Advice for Americans Visiting Britain 

I bought a couple a drink once in Boston because they had Scottish accents and red hair like me. :)

I got a lot of mileage in Wales and Northern Scotland with my 'standard American'. All you have to do is get 20+ miles from a major motorway and everyone is interested in what you are doing there...

No I believe it. I’m not even from Texas but I have a southern accent and I do live in Texas so my wife and I get this treatment in some places in the US…

So that's how you get free refills in London huh?😂

But don't you know because there are about 333.3 million Americans versus 66.5 million Brits, how we speak English is more correct because there are more of us speaking American English than Brits speaking British English.

My friend and I went over last year. We went to pick up our car on the day before a rail strike, and they told us when we got there that none was available at the moment because people were hesitant to return them. So we waited roughly an hour. There were other Americans waiting for something with automatic transmission. Finally, a car with manual transmission became available. My friend had driven on the left before and thought he knew how to drive manual transmission, so we agreed to take it. The thing is, this particular car handled very differently than other stick shifts he had driven. After being scared nearly to death by that, the roundabouts, and the narrow streets that were laid down long before cars existed, I saw him gradually improve to the point where we both felt okay. Another thing I noticed: we were driving on a motorway from Bristol to Oxford, and there was some kind of traffic accident (to this day, I don't know what it was about.) In any case, instead of seeing emergency vehicles whizzing past us and traffic slowing down to a crawl as we'd expect in the States, everything just stopped. Drivers in the other cars seemed very accustomed to that happening. People turned off their engines, so that's what we did. It was quiet, but strangely refreshing. My friend actually took a nap for about 45 minutes until traffic started moving again.

And be prepared to pay an extra £200 for that automatic. I'll usually get the automatic when my company is paying and a manual when I'm paying.

That's a good point. I know how to drive a manual, but now that I think about it I could see it being difficult to deal with that and also having the gearshift be in a different place form where I'm used to it being.

@@Norvaal3​​⁠​⁠ They must have completely closed the road. Does that not happen in the US? Perhaps for an Air Ambulance to land, for vehicles to be cleared in the case of a wide debris field and possible road surface damage, or in the event of a fatality the collision investigation cops have to survey the scene in case of prosecution.

@@nicolad8822in the States, first responders come (i.e., police, paramedics, and/or fire department), but they always direct traffic to go around the accident after they check on everyone involved and clear the obstruction. Traffic may stand still for long intervals of time, but I had never seen it completely stop like that before. Accidents are never pleasant, yet everyone seemed very calm about the whole thing, which is something else we aren't used to seeing in America.

I'd love to go 4x4 off roading in Australia.

The English do not yield; you can if you want, to match your surrender flag on the Moon. 😉

Boo hoo! 🤣 Cry baby country, wanting to be different just like this dude having living in the US.

The lights on the dash that indicate something is wrong are called "idiot lights."

Hmm. As an American driving in the UK it might be safer if you just used the hazard lights. All the time I mean.

Who is we? Who is you?

@@BigSnipp who is bigsnipp?

@@neutrino78x ?

@@BigSnipp 🤣😂🤣

@@neutrino78x "I'll go one better: why is Bigsnipp?" - Drax

I'd love to have a bath in Bath. 🛁

Bath is so beautiful!

Bath is not on the way back to London from Stonehenge

Bath is literally the opposite direction from London, about an hour northwest of Stonehenge 😂. It is a beautiful town though.

I love the Costume Museum there.

I really want to go to Lake District/Bakewell and bicycle 🚴 and relax and take walks etc. Maybe visit some other nice scenic areas too maybe spend a day or two in London. But I would really like to see pretty scenery outside of urban stuff.

Try landing an airplane from both the left and right seat. My biggest problem was getting ing to wrong side of the car for the first few days.

They are definitely becoming the norm in a lot of places. There's a neighborhood not too far from where I live in southern Mississippi with new developments being built, and they put 5 roundabouts in less than a half mile radius. One of them is just in the middle of a road with nothing connected to it, but it's there for future expansion.

