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28 Ways the U.S. Doesn’t Rock As Hard As It Thinks It Does

March 04, 2024

If you asked the average American, we bet they’d enjoy kickin’ back with a frosty beverage and havin’ a good time. So why is 21 the legal drinking age? You can play the lottery on a battlefield at 18, but if you win millions of dollars while vanquishing your foes, you have to celebrate with a juice box for three full years? That and a bunch of these facts aren’t too “rock and roll” at all, ‘Merica!

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28

GRACKED ASKING WHAT DO YOU DO? Asking about someone's profession is a common American icebreaker, but is considered insulting or possibly classist in countries like The Netherlands. If the dinner party guest says lawyer or janitor are you going to treat them differently? — Source

27

GRACKED ATHLEISURE ISN'T COOL EVERYWHERE ELSE. TRANSBORED Sure, stylish sportswear outside of the gym is trendy, but in Japan, most of Europe, and elsewhere, wearing sweatpants, leggings, flip flops, and even baseball caps in public is disrespectful. — Source

26

GRACKED YOU'RE FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Travelers saying they're American implies that only the U.S. should be considered America. From North to South, there are 38 American countries. — Source

25

GRACKED AMERICAN DATES ARE CONFUSING. 12 17 18 19 24 25 Americans write the month, the day, then the year, but pretty much every other country writes the day first, then the month, then the year. So 06/03/1985 is June 3rd, 1985 in the U.S., but the 6th of March, 1985 everywhere else. — Source

24

GRACKED WORLDWIDE DRINKING AGES. 64% of the world's drinking age is 18 or under. Canada is split between 18 and 19, but America's age of 21 is only behind the Eastern African nation of Eritrea (25 years old) and, of course, the 11 countries where alcohol is banned altogether. — Source

23

Thanksgiving

GRACKED THANKSGIVING IN THE U.S. IS WEIRD! Canada has an even older Thanksgiving than the U.S., and most countries who celebrate Thanksgiving do so in early October, to give thanks for the last harvests. The U.S. holds it way after the harvest, and is the only one that involves Pilgrims. — Source

22

The Two-Party System

TWO PARTIES There are ten political parties represented in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. The Bundestag in Germany has six. Eleven in the Oireachtas in Ireland. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has 28. New Zealand? Seven parties. South Africa's Parliament? Thirteen. GRACKED.COM — Source

21

COLLEGE LOANS xx STOP R.I.P. T the Price OUR of our DR FUTURE Even keeping to where student loans are necessary, there's a big difference in how the U.S. and other countries handle them. In America, you'll be hounded to pay back loans even after declaring bankruptcy. In the UK, your student debt is completely written off if you have not repaid it in 25-35 years. GRACKED.COM — Source

20

BREAD To visitors from other countries, American bread tastes like cake. That's because manufacturers add a ton of high-fructose corn syrup-the stuff is so cheap there, thanks to corn subsidies. Some people think American bread tastes better. Others think the sweetness makes it incompatible with any kind of topping. GRACKED.COM — Source

19

ICY DRINKS Other countries chill drinks, and they throw in a couple ice cubes, but visitors to America are baffled by the tradition of filling a glass with ice and then trickling a tiny bit of liquid around it. Many think they're being cheated. They're somewhat mollified, though, when they learn about the American tradition of free refills. GRACKED.COM — Source

18

CRACKED.COM Only the U.S. has widely adopted in-sink garbage disposals. insinkerabord food waste disposer Because of how much water they use and the burden they put on sewage systems, in-sink garbage disposals are really unpopular outside the U.S. For example, nearly half of U.S. households have in-sink garbage disposals, but only 5% of U.K. ones do. They used to be banned in Japan and Australia, and still are in Austria, Portugal, and the Netherlands. — Source

17

CRACKED.COM Drugs are more expensive in the US than other nations. A month's supply of diabetes medication Januvia costs $168.61 after discounts in the US. Canada pays the next highest price ($68.10), which is not discounted and still $100 less. — Source

