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Millennial dad of 3 unloads on boomer parents over their unreasonable holiday plans

"Yeah, not this time," he said. "I think for the holidays I'm just gonna stay in and relax."

millennials, baby boomers, parenting, dads, moms, babysitting, grandparents, parenting tips, family, love, kids
via Canva/Photos
A Millennial dad has had it with his boomer dad's expectations.

The holidays are supposed to be a time for enjoying special moments with family, but often they become a source of stress. Traveling, navigating familial relationships and tensions, talking politics at the dinner table, and handling the all-encompassing issue of "presents" can wear down even the most patient and even-keeled person. It can be especially challenging for parents with young kids who are expected to travel long distances in the name of "family togetherness."

A TikTok video posted by @carrerasfam is going viral, with over 300,000 views, because so many millennial parents can relate to the frustration of grandparents having unrealistic expectations related to visiting with the kids.

In the satirical video, a husband stages a conversation with his "practically retired" baby boomer dad, in which he explains politely but firmly that he’s not taking his 3 young kids on a 400-mile drive to their house for the holidays.

Carerras Fam is a popular TikTok page about “all things postpartum and mamahood.” Together, the mom and dad share funny skits and slices of their life with three little ones.

The husband opens the conversation with his dad by explaining all the inconveniences of taking 3 young kids on a long road trip. “I know you want us to drive down for the holidays, but it's kinda ridiculous that you want me to pack my 3 kids with their portable beds with my clothes, their clothes, the formula, everything that goes on with raising 3 kids and having them feel comfortable. Drive down for over four hours just so that we could spend some time in your house?” the husband says while absurdist music plays in the background.


@carrerasfam

Sorry it’s just so much work. But you’re welcome to visit us #millennial #millennials #parents #parenting #parentsontiktok #boomers #millennials

It’s obviously inconvenient for the couple to pack up their kids and drive 4 hours, but it’s also unsafe because the house is not baby-proof. "I'm gonna have to run around, make sure that they don't break any of your stuff, and which you will 'take care of them,'” the husband continues using sarcastic air quotes. Most parents eventually realize that visiting with the kids does not equate to getting help with them — no, it means chasing them around frantically yourself until it's time to leave.

The dad brings up another great point: His parents are in good health, so why don’t they drive to their house? “You could visit. You don't have little kids,” the dad continues. “You don't have anything going on.

"Why is it that every time I have to make the effort for you, yet you can't do the most basic thing for me?”

 millennials, baby boomers, parenting, dads, moms, babysitting, grandparents, parenting tips, family, love, kids All parents feel like this when it comes to spending time with the grands.  Giphy  

It’s clear from the phone call the dad understands that traveling with the kids and staying in a house that isn’t correctly set up for young kids will make the holiday a struggle. Instead of making memories, they’ll most likely be running around bent over trying to save their kids from breaking something or hanging out at Target buying electrical socket plugs and a bottle brush because they left theirs at home. What's especially frustrating is the pressure and expectations. Parents are often guilted for not wanting to pack up the the kids and travel, even though it's not hard to see why they hate it so much.

The video struck a chord with many millennial parents. Nearly 500,000 people watched the clip with hundreds and hundreds pouring in to vent their own similar frustrations.


@carrerasfam

Something needs to change #parenting #parents

“First holiday with a kid… parents are confused why I won’t drive 9 hours with a 3mnth old for Christmas,” too_many_catz writes.

“The ‘not baby proofed’ part hit my soullllllll. It’s so stressful having to chase your kids around and ask to close doors, move pictures, block stairs, etc. And nobody takes you seriously!" OhHeyItsIndy added.

It’s also expensive for young families to travel. “Add to it they want us to spend money on gas, airfare, etc. when we live paycheck to paycheck and rent while they own homes and live comfortably off a pension,” another user wrote.

"My mom asked me to drive 13 hours with our 2 month old…she doesn’t work and has flight points," one mom added.

This one hit hard: “They always act like you're asking the world of them, yet they will willingly go on any other vacation that they choose,” Mackenzie Byrne wrote.

"They can never make the trip for us but they can make them trips to Europe and cruises to the Caribbean," another user noted.

TX Travel Chick may have hit the nail on the head with her explanation for why boomer parents expect their children to road trip it to their house for the holidays. “Because we are used to following their orders!!! REVOLT,” she wrote.

 millennials, baby boomers, parenting, dads, moms, babysitting, grandparents, parenting tips, family, love, kids See ya next year, grandpa  Giphy  

Ultimately, it would be interesting to learn why boomer parents want to inconvenience their kids when it would be much easier for them to take a trip to see them, especially if they can afford a hotel. One wonders if they are being entitled or if they’ve forgotten how hard it is to travel with young kids. In some cases, it's a little more complicated — many baby boomer grandparents are still working and have less time and resources than previous generations did to help with the kids.

