The USA is completely gargantuan. It is several times larger than most European countries and can fit most of Europe in it! It’s pretty common to drive 4 hours for a weekend trip in a state like Texas. Some towns are hours away from any major metropolitan centres! Honestly, you just get used to it.

Just in case high school didn’t feel enough like a prison, there are indeed cops roaming the halls of a lot of schools. Certainly not all of them, but a lot of big schools in cities have cops keeping an eye out. While it seems unnecessary, it really is for the safety of the students. Gun violence is a real concern!

Some American stereotypes are well deservd and based entirely in fact. This famous baseball song is one of them. I’m not sure so many people actually sing it anymore, but it is a staple that is at least played at every major game. It’s specifically played at the seventh inning stretch, as a marker for if you’re staying or leaving.

It turns out free libraries are not common the world over. This is epecially true in India, where SFLoridan had lived before coming to America! Enjoy your free books, SFLoridan! You will have no shortage of reading material any time soon!

This statement is 100% true. Every Texan is taught a special song at birth, and their blood is weaved with a ancient magicks that forces them to clap and sing the rest of the line any time they hear it. Even a super secret Texan special agent spying on Oklahoma would have to reveal himself should he hear this sentence. The stars at night are big and bright (clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas!

Especially in times like these, people who can’t afford health insurance are really on the short end of the stick. This is a commonly forgotten detail about the US. Peopl who enjoy socialised medicine often have no idea how nightmarish the US medical care system can be for people in poverty.

This may seem like just a random statement to some. “Of course people shop at Walmart, it’s a massive business?” But for those who have seen the compliation videos and albums of people who shop at Walmart, you will understand. Walmart has a way of attractive some… interesting characters to say the least.

Different strokes for different… countries. You’re getting taxed either way. I get that it’s a little weird to not know exactly how much something will cost, but it only takes a little math to figure out the cumulative tax before you pay! If math isn’t your thing, cash registers calculate it all for you!

Not only are biscuits and gravy a thing, they’re an amazing combo. Don’t knock it ’til you try it, bitsaboy. And just because you can ride a motorcycle without a helmet doesn’t mean you should. In fact, we here at Shareably really recommend that you do not. Helmets protect your most precious organ!

I have no idea how this could turn into a conspiracy but yes, red solo cups are real and we use them in North America all the time. If you drink, you tend to drop/knock over/smash your drink a lot. Solo cups ensure there won’t be glass shards everywhere and that everyone who needs a cup will have a cup!

This is one of the more believable things to come out of America. Dolly Parton is well loved in Tennesee and she does a lot of charity work! She certainly deserves a theme park more than most! Need I even get into her many contributions to music? She’s an angel, and I won’t hear otherwise.

The sheer number of drug ads on tv can definitely feel a bit like “take your happy pills.” But Americans don’t love them either! No one likes hearing that their meds have a side effect of moodiness or increased weight.

I can’t believe this isn’t a thing everywhere! Soft drinks are ridiculously cheap for restaurants. America wins again, world. Dentists rejoice, for you will truly never run out of business in America!

While it is a very scary thought, yes you can buy at gun at Walmart. But not every Walmart sells guns, and background checks still must be performed, of course. Walmart in the States really is a “you can buy anything here” kind of store.

Another Reddit user, ft_chaos, put it best when they said “Olive Garden is probably the closest you could get to ‘beige’ if restaurants were colors.” Olive Garden isn’t bad, it’s just really not that good either. Imagine someone’s surprise when they find out the USA has a restaurant famous for it’s mediocrity.

This one is pretty heartbreaking. Yes, people get hurt and cannot afford an ambulance or a hospital so they opt not to get help. This often leads to further complications and injuries down the line. It really doesn’t make sense for this to be a problem in a first world country.

I didn’t even know these were real until right now. It turns out two-dollar bills exist, and getting one is as easy as going to the bank and asking for them. Why you would ever need them specifically, I don’t know. Maybe you could trick a mugger into thinking you don’t have any real money on you. It would get a laugh at least!

