpful suggestions rolled in, like taking over meal prep and making her easy lunches to heat up, hiring cleaners, or paying someone to walk the dogs.

woman in black shirt lying on couch Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash


But then even more people came in to the comments asking the same question over and over: If mom is working, why isn't the 1-year-old in daycare?

u/young-mommy wrote: "Is the one year old in daycare? If not, I would start there. Working from home with a child gets harder and harder as they enter toddlerhood"

u/min2themax said: "It’s nice of you to be asking how to help her but she really is getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop here. It sounds like she is literally always working or parenting. Sometimes both at the same time. Walking the dogs and making her lunches and prepping meals and doing laundry is all well and good but this is not at all sustainable."

u/alternative-box3260 said: "Have the one year old in daycare. I was in a similar situation and it’s impossible. I was able to breath after that, not before."

And u/sillychihuahua26 wrote: "She’s caring for your 1.year old while working? That’s a horrible plan. You guys need childcare like yesterday."

We have a legitimate childcare crisis in our country, and stories like this one really bring it to life.

Childcare in the United States isn't nearly accessible or affordable enough for most families. Period.

ChildCare Aware found that that average cost of childcare in 2022 was $10,853 per year, or roughly 10% of a median family income (in 2024, it's likely even more than that — yet the actual workers at childcare centers are somehow severely underpaid).

But even that eye-popping number is conservative. Anyone who lives anywhere close to a city (or in California or New York) knows the number will be way higher. It's just not feasible for most families to put their child, let alone multiple children, in full-time care while they're young.

And yet! The percentage of households with two parents working full-time has been rising for decades. Life is more expensive than ever, and the extra income from two working parents really helps, even if it's offset by those child care costs.

More and more families are trying to scrape by — by trying to do it all

woman in white shirt sitting on brown wooden armchair Photo by Keren Fedida on Unsplash

Now we don't know whether the OP's family can afford childcare for their 1-year-old or not, although in a later update to the post he wrote:

"As far as daycare, she doesn't want to because she feels like she would be missing out on the time"

So even if you can afford childcare, there's the still the crushing guilt of shipping your child off to be raised by strangers to deal with! Classic.

(Take one guess who shoulders most of the daycare guilt — dads or moms?)

The work-from-home revolution has been a Godsend for parents in certain ways — flexibility, balance, less commuting time — but its also saddled many of them with double duty.

'Hey how about you work full-time because we need the money AND keep an eye on the kids, since you're home anyway!'

But it doesn't work like that, and trying to do both is crushing modern parents.

In fact, the Surgeon General of the United States just put out an official advisory based on the plummeting mental state of today's parents.

We know parents are having a hard time and that it's getting picked up in the national conversation. But hearing about a mom working full-time with a 1-year-old on her hip while pregnant, and a dad stuck working out of the house who's at a total loss for how to make things better really paints a pretty bleak picture.

No one should have to work full-time and parent full-time, at the same time.

A fridge full of microwavable lunches and a fleet of dog walkers isn't going to make it any better until things start changing from the very top.

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Democracy

These before-and-afters will make you question everything about how our economy works

You'd think it was some sort of natural disaster. Nope. Totally man-made.



Yup. These images were taken only two years apart. And what you're seeing was not an accident.

When the economy crashed in 2008, it was because of shady financial practices like predatory lending and speculative investing, which is basically gambling, only the entire economy was at stake.


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When the recession hit, it literally hit home for millions of people. And Detroit was right in the middle of it.

I spoke with Alex Alsup, who works with a Detroit-based tech company that's mapping the city's foreclosed homes to help city officials see the bigger picture and find solutions. He also runs the Tumblr GooBingDetroit, where he uses Google Street View's time machine to document the transformation of Detroit's neighborhoods over the last few years.

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"There's a common sentiment that Detroit's looked the way it does for decades, but it's just not true," Alsup said.

It's astonishing to see how quickly so many homes went from seemingly delightful to wholly unlivable.

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When the recession went into full force, home values took a nosedive. But the city expected homeowners to pay property taxes as if they hadn't.