"Yeah, not this time," the dad sums up in the video. "I think for the holidays I'm just gonna stay in and relax."

It's a hilarious and relatable video, but ultimately, it's a skit. The power of boomer-grandparent guilt remains undefeated in many households, so the smart money says the Carreras family sucked it up and traveled for the holidays despite their annoyance. Here's hoping that together, we can eventually break the generational curse when our kids become parents one day.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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Man passionately explains the meaning of staircases in movies and now people can't unsee it

Once you hear this explanation, you start seeing it everywhere.

AlbaProductions/YouTube

The staircase scene in "The Princess Diaries 2" is a good example of how stairs are used in film.

Moviemaking magic is part art and part science, and most of us don't fully know how the cinematic sausage gets made. Many people enjoy watching "behind the scenes" and "making of" videos to get a glimpse of what we don't see on camera, but even those don't give us all the ins and outs of how filmmakers create a great movie experience.

Perhaps that's why a video from a woman showing her screenwriter husband geeking out over a very specific element of filmmaking has gone viral. Or, maybe it's because we all love to see people passionately explain something they know about. Either way, his explanation of how staircases are purposefully used to drive the plot and reveal information about characters in movies has people engrossed.

 katharine hepburn, entrance, staircase, scene, film Staircases are used strategically in films.  Giphy  

In the video, the couple is watching The Princess Diaries 2 when the husband pauses the movie and asks his wife, "Have I told you about staircases in film and what they represent in film?" She giggles—clearly this is not an unusual occurrence—and says, "No." He puts down the remote (apparently so he can use both of his hands to talk) and starts in on the lesson.

"A staircase, almost every time in film, is used to visually represent a power dynamic," he says. "A person who is in charge of a situation will be higher up on the steps than a person who is not in charge of the situation."

@leniethamer

Today’s lesson: staircases 😂 maybe one day we will finish the movie lol but I do love the fun facts. #movie #movienerd #geek #princessdiaries #screenwriter #moviereview #disney #disneyplus #annehathaway #chrispine #couplegoals #behindthescenes

He explains that the people higher on the staircase are in command of the scene—they're the ones giving the demands and the orders—and the people lower on the staircase are listening and responding.

"Every single time, without fail, if there is a staircase in a film and someone is walking up it, talking to someone below, they are giving them a command or they are taking control of the scene," he says.

Then he picks the remote up again and proceeds to walk his wife through the scene where Anne Hathaway's character and Chris Pine's character are talking back and forth up a double staircase. As they move up and down the steps, the dynamic of their conversation changes. She starts higher up on the stairs than him, then he moves up to challenge her. She moves over to the other staircase, and for a while they talk at the same level from their respective staircase. You can see the characters fighting for control, visually on equal footing up the stairs, so the audience remains in suspense as to who will come out on top.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

It was a simple scene analysis, but the video got over 2.5 million views and people loved it:

"People like your husband are the best people to hang out with. I love a sudden, passionate rant about things I've never considered."

"I can’t believe the internet is free. I just got a film education."

"This is why English and media literacy should be classes offered regularly in school and should not be laughed at when people take those classes."

"I loved EVERY second of this."

Many commenters started pointing out examples of this principle in popular films as well. Once you know it, you start seeing it everywhere.

 mean girls, regina george, staircase, power, dynamics Regina George watching the chaos from the top of the stairs in "Mean Girls"  Giphy  

"Me thinking about Regina George on top of the stairs watching the chaos."

"The daughters from Devil Wears Prada when Andy is delivering the book!"

"Crazy Rich Asians has a cool stair case scene when she visits the house for the first time!"

"Just like the Umbridge and McGonagall scene on the hogwarts stairs when they’re arguing. 🥲"

"Everyone else: McGonagall vs Umbridge Me: "PIVOT!!!! PIVOT!!!!""

 friends, moving, pivot, ross gellar, scenes, film and television The famous "PIVOT!" scene from "Friends"  Giphy  

"HARRY POTTER LIVING IN THE ROOM BELOW THE STEPS AND NEVER HAVING A SAY IN THE HOUSE 😩 OMG WAIT"

Experts sharing their niche knowledge, especially when it comes to things we all enjoy, is one of the greatest things to come from social media. Clearly this is the kind of content people want. Thankfully, we have people like this screenwriter husband to give it to us.