I have mixed feelings about roundabouts. We are seejng many more where I live, but by traffic-light-addled brain isn't USED to them even though Indrive through one every time I go to work. I'm not sure that it makes people pay attention more or take turns properly, at least in my area (maybe it is more so where you live). People sometimes try to treat them as regular intersections here and try to slow down and give a "courtesy" to let someone else in, which can cause a bad accident.

😂 There are two within 500 metres on the road I live in London. One medium size one at one end, where you need to signal properly, and a roundabout at the other end, where you need to signal for your exit. This is how much more common roundabouts are in the UK. Oh on the other hand I've only come across two stops signs in London. One was near where I used to live in Ealing and the other one was when I had to take a detour on my way back from IKEA in Croydon.

I agree, and also think they are great. Over the last 10 years, around 2 dozen roundabouts have been installed in the area where I live. When the first few were put in, there were definitely some issues with drivers who were ignorant as how to properly use them. But it didn't take long at all for people to adjust (at least where I live), and they quickly became a normalized part of driving. Even though there has been a lot of population growth in my area, the roundabouts (along with some other road/traffic improvements) have made a noticeable difference with the overall traffic flow and drive time. Traffic is much better than it was a few years ago, even though the amount of cars on the road has significantly increased during that time. I'm a big fan of the roundabouts, and am glad for the ones where I live.

I was just going to chime in and say the same thing. I'm 40, and when I first started driving they were a big novelty to me. Now I've seen them a lot driving around the country (if not frequently, at least widespread). Though, I will also say they're great for specific circumstances, but they still don't help when there's simply _too much traffic_ , which there often is because we desperately need to get away from a car-centric lifestyle.

I do that thanks to him.

"And I know what you're thinking . . ."

A lot of things can be summed up as 'be considerate' - don't jump queues (lines), dont suddenly stop in doorways/middle of pavements, keep your opinions/criticisms to yourself, etc.

Both very good points, especially the second. Usually you can hear Americans before you can see them!

@@avaggdu1 You are very correct....Being considerate to others is a big thing in the UK....and something that I am noticing seems to be becoming a lot rarer unless you are in an age bracket of about 23 - 50. Any younger than that the rules don't apply because of immaturity....any older the rules don't apply because "I'm old" This is of course a generalisation from recent personal experiance of just walking to the shop. My personal favourite "rudeness" you have mentioned above is the stopping in the middle of the pavement...Personally if I am walking, my brain is having a hard enough time making sure I don't walk in to people or invade personal space etc....My brain cannot work for or take in to account some plonker who thinks "ooooo a Primark" and stops dead in front of me. My other favourite.....is people walking right into me....either from behind or in some cases in front....I am 6ft2 and a hefty guy I am not that easy to miss!!! Especially with the fact my hair is long and almost down to my ARSE!.

@@ddlee84 I dunno, I'm over 50 and can be a proper ignorant, 'orrible bastard when I want to be. I think I'm in my 'grumpy old man' phase 😀

This is the same in D.C. metro when it comes to escalators

Writing this down lol thanks!

Well that scared me a little, but I’m adding it to my list too! Thanks 😂

If you visit the UK and end up in Grimsby, I feel very sorry for you.

And make sure you pencil in a whole weekend there so you can enjoy the city's many attractions and wild nightlife after you've visited the cathedral.

@@gyorkshire257 some of us are old and don't do wild or nightlife 🤣 quiet countryside is more my route, we're quiet country Ohio folk.

Oh my god if that’s worth the money how bad is the US rail network?

@@intercity_trainspotting What US rail network? lol We have public transport in cities but very few across states.

As compared to British or European rail, you wouldn’t recognize it😂

​@intercity_trainspotting Bad. Very bad.

I’m sorry you had to go to Birmingham.

That's great😅 I have seen those instructions and yes in some ways still good advice. It must have been an interesting Cultural journey in 1942. I take it you're well settled here now or it was just a service Posting I'm not sure. Where did you get stationed in the 90s. ? 👍Cheers

What did those instructions say?

