New Zealand Family Reacts to 21 things Americans Do That Puzzle Foreigners | #8 IS SO CONFUSING!! 

Exactly!! Businesses don't want their people staying out too long. And not everyone even gets Personal Time Off/vacation days. Plus, the average American workers (labor force) don't make enough money to actually take time from work to actually GO somewhere for leisure trips, and other people aren't paid for the days they take off so even if they do take a day or two here and they, they have to calculate if they can afford to not be paid for those days off. I'm 67y.o. and I have never packed a bag and taken a "vacation trip" anywhere that didn't involve requisite visits to inlaws. I didn't grow up having vacation trips, either.

True that. I have a friend who was negotiating terms of a potential job. They kept throwing money at him, but all he wanted was a minimum of 4 weeks vacation, and they weren't willing to go up from 2 weeks. So stupid.

Nor can many Americans afford to take that much time off. Also, we’re one of like 3 developed nations that doesn’t pay for workers maternity leaves. Kind of interesting for a country that has literally fallen and died on the sword of the pro-life movement.

@@RayWhiting I didn’t have many vacations growing up either. I made sure to break that mold. My children have been to many different places. Even when I thought I couldn’t afford it I actually could.

@@dw.in.michigan most employers who offer vacation have set a standard of 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick time. Until you hit certain employment year milestones. The. You accrue more

yes the side gaps are awful

I always push a toilet paper strip over it

@@zilla2724 I have no idea why I’ve never thought of doing this! Thank you haha

Yeah

Oh that one's easy, just smile and ask them how they're doing. They learn not to look at the gaps.

Neither have I

Same

Same.

We work for 10 years at one place for 2 weeks

@@merricat3025 I'm in Oklahoma and they don't offer ANY days off paid. Also, if a woman gets pregnant she loses her job in most cases because, unlike most states, it's a right-to-work state which means they don't even need a reason to fire you!😮‍💨

Stay out of my 2 foot space.

Y'all is becoming more wide spread. I'm in Minnesota and hear/use it pretty regularly.

Minnesota here too, you betcha! Skol😊

Hello 👋 Becky How are you doing today

And when you want to drink water, it's free, has ice, and is probably from the tap. Bottled water is rarely served in restaurants. Those that do serve it bottled are usually fancy restaurants (and it's usually some fancy brand that you pay for, like Pellegrino). Delis and some cafes sell it too, but that's because it's meant to be taken with you.

At the casinos in Las Vegas I think it's a whole other set of rules for drinks. LOL.

And even that is starting to go away

The video specified fountain drinks.

At least where I work, they'll cash the vacation days out at the end of the year if they go unused. Many companies won't even do that, so you've got these vacation days that expire or pile up to the point where you'd never be able to use them all.

Why aren't we? I take them all the time.

When I was younger I took a 2 week vacation once a year. I got more time off than that, but work would pile up and it would take weeks to catch up again. As I got older I took all the time off I could. Now I’m retired and loving my time and spending my energy doing things I enjoy.

@@7tatertot Yup. I take a day or two here and there, every few months, as well as on my regular two days off every week.

@@7tatertot You are probably pretty lucky then. Most people with families are living paycheck to paycheck and only get 1 to 4 days off a year. That mostly has to be used for sickness and emergencies. We have no money to go anywhere.

I’ve been in European bathrooms without doors. Well, ok. When you gotta go, you just deal with it

I think that’s one of the reasons for the space but people don’t consider that 🤷🏾‍♀️ I had an employee who had a stroke in the bathroom stall and we could get to her because of the space.

@@tonnigillis266 That’s awful 😢

@@slemdlem unfortunately she died

Gross but true...

Prairie Oysters. Ya I worked on a ranch and it came up, not one of the ranch hands had ever had them.

Being from Texas I've had RMO's. As a chef I've had stranger things. I'll go to Rodeo's and volunteer at Rodeo Austin. Fried Pickles are everywhere. Don't drink soft drinks either. Maybe it's your upbringing and where you live dictates traditions.

i get fried pickles literally everytime i see them on the menu lmao

What are bull testicles? Yikes. Never seen fried pickles and don't know anyone who has ever had them. I don't run the ac all the time. However, businesses tend to freeze everybody with blasting ac. If one person out of 100 likes it cold and complains about it being hot, they blast the rest of us so that we're miserable. We have blankets in the office and sometimes space heaters.

Yeah. They leave the sugar out of the tea and put it on the grits. God bless their little hearts...

Or when I ask for a half and half outside of Maryland they think I’m referring to cream 😅 ( a Maryland half and half is half sweet tea and half lemonade)

@@mymy38448 I think a half and half is only known outside of Maryland because of Arnold Palmers by Arizona. But even then, I call it a Palmy (because of my husband) not half and half and I'm from Virginia.

I think it’s both in Michigan, we have half and half cream and half and half tea/lemonade

New York sucks I’ve lived in New York, Long Island for 11 years

Every job I have ever had has paid vacation...

I'm American

@@woodstyleah thats very fortunate. I bet you still use your vacation days despite loving to work.

American here. I get 4 weeks paid vacation a year. Plus for every 40 hrs I work I get an additional 1/2 day off,which is a day off every two weeks with pay. Not to shabby for this blue collar guy.