You can follow @leniethamer on TikTok for more of her husband's movie analysis moments.

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Siggi's is paying $5,000 to encourage Americans to use their paid time off

Americans left a staggering 700 million PTO days unused last year.

Photo credit: Canva

America has a vacation problem.

Paid time off is a sore subject for American workers. Yes, you know about the paid time off sitting in your account. You worked for it. But as the year slips by, each month, it remains unused. Suddenly, it’s nearly the end of summer, with no vacations, no road trips, or even overnight plans to see your favorite cousin on the horizon.

Why? You’ve earned those days fair and square. They’re yours. But with that earned time also comes a nagging guilt, which can take the form of voices saying “I’m too busy,” or “the rest of the team will resent me” when you need to rest the most.


  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

Which brings us to an unexpected champion: siggi’s, the Icelandic yogurt company that’s calling out America’s toxic work culture. In a campaign that’s as refreshing as their skyr (a thick, creamy, high-protein yogurt that hails from founder Siggi Hilmarsson’s home country, Iceland), siggi’s is offering $5,000 plus a $1,000 flight voucher to ten Americans who commit to taking all their paid time off this year. It’s called the “PT-YO Challenge,” and it’s rooted in something that might surprise you—Iceland’s approach to work-life balance and their consistently high rankings in global happiness indexes.

Iceland PTO policies: A model for well-being

While Americans struggle to use their limited vacation days, Iceland has built an entire culture around the importance of rest. Icelandic workers are legally entitled to 24 days of paid vacation per year, regardless of whether they’re part-time or full-time employees. On top of this, Iceland observes 13 public holidays each year (including Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after Christmas, which they refer to as “Second Day of Christmas”), bringing Iceland’s total guaranteed time off to at least 37 days.

Sounds nice, right? That’s because it is.


 siggi's, vacation, challenge, skyr, time off siggi's is challenging Americans to use their PTO. All of it. Photo credit: siggi's

Research consistently shows that generous PTO policies like Iceland’s promote employee well-being, reduce burnout, and boost productivity. Countries with robust vacation cultures, like Denmark (which grants workers 25 days of PTO), the United Kingdom (28 days), and France (25 days) report higher job satisfaction, better mental health, and improved organizational loyalty.

So, in Iceland, taking your vacation isn’t seen as slacking off—it’s seen as essential maintenance for both your mental health and your ability to contribute meaningfully when you return.

It’s a virtuous cycle that benefits everyone: rested people are more effective at work. Simple as that.

“As an entrepreneur, I know how hard it is to step away,” said Siggi Hilmarsson, the company’s founder, in a press release. “But stepping away is where the real breakthroughs happen.”

And it’s more than talk. Beyond the PT-YO challenge, siggi’s and its parent company Lactalis Group support and offer a competitive suite of benefits for employees. Upon hire, siggi’s workers are granted automatic PTO days, and can build towards life insurance and a generous 401K plan.

The mantra here? “Life is stressful—but you’ll be surprised by how much simpler it gets when you slow down.”


via GIPHY


America’s PTO problem: Why aren’t we taking time off?

Now, for the not-so-fun part. The contrast with American work culture is stark. Unlike Iceland and most European nations, the United States lacks any federal law mandating paid vacation, personal time, or paid time off for private-sector workers. The average American private-sector worker receives about 12 days of PTO per year, less than half of what Icelandic workers get as a legal minimum. But remember, this only goes for those with full benefits, and many workers (especially low-wage, part-time, or gig employees) get far less or even none.

But here’s the kicker: even those measly 12 days often go unused. A 2024 study found that nearly two-thirds (62%) of Americans do not use all of their PTO, with 5.5% of American workers not using any of their PTO at all. The same study revealed that on average, employees only use 67% of their PTO allocation, leaving 33% behind! How many days is that, collectively? Well, siggi’s did the math.

Americans left 700 million PTO days unused in 2024. That translates to $312 billion in untouched vacation days, just sitting there, relaxing, like you were supposed to be in Saint-Tropez last year. That’s not a typo, by the way. Billion. With a B.


 billboard, time square, new york, siggi's, challenge A billboard in Times Square advertising siggi's PT-YO challenge. Photo credit: siggi's

Dig a little deeper, and the reasons Americans give for not taking time off reveal a fractured work culture that’s filled with complex, overlapping issues and is fundamentally broken.

Marta Turba, WorldatWork’s vice president of content strategy, explains that the top three reasons why American workers struggle to take time are:

  • They lack adequate support and encouragement in this area from their employers.
  • They exhibit a compelling need for job and career security, which often leads to an “always on” mindset.
  • Their organization’s PTO plan designs do not incentivize taking time off.