@@sluggo206It's all contained in the book that was handed to American Soldiers called. ( Instructions for American servicemen in Britain 1942) In the book is information about how to behave in what was a more reserved Country. Also instructions on how to blend in when in Pubs etc. It pointed out we had been at war before America entered and to be keep that in mind . Really just sensible advice, British troops abroad got similar advice. If you Google the title you will find several sources with extracts. If you want a copy of the book it's on UK Amazon at £4.99. It's probably on US Amazon. The Chicago Museum I think sells it by mail. Type in Imperial war Museum, this is our central records Museum they will also have extracts. This next quote was meant in mostly good humour. Said of US troops in England "Over paid,over sexed,and over here.😂. All US troops were called Yanks this was at first not liked by some troops from the South but it was explained it was our all encompassing term for all Americans. We were Limeys or the soldiers as Tommy's you might know the origin those terms if not you can look it up🤗. Despite the war England was a much better place 1939 to 1990. I think most Americans visiting now would have loved 60s England ,however like the 1950s USA ,big Cadillacs, beach boys , and at that time with things we could only dream of those good times have gone. Cheers.

@@sluggo206 You can seem some extracts by googling "Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain". If you visit one of the Imperial War Museum locations in the UK (at the old Bedlam mental hospital in London, appropriately, but also in Salford and some other places) you can buy a copy of the full thing.

@@chrisbamborough222 Well settled, married a local gal and stayed. Posted to RAF Moleworth in Cambridgeshire. My sons grew up here going to British schools their whole life, back in the States now. ;-)

I think you've got it backwards, but yes. Don't put the wrong appliance into the wrong outlet without the proper converter!!

probably because the elderly would complain that they could cross just fine like everyone else.

Don't forget the one sign of a "man, woman and child running"...across the freeways. I'm serious about this sign, I'm in San Diego (border city) it's the illegals or the homeless, one of them is likely to be on the freeway.

Duck crossing sign is my favorite 🦆

I've seen one for blind children too.

I've seen a few turtle crossing signs in local neighborhoods.

A binary choice is not hard: Is the light on? NO - flick the switch Is the light on now? YES - Success! NO - it's broken. I haven't seen an up/down switch in donkey's years except in crappy, old-fashioned hotels and pub toilets (not much call to switch off lights in those).

Oh, of course.

@@avaggdu1 funny, I installed a double plug socket Friday, and it had two up/down switches on it. and I'm not even in the UK. had to have a friend buy it and send it to me, because the only ones you can buy direct in the states, is a white single.

Driving in London: not to be recommended. Even for most Brits.

Yeah, we don't recommend driving in London. Anywhere outside of London is generally lovely (Unless the motorways are CLOSED AGAIN--!) so city to city journeys are great for driving. Also, driving up here in the North is always nice. Lovely scenery and less traffic generally.

Fortunately they have EXCELLENT national healthcare in UK, which they are VERY proud of! Those poor people with PTSD will be well cared for! LOL

@@inconnu4961It’ll just take along time for them to get in to be seen.

I was told, even as a left-hander who always drove manual at the time, not to do it.

Thank you, I live there and do appreciate how much visitors enjoy it.

Wait till you get to the Yorkshire Dales. 😉

I live in Gloucester and a few people here still make the cheese by hand locally, truly delightful if you get the chance.

Sounds like a great experience, thanks for sharing.

Impressive! To he honest there would be no reason to go Grimsby unless you liked trawlers and fish processing.

You totally missed East anglia - the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts are stunning, with empty beaches and huge skies , and Suffolk is quintessential English countryside with beautiful little towns and villages.

Gregg's, Pret and Costa were probably the highlights of my trips.

I should add that cobblestones are not a common thing and are usually just there for decorative puposes and to maintain the character of a place; they are not the norm and we do have tarmac/asphalt roads!

@@avaggdu1 lol I know. I wandered all over the place. But they were in Edinburgh too 😁

@@yaowsers77 Visit York if you get nostalgic, they love them some cobblestones there.

@@avaggdu1Edinburgh is particularly “cobbly” in the old town and steep.

Honestly I can't stand the Cotswolds, it's pretty but it's heaving with tourists and there are equally pretty villages elsewhere!