@@richardgranati7188 do you use that time off? I'm just saying the video is silly for saying Americans prefer to not take time off bc the ma-jor-ity don't get any time off. The ones that get time off use it

Kiwis are fantastic folks and their country is beautiful and fun to visit. Go if you can, you won't be disappointed.

Yes, here in Utah 2.25 by law. Tip is considered part of your salary. We moved from CA where salary is minimum wage plus tip. If you don't tip here you just screwed your server.

Waiters and servers do not make minimum wage. When I waited tables, I paid my rent from tips because the pay check was never enough. What's the moral here? Tipping should be completely done away with, and business owners should pay their staff they way they should be paid and they should not have to rely on the kindness of others because not everybody tips. And honestly, I've had service that didn't deserve a tip.

@@chronicstitcher7933 that service that didn't deserve a tip is why paying servers a higher wage worth no tipping is a bad idea. This way servers have to give really good service to get better tips. Between the good service and free refills for drinks, a lot of visitors to the US are impressed with how good the service is. And if you just pay the servers a full wage, many will give the bare minimum service and still get paid.

@@ltgoddess I hope no one applies that logic to your job

@@judysocal8682 of course this is a generalization. I was a hostess and server for several years in my 20s. It's a tough job. But there are too many people getting paid good money and they do the absolute minimum. That's part of the reason we have such a shortage of workers right now. Many food service and retail businesses are looking for good applicants, but finding reliable and dedicated workers is very difficult. I guess they got used to just hanging out at home and don't feel like putting in the work. For some it's a generational thing. Some young people act so entitled and want everything done for them. Unfortunately seeing that lake of work ethic across many industries and wage levels.

I was thinking the exact same thing! I was sure it would be number one y nada.

Thank God.

I think when Carter was President they actually started putting both numbers on the speed limit signs. They didn't last long though.

But you always need that 10 millimeter socket that lives in the land of guitar picks and drum keys. If you know you know.

Q

YYYYMMDD surperioity

This, MMDDYYY, because what Hallel wrote.

It’s better imo Cause if a friend asks “what’s the date?” You answer: February 26th 2023 = 02/26/2023

Exactly!

Its just the way we say things in written form. December 25th is Christmas, although I do say 4th of July for independence day. I work with Oracle DB and in that env we use DD-MON-YYYY (10-JAN-2023).

All y'all as opposed to some of y'all! :)

It's easier to say then you all.

I had someone talking about how insensitive a politician was and I had to inform them about how his state was further from the other state in question than their country was large

Its quite small isn't it?? JK. I have road tripped all over the US. Love it down there, Friendly joke from your slightly larger neighbor to the north,

@@vivisector9999 Canada is more than slightly larger than USA. It’s ginormous and has the longest coast xD. It’s sad that most place are inhabitable lol

Australia is similar. People from overseas often have no idea how huge it is. The west to east coast is about the same as the USA east to west.

Yeah, many countries are smaller than most states. I had a friend from Germany come to visit me. We drove not even a quarter of the way through PA east to west and he was like did we cross to another state yet Luke constantly. I was like? It's been an hour, we barely crossed 2 counties. 😅

This! It's such a hassle if you do dare to take a sick day, too. They usually want a doctor's note, which costs a fortune, even if you could get in to see your doctor that same day. And they guilt trip you so badly for taking a day off as well. And when it comes time for raises or promotions, you're going to have a much harder time if you've taken your allowed time, because you won't seem as hard a worker as someone who comes to work sick and never takes the vacation time.

Most businesses don't give any sick days so that's what that tiny amount of "vacation" has to be used for.

Everytime I think about taking some time off, something catastrophic happens and ruins it. We were planning a trip for last weekend and the weekend before my wife falls down the stairs and shatters her lower leg. I got time off, but it was spent at the hospital for 3.5 days because they had to do surgery to pin and screw her bones back together. Now she is unable to bear weight on it for another 7 weeks at least. That's how my life works.

I won't accept Jobs with less than 20 days off paid a year without holidays. I like working hard but playing harder is best

@@lisadawn79 some of us don't have that luxury.

We don't deep fry everything. The only things I can think that I eat fried is fried chicken, fried fish sometimes, maybe pork chops, and fried potatoes or french fries.

Been there. 😂

@@hopemurphy9093 me too!

What’s worse is when the doors are like the doors in your house bathroom and are full on doors. 🤦‍♀️ you have to put your foot out to make sure they don’t lock those doors

My mom sent me under when a stranger's daughter accidentally locked herself in and was too young to figure it out so an 8 year old me got volunteered. Lol I've never figured why our sales tax isn't figured in either....makes no sense. Oh and the date thing? A lot of our military do day, month, year so some of us, including me, still use that for instead of month, day, year.

As a mother of five in the USA I have to agree about the bathroom stall doors🤣😂😅

I don't understand the ice snobbery either. Drinks aren't all that refreshing at room temp. It's not weird to make a beverage cold 🤷‍♀️ in regards to the air conditioning, I think they're referring to places that have it on 24/7 even when it's not hot outside like many stores do and businesses here.

Drink bottles tend to be small and chilled at restaurants so ice doesn't need to be added. This is also why there are no free refills on soft drinks.