“While a PTO policy may offer generous benefits, the subtleties of company culture—daily workflows and unspoken expectations—often signal whether taking leave is truly acceptable and how it might impact one’s career,” she continued, to Workspan Daily.

This lack of rest on a nationwide scale has disastrous effects on the working public: research shows that employees who don’t take mental health days are more likely to experience stress and anxiety, as well as health problems, like heart disease, obesity, and depression.


 woman, stressed, work, burnout, corporate Not taking breaks or vacations actually makes you less productive and more stressed. Photo credit: Canva

According to Tim Osiecki, a director at Harris Research, Americans have found themselves in a dysfunctional paradox—as employees continue to work without breaks (and employers enable this behavior), this can lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and increased mistakes. It pays to prioritize your employees’ right to rest, because for companies, the opposite can be disastrous: higher absenteeism rates and reduced job satisfaction/morale, which can lead to a decline in overall performance and loyalty.


siggi’s: A company that puts their money where their mouth is

The PT-YO Challenge isn’t just a marketing stunt—it’s a direct challenge to American work culture.

By offering $5,000 to help cover the costs of taking time off, siggi’s is addressing one of the real barriers Americans face: the expense of taking vacations that keeps so many workers chained to their desks, even when they have the days available.

Ready to join the challenge? Head to siggi’s website to submit your PT-YO request, or start by planning that vacation you’ve been putting off. Your future self will thank you.

NOTE: The deadline to submit to siggi’s PT-YO Challenge is Tuesday, August 5th.


 woman, smiling, vacation, time off, happy This could be you! Enter siggi's challenge today! Photo credit: Canva

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In 1973, the Bee Gees sang an unplugged medley tribute to the Beatles. It's gorgeous.

The '70s legends were inspired by the greatest band of the '60s.

via Midnight Special/YouTube

The Bee gees playing a medley of Beatles hits in 1973.

By 1973, the Bee Gees’ career had hit a low. After a series of hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including "To Love Somebody," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," and "I Started a Joke," the band was in a rut. Their latest album, Life in a Tin Can, and single “Saw a New Morning" sold poorly, and the band’s popularity declined.

On April 6, 1973, the Gibb brothers (Barry, Robin, and Maurice) appeared on The Midnight Special, a late-night TV show that aired on Saturday mornings at 1 a.m. after The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Given the lukewarm reception to their recent releases, the Bee Gees decided to change things up and play a medley of hits from their idols, The Beatles, who had broken up three years before.

 the beatles, bee gees, 1960s The Beatles were the biggest band on Earth in their heyday.  Giphy  

The performance, which featured five of the Fab Four’s early hits, including “If I Fell,” “I Need You,” “I'll Be Back,” “This Boy,” and “She Loves You,” was a stripped-down, acoustic performance that highlighted the Bee Gees' trademark harmonies.

“When you got brothers singing, it’s like an instrument that no one else can buy. You can’t go buy that sound in a shop. You can’t sing like The Bee Gees because when you got family members singing together, it’s unique,” Noel Gallagher, who sang with his brother Liam in Oasis, said according to Far Out.

  - YouTube  youtu.be  

 

A year later, the Bee Gees performed in small clubs, and it looked like their career had hit a dead end. Then, at the urging of their management, the band began to move in a new direction, incorporating soul, rhythm and blues, and a new, underground musical style called disco into their repertoire. Barry also adopted a falsetto singing style popularized by Black singers such as Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye.

This unlikely change for the folksy vocal group catapulted them into the stratosphere and they became the white-satin-clad kings of disco.

  john travolta disco GIF by uDiscoverMusic  Giphy  

In the late ‘70s, the band had massive hits, including songs featured on the 40-million-selling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack: “Stayin’ Alive,” How Deep is Your Love,” More Than a Woman,” Jive Talkin’,” and “Night Fever.”

In 1978, the band made a significant misstep, starring in a musical based on The Beatles' music called Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, produced by Robert Stigwood, the man behind Saturday Night Fever and Grease. The film was a colossal bomb, although the soundtrack sold well.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

The Beatles' George Harrison thought the Bee Gees film was about what happens when you become successful and greedy.

"I just feel sorry for Robert Stigwood, the Bee Gees, and Pete Frampton for doing it because they had established themselves in their own right as decent artists,” Harrison said. "And suddenly… it's like the classic thing of greed. The more you make the more you want to make, until you become so greedy that ultimately you put a foot wrong."