If you're coming to Devon and like train journeys, the train from Exeter to Paignton goes right along the river and then the coast to the point the tracks were washed away by the sea a few years ago and the sea wall had to be reinforced. I live in Devon and it's one of my favorite journeys. There's a video on you tube of the driver's eye view if you want to check it out. Whatever you end up doing, I hope you have a lovely trip.

@@HedgeWitch-st3yy thanks so much. We’ve decided to scrap Paris because of the summer Olympics. This will give us much more time in England. Thanks again!

When using a "Oyster" card (prepaid at machines in stations) ALWAYS click in to enter and click out to finalise your journey on the card.

@@johnchristmas7522 And coupled with a London travel pass it could be really a good deal... Especially if you have a lot of sites you'd want to see in London

@@johnchristmas7522You don’t really need an Oyster card now if you have a contactless debit card.

I wish us Brits could get Britrail passes.

@@nicolad8822 Well they are expensive... To get An 8-day pass you looking at anywhere between 375 to 550 In US dollars. But it does allow you to go anywhere for those 8 days In Britain. So they're not cheap but they are cheaper than purchasing individual tickets... Which is good for tourists because usually only going to stay a day or two in each City... So you're going to get maybe four trips out of that. They also have a flexi pass and it looks like those have increased as well but that affords you to be able to stay there longer and only use it when you absolutely need to...

I, too, am an observer of linguistics. The "theta" sound is the hardest for a non-native English speaker to pronounce. For that matter, it's very hard for our own children to say. My then-3-year-old in a Socratic dialogue with her daddy, "I fought dat's what you'd fink, Daddy."

Have fun!

I suspect this would be a problem for me as well

Same thing when we visited. My partner did all the driving. He always stayed on the correct side but he always was too close to the shoulder.

And yet buses manage it, no problem. That appears to be "driver error" unless you travelled mainly by country back-roads.

@@avaggdu1 oh it absolutely was a driver error. I never claimed that it was anything else. It's cute that you feel the need to be a jackass about it though.

Roundabouts are relatively new in my area of the US. The yield part they get. The merge part not so much.

"Look, kids! Big Ben! Parliament!"

Apparently, Wisconsin has a lot (relatively).

Traffic circles and roundabouts are different things. The US has both. UK only has roundabouts.

Used to roundabouts? Try the one in Paris (FRANCE) around the Arc deTriomphe, 12 roads in and 6 lanes wide! if you hesitate, your lost!

You are spot on!

I can't speak for Brighton because I didn't go there, but the coastal parts of West Sussex were nice (i.e., near Worthing). And yes, I agree with you about the curry; no trip to England is complete without at least one, in my humble opinion.

Thanks, hope to get to the UK someday soonish. Mainly hoping to see a bit of Scotland and possibly spend a day or two in London. When it comes to roundabouts I thankfully have not had to test this theory but based on signage I believe if you hit another car already in it whilst merging it’s going to be your fault.

What’s wrong with Brighton? I don’t know anything and I want to visit Great Britain.

I live in Brighton. It’s still a nice place to go for an easy day trip out of London if you want to experience a traditional British seaside day out, though I will admit it has gone downhill significantly in the last 15/20 years. That said, the Royal Pavilion is beautiful (Google it), there’s some interesting shops in the Lanes and you’ll have fun wasting your 2ps on the pier!

Puerto Rico has the sign with the elderly couple on it, but I have never seen it here in the States. I enjoyed contrasting the school crossing signs in Ireland, where a boy and a girl carrying books are crossing, and Spain, where a school crossing sign is a stick figure running for its life!

There is also the "deaf child area" signs. One of those signs used to be by my old home.

I've seen them for Autistic Children as well

There’s also the unofficial plastic sign you see propped on the sidewalk in many residential areas to show playing children.

I thought that sign was to warn about elderly pickpockets in the area!

Might come in handy for Americans to say they are Canadian😂

Don't worry, we can tell.

Yeah, heard (or read) that multiple times

As a Minnesotan, I choose depending on their tone when they ask "are you American?" Canadians might be able to spot me as a Minnesotan, but others usually can't.