16

In the US, the number of vacant houses are six times greater than the number of homeless people. USA Europe Homeless 3.5 million 4.1 million people Vacant 18.5 million 11 million houses The ratio in Europe is less than half that. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Americans are extremely obsessed with their flag. The U.S. is pretty much the only country where flying a flag year-round is common. In France, the flag is associated with aggressive nationalism and the far right. In the UK, flying a flag outside your house would be kind of embarrassing - it's just not done. In Germany, the flags on the parliament building are almost the only ones flown, by anyone. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

The United States is the only nation that hasn't ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which means that American children may be treated by the criminal justice system as adults, including being arrested and serving life sentences. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

The United States, China and Japan US are the top three oil 20% consumers in the world. CHINA 11.7% Americans use more JAPAN oil than China and Japan 5.3% COMBINED. GRACKED.COM — Source

12

CRACKED COM There are currently three countries that do not use the metric system-Burma, Liberia, and the United States. 2 4 81 LI 10FEET 3m 4 3 Many U.S. industries have been slow to adopt the metric system, but it is becoming standard in certain areas of science, medicine, and government. — Source

11

Unlike many other countries around the world, America doesn't officially embrace the tradition of napping. It's a cultural expectation in places like Italy, Spain, Greece, the Philippines, Nigeria & others, but viewed as slacking here. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

The U.S. is 1 of only 4 countries in the world that does not require paid maternity leave. The U.S. ranks last among developed countries when it comes to paid parental leave. While many U.S. companies offer paid parental leave, the United States is the only advanced country without a federal law mandating it. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

The United States is the only modern democracy to elect its president via Electoral College CRACKED COM — Source

8

America is most religious among developed countries. % saying religion plays a very important role in their lives (2011-2013) Africa Pekistan Asia/Pacific 100% Indonesia Europe Senegal Ghana Latin America Nige ria Philippines Uganda Middle East El Salvador Korya 80% Tunisia North America Malaysia Egypt Brazil Russia Jordan Turkey South Africa Bolivia United States 60% Lebanon Mexico Verezuela Chile 40% Italy Argertina Israel Germany Canada Poland Spain 20% Russia South Korea Australia Britain France China Japan Czech Republic 0 0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 Estimated 2013 GDP per capita (PPP, current international $) A study by the Pew Research Center found — Source

7

FOR TRIPS OF LESS THAN ONE MILE... 70% OF AMERICANS WILL DRIVE. 70% OF EUROPEANS WILL WALK, BIKE, OR USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Almost 80% of American boys are circumcised. In Europe and South America, however, this number averages below 20%. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

College Years

CRACKED COM In the US, it's normal to go to college for four years. BIOLOGY HISTORY ENGLISH sociology POLITIC GEOMETR MATHEMATICS 9 ELIGION ECONOMY PHYSICS TUC ARTS OG EDUCATION MISTRY In Europe, it's usually just three years, as lots of the general education that US students take is taken care of in high school. — Source

4

When shopping in America, consumers end up paying more money than what's on the price tags because the tax is added at the checkout point. In the EU, tax and other additional costs must be added to the total value before any payment is made. Otherwise, consumers have a right to request a complete refund of the excess charges. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

AMERICANS ARE MOSTLY MONOLINGUAL. Only 20% of students in the USA study a foreign language as compared to 90% of European students. Geroun Langen- scheidt German Spa scheidt Langen- CRACKED.COM TRA ITALIAN — Source

2

On workdays, 53% of Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep. Those numbers are considerably lower in other Western countries - 39% in the UK, 36% in Germany, 30% in Canada, and 29% in Mexico. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Riding in the back of a taxi is inherently American. BUT LOS DI In Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Scotland, taxi drivers will consider you rude if you don't sit in the front seat. GRACKED.COM — Source

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