Even though the Bee Gees’ Beatle-themed musical was a flop, former Beatle John Lennon remained a fan of the group. He sang their praises after the public’s growing distaste of disco resulted in a significant backlash.

 john lennon, the beatles John Lennon was a fan of the Bee Gees.  Giphy  

"Try to tell the kids in the seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just the Beatles redone,” he told Playboy magazine in 1980. “There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. They do a damn good job. There was nothing else going on then."

The Bee Gees historic career ended when Maurice passed away in 2003 at 53. Robin would follow in 2009 at 62. Barry is the final surviving member of the band.

This article originally appeared last year.

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Parents share 17 totally unexpected benefits of having children that no one told them about

"Being able to get out of any plans. Literally anything."

via Mickey_Liaw/Flickr, via Canva/Photos, Scott Wolff/Flickr

A child at HOng King Disneyland, a father and son playing video games, and a little girl with Santa Claus.

When you don’t have kids, parents who want to convince you to reproduce often try to sell you on having kids because they provide unconditional love. They also say that being a parent allows you to become more selfless, gives you a sense of real purpose, and allows you to slow down and live in the moment.

However, if those wonderful, life-affirming things don’t sell you on becoming a parent, there are a lot of small, seldom discussed benefits that you never hear from parents, but taken together as a bundle, they can make your life pretty joyous.

A Reddit user asked the Parenting subforum about some of the “unexpected benefits” of having children, and over 2,300 people responded with the small things that they love about having kids. A lot of them have to do with the fun that comes with reliving your childhood. They also enjoy the fact that being a parent gives you an unlimited number of excuses to get out of social obligations.

 mom and daughter, little girl, mom, piggy back, hug, joy A little girl hugging her mom.via Canva/Photos

Here are 17 of the best “unexpected benefits” of being a parent.

1. Getting out of plans

"Being able to get out of any plans. Literally anything."

“'Ooh, sorry, my daughter naps at that time.' Narrator: her daughter hadn’t taken a nap in 3 years."

"They are also a great excuse to leave early. My little girl (bless her heart) starts saying “I want to go home” without fail about 1 hr into visits with my in-laws. She is the perfect child."

2. You can be a kid again

"One benefit I noticed is being able to act like a kid again without people judging. You can dance & be silly with your kids in public & people just think you're an amazing parent for being so fun. But what people don't know is the person can naturally be that silly & fun-loving without being with the kids."

"Went to a wedding recently, and I danced with my 7yo for like 2 hours. We had a blast!"

3. Affection on demand

"Hugs and kisses almost any time you need one."

"My almost 5-year-old loves the love attacks. He'll be doing something only to get peppered with kisses all over his head. 'Silly mommy. I love you,' is what I get."


 son, daughter, hugs, happy mom, mom and daughter, mom and son A son and daughter huigging their mom. via Canva/Photos

4. You're 'tired'

"You’re allowed to be a little antisocial without it being rude because everyone assumes you’re tired."

5. Baby wipes

"Always having a baby wipe in my bag when I spill my own food or drink."

"I'm still carrying wipes even my child is 10. If she is not with me. I still have wipes with me."

6. Social opportunities

"For me, as a fairly social person, just her giving me opportunities to interact with other people when I'm out and about more than I otherwise would. My daughter is only 1, so she only has a few words that she says, but she says 'hi' very clearly, with a wave, and will say hi and wave to literally anyone and everyone, and virtually everyone responds very positively. And there's always just kind of an instant rapport with other parents that you meet in your day-to-day, where it's like, I have no idea if we have anything else in common, but this one important thing is something we share. So even when the kids aren't there, say in my running group, for example, all the moms kind of have this unspoken bond that we wouldn't otherwise have."

7. They improve your organizing skills

"If you're not the most organized person, having to provide structure to another person's life will more or less force you into place, or at least that is my experience. I know where I need to be before 9 AM and before 5 PM, and everything I must do alone on a weekday best be done during those times, and to Tetris my schedule goes lol."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. Never thought such a good thing would be a consequence of one of the wildest times of your life, parenthood. It's crazy."


8. Cup holders

"Always having cupholders everywhere you go if you're using a stroller."

"Whenever we go back to Disneyland, I miss having a stroller so much. Disneyland with a stroller was such a great way to enjoy the park...places for our drinks, bag clips so I didn't have to lug a bag on my shoulders, the kids could cruise around and just nod off if they got tired without having to complain that their feet/legs were tired from all the walking. So many great benefits."

9. Video games

"I have a (moderately controlling) go-to video game buddy!"

"I got to introduce them to my favorite games and play along with them. There’s a lot of really good kid games we’ve played that I wouldn’t have gotten to play otherwise."

