People Are Sharing Things That Are Normal In America But Completely Absurd In Other Countries

    "Paying thousands of dollars for an ambulance — even if it's expressly against your wishes."

    On Sunday, Reddit user u/jvcoby asked, "What's something normal in America that is completely absurd in other countries?" People gave examples of stuff that will truly make you say, "Ugh, only in America."

    Here's what they said:

    1. "Only in America is not having a credit history a bad thing."

    u/gerginborisov

    2. "Commercials pushing medication in TV ads."

    u/Izzy2089

    A TV commercial for heart medication

    3. "Extremely short vacation time and basically no paid maternity leave. I learned that it's pretty normal in Europe for a month every year vacation time. And, like, a year of maternity leave, and you don't have to fear losing your job."

    Longjumping-Wash-610u/AshlarkEdens

    4. "Having our drinks loaded full of ice. I talked to a Chinese exchange student, and she was shocked at how everything had ice in it. In her country, offering hot water everywhere is the norm. Also, I heard an Irish guy ranting about how it was a complete waste of drink space."

    u/mrawesomesword

    5. "The huge gap in the doors of public restrooms."

    u/wht_if

    6. "Spending billions on an election."

    u/dramabatch

    7. "Medical debt. People in the US lose their life savings or acquire massive amounts of debt that require them to declare bankruptcy if they should first have the misfortune of getting sick or injured. A great deal of money is spent on politicians to make them convince us that we shouldn't change this."

    u/redpiano82991

    8. "Not advertising actual costs. If I go to the store, as with every other country I've been to, the price is what I pay. There are no extra taxes or required/encouraged tips at checkout."

    u/HeapsFine

    9. "Large fountain drink sizes. A large size in Europe is the same as America's small."

    u/_GurthMax

    10. "Sugar, sugar everywhere. American bread tastes like the cake in other countries."

    u/Just_a_tired_banana

    11. "Paying thousands of dollars for an ambulance — even if it's expressly against your wishes."

    u/Snoo5218

    12. "School shooter drills and pledging allegiance to some cloth (the flag)."

    u/BountyBobIsBack

    Men training in an active shooter situation

    13. "Having to do your own taxes. I really don't understand this thing. In my country, we don't even know how much tax is on something unless you're a business person or from the bank."

    u/Dark_dweller08

    14. "Pancakes for breakfast. WTF. Don't get me wrong, I love me some pancakes with syrup, but for breakfast? No thanks."

    u/heywoodu

    15. "Homeless people working two jobs."

    u/Xenepa

    And lastly:

    16. "It's the guns, people. The answer is the guns. Everything else is outrageous, but the guns take gold, silver, concrete, and cardboard. There is nothing more outrageous than seeing someone casually walking around with a murder tool hanging from their hip. Or seeing them on sale at the supermarket. Seeing a gun basket at the entrance of the paper office. It's the uber-weirdest thing ever."

    u/gramoun-kal

    What else?! Let me know in the comments below!

    Responses edited for length/clarity.