As a Michigander living in Virginia, I get the "Are you Canadian" occasionally. Usually when I end my sentence with "eh?".

That's pretty standard anywhere.

nah man cities are the best 🙂

Not totally true- ‘When a man is tired of London he’s is tired of life …’. London, Paris, Rome and many of the major cities are all worth spending time in. There is so much to see both in London and throughout the UK, the country requires much more than one visit.

Oooo, I did when I visited several years ago. Hired a car and drove everywhere for four weeks. Started by flying into Mildenhall RAF Base (I’m now retired US military), drove to the SE of England*, skirted intimidating London*, then all the way into the Highlands, then into northern Wales, popped over to Dublin, to the SW of England and eventually into London for the last week. Stayed in B&Bs and hostels, ate at pubs, stayed away from most tourist attractions, talked with locals A LOT. Met a lot of great people. A different experience than my one or two night trip in the mid 90s when I first joined the military where I did the Londony touristy things. The month-long trip allowed me to feel the culture, the way of life. Loved that I shocked many Brits, Scots, Welsh and Irish when I steadfastly requested tea instead of coffee. Give me tea or water over coffee any day. Still makes me smile…with tea-stained teeth. Hmm…need to do something about that. * Oh boy…. Driving on the other side of the road, on the other side of a car that happens to have a manual gearbox in city/village centers that are effectively a maze if one is not used to them was a steep learning curve. This was before GPS/SatNav on our phones in 2008. Nearly turned around and went home, but promised to try again the next day, to stick to M roads and stay the eff away from city centres. Soooo, what’d that next morning bring me? Driving toward the largest city centre you have: London. I was heading toward Canterbury from Winchester (I think). Wooo, tested myself by sticking to the Ms, which are no different than our Interstates. Did well, then hit A roads. Lessons were learned, but eventually I gained confidence and didn’t have much problems until London. I stayed/parked yards/meters away from the city center line and walked everywhere and took the underground. Whew! And yes, I learned how to navigate roundabouts the first day of driving. Lots of circling until I could get a feel for how to navigate is a different direction that I’m used to. I should note that I have been able to drive vehicles with manual gearboxes, or sticks as we call them, since I was 12. Clutches and sticks don’t bother me. However, I was soooo thankful the shifting pattern was the same as what I was used to and not opposite. That would’ve been a problem…for a bit.

so dont go im not going to hang out in the burbs

A real traffic sign seen in Idaho outside Yellowstone: Moose on Road At Night Next 13 Miles.

Well, I still hope he was thankful and gracious to the rabbi, who took the time out to come and pray for him!

This seems to be a lie, if any staff at the hospital were to inform someone else about something private such as circumcision it would be a massive violation of the patients rights, and the person could get into a lot of trouble for divulging this information. Not only this, but there are many people in the UK who are circumcised who are not Jewish, so no medical staff would just assume something like that. I just looked up the stats, 20% of the male population in the UK is circumcised and less than 0.5% of the population is Jewish.

Why would hospital staff call a rabbi unless he was requested? Religion is not as big a thing in the UK as it is in USA. Hospital staff wouldn't care less (unless they are particularly zealous and he was on his deathbed - even then I doubt it). I call bullshit.

Which is so beyond bizarre. It's actually abhorrent.

Iv heard that Americans love to give tips but that's ridiculous

I sang your comment in my head 🎤

Yes indeed 😃

(Killer bass line throughout) I might rent a vehicle in the UK just to go around a roundabout and play that song. I'm sure I'll be subsequently deported, but, you know, for the 'gram.

Yes!

@@randalmayeux8880 🤣

This site is probably not most Floridians' cup of tea.

If you do, don't just do London. That is like just going to Manhatten in the US. The real England is outside the city

But don't be offended if they refuse. Some pubs don't like their staff to drink on duty, and of course, some bar staff may themselves not wish to drink, or just don't like beer.

The driver shouldn't be 'sightseeing' anywhere. You should be paying attention to the road.