10. Free fruit

"Free fruit in the grocery store. In my country, they leave out bins of free fruit for children. No limit on how much you can take. I always grab a small bag's worth of apples, pears, or oranges for my son. Saves money and he gets fresh fruit."


 boy and girl, supermarket, fruit, cherries, limes, grapes Children grabbing fruit at the market.via Canva/Photos

11. Airport line

"Faster line at a lot of airports, especially if you travel internationally/outside US."

"Just experienced this flying into Nice, France. Dreadfully hot day, long line and then! Children’s line. So lovely."

12. Ending negative cycles

"Drawing the line with toxic people got so much easier."

"I’ve been chasing my dad for 30+ years, trying to get his attention. Had my baby, and he showed up for the first 3ish months, then squeaky tank noises. Hell, if that didn’t infuriate me. I couldn’t do it for myself, but I’ll be fcking had if I let my baby grow up wondering why “papaw” doesn’t come around for him. I’m so sorry bub, your grandpa (my FIL, not my dad) passed away. I wish you could’ve known him, he would have loved you so much."

13. A sense of purpose

"Having a deep feeling of purpose in life. I don’t know if other people expect to get this feeling, but I didn’t. It makes me have a much easier time finding meaning in doing chores and going to work and trying to keep myself healthy."

"I second this. I have lived a pretty wild life tramping around the world. Nothing, and I mean nothing, in the thousands of experiences I have had compare to the meaning I get from being a dad."

14. Joy of Christmas

"Christmas being Christmas again. The joy and traditions all come back full force."


15. Free labor

"I was not expecting how strong my son would become after entering puberty. Last summer, he helped carry so many of our moving boxes. The whole process was a lot less stressful just on the sheer labor he contributed."

16. Brain development

"I felt like I had a lot of new brain pathways after our kids were born. And I find there's a lot I can learn from them."

"So true!"

17. The joy they bring others

"Though my kid drives me CRAZY. Seeing the joy he brings to other people. His smile just lights up everyone's face. Its such a gift that I forget when he's on his 10th meltdown for the day."

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Americans share things they didn’t know were ‘very American’ until they left the U.S.

Some of these are predictable, but some are quite surprising.

Photo credit: Canva

There are things we might not realize are uniquely American until we leave the country.

No matter what country you were born in, what you view as "normal" or "odd" is greatly impacted by your nation's culture. So many things we might not think about are uniquely American, but we may not realize it until we step beyond our borders and immerse ourselves in other countries' norms.

For instance, I’ve never felt more American than I did sitting in a European restaurant impatiently waiting for the check for our meal. In U.S. restaurants, when you’re almost finished eating, the server will usually ask if you want anything else and then give you the check. In most European countries, they won’t bring the check until you explicitly ask for it. Meals are seen as inherently leisurely affairs, no rushing, no pressure to wrap up and leave. While that sounds nice, we were in eat-and-go mode and time was a-wasting—again, so very American.

from AskReddit

Someone on Reddit asked what things people didn’t realize were “very American” until they left the U.S., and the responses are eye-opening. in addition to the eating fast meals thing, here were some of the top answers:

The weirdness of working while sick

It should be a given that you should stay home from work when you're sick. In the U.S., it's not.

“I moved to the Netherlands 8 years ago. Probably the biggest one to me was working while sick. For 20 years I came to work every day unless I physically could not. Like, I had to be so sick I legitimately could not make myself get out of bed. And even then I felt bad.

I wasn’t here for maybe 3 months when I got a cold and my boss came around to my desk and sent me home. I was still in my probation period. I was super worried that if I took a sick day I’d be fired and sent back on a plane to the US, my family mad as shit at me. I told him I’d go home but I’d have my laptop on me.

No, you will go home and rest.

Ok, I’ll be back tomorrow.

NO. You will stay home until you are well. I will not discuss this further.

When I came back well, several days later, my boss sent an American colleague around to talk to me. This guy had been there 10 years. He told me that they don’t want you getting anyone else sick, and 'there’s unlimited sick time for a reason.' So now I’m the one telling new arrivals to use their sick time.”

 calling in sick, sick days, working while sick, illness, flu season Americans are often expected to tough it out and work when they're sick.  Giphy  

“This was me in London. I was just a bartender and I got the flu and was out for like a week. I called in every day apologizing profusely expecting them to replace me and tell me I took too long etc. they got annoyed eventually and told me if I don't stay home until I'm better, even if it's another 2 whole ass weeks, and if I called in again to say I wouldn't be in, that they WOULD fire me being an annoyance. I stayed out for another maybe 4 days and called in to get on the schedule and everything was fine. They thanked me for staying home.”

