On Saturday, Reddit user u/pfl2020 asked non-Americans, "What is one thing you assume all Americans can't live without?"
Here are some of the accurate, shady, and interesting responses:
1. "A car. In European countries, it’s pretty common that you can go anywhere in public transport, but I haven’t heard about any properly functioning public transportation besides New York’s subway."
2. "Climate-controlled housing."
3. "Cheddar cheese and jumbo everything."
4. "Air-conditioning. That's usually the first complaint that American migrants have in Germany."
5. "A house. Even if you can't afford it. No flat — a house. Big house with two living rooms: one for family, one for ????"
6. "Garburators, garbage disposal. Every time an American was house hunting on House Hunters International, the Americans always wanted a garburator and would be disappointed if the kitchens didn't have one."
7. "Starbucks and Twitter."
8. "Toilet paper. Even before bidets became common in other countries, people used buckets and pails to clean down there with water. No paper, no waste. It's one thing not to know how cheap it is to install one, or how convenient it is. It's another to be aware of it but stubbornly refuse to even try it, even defending the 'superiority' of TP with bizarre justifications."
9. "Flags. You fuckers really care about showing off flags. Pro tip: Anyplace with lots of flags has a national identity crisis."
10. "Soda pop. Spent some time in the Southwest. Everyone had these enormous refillable beverage containers they would refill with soft drinks multiple times a day. While I agree it is important to stay hydrated, the jugs I saw held 1.75 quarts, and that much fountain drink could contain more than 200 grams of sugar."
11. "Red Solo cups — they are such an American thing."
12. "A microwave. It looks as if 90% of Americans don’t know how to boil an egg."
13. "A credit card. Not sure why people use it over there — possibly because of their weird credit system, which seems to be so essential to their lives, or because of their even weirder mindset of liking to spend money they don't have. Probably both."
There you have it. Americans, do you agree? Non-Americans, what did they miss? Let me know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.