@@jenniferh1416 I lived in France for a bit and have traveled a lot. I'm aware of how the drinks are served but I have to agree with the Americans on the ice in beverage thing. What's funny is when you ask for ice for your drink in another country and they bring you one or two cubes 😆 it's charming and amusing to me as an American. Ice in drinks is the only thing we got right over here. Literally the only thing. America is a nightmare.

The stalls are made like that in case of a medical emergency and the door is bolt locked from the other side. Hard to crawl through when you can't fit.

I'm in the PNW and I never use my air conditioning.... My fireplace and stove, that's a different story.

Yeah, what is up with the red solo cups? Ok. Sometimes they are blue, white styrofoam or paper cups, whatever. And I wouldn't think of Americans as being too smiley. A lot of people barely acknowledge you when they pass you by.

Since they were Canadian, you should have tried using English when you asked the question.

Florida doesn't have a state tax but they bang you in other ways. Hospitality tax is one.

😂

😂

Americans cannot get comfortable with the fact that "you" is both singular and plural. You will rarely hear an American use "you" plural in conversation. It's "y'all" (meaning you all) especially in the south. "Youse", "youse guys", "you guys" or similar made-up words are often heard in other parts of the country.

Except that's not the pharmacy. The pharmacy is an area inside the store.

@@3DJapan It's a drugstore with benefits!

A lot of Americans say drugstore and consider the pharmacy a department within the drugstore. Often the operating hours for the drugstore and pharmacy aren’t the same.

@@anndeecosita3586 Yeah, it says "Pharmacy" real big right above the area in most stores.

@@LoriL010 I never heard it put that way before but you're right, lol

I haven’t heard of it either.

I haven't heard of this "returns day" either. Stores do have policies that are typically printed in the receipt that lets the purchaser know of their return policy timeframe. Sometimes family will gift you items with a gift return receipt so that you can pick something else out, instead of the gift that bought you.

I think they’re referring to the day after Christmas return/sales shopping.

December 26 is the big returns day.

53 years old, have lived in 6 states, and have NEVER heard of Return Day 🤣! And there are a few more things on your list that I have NO idea who came up with those. I’m wondering who wrote that list. My daughter goes to school in Scotland and they fry way way more things than we do. For fun I ordered a fried cheeseburger. And it came in a bun 🤣😂🤣😂

I thought we wrote the date month first because it files in an internal monthly order: 01/01 (jan 1) 01/02 (jan 2) 02/01 (feb 1) 02/02 (feb 2) But if you write day first, the order gets messed up: 01/01 (jan 1) 01/02 (feb 1) 02/01 (jan 2) 02/02 (feb 2)

@@shai-huludmayhispassagecleanse for filing photos in order I use the year first, followed by month, day, hour, minute, second YYYYMMDDHHMMSS

@@JGlaister Oh yeah that’s a good one because it puts them in order and the format makes it obvious whether months or days come first

Public bathrooms used to be used for all sorts of illegal nefarious reasons,by making the doors short makes it hard to get away with anything now.

Another reason is because it's a safety feature. Should somebody have a medical emergency, it is easy for a paramedic to crawl under the door then open it from the inside. Another thing foreigners worry about is being spied on through the gaps. trust ne, it is a HUGE social taboo to be caught peeping through the gap. While I can't speak for what happens in the women's room, I can say with certainty that if caught doing it in the men's room, he would be called out as a pervert and if he's lucky be held till law enforcement can come and arrest him for public indecency. if he's unlucky, he could end up severely beaten then turned over to the police.

meanwhile as a Kansan getting grouped into what most refer to as the Midwest I have no idea what yall up north are saying I think there needs to be a northern region not just Midwest cause I say yall, ain't, bless your heart but you'll also hear an ope let me squeeze right past ya there bud I understand deep south way better than high north

Louisiana. Y’all I’ve tried. From NY, lived in PA, TX, VA, MD, SC, and some in NM - but Louisiana I’m nearly always baffled by.

Can I (we) relate to this. We moved from PA to MS (in a suburb of Memphis) and I cannot tell you how many times I could NOT understand what someone was saying to me - through a drivethru at Mc'D's, hostess at Olive Garden, a customer service person at Walmart - - I just knod and hope I don't insult them because I CANNOT understand 95% of what they are saying. It's frustrating and funny at the same time. We've been in the south 15 years now - so it is getting much easier as we've adapted but geesh! Oh - and we NEVER said "ya'll" until we moved to the south - however, being a big part of the grammar police - I still try as much as possible to enunciate ' you all ' . However, the country nature of 'ya'll' is truly endearing to the south - so I appreciate it either way.

@@kar1922I started saying yinz as a joke because I live in Pittsburgh and I actually started saying it naturally sometimes

@@kar1922 I know what you mean. I was born and raised in Alto, Michigan (2 hour drive SE of Grand Rapids) and moved to Topeka, Kansas in 90 where I was stuck for nearly 30 years then moved to Denison, Texas in 2017 but left quick as I could and in 2020 moved to a small town in SW, Oklahoma. I like it here but it's so windy I keep getting blown away by the cheap prices!🤣 Seriously, 400 bucks a month for a 2 bedroom house!!🤯 I have a hard time understanding all the Hispanic people that live around me!