“Meanwhile in America: School district says doctor’s notes will no longer excuse child absences.”

“At one point they threatened to criminally cite me with truancy for keeping my chronically sick child home on doctors orders. Let that sink in. I had a life-threateningly sick child. Caring for him. Following doctors orders. And was threatened with criminal charges for truancy.”

The delicious bliss that is ranch dressing

If you're looking for the quintessential all-American food, ranch dressing might be it. (And peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well.)

 ranch dressing, hidden valley ranch, ranch dipping sauce, American  Few foods are more American than ranch dressing Giphy  

“Ranch dressing. Ranch flavored Doritos are still sold, but they’re labelled ‘American flavor.’”

“Side note... Hidden Valley Ranch is THE ranch that invented the dressing. It's just neat we call it ranch dressing because the people that crafted the recipe owned a ranch, called Hidden Valley, and now the dressing is ‘Ranch’ dressing.”

"I have a coworker from a ranchless country. Every couple years, we work a gig together, and I’ll bring some ranch from the US because they love it lol."

"My fiancee told me the other day that other countries don't have ranch. Call me basic, but it's my favorite dressing for salads, carrots, cucumbers, etc"

"This is what I was going to say. I'm from Wisconsin and we love our ranch dressing. I live in the Horn of Africa now and it's impossible to come by. Luckily, there's a French grocery store here that sells a small bottle of some brand I've never heard of so I stock up.

My (Djiboutian) girlfriend saw that I stocked the fridge and she asked if I 'was making a sandwich' while holding the bottle and I just said 'Oh, dear. That goes on everything.'"

 billboard, advertisement, highway, ads, driving Billboards can be found on highways in many U.S. states.Photo credit: Canva

Those big, gaudy billboards along the highway

This is not only in the U.S., and some states have banned them, but we do seem to have a thing for big advertisements.

“Truly one of the most underrated, disappointing things about the US. I wish they were banned in more states.”

“What is really fun is going down 75S and seeing all the adult superstore ads right next to all the religious hellfire ads.”

“My absolute favorite are the digital signs above the highways that tell you not to text and drive, while giving you a number to text for more info.”

The fact that we drive almost everywhere

Sure, we have public transportation. But that doesn't mean it's convenient or even an option for many Americans.

“Here in the US, outside of big cities, it's pretty much required to drive a car. When I lived abroad for a few years I was able to survive completely off public transport, the occasional taxi, and walking on my own two feet.”

 cars, driving, america, freeways, highways The U.S. highway system is well developed because we have to drive most places.Photo credit: Canva

“Yeah, my partner is from Massachusetts and I (British) saw there was a grocery store less than a mile away and figured I could walk there, as I usually would at home.

I could not walk there.”

“I took a business trip to Richardson, Texas, an inner-ring suburb of Dallas, about 10 years ago (I worked in Chicago)

I remember staying at a hotel and having to go to our Texas office out there.

From the hotel, I could SEE the office. As the crow flies, 5 minute walk, TOPS!

It took me 30+ minutes to get there WITH A CAR!!!”

“I'm British and I lived in Wisconsin for a while. People became immediately suspicious of me when I told them I don't drive and never have. I actually had to come up with reasons to explain (which I do have) in order for them to be somewhat pacified. But I definitely felt held in a different regard subsequently; for in the UK driving is a choice, in America however, I was under the impression that they thought something was wrong with me.”

 soda, pop, large soda, portion sizes, American soda, diet coke The size of our sodas is legendary  Giphy GIF by Jukebox Saints 

The super size of our sodas

Yes, we know. This might be the most predictable response, but it's also a fact.

“I am in North America on vacation at the moment and I definitely made a mistake ordering a large drink at McDonald's. Turns out 'large' on this side of the Atlantic is about twice as big as the 'large' back home. Even the US medium-sized drink is bigger than the largest available in Europe.”

"Never order a large drink in the US unless you want a half gallon drink."

"Try ordering a large drink at a movie theater over here. They basically just hand you a portable bathtub filled with enough sugar to give an elephant diabetes."

"Yeah don’t get soda over here they’ll try to drown you in it. Enough soda for a full week served in a bucket."

"Yes, but do you fill your cups up with ice where you are from? I think U.S. soft drinks are larger to account for all the ice."

(The fact that we put ice in all our drinks is also oh-so-American.)

 printer, printer paper, A4 paper, letter paper, 8.5 x 11, printing Americans use letter sized paper while most of the world uses A4. Photo credit: Canva

The size of our printer paper, apparently?