@@avaggdu1 Oh, I agree. But here in the states you can at least glance from side to side for a couple of seconds. Not so on those roads. I found it to be an intense experience. Like white knuckle at times. Have you driven in the UK or are you from there?

@@denisem.1042 From the UK and used to be a motorcyclist, so I'm very aware of car drivers not paying attention. I stopped riding precisely because of car drivers 'taking a few seconds to glance around'; got hit by several of them.

Best advice I'd give to someone unfamiliar with roundabouts is to imagine a one way road going round in a circle with every road entering having a yield sign. If you treat a roundabout like that you shouldn't go wrong (unless you're in France where some roundabouts have the priority reversed, but let's not talk about that...).

I'm from the UK, yeh those roads do get narrow at 90mph 😂😂😂😂😂

Same here. We got home on the 3rd.

Churchill was almost hit by a truck in NYC because he looked the wrong way. World history could be very different.

rotary

My area of Ohio has several. There are three within 15 min of my home, and we live in a farm county

Tampa Bay area has lots of them.round about. Just yield to your left easy peasy.

In southern Oregon we have a few and they are for some reason called turn abouts

​@frankandstein8618 RI has entered the chat!

It's a nice 6 hour train ride from London to Penzance. Once in Cornwall, hire a car, and drive around. It's a beautiful place and a slightly different feel to much of the rest of England.

That phrase dates back to WWII and the huge influx of US military personnel that arrived in the UK. Britain was in the middle of strict rationing, so US servicemen were comparatively wealthy. Because Britain had been fighting for two years before the US entered the war, many young British men were already serving overseas, leaving behind a large number of single women, hence the 'oversexed' bit.

I wish I knew what part my mom’s family comes from but I do know they were on the first mayflower voyage.

Thanks to ANCESTRY DNA🤗 I found out some of my ancestors came here in Virginia in 1609 and the other side Boston some years later

@@CEOofWasrael I would think that would be easy to find out with all the ancestry that has been done on the Mayflower’s descendants. You could find out by the Massachusetts Ancestry. Good Luck :)

some of mine came a bit earlier than that, and some just lightly earlier. both batches were involved in unpleasantries with the british. fortunately, things were smoothed over in the 1940s.

Actually from Bristol, or was that just where they departed from? Either way, Bristol seems as good a place as any to visit; I've never been myself but I've heard good things.

Just bear in mind that Ireland is not part of the UK. Plug sockets are the same, both drive on the left, road signs are different. Ireland uses Euros, UK uses Pounds. Northern Ireland is not part of Ireland it is part of the UK, though many people in both countries think it should be part of Ireland.

@@katrinabryce "Both countries" being the UK and Eire. Northern Ireland and the UK government are not so keen as a whole.

@@avaggdu1 The UK government doesn't care either way. It is the people in Northern Ireland who care one way or the other.

@@katrinabryce They've committed to keeping the status quo until NI makes up their mind. I think that qualifies as not being keen otherwise they'd ditch NI and let Ireland sort out their own problems. It's the UK (English mostly) populace that couldn't care either way.

Man my urge to do that is strong. Lawmakers banning fun man for "safety" reasons.

In high school we were coming back from a field trip and our bus driver took us around the new round about like 4 times just for the entertainment. Midwestern fun is best fun! Lol

Some portable appliances, like hair dryers, for the international market, actually have voltage switches, and have had them for years. I used to have a Phillips portable cassette recorder with four voltage options, plus that odd looking power cord connector.

Is the fuse replaceable, and are there replacement fuses in stores? Occsionally an American appliance's instructions mentions an internal fuse, but even rarer do they talk about how to reset it o how to get the appliance open to get to it. House fuses are a different matter: houses/apartments older than say the 1950s still have them, and the last time I lived in one in 2003, the fuses were available at hardware stores. But those fuses are a lot larger than would fit in a plug or small appliance.

Completely wrong. Voltage is equivalent to water pressure. Current is the amount of water passing a point in unit time. Water itself is equivalent to electric charge.

