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16 Non-Americans Share The Thing They’ll Never Understand About The States

It can be hard to understand cultures that are so very different from our own – and honestly, sometimes when we’ve grown up sheltered in place, everything about another experience can seem super foreign.

These 16 people are not from America, and these are some things they’re just sure they’re never going to understand.

16. Because we think we’re everything. Clearly.

The World Series. Why is it called that?

15. I think we all know the answer to that.

Why do aliens always attack America…

14. It’s just a thing we’ve accepted.

How long American commutes are, some Americans really think it’s normal to drive for a couple hours for work.

I actually saw an article the other day about how unwilling the governments (local/state/federal) are to build light rails, which is so confusing to me

13. Seriously it’s in all the films.

Homecoming.

Edit: Would someone please explain what ‘homecoming’ is?

12. We would all like to know.

Why maternity leave is only 6 weeks.

Wow 1 and a half years here in Estonia. Covered by government with your last years average monthly salary. Seems like a normal system to ensure the fanilies would keep growing.

11. Honestly we don’t like it either.

Children’s beauty pageants.

It’s honestly very creepy to think about when your grown. As a child it looks fun, but it just seems like weird to put ur child in swimsuits and have them be judged.

It also seems like such an easy place for creeps to be I don’t know why adults should be judging children based on looks and stuff.

10. That about sums it up.

Why kids have a social pressure to leave their parents homes at 18.

I’m getting the impression that a lot of America’s weird social norms can be answered with the Great Depression.

9. That’s one theory.

Florida Man.

Florida has open arrest records. Crazy s*%t like that happens all over the place, but Florida is the only place you can publicly view the records.

8. We all want to know why you do it backward!

MM/DD/YYYY

7. No one needs that much soda.

Jumbo sized drinks intended for 1 person to drink.

‘kid size’ as is roughly the volume of a 5 yo.

6. It’s not much.

Average of only 10 days of annual leave. And then sometimes even being looked down on for taking it.

In the UK (well I speak for myself) i only need to give 3 weeks notice for a long holiday and it’s signed off within a few hours. 25 days plus 8 public holidays. If we need a day or a couple of days a day or two notice is usually fine.

5. Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.

Aerosol spray cheese.

4. It’s all about pride (but really money).

The importance sports have in college.

3. When you put it that way…

HOAs. They aren’t really a thing where I am and it baffles me that people don’t have permission to do certain things to their own homes.

Edit: for those asking, HOA stands for Home Owners Association.

Also thanks for everyone’s comments, I’ve learnt so much about them, the good and the bad, as well as the history behind them.

2. Starting in a hole.

Student loans.

I was having a conversation with a fried of mine about the cost of education abroad and it was incredible to see just how different our bases were.

1. I think it has something to do with safety.

Why public toilets have this little gap between the doors that let people make eye contact with you when you.. you know taking a s*%t.

I mean, I was born here and I don’t really understand some of these myself.

If you’re a non-American, add your confusions and questions to the list in the comments!