We know that letter paper is 8.5 in x 11 in, but that's not the size of paper most of the world prints on. Most use A4, which is 8.27 in x 11.69 in. Much like our commitment to empirical measurements over the metric system, this causes issues when we interact with the rest of the world.

"Letter-size paper vs A4 paper."

"I work part time at Staples, in the print and marketing department. Can't tell you how many times I've had folks from other countries ask why their documents were cut off when they made copies. They're always baffled that we don't use the same paper sizes, which I get. It's especially irritating because A4 is SO CLOSE to 8.5x11."

'Worked for an internal law firm in Canada back when everyone printed and signed documents in person. Had a lot of fun with the mix of letter, legal and A4 paper that we'd get on some deals. Especially irritating when sharing a printer and someone prints on your special order A4 paper before you do."

 printer, printer paper, A4 paper, letter paper, 8.5 x 11, printing Printing on slightly different paper sizes makes for mishaps.  Giphy  

"This was fairly frustrating when I was applying for my Taiwanese dual citizenship. I would get documents formatted for different countries, and if I don't check the settings and scale it appropriately before I hit the print button, I'd get an error message, and I had to print out at least 50 pages of stuff.

Also, for instance, my birth certificate, federal background check, and some other papers printed in the US are in Letter size, but once they got authenticated by the Taiwanese government, the authentication certificate they'd staple to it is A4, and the folder it's contained in looked a little lopsided and sloppy, and it's mildly frustrating and hilarious to try to arrange it neatly."

"I had a job where the Belgium office made an app that was hard coded to use A4 paper. If you printed on US Letter paper it would print a little on the 2nd page. Such a weird programming choice."

The competitiveness of our high school and college sports

Or the fact that we even have competitive high school and college sports teams, apparently.

 football, college football, sports, high school sports, college sports The American hype around college football is nearly equivalent to the pros.  Giphy  

"I think this is a big one. Most Americans expect/understand American football and baseball aren't played in European high schools, but a lot of them probably assume high schools still have large soccer stadiums and programs. And that colleges would also have soccer programs. But athletics is mostly an independent entity from academic institutions."

"There was a split in the 1800's where america went with extracurricular sports and europe went with club sports and rec leagues."

"Absolutely insane to me how many people are fervently, truly fanatically obsessed with their college sports teams. Whenever I say the NCAA should be its own minor-league organization and completely separate from schools people act like I told them to bury their own family alive."

"As an Australian, Americans' obsession with literal teenagers playing amateur sports for their school always struck me as deeply weird."

The awesomeness of our 'sink blenders'

The best part of this one is what everyone calls them.

 garbage disposal, insinkerator, kitchen sink, American kitchens, food grinder Grinding up food scraps in the sink is an all-American habit.Photo credit: Canva

"Garbage disposers."

"Disposals."

"Garburators."

"Disposaraters."

"Dispogarbagiozers."

"Insinkerators. Actual brand name."

"I love the first time I saw a European talking about one on reddit and they called it a 'sink blender.'"

"I was going to say this. When my now-wife visited me in the US, she was both enthralled and terrified of mine. Now that I'm in Canada, I find out that it is illegal to have one in some parts!"

 american flags, americans, friendly americans, talking to strangers, chitchat Americans are known for their willingness to chit chat. Photo credit: Canva

The way we shoot the breeze with strangers—and loudly

We're allegedly a friendly bunch, and we let everyone within earshot know it.

"Chit chat, Americans can start conversations with random strangers & feel completely normal to share their stories."

"I was working retail in Stockholm for a while and one of my coworkers told me she was surprised by how many customers wanted to chitchat with me, because 'we don’t do that, generally.'"

"I'll never forget the feeling of wanting to melt into the earth because I asked for a light for a cigarette on a street in London. The number one reason I enjoyed smoking was all the new friends you can make just by both being smokers. I honestly have no idea why Brits smoke if they don't want to make new friends."

"The loudness. My fellow Americans talk SO LOUD ALL THE TIME."

"I was in Amsterdam last week and all I could hear were Americans talking so loudly. There were so many of them as well… Or maybe it was the same group talking so loud I could hear them from different parts in the city."

"It's crazy, I was in Utrecht the other day. There's probably 150 people drinking outside enjoying the sun and chatting and you can still easily spot the American from a distance so loud."

"Yeah that's the first thing that hit me arriving into JFK from the UK, I knew about the stereotype but honestly wasn't prepared! I feel like at some point in history you had a deaf leader and everyone just went along with it similar to the King of Spain's lisp."

For better and for worse, being an American comes with some distinct qualities we might not see until we venture elsewhere. What would you add to the list?

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