Not only does the situation defy logic, but it's like a brass-knuckled face punch to the people the city is supposed to be looking out for. Alsup explains:

"You had houses — tens of thousands of them — that were worth only $20,000 or so, yet owed $4,000 a year in taxes, for which very few city services were delivered (e.g. police, fire, roads, schools). Who would pay that?"

Indeed.

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A local group calls what happened to Detroit a "hurricane without water."

And like a real hurricane, homeowners aren't the ones to blame. They're even calling for what is essentially a federal disaster response.

Here are the three strategies they want to see in action — and they can work for basically anywhere in the country that's struggling with a housing crisis.

1. Stop kicking people out of their homes.

They want the city to end foreclosures and evictions from owner-occupied homes. Many people aren't just losing their homes — they've lost jobs, pensions, and services because of budget cuts. Putting them on the street is like a kick in the teeth when they're down.

2. If a home is worth less on the market than what the homeowner owes on their loan, reduce what they owe.

Those are called underwater mortgages. Banks caused this mess, and governments ignored it. It's only fair that people's mortgages be adjusted based the current value of their home.

3. Sell repossessed homes at fair prices to people who actually want to live in them.

Selling to banks and investors only encourages what led to the financial crisis in the first place. Wouldn't it make more sense to sell to people who are going to live in them and have a genuine interest in rebuilding the community?

Housing is a human right. And an economy based on financial markets doesn't care about human rights. Maybe it's time for a new economy?

Click play below for a silent cruise down a once lovely residential block in Detroit.


This article originally appeared on 12.15.14

Education & Information

A boy with dwarfism struggled to get his lunch. So a cafeteria worker made him a souped-up cart.

He went from struggling to stylish.

via Beaverton School District

Julian Worsham gets a new cart.

Six-year-old Julian Worsham of Beaverton, Oregon is like a lot of other first-graders: he loves Super Mario and Taekwondo. But he has achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, and goes to a school that wasn't built for kids his height.

"He's born into a world that just, in some ways, is not built for him," Julian's father, Brett, told WHAS11.

His mother did a walk-through before his first day at school to make sure he wouldn't run into any problems because of his height but forgot to check the cafeteria. [We] "noticed that where the food was, was right at his head," Heather told the Beaverton School District. Then, to make things more of a struggle, he had to carry his tray outside to the lunch benches.

The school made him a makeshift cart out of an upside-down milk crate on wheels to help him transport his lunch from the cafeteria to the benches.

"When I saw it I thought, 'Wow,'" said Enedelia Mottram, who's served lunch for the school district for 18 years. "I just wanted to help Julian, because I mean his head barely reaches the lunch line. He can't see anything."

Julian's first cart wasn't cutting the mustard.

via Beaverton School District

That night, she talked to her husband, James, a metalworker, to see if he could come up with something better. He got his team together at Wright Manufacturing in Portland to create a new cart that allowed Julian to transport his lunch tray and see over the counter.

James told the Beaverton School District that he wanted to make something that Julian would be "proud to push around."

James and his team put together a badass cart with adjustable, handlebar grips just like a motorcycle that has a stool inside so he can reach the countertop. It is adorned with flames and a personalized license plate that says, "JULIAN."

Julian's parents were blown away by the care and creativity that was put into creating his cart.

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"They took the time to get those license plates with his name, which is just like, they just really put a lot of heart into it. So when I saw it, the first thing I saw was actually a picture of James and his team who made the cart and I cried. It's just such a sweet thing," Heather said.

Julian loves the license plate and the flames and is now able to grab his lunch and get out to the benches in style.

"He's independent now," said Mottram. "Before, a staff member [would] have to be there to help him," she said.

Heather hopes that the story will inspire others to reach out and help other people in need.

"There's just wonderful people in this world that, you know, they have their eyes open. They're seeing needs that need to be met and they're meeting them. So I hope that other kids can get their needs met through this," she said.


This article originally appeared on 11.3.21

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Heroes

Heroic sanitation workers save abducted, 10-year-old girl while on their trash route

"I was just doing my job man. I was just doing my job and actually came across somebody who needed help."

via Dion Merrick / Facebook

At 1:30 am on a Monday morning in February, an AMBER Alert went out in southern Louisiana about a missing 10-year-old girl from New Iberia. It was believed she had been kidnapped and driven away in a 2012 silver Nissan Altima.

