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I'm French But Lived In The US For Almost A Decade; These Are The Weird American Quirks I Still Think About

I mean...these really ARE strange.

Hi! I'm Marie. I'm French — but I spent eight years living in the US.

During that time, I noticed a few funny American quirks. Here are some of them. (Please don't send me angry emails.)

1. Nonadjustable shower heads.

2. Being carded when you're old enough to be an AARP member.

Scene from the movie "Superbad" of McLovin getting carded.

3. Being able to buy prescription drugs, a pack of beer, cigarettes, and candies all from a pharmacy??

Picture of a Walgreens.

4. Asking "How are you?" when you just mean "Hello" and don't want to know how the person is.

5. Serving water iced no matter the weather or the season.

Picture of a glass of water filled with ice cubes

6. Waiters constantly checking in on you at the restaurant...

7. ...and refilling your glass every few minutes.

8. The concerning number of flags.

9. Having to share a room with someone in college.

10. The insane number of commercial breaks on TV.

11. Having to tip everywhere.

12. All the dances in high school.

13. Being able to vote at 18 but not being allowed to drink.

14. The size of your cars.

European style mobility vs American style mobility #smart #smartcar #pickuptruck #car #truck #mobility #downtown #dtlv #lasvegas #vegas https://t.co/dqCRNCrKwN

Twitter: @LVElectrified

I know the US is a big country, with big roads and big cities, but do you really need cars *this* big?

15. And the size of your highways, too.

16. All the crazy commercials for prescription drugs.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

What's the point of making these ads in the first place if 80% of airtime is dedicated to all the horrible potential side effects??

17. The massive portions at restaurants.

18. The huge gaps around the doors in public bathroom stalls.

Also, due to there not being "occupied" notices on toilet doors, they instead make the door gap really large. đźš˝

Twitter: @keithpitt

On the plus side, you always know if it's occupied or not.

19. The overuse of air conditioning.

20. The HUGE glasses of wine.

21. Prices being listed before tax.

22. All the subway and highway ads for lawyers and doctors.

I would trade every obnoxious Hims, Seamless, and Casper ad in existence just to see a Doctor Zizmor subway banner one more time. #nyc #drzizmor #subway

Twitter: @SchadenJake

I miss Dr. Zizmor. (But also, please don't pick your lawyer or doctor from a subway ad.)

23. Writing dates MM/DD/YYYY instead of DD/MM/YYYY.

24. Calling this crime against cheese "mozzarella."

Bag of shredded mozzarella

25. Not using the metric system.

26. And using Fahrenheit instead of Celsius degrees.

27. Selling everything in tons of different flavors.

Dear Oreo, what's up w/ all your weird flavors? No need to mess with perfection.

Twitter: @colleen_brianna

Torture for any Libra.

28. Putting rugs in kitchens.

29. The fact that all of your bank notes look almost the same.

30. The obsession with flavored lattes and Fraps.

Picture of a Starbucks purple frapp

31. Laws changing from state to state.

32. Easy Cheese.

33. People going food shopping in their PJs.

hahaha RT @beckylong Grown man in holiday-critter pjs @ grocery store. I am really hoping he's single. Fingers crossed.

Twitter: @paxr55

I have seen this in the wild several times, and I'm actually into it! Who said you shouldn't wear pajamas at the store? The world is going to shit, so anyone should just wear whatever makes them feel comfy and cozy at all times.

34. Calling a (not even) North American competition the "World Series."

Logo from the 1994 World Series

35. And calling this "French bread."

Not entirely convinced enough people understand the importance of $1 French bread at Walmart

Twitter: @AminaSwitzer

This is an even bigger affront to French culture than Emily in Paris.