Exactly! Just like the more food you can keep in your freezer the easier it is on the freezer itself. It can keep cooler for longer without using a ton of power.

Noth alabama 71 or 72, heat or air year round inside the home. Really hot , few times will go to 69 or 70.

I am also in the SE U.S. and this is what I was taught as well. However, if the air is on, it is using energy (hence a higher bill). If you are not home and not using up energy in the house, the house actually stays cooler longer because there is no movement inside. Kinda like when the electricity goes off & you try not to open the freeze or fridge too much to lose the coldess inside. That was what an FPL guy told us. We keep the a/c on 80 when we leave the house, sometimes completely off and when we turn it on, it only takes about 30 mins to cool the house. The a/c is not working harder, just longer for that period to bring the temperature down. Our a/c doesn't know the difference and shuts down once it achieves the designated temperature. You may not want to cone home to a hot house but that is better than having it on all day. Mind you, this also depends on your insulation & how many windows face east & south. Not every house is built the same.

You’re correct. A multi-stage air conditioning system in a properly insulated home should not be turned off or altered in temp if you are home or plan to be home within a reasonable number of hours. It is less energy-intensive for such a system to maintain a steady temperature than to have to cool the home from a high temperature.

Same here! I never turn it off! Sometimes even in the winter! 😂

But first, you make sure you have the calendar for the right year. So YYYY/MM/DD makes more sense.

@@RoadkillX33 either YYYY/MM/DD or DD/MM/YYYY makes sense I honestly don't get why we do it as month day year a side from wording it out like March 23rd, 2022

It's also conversational

Say April first, or first of April?

@@NateOlson I just say April Fools

I think that happens a bit less in very large companies. I can see that could be a headache in a small company however.

I agree, and I would also add Months only go to 12, Days go to 31, and Years just keep going. So the numbers are in order from least to greatest that way. Least that's how I see it :P

Exactly. I say my birthday is April, 6th 19blah blah. So that's how I write it 4/6/1988. I would never say my birthday is the 6th of April.

Just think.... 9/11 would be 11/9 ?? We also eliminate the need to say "OF" everytime .... It's March 16.. Not the 16th "OF" March

However, dates in the military are ofter day-month-year

@@gardensnob1 Correct. Like today's date would be 17MAR2022

As an American I don’t do the majority of the things in that list lol

I'm an American and I hate, "how are you?". I always answer whether they are interested or not.

I don't know where you're from, but in some places people do absolutely use "How are you?" As a replacement for hi.

I always say, “Hi, How are you?” I don’t expect a response and when people say, “Fine, how are you?” I always respond with, “Great!!” Which 99% of the time I’m horrible 🤣🤣

@@queenofkings7453 try putting a big smile on your face and giving them a cheerful "horrible" when people ask how you are as a greeting. Seriously. Try it. Most folks will read the body language, hear the cheerful tone, and reply with "glad to hear it" as they walk on by.

Dangerous.

Most pharmacies outside grocery stores aren't the "small town pharmacy" like from the '50s. But it's places like Walgreens or CVS, which are exactly the type of place this video is talking about. You can buy anything in those places.

I wonder if other countries call French dressing, French dressing. What do the french think about French dressing.

@@tsbio Good questions! What is French dressing in France? Maybe just "dressing" or something else.

@@kellialexiscronk3515 Haha, French dressing in France is a vinaigrette. French dressing in the US is a totally American thing.

@@lifeaquatic1267 Of course! That's funny. C'est la vie!

😅🤣😆😆🤣😁😃😃😃🙂🙂😊😃🤣🤣

Where I am in Louisiana the A/C is a necessity from late March to early November. You will literally melt without it.

I'm in California and it's almost always hot here, except this year, this year is a bit cooler than most.

Yep, I live in NJ and we average temps in the mid-80s F in June-August. Which would be 29-30 C, and humid as heck. We need AC.

I thought about that! It gets so hot here during the summers! I live in NC and it’ll be 90 degrees but the humidity will be 70% making it feel even worse😫

Yep I live in Georgia and it gets blazing hot here!

In the Midwest we simply cannot go without air conditioning. Sure, we can go to the pool, but our pets (we have dogs) cannot go with us and leaving them at home in a very hot house would probably kill them (it would ours as they have a ton of thick hair). With the high temps and humidity here, heat stroke can come on pretty quickly. And ice in our drinks, especially water (for me, anyways) is an absolute must!!

@@Heatherfwlr This is very true I actually have experience with this I live in California so we have pretty modest weather yet it still reaches 100-105 in the summer and one of our cats died because of the heat, we don't have air conditioner and can't afford it so we just have fans, and that's why air conditioner is a must here.

@@Mr.Dotson I’m sorry for your loss. Have you looked into a portable air conditioner? Walmart out here had one that was $239 and it cooled our living room that’s open to the dining room and kitchen. That makes up for half of our house. We put a strong fan in front of the portable unit and it actually got to the point it was too cold and we had to turn it off for a bit. And that’s on 90* weather and hella humidity.

