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[AskEurope] Fellow Europeans, what is the aspect of USA lifestyle that surprises you the most? (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/europe@feddit.de
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First of all, let's try to avoid American-bashing, and stay respectful to everyone.

I'll start: for me it's the tipping culture. Especially nowadays, with the recent post on !mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world with the 40% tip, it just seems so weird to me to have to pay extra just so that menu prices can stay low.

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[โ€“] 31 points 3 years ago (5 children)

I'm currently reading Twilight and judging by the tone it's normal for 16-17 year olds to go to school by car (or even truck!) that they drive by themselves? I might be ignorant on the subject so correct me if I'm wrong but car culture in general. We just...took the bus or the lucky ones with a free parent got a lift. I've even walked to school for the fun of it, granted it was 40 minutes by foot.

I'm nearing my 30s. I don't own a car and I don't have a license. I do wish I had one sometimes but once I hop on the bus to the remote place I want to visit, I quickly lose interest once I see the (usually mountainous) road ahead. Driving just scares me.

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  • [โ€“] 5 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    Being an American, I see a winding mountain road and think about how much fun it would be. Then again, my parents bought me a $1500 shitbox when I turned 16 in exchange for me giving my sister a ride to all our after-school activities.

    And I have this weird phobia about taking public transit where they'll leave without me and I'll be stranded with no way to get home. Planes, trains, busses, heck even monorails I have to be way, way early because I'm terrified of missing them. And if I have to make a connecting stop I'm even more anxious because they'll also just leave without me.

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  • [โ€“] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    you just need transit that's frequent enough that you stop caring! metros in cities are great example, no one checks the schedule, it is basically always available within a few minutes.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 2 years ago

    That would fix ground transportation but it's kinda hard to have a plane show up every few minutes. That's the most anxiety-producing mode of transportation for me, and it has nothing to do with accidents and everything to do with nobody but me caring if I make it to where I want to go, and me being completely powerless.

    I would much rather drive cross country than fly, and would prefer a week on a ship to eight hours on a plane.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 3 years ago

    The average drive here to work is ~30minutes with zero public transportation in most places. I go through 4ish towns myself. Add in terrible weather ~4 months out of the year in rural areas, that's why most people have SUVs.

    Of course the dumbshit street-legal mobile tanks that the neonazis spend $1000/month in petrol on are RIDICULOUS, overkill, and definitely compensating for something, but most people not in cities need safe cold-weather vehicles.

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