Plug a standard US (or Canadian) hairdryer into a UK socket, and wait for burning smell, or the loud bang as its motor is destroyed. Instead, buy a travel hairdryer or bring a converter (which steps down the voltage), which is not the same as an adapter (though you can get combined converters/adapters). You argue all you want about voltage or ampage, but whatever it is, it is not irrelevant!

Higher voltage allows you to use less amperage. 15 Amps at 240 Volts is the equivalent power to 30 Amps at 120 Volts. The benefit is that 15 Amps uses thinner wire than 30 Amps.

@@simhedgesrex7097 Or buy an International hair dryer with a voltage switch, that you can use anywhere with the appropriate plug adapter.

Yes, only America does that everybody else just keeps to themselves yeah you go with that!

And then whine when we threaten to leave!🙄​@@armoredsaint6639

The reality is that although American politics will divide almost any destination, in the UK it is more the loudness and perceived rudeness that would stereotypically an issue. That and the British ‘issued at birth’ sarcasm which takes half a lifetime to learn.

@@jonmoore873 I think it's fair to say that most UK is a lot less divided than the US when it comes to American politics.

@@simhedgesrex7097 In general, the British and the Australians hate all politicians equally, regardless of party.

I'm from Ohio and can agree with this, a lot more popping up. Good for slowing traffic down in traffic stop areas that people were just whizzing through the red lights. Can't do that with a roundabout!! Hahah

Clearly, the state road department had a LOT of money to waste over the last ten years. Instead of putting in needless roundabouts, they should have used those millions of dollars to fix and improve the conditions of our highways, especially around the cities. Tired of the lumpy, patched-up, crumbling, highways.

Good for you. The UK has them too but we mostly ignore them and cross the road where we like without fear of being mowed down or arrested.

@@avaggdu1 You ignore them? Ok.

But why tho'? Credit cards have been around for a long time and Amex cards were nothing special. Are you sure you weren't just asked if you were American for having an Amex card instead of a UK bank? Seems a weird flex. If (and that's a big 'if') people asked you if you were a celebrity you were probably acting like an entitled asshole.

​@@avaggdu1they specifically mentioned the Amex Blue Card that was clear, not just a standard Amex card. Most people are used to seeing the standard green Amex, a clear one with the blue hologram sqaure in the middle would have been a novelty 20 years ago. It's amusing you mischarecterized the OP due to missing that detail.

The Irish are not like the English in any way.

@@mikesaunders4775 So they don't speak English then? Don't go to school? Don't watch TV? Don't go to university? Can't swim? Don't drive cars?

In my experience the only American tourists in Ireland that the Irish don't care for, are the Americans that claim to be "Irish" when they are, in fact, "Irish American". It doesn't go down well.

​@@simhedgesrex7097The Irish are no more like the English than Americans are no more like Canadians.

@@B-A-L I can live with that! Ireland is the non-UK country that is most like the UK. Ditto for Canada and the USA. I'm not claiming that there are no differences (Ireland would never have been stupid enough to vote for Brexit, for example), but there are many similarities.

All the roundabouts I’ve encountered in the US so far have flat centers. As you said, filling the center up with trees and signs is less safe.

@@Sashazur I don't think I've come across a roundabout in Ohio that didn't have a berm filled up with stuff. I haven't had too much trouble, but it still doesn't make much sense to have such low visibility.

@@InvdrDanaI’m in Ohio, and nearly all of them we have around me have just flatland in the center. I know of one that has a fountain, and another that has a statue. But neither of them obstruct Vision- we can still see that someone is coming etc.

They add all that stuff because in the early days of building those roundabouts, drivers would ignore the roadway and just try to drive through the middle. Eventually they got smart and when adding a new roundabout, would position a traffic cop there for the first few days. They do a lot of pulling over and handling out warnings and explaining how it was supposed to be done. Eventually, everyone gets it. Well, nearly everyone.

I once spent an enjoyable 20 minutes in a tea shop in Tewkesbury rehearsing an American friend of mine how to pronounce Tewkesbury. Spoiler: It's not Tooksberry.

Public parking spaces always has small trash. But idk if your message was pointed americans because the u.s is surprisingly clean when tourists or foreigners visit.