@@Heatherfwlr Since then we have gotten one as a hand me down but it's not that powerful and can only really cool a room down by a few degrees maybe about 10 if we really push it, but we don't have any power in our upstairs so we can't put it up there to begin with so we just keep it down stairs and bring the female cats downstairs during the day, we keep them upstairs at night because we have males and females and although all the males are neutered not all the females are spaded so yeah. I didn't know Walmart sold them though I'ma have to look into that.

@@Mr.Dotson I live in Fresno, California. Our summers are definitely not modest. It's 105+ all summer. It got up to 115 in September. And the heat now starts end of April and lasts until mid-October (it was low in the 90s in early October this year). In the summer, it doesn't cool down at night. California is huge with different climates.

Lol yeah I thought the same. 10 options......of Cheerios alone! Lol I tjink Oreos have at least a dozen options all by themselves. Idk where the guy who made the video shops, but it must be at a gas station or mini mart lol.

And then you go to a super WalMart, and the amount of choices increases even more than that! lol

Yeah I thought that too. Way more options lol.

I was thinking the same thing!

Right? I live in Canada, and even in the drugstore you can get at least that many options. It's much higher in grocery stores.

Then why are there enclosed porter potties everywhere?

Because they are polymer/plastic and are much easier to bust open then the metal doors of normal stalls.

Crazy how I didn’t know that and I’m a paramedic. Who would’ve thought.

BS. When someone’s is locked in the toilet an officer can simply cut the lock with a fool they have standard in their cars.

@@bodigames What tool is that? And assuming that each and every police officer has such a tool, what makes you assume the an incapacitated person has long enough to survive for said officer to retrieve such a tool? Personally, I've never heard anything about police cruisers being equipped with reciprocating saws, standard.

Also, I wish the US would write the date like everyone else. lol

Having grown up in a military legacy (4X Marines/Navy/Army), my date writing has always been, for example "01JAN2022". When in school, I'd get beatdown by teachers for it, but I never changed.

@@TanyaQueen182 the US writes the date correctly. 📅

Great comment. I basically said the same thing. I should have read the comments section first. This country is so varied it’s unreal. Want to live in Caribbean style. You can. Want to live the ranching life. You can. Want to live in one of the largest cities on earth. You can. Basically anything you can do in America. Just have some money lol.

Line from movie Sweet Home, Alabama … “you should need a passport to come here”. So true, for some states!

I went to work at Yellowstone National Park (in Wyoming) making reservations for visiting family groups. I didn’t think anything about it. I was talking to a gentleman on the phone and all of a sudden he says “y’all, where are you from”? Being from the south and having heard it all my life it kind of shocked me. I just thought everybody said y’all, but it is in the southern states where it’s used, in the Northeast they use youse or you guys.

@@kkerr1953 Y'all is the plural form of you. It's sort of all of you.

I’m from the south(New Orleans). We say y’all in almost every sentence lol. Are y’all coming over later, where y’all at, all y’all better get back over here. The last one is why we are called “yat’s”.😂

In Pittsburgh and western PA, it's YINZ 😆

In the north, particularly MN its “You guys”. Sometimes in the old bohemian communities you’ll hear “Yous guys”.

There are waaaaay more than 50 different American accents. I live in Louisiana and there can be different accents for each little town within the state, but possibly only locals can pick up on that. Sometimes ppl from New Orleans sound like they are from New York. It’s very strange

@@kerrijacobi which is why I said there's more than 50 accents and that there's no such thing as an "American accent" 👍

@@modostig67 There is a widely generic American accent. Just as many people have a generic accent as they do a unique one.

The American accent is what I’ll call, “Hollywood English”. It’s the accent of Hollywood movies and the accent most of the world thinks is how English sounds. It’s also going to replace most accents as we all start speaking like the actors we watch in the movies, unfortunately.

@@JimmieHiggins I guess... the rest of the world does think we're all Californians. I do keep having to teach people that the strict Cali laws don't apply to the rest of the country. 🤔

That’s why I do not eat at fancy places. So much money for so little, nothing special food and then have to leave a tip that could have bought a meal for another diner. And God forbid you add an alcoholic beverage to it. You’ll have to second mortgage your house to pay.

Tipping is outdated and simply a way for places to advertise lower prices while letting their staff hope customers are generous. These owners need to take care of their employees instead of teaching them to beg for money on the job. It would be nice if sales tax were included, but given that can change down to the county (city?) it means prices would be all over the board in chain places. A $5 burger could be anywhere from $5 to over $5.50 depending on where you are. It would get even worse with new cars. I wouldn't totally be opposed to it as it would highlight high tax areas, but it certainly would be a big change.

"We also prefer cash tips, as we are taxed for anything we get in credit card tips. " You should be paying taxes on the cash tips too, but I won't tell. :-)

@@michaelwalsh564 HAA!! Oh I pay taxes on everything believe me....ugh!!!

regarding tipping, I have been alive long enough to remember when the standard tip was 10%, then increased to 10-15%, then 15-20%, now it is 20-25%,. And the rule was in restaurants you only tipped in places where food was brought to you, but if it was a self serve type of establishment than tipping was not required. Now it seems tipping in America is expected nearly everywhere. Except in the medical field, because any medical staff caught taking gratuities weather asked for or not risks being sacked if caught.

