American Sitcoms - how much is similar to reality?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Driving while talking on the phone
Driving while looking sideways at the passenger for a long time
Driving after a good few beers
Baby into their own room from day1
Spending hours in coffee houses irrespective of working schedules
Hanging up the phone without saying bye
Hanging up the phone without clarifying where or when they will meet
Eating out 99% of the time

P.s. lighthearted. No dig at all. Be happy to say what the English do/don't do according to tv "norms"

the baby's partner's sister

The kids date really early in sitcom land!

Do they?

Yes. Especially the phone whilst driving and looking at the person next to them when driving. People are always in the pub/cafe on,say, Eastenders.

@ChandlerIsTheBestFriend you can cook lasagne from frozen, and steak too according to Google (never tried the latter!)

@1066vegan
I've always wondered about maternity wards. In every American programme I've seen, if someone has a baby and their family or friends want to come and see them, they go to a big window. On the other side are rows and rows of newborn babies and a nurse will hold up the right baby. It looks horrible. It isn't really like that, is it?

I don't know about American maternity wards but that is how I met my brother for the first time in the UK. It was in the 1960's and I remember my dad lifting me up so that I could see through the window and the nurse really did hold him up for us to see.

you can cook lasagne from frozen, and steak too according to Google (never tried the latter!)

I had no idea!

Up until recently in Texas it was not illegal to use the phone while driving. rights!! Now you are only allowed to use it hands free and to check the map basically, so still not completely banned.

In my town it seems a lot of people get takeout 3-4 a week. We can’t afford it, I can’t understand who can afford it tbh. Everyone seems to have more money than us around here. My old boss said it was because commutes are so long and people get in late then are too tired to cook. Generally for our family of 5 fast food will be $40, proper restaurant takeout will be $100 or so incl tip and delivery.

Yes houses are massive! Except ours . A friend just sold their 6000 sq ft house. There were only 3 living in it. We bought our house from a retired couple who found it too small and were upsizing. It’s a 4 bed with an extra lounge and study .

I used to cook the massive Costco Lasagnes from frozen works fine.
I still cook meat from frozen. I thought everyone did.

you can be extremely slim with a tiny bump and still not have a breech baby detected until the moment of birth.

I did that twice, weighted about 7.5 stone at the start nearly 9 at the end, breech detected at 8cms when I arrived in the hospital.
Second weighted similar detected breech at 6cms when I arrived at the hospital.
I had gone to all my prenatal visits scans etc. In the US.

Not putting the lights on the minute they get in to their house.

Well you do understand tv is fiction, and so scenarios are for effect, not based on reality.
But the drinking thing? When I was a teenager in the 80s they made a law (Massachusetts) that if you gave someone drinks in your home and they then had an accident you were liable - I always thought drinking and driving laws were much stricter there than here.
Being on the phone while driving - it's outrageous
Thing is each state can make their own laws.

And babies in their own room - my babies were too. It's only a recent recommendation (and that means it's not a requirement) to have them with you.

A lot of this depends on what state you live in or when/where you had babies.
Some states have laws only allowing hands free use of phones, some only have laws about texting while driving, some it’s a free for all.

A lot of hospitals have done away with nurseries, so even if you wanted to send them you can’t. They’re called “baby friendly”. Baby stays in the room with mom the whole time including any tests, etc. Most of the women I know have delivered with midwives in a hospital with a doctor on call for emergencies.

We eat take out about 5 times a week between lunches and dinner. We’re about average for the people we know.

The only time I’ve ever known people to hang out in coffee shops was in college and they were usually studying.

I’ve never driven after drinking any alcohol but yes a lot of people will drink wine or beer while out to dinner and think nothing of driving home.

I only know 2 people who look at their passenger to talk while driving and it makes everyone nervous.

Is it really easy to get a driving license in the US? In sitcoms they seem to have a few lessons at school, then pop along to the licensing place for test without and pre planning

The weather is always lovely. The twilight films and the goonies are the only films I can think of where the weather is crap.

Characters in sitcoms are either cynical New Yorkers, rich LA lifestyle or Deep South hillbillies.

I live in the suburbs in the Midwest. Here's my answers:

Driving while talking on the phone They all do it and it infuriates me
Driving while looking sideways at the passenger for a long time More a TV thing
Driving after a good few beers Yup, they are terrible. Mind you, Bud light etc aren't strong, but still not okay
Baby into their own room from day1 Not common from my experience
Spending hours in coffee houses irrespective of working schedules nope
Hanging up the phone without saying bye no. They all say "mmmbye" around here
Hanging up the phone without clarifying where or when they will meet nope
Eating out 99% of the time much more common but does depend on the family. My in laws do a lot, DH and I don't.

Is it really easy to get a driving license in the US? In sitcoms they seem to have a few lessons at school, then pop along to the licensing place for test without and pre planning

Each state has it’s own requirements. The state I got my license we took drivers ed for a quarter in school, had to do 40 hours behind the wheel with a private driving school, plus hours with parents, a written test, and a driving test.

I had to do a multiple choice test and drive round the block for my USA test.
I struggle to imagine anyone failing it.

In terms of eating out, my grocery bills double to tripled when moving to USA, eating takeaway isn't super cheap but is about the same as the UK. The difference between buying and cooking meals isn't that great here ( Urban Midwest)

Sitcoms from the UK.....
How close to reality are they??🤦‍♀️😂

So easy to get a driving license here. There was a multiple choice theory that was mostly common sense. I did have to drive on the road but it was max 10 minutes, didn’t involve manoeuvres and my guy even gave me reminders to stop at stop signs. I can’t imagine anyone failing it unless you’ve literally never driven a car before.

Of the other stuff, I’m a city dweller and work full time so don’t drive a lot and don’t have a lot of time to hang around coffee shops. The only one that I recognise is ordering take out all the time. My boss reckons her family never cook dinner.

Everyone seems to wear their shoes and put their feet on their sofas and beds. Surely that's not real?

It's piss easy to get your drivers licence here. After 8 years of not driving in London, I got 98/100 on the test with only a few hours practice. What scares me most is the guy at the DMV said he almost never saw scores that high which says so much about the quality of driving here.

For reference, it took me 3 pops to pass my UK test and I scraped by!

I live in LA
Yes every coffee shop is full of people working and meeting other people every hour of the day

I expect to always take my shoes off in people’s houses here, most people do

All my friends that have had babies have had private rooms and I think the babies have been with them most of not all of the time - but yes as PP says birth is highly medicalised and midwives a nice bonus, not the norm

People use their fucking phone in their cars all the time AND it’s illegal here!!

Take out isn’t cheap but general
Grocery shopping is also more expensive than the U.K.

I learnt to drive here (on an automatic), took 4 x2hr lessons and my test was 9mins long, no manoeuvres

A lot of the things you have listed, are what a lot of Brits do every day.

Baby into their own room from day I have an 11 month old in NYC, and I don't know anyone who had the baby in their own room from day one. More common is still sharing a room at a year +.

Also, regarding the nurseries in hospitals - when I had my baby last year, I knew they had a nursery, but I didn't use it. Baby roomed in with me. They don't do postnatal wards in the US - it's either a private room or sharing with one other person.