One of the greatest inventions of America. Cheese. IN A CAN. I can see how this would be misunderstood as some kind of joke, and it’s definitely not healthy, but rest assured it is disgustingly deliciously disgusting. Yes, I just said that.

Multiple choice exams seem really normal to me, but I actually see why this seems so weird. If someone knows the answer, they should just be able to write it in themselves, right? Still, a little helping hand is always appreciated. Not to mention it makes marking the exams way faster and easier, which is good for everyone!

I can understand why people would be shocked by this one. But it’s not like you can “just” be good at sports, you often have to meet a certain academic requirement as well. Universities like winning sports trophies, but they don’t like students failing!

Yes, this is real. Surfer dudes, those who hail from beaches with waves of gnarly height and sick parties, really do speak like that. Who knows where that came from? It could be something like the stoner drone that so many pot enthusiasts seem to pick up. Or the valley girl accent of people with too much money. These things develop subtly overtime!

Spam isn’t that bad, and if you find yourself in Hawaii you should try it, honestly. It’s the perfect example of “make do with what you have.” Hawaii couldn’t get meat besides spam (which was preserved and could make the journey) back in World War II. As a result, Hawaii has delicious meals that involve spam now because they made it work!

This is true! The seriousness is kind of all over the place. Highschool football is huge in some states across the US but no one is ever that concerned about chess club. Spelling bees can be pretty big sometimes, and the mathletes actually have a huge competition which can lead to some really serious scholarships. But the variety is there if you look for it!

While Lonsdale1086 has a point, and laws are difficult to keep track of, that also comes from virtue of being a conglomerate of states rather than one, single, unified state. States essentially function as separate countries, and with good reason. The US is huge, and the cultures change dramatically across it. Having laws personalised to a region alleviates the load on the higher levels of government, and keeps irrelevant laws out of states where they wouldn’t make sense. Truth about the fence, tho.

Wow, what a wholesome story! And what a great way to be introduced to the best pie on the planet! If you can find homemade pie from a friend’s grandma, it is pretty much guaranteed to be the best pie you’ve ever eaten. Who knows how, when or why pie was perfected in the states, nut I’m very happy it did. I’m a pumpkin guy, myself.

Plenty of first world countries have student loans, but when they’re combined with the US’s high tuition costs, you better believe it racks up fast and most students spend their whole lives paying it back! Even at $40,000 a year, you’d finish off your degree with $160,000 of tuition costs, and if you’ve taken loans, they accrue interest after you graduate. It builds up pretty quick!

Generally speaking, this doesn’t happen that often. Alligators finding their way into a Floridian’s backyard absolutely happens, but you have to approach it and try to get rid of it yourself to get attacked, again, generally speaking. They’re not exactly easy to miss, so if you see an alligator, please call a professional! Not your neighbour, Ted, just because his hat is made of alligator.

Six weeks of maternity leave is definitely not enough, even worse that it’s unpaid. Other first world countries manage eight or even sixteen weeks of paid maternity leave. That’s treating new parents with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Not only is this sadly true, but not just any cafeteria pulled this. The cafeteria in The Pentagon pulled this childish garbage. Don’t believe me? Google it. Passive aggressive is a word for it, but this is like three levels deeper than that. At least the world got a good laugh out of this one…

Americans love their flag because it represents the country they are so proud to be a part of. Can it go too far? Definitely. Does it often? Definitely. Is the confederate flag the antithesis to the star spangled banner and still being flown every day? Somehow, yeah.

Yes, I’m afraid this is real. It’s really not cool, especially when the coal roller showers others in their fumes. The only people you’ll see endorsing it are the ones who don’t believe in climate change and think “ha ha big trucc go brr.”

Americans get a bad wrap I think, and this Redditor admitted it. If they’re making Canadians, the most stereotypically polite people on the planet, look impolite in comparison, then you know Americans are really THAT friendly. It just takes actually being there!

Who can deny the American sweet tooth? Take a sip of iced tea from London, and another from sweet tea from Texas. Your mind will be blown. But jeez Louise does it ever make for some good eating.