Tipping seems foreign to us because we believe wages should be paid the fair legal rate by the employer.

@@wcampbell1502 Same! I'm not afraid to still give only 10% (or less) when service isn't up to par. If I feel the server is doing his/her best, and the food meets the expectation, I'll gladly tip higher. It use to also be if service/food was poor, a penny was left as the tip - that told a message. It also used to be that the server got the whole tip & it was on him/her to share with others of the "team"; now most tips are collected and divided according to restaurant's policies. We had a local restaurant (big name chain) that closed during the Covid era, it reopened but on every page of the new menu in small print was that an additional 3% 'gratuity' was added to help cover the costs (basically) of their losses while they were closed along with expected food cost increases. That along with the suggested 20-25% tip. Menu costs were higher, portions smaller as well. We chose not to return again, and it appeared others may have followed suit and the restaurant closed permanently within six months. I'm all for doing away with the whole tip/gratuity system in ALL places it's expected and/or automatically charged (check your receipts carefully, you MAY be double-tipping!).

Was just going to post this...accurate. No ones says the date as 'the ___ of ____.' It's always spoken as the month then the day first, so that just translates to how we prefer to write it. Our brains just instinctively put the month first and day second.

@Parker Eads It's true we don't speak 1st of June but when we do documents, like court, (divorce, marriage, death, awards) it is written on the 1st day of June, 20xx so and so was present

I've seen this in China.

Everyone takes leftovers home bruh

How many countries have you been in? I've never noticed this to be a uniquely American thing, I have been to at least 10 different countries.

@@josephnebeker7976 I might have worded my statement wrong, but you cannot base a certain trait to a whole country. There might be many people from many countries who do this. Saying that only one countries does such a common thing is just wrong. Ofc not EVERYONE takes leftover home however. It’s like, in the middle

Yes. Order enough to last 2 more meals baby😂

When I worked for the cable company. I had plenty of vacation days, I just could never take them off because there was no one to replace me without shutting the whole division down.

@@TheBaldr So the company claimed🤨. But I guarantee if they had fired you a qualified replacement would've magically appeared immediately. One thing about American companies is that they're cheap. If they're able to cut cost or not pay at all, they will do so. Employees are usually the ones they enjoy being cheap with.

Theres an entire portion of the year (the end of year holidays nov-jan) when we can't use any pto at all.

Where I worked they didn't mind if you took a day off, but try to plan a vacation, never happen. You could never tell them that. Very jealous and would deliberately tell you they can't fill it, or try to call you in on day 3 of your vacation. So you never answer the phone. I had to lie and come up with a sob story to get a few days off. And other employees would hate you, because they got double the work load while you were gone.

All of you.... this may be hard to take, but its true: you ought to have made at least one attorney friend in your life. This is the antidote to "unions" even. If every American was friends with an attorney and just called them for advice when they really needed it, companies would be forced to hold themselves to higher standards. This is an undeniable fact. Nearly every attorney will give an hour for free consultation. Every legal trouble I've ever had took one phone call to an attorney's office and far less than an hour to figure out how to handle the situation on my own. Serious things even. One of the best questions I;ve asked was, "I'm not an attorney so I don't even know what to ask you, but if you were in my situation what would you advise?" Also, you should always be looking for new employment. I think its Dr Jordan Peterson who had advice about how to properly leverage that, but I don't recall ecactly. For instance, you eouldn't just tell your boss, "oh yeah? Well so-and-so offered me a job so (insert demand).." but you can carry yourself with more confidence and negotiate from a position of strength.

Depends on where you work. My husband never had to use vacation days for sick days and started with 3 weeks vacation and went up to 5 before retiring. My sister gets no paid vacation yet but finally will this year. Depends on what kind of job and education you have.

Very true. If you get sick and had to use your paid days off, there is no vacation. Many industries don't even give you paid days off. You just don't get paid if you are sick.

@@sherryd3299 sounds like your company needs a union. I've never worked a job where I didn't have paid vacation, paid sick leave, and at least 2 personal days, and I worked as a telemarketer for 8 years.

Dallas may be more consistently cool than Houston in the winter. I was so glad to finally get a thermostat (Nest) that has a heat/cool feature where I can set a temperature range and it will switch from one to the other automatically, as forecasts are unpredictable and you don't really know which one you will need each day down here. Also, just because I was running my AC before bed in December doesn't mean that I won't want the heat to kick on around 2am. It's a blessing, really.

I'm from Dallas but in East Texas and I've got a big fan pointed at my face as I write this.

It's not just to stay comfortable, sure that is a big part of it but at times it's to stay alive. I had a next door neighbor several years ago that died in her house from over heating because she didn't have air conditioning. There was record heat waves at the time but she didn't say anything to anyone. We would have helped her if we had known.... So yah AC can literally be a life saving device just as much as a furnace in the winter can. One guess on the first thing the bank did before they sold the house.... they installed an AC unit.

Same for Amarillo except we don't have the humidity. It does get hot up here. Typically 100-110 in the summer.

I'm not keen for the bad air of AC but if you really have to have it, it makes sense, but it's expensive to run, the air is not so healthy to breath, bad on the planet, and also much more expensive upfront and to operate. I had a evaporative/'swamp' cooler in Boulder CO. but nothing else in Colorado nor in California. But because my bedroom faced West and over the garage with tiles I put in a big ceiling fan which was sufficient.