A few hours later at 7 am, Dion Merrick and Brandon Antoine, sanitation workers for Pelican Waste, were on their daily route when they noticed a vehicle that fit the description in the alert.

The sanitation workers thought it was suspicious that a silver sedan was parked alone in a field in St. Martin Parish.

"Something told me, like just look, I said what is that car doing in that field like that? What the car doing? Guess what, that's the dude with the little girl," Merrick said in a Facebook Live video. "That's God."

The video has been seen over 1.5 million times since it was posted on Monday morning.

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To prevent the possible kidnapper from escaping, they parked the large sanitation truck the wrong way on the highway to "Make sure they couldn't get out," Merrick said. Then, they called 911.

When police arrived they arrested Michael R. Sereal, the man whose car was mentioned in the AMBER Alert. The police were also able to safely recover the girl who appeared unharmed. She was later taken to the hospital to be evaluated by medical personnel.

The Iberia Parish Sheriff's Department's online sex offender registry has a Michael Roy Sereal but authorities wouldn't confirm it's the same man.

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The young girls' family got in touch with the two men who saved her and have shown amazing gratitude. "I'm just so happy and blessed that I have actually seen the car and we actually responded like we were supposed to respond," Merrick told KHOU.

Merrick hopes that his actions will inspire others to be proactive as well.

"Don't be scared if you see something. If you know something is wrong, report it," Merrick said. "Call authorities because it could save someone's life."

via Office of the Louisiana Attorney general

The two men were applauded by the St. John Parish's Sheriff, who offered to buy them lunch.

"I was just doing my job man. I was just doing my job and actually came across somebody who needed help," Merrick said. "Got me tearing up."

The AMBER Alert system was created in 1996 after nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted and murdered while riding her bike in Texas. Since its inception, nearly seven in 10 AMBER alert cases have resulted in children being successfully reunited with their parents.

In 17% of the cases, the child's recovery is a direct result of the alert.

As of December 2020, 1,029 children rescued specifically because of the system.


This article originally appeared on 02.09.21

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Joy

Video of cats punching above their weight gives us a new appreciation for our feline friends

Maybe they're actually as superior as they think they are.

Photo by 傅甬 华 on Unsplash

Cats are far more badass than we give them credit for.

Cats have a reputation for being aloof and standoffish, like they're better than everyone and simply can't be bothered. Those of us who have cats know they're not always like that … but yes, they're sometimes like that. They can be sweet and affectionate, but they want affection on their terms, they want to eat and play and sleep on their own clock, and we puny, inferior humans have little say in the matter.

There's a reason why we have obedience schools for dogs and not for cats. Maine coon or Bengal, Savannah or Siamese, ragdoll or sphynx, domestic cats of all breeds are largely untrainable little punks who lure us into loving them by blessing us with the honor of stroking their fur and hearing them purr.

But perhaps we assume too much when we think cats are full of themselves for no good reason. Maybe they are actually somewhat justified in their snootiness. Maybe they really, truly are superior to pretty much every other creature on Earth and that's why they act like it.

Cats, if they could talk, would be nodding and prodding us along at this point: "Yes, yes, you're so close. Just a little further now, keep going."

Think about it. They're beautiful and graceful, but also quick and powerful. They groom constantly so they're almost always clean and their fur even smells good. They can fall from ridiculous heights, land on their feet and walk away unscathed. They're wicked good ambush hunters. They can walk completely silently, like ninjas, then pull out the razor blades on their feet at will and do serious damage in an instant.

All of that makes them impressive specimens, but ironically it's their total hubris that makes them truly superior. When they feel like it (because cats only do things they feel like doing) they will take on anyone and anything. Big, small, dangerous, fierce—doesn't matter. That unbridled confidence—earned or not—combined with their physique and skill makes them the badasses of the animal world.

Want proof? Here ya go:

The snakes, man. I can't get over the snakes.

Cats really are better than us and every other living thing, basically. And even if they aren't, they believe they are, which counts just as much. They're either the ultimate creatures or the ultimate conmen. Either way, you just don't mess with them.


This article originally appeared on 08.17.22

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