Whoever invented pixie sticks is a straight genius. You’ve given a colour-dyed version of the most addictive substance on the planet to kids for ultra cheap. I think you can count on repeat business. Evil, evil repeat business.

What a pleasant surprise that would be! Apparently YaBoi_Louie grew up on a ranch in Guatemala before coming to America so he never had a dishwasher growing up. In most developed countries they wouldn’t be unheard of. Fun fact, using a dishwasher actually uses less water than washing by hand, so don’t feel bad about running that bad boy!

Everything is bigger in Texas! And Texans know how to hold their liquor. Hard to compare New Zealand drink sizes with a state who prides themselves on their smalls being everyone else’s larges!

This is a new fact for me. California’s GDP eclipses the entirety of the United Kingdom’s GDP? How much money y’all got down there!? California has a lot of people, which makes sense, but that means that everyone there has even more money! Or that a lucky few have even more money than that…

Is this an everyone thing? I don’t know about that. You gotta let them dogs breathe, man. It does keep your socks and feet from getting dirty though, which is nice. Does it keep the house nicer overall? Further testing is needed.

This is rampant. I’ve had my flight of people clap after a 2 hour flight and really just an OK landing. Clapping? Why? If it was particularly smooth or a long haul I’d understand. Movies especially make no sense since the director and crew are 99% likely to not be there. Please do not do this.

In case you weren’t sure why people avoided taking ambulances like the plague, this comment sums it up pretty well. A 2 mile ride cost nearly a grand. And that’s with insurance! It was even involuntary. It’s a quick way to ruin someone’s life.

Getting fired is every low level employee’s biggest fear. We’ve all heard horror stories of someone getting fired for seemingly no reason. I’ve heard of people getting fired for doing too good of a job. Capitalist America is The Twilight Zone sometimes.

Yeah, this is a big one. There are people who are very proud of their countries, and there are people who associate with their religious beliefs heavily. But then there are Americans. For a secular country, the US certainly is VERY Christian.

There you have it folks, straight from an American’s mouth. Americans woohoo a lot. That isn’t a bad thing, but it IS an odd cultural practice! I guess Americans are just way more excited about stuff than your average earthling. I honestly think woohooing needs to be MORE prevalent in the world, so let’s see it! Woohoo! Right now!

Tipping culture is a good idea I think! But it’s become kind of rampant and poorly executed. People should never have to rely on tips to survive! They should really only ever be an incentive to be the best you can be for customer service.

Who knows what’s going on in Quebec for “bless you” to not be a common saying. Even weirder that it’s some secret rumour that Americans say it, as if NO ONE ELSE says it too? Quebec, you guys are the weird ones here. Do you just say nothing when someone sneezes? It feels weirder NOT to acknolwedge it.

It’s bad enough being in a public washroom, but it’s even worse when the gap between the stall and the door is wide enough that you can see everyone moving around right outside. Ever had a curious kid come up and peak through the crack? Yeah, no thanks.

This isn’t exclusively an American thing, but I can see how someone would think this is weird if they had never experienced Halloween before. Under all the wrong circumstances this would seem dangerous probably! Isn’t every holiday a bit strange in it’s own right, though? We literally JUST asked a giant bunny to come and place chocolate shaped like eggs around our houses so that we could go looking for them.

A lot of houses weren’t really built to last, they were built to save money and provide cheap housing. Many countries have houses that have stood for centuries, often being made of rock or brick. American houses have spring up quickly within the last few centuries, and as a result are often made of wood or, more commonly, a wooden frame and drywall.

Regardless of the stumbled numbers, 30% of the US being forested is a crazy amount of trees! The US, as previously mentioned, is huge! It’s really a pretty cool stat to have, what with trees being in a relatively short supply and all. Fun fact #98375 for you, there are more trees on the planet earth than there are stars in our galaxy! Seems kind of implausible doesn’t it? Well it’s true! Earth has around three trillion trees, while there are “only” around 100-400 billion stars in the galaxy!