Yes its very mild weather here so not much meed for it

I'm from Houston Texas and we have 3 window units. If we didn't have AC I would absolutely die. 😄

Here in Minnesota as well a/c it's gets to 100°F in summer and very humid with our 10,000 + lakes.

Arizona here. AC is a must during the Spring, Summer and Fall!

Same in Florida. Though our A/Cs apparently work differently? We have heat pumps, which I believe work as an A/C and a heater in the same unit, by either pumping heat out of the house, like an A/C, or pumping heat into the house by working in reverse..

And a straw so the ice doesn't bump our beautiful, gleaming, white teeth! Wasn't that one silly? But I'm guilty of it I guess

I don't like that tbh. It seems to me that the bartender just wanted money

@@alma_1906 Of course he did. People tend to want money and put extra work in when they think there is a chance they will get paid more. It’s just how humans operate.

Whoa the ice thing is so weird! As a girl from California, man we feel the need for some ice! Only a couple ice cubes would be a shocker :) they’d melt super fast here

Probably the only ones who complain that it's rude is when they realize you're American and didn't tip them very much or at all.

I would say this is mostly true when you’re not in a busy area. There could be an entire other video on things people do in the city vs. in the country.

@@worldview_kyp yes. I grew up in the south and most ppl greeted each other as they passed each other on the street. When I moved to nyc I had to stop that as most do not do that and look at you crazy if you do.

I just nod. I'm a bit of a misanthrope.

Better to put the year first, then documents are really sorted chronologically. YYYYMMDD is the one true unambiguous date format.

@@rowhsv that is a great point, especially for long-term projects over many years.

Ya know, they are separated so you could just look at the second group...

I like the month first because it tells me more about where in time you are than the day does. March 16th makes me immediately know that we are talking about spring (yes I’m in the States). Whereas 16th of March doesn’t immediately orient me. I just wish we used different date dividers so that when you come across something labeled 08/10/22 you know if it’s from August or October. Like, the States could use periods and everywhere else dashes or something.

@NoYiu not efficient to think?

I've never heard of a parkway!!

LOL. I once knew a young women and her husband who were from Maine. Her name was Diana and his was Marty. She always said, Mawdy. So I worked up the nerve one day to ask her, "Is his name Marty or Mawdy?" Well, of course she answered Mawdy. So I asked her to spell it. LOL No R's at all.

You are so right, and that's one cool thing about the U.S.

I Disagree

@@dan9809 what do you want to complain about bro

@@hootscooter1075 Many things. Such as, Mega Bathroom Tissue Rolls which are supposedly 4X more than a single roll. Come on! Who is measuring these rolls? Another is Heavy Duty Kitchen Trash Bags. Also, the removal of plastic grocery bags. I thought there was a tree shortage and we were supposed to hug trees. Who are they fooling? Recycling is fraudulent scam. Where I live, I can't even put metal into my recycle bin, unless it's a food can. What recycling place doesn't accept metal shelves cut up to fit into the recycle bin? Mine apparently. $25/week for them to take 3 kitchen bags of trash and choose what they want to recycle.

We are not all alike we have different Forefathers.

Yep, first line is a shot, second is a glass of wine and the top line is one serving of beer

@@TURK_182 Like we ever paid attention, lol.

@@fridaylong2812 true

not many people actually know that... !!! but yes, they do. !!!

the red solo cup was designed by a guy named Sandy Dvore, who was a friend of mine in the '90s. (google red solo cup and Sandy Dvore and you'll find the story.) he also designed (and did the art) for the opening sequence of the TV shows The Waltons, the Partridge Family, the Young and the Restless, worked with Frank Sinatra, David Bowie. Sammy Davis Jr. was instrumental to his career getting a start. and on and on. he passed away Nov. 2020.

Glad you mentioned the computer way of using YYYYMMDD, it makes it so much easier to store & retrieve files. I just wish I could convince my co-workers to adopt it, sigh. 2022_03_17

The month and day order also reflects how we say our dates. We would say October 27th, not the 27th of October as one might in the UK.

Maybe it's because I'm a computer software developer, but I normally use YYYYMMDD, often without any slashes, because it's more logical. It also makes it easy to add the time, if that's relevant: YYYYMMDD.HHMMSS. And I always use 24-hour times rather than am/pm. But I usually revert to the usual U.S. way of doing things when communicating with other people, since I know they may misunderstand me if I don't.

?

YYYY-MM-DD is an ISO standard. I write dates that way all the time, and get rather flustered when I'm presented with forms that require a MM-DD-YY(YY) format. I'm an American, and our system makes no sense at all.

Also for little kids that can't open a sticky latch.

Also so you can tell which stalls are occupied.

Plus if they tap their foot the right way gay dudes can score according to Boston legal.

If there are doors at all.

Easier to mop up the floor.

Ironically, snipes is an actual species of bird

Yea, I don't know anyone who eats Rocky Mountain Oysters and have never seen them on a menu on the West Coast, nor in my travels to the East Coast or visiting family elsewhere in the U.S. (Granted I haven't been to the Rocky Mountains yet.) As far as I can tell, it's an extremely niche thing. I'd wager to bet that most Americans think it's weird and gross and quite possibly haven't even heard of them or think it's just a myth. 😅

I have eaten rocky mountain oysters on several occasions. Breaded and deep fat fried. YUMMY!! We used to have a small restaurant in our area and that was one of their specialties. I live in Wyoming close to the Montana border. Cowboy country! Beef country! Rocky mountain oyster country! Lol

@@ennazusmiranda unless you are at a restaurant where the parking lot is full of pickups and you passed 3 feed stores and a tractor dealership to get there, you won't see them on a menu. Little bull calves are castrated to make little steers at a young age, long before they reach market size. Steers generally produce better meat. They are also more docile. Put a bunch of bulls in a field together and they will act like a bunch of teen-aged boys...fighting among themselves and trying to figure out how to get an opportunity to mount any female within view...this is very hard on fences. Bulls (intact males) often need to be kept in separate stalls for these reasons. It only takes 1 bull to service an entire pasture of heifers/cows. Why deal with the hassle of multiple bulls when you can take care of it with a scalpel, a little rubber ring, and a bucket of iodine? (FWIW, this is also when any branding, tattooing, ear-tagging, inoculations, etc. are taken care of.) Since this happens pre-market, you generally wont find them in a grocery store...unless it is the one over by the tractor dealership. Further, calves are generally born in the spring and fall, so Rocky Mountain Oysters are both regional AND seasonal. (Disclaimer: Nothing here should be construed as an appropriate way to handle your daughter's new boyfriend, although pointedly describing the procedure to the young man may be effective.)

@@ennazusmiranda it's fairly common in the Midwest (cattle country!)

I was scrolling through to see if any waitresses we're going to explain why Americans tip their food servers. Most waitresses aren't making minimum wage, therefore, tipping becomes mandatory for them to live. ...and a lot of people in the general public need to remember that when they're being rude, demanding and/or don't tip.

Yea that was in the 80s. Tipping isn’t an option now, it’s obligatory. There’s a legal loophole that allows restaurants to pay their servers less than minimum wage, and that amount rn is roughly the same amount you were paid in the 80s. Needless to say with inflation, that’s not enough even to pay rent. Tips now are what offset the cost of living for many servers. They wouldn’t be able to pay for rent, utilities, and other basic bills if customers didn’t tip.

Waitress salaries are the result of sexism.

Um, $100 a day ($400-500 a week) was barely enough to live on then; and even less so now. So I wouldn't list that as a good thing.

@@kennethcook9406Maybe you should work on your maths. $500 a week in the early 80's would be the equivalent of $70,000 -$89,500 today (depending on which year you pick). That's a decent salary by anyone's standards, and to earn that waiting on tables was pretty incredible.

I like it!👍

😁😆👍

As a native Jorjan, I feel the need to add that "Alls y'all" is the correct way to imply plurality while "All y'alls" is the correct way to imply possession.

@@Drakijy Up here north of Pittsburgh, we just say Yinz. :)

I too am a Southern Gentleman, I will not forget that fact of reasoning. Good day, to “All Y’all.”

🤔Grew up in Pennsylvania and have driven cross country(trucking). Y'all is pretty common place across the country. Expectaully in Pennsylvania. Where it's used by both country and city folks.🤷‍♂️

in Pittsburgh we say yinz...

Also, generally, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.

Where I live in Michigan, we say y’all rather then you guys, move to another place in Michigan and you’ll hear you guys, it’s weird I know

@@delvine13 not in the north; we say ‘you guys’.

Kind of like a nice introduction to the South, however.

We live in Michigan and we love to visit Kentucky such a beautiful State.

I would NEVER. 🤢🤢

@@jboi4life83 Agreed- I would not eat them.

@@janetjacobsen5850 I don't even eat regular oysters. 😂

@@jboi4life83 Neither do I

It applies to colorado only xd

I can’t spare a square! I don’t have a square to spare!

How do you sneak toilet paper. The walls are still too low to reach up under and grab it unless you are on the bathroom floor. You must have very long arms 😂

That is an upside! I've definitely been on both sides of that equation. It's easy to pass the next woman some tp. I think the reason the stalls are short is that they're cheaper. In fancier places they tend to have full doors. In some places, they do leave a gap on top, so it's not floor to ceiling, but definitely full coverage for taking care of business.

@@annabanabanana It's not that you can reach the TP in the next stall over. But, if there's someone in the next stall you can ask them to hand you some TP without having to get up and open the door.

I’d say 25% or even 30% is more appropriate in expensive cities like NYC, San Francisco, and Austin. It is especially important to tip waitstaff because as a rule they do not have health insurance or sick leave, and medical costs here are obscene

Also, a restaurant does not have to pay sales tax on tips. If restaurants had to pay the sales tax on tips which is the equivalent of good pay for the help and higher menu prices you would see a difference.

@@birdnird Yet places like Tennessee minimum wage for servers is $2.25

So not true. There is at least a Federal minimum wage. Sometimes state min wage is sometimes more. Tips are just that. A thank you for a job well done and is extra.

@@taffykins2745 Nope. Look it up. 1. Different rules for the service industry. 2. Remains of Slavery.