This is my favourite description of garbage disposals yet. I know they have garbage disposals elsewhere in the world, like New Zealand, but I’m certain they’re more prevalent in the states than elsewhere. They’re handy, but don’t go sticking your hand in there!

Electric kettles are the way, it is known. No matter how convincing however, you won’t convince a tea snob. As for the sockets, Americans don’t need switches! With a lower voltage, there is a significantly lower danger for electricity arcing out of the socket when you plug something in! No need to keep them switched off!

There are a lot of small towns in the states. Public transport is often one of the government services that slips through the crack in these smaller counties, usually because of a sparse population. Imagine walking 30 minutes to a bus stop for a 30 minute bus ride that you have to pay more than average for!

This is mostly true. It’s not exclusively cereal, but also like granola and oatmeal and the like of easy, dry breakfast foods. It just so happens that there is more variety in cereal so most of the aisle is taken up by the myriad cereal flavours. Once there’s a cinnamon toast granola crunch, you know I’m there.

Medical debt is no joke. People essentially have to roll the dice of life every day if they don’t have the money to afford sudden medical bills. Spoilers, that’s pretty much everyone. It’s these situations that gave us a show like Breaking Bad.

This isn’t quite as nice as it sounds. It’s not like there are 20-somethings running around the states with 100 grand in their pocket spending it wherever. Chances are, if you make that kind of money, you live in a huge city where your cost of living is crazy expensive. It ends up being a little “six of one, half dozen of another” scenario. That being said, Silicon Valley is pumping out young millionaires like it’s no one’s business, so it’s not unheard of to have a rich young person.

The natural beauty of America is indisputable. There’s also a large camping culture in the states, and many hunters that spend most of their time in the outdoors. Maintaining a national park may seem easy but it takes a lot of time and effort!

Sadly, this is totally legit. Police can actually get a warrant for your arrest in some states if you don’t mow your lawn within three months. It seems like the most petty thing for someone to care about, whether that be neighbour or government. Ultimately, it comes down to money. By not cutting your grass, you mess with someone’s property value. That means you’re messing with their money. People don’t like when you mess with their money.

Private prisons are examples of capitalism gone horribly awry. Just about any sane person will tell you that they are a terrible idea. Not only immoral, but also asking for trouble on a practical level.

This has been a hot topic. It is of course wildly controversial. In some cases, it might make more sense than others, but people have had their right to vote stripped away for really minor felonies. Regardless of how you feel about the topic, this is a fact in the states while it isn’t elsewhere. I can see why this would shock someone who had never encountered it before.

Sports are a huge part of American culture, especially football! If you want a raucous, good time, follow this Redditor’s example and go to a sports bar and talk to literally anyone there about whatever sport is on the tv. You’ll make some fast friends!

Yellow taxis, yellow school busses, all real. I guess I understand why people would assume otherwise, but it really doesn’t seem that strange, does it? It’s just a colour, and a not so common one at that, to mark a more official kind of vehicle, whether that be a taxi which obviously is only used as a taxi, or a bus which… I guess, doesn’t really need to get marked. People can see them a mile away.

Tuition at a lot of schools is insane and that’s a well known fact. Harvard and NYU can charge as much as $80,000 per year! Better start working on the throwing arm.

This is my favourite anecdote, I think. Fireflies are completely beautiful, even after seeing them your entire life. I can only imagine what it must have been like to move your entire life and everything you know at a young age, and then to finally see fireflies when you finally arrived. It would make the whole thing worth it! And to then see a city like New York, so sprawling and massive?! It would feel like you’re in a waking dream, I’m sure.

Germany has the right idea. Vacation days are important for mental health and only twenty a year is lunacy. A lot of jobs offer even fewer. Vacations can actually ensure employees don’t burn out and keep them productive.

What can I say but “same?” The tales of Floridaman and his shenanigans are never dull. Apparently this is actually just due to lax regulations around the press. They can talk about the crazy stuff that goes on so of course they do.