Things that baffle you about another country

[Soubriquet]

America:-

Why are the gaps in the toilet doors so wide? Do you really enjoy an audience?

Why can’t tax be included in the price? If I want to buy something for a dollar it should be a dollar! Not dollar plus tax!

Australia:-

Still weird that you have Christmas in summer.

Wonder if they have different Christmas songs there.

Can’t see walking in a winter land being a big hit.

More like hiding from a hot heatwave

^Puzzled - it is absolutely true. The pooing Nativity man even has his very own Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer^

There’s Boris-caganer currently on eBay

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Catalan-Caganer-Pooping-Boris-Johnson-Figurine-in-Handmade-Terracotta-NEW-/233394099092?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=233394099092&targetid=1141640585251&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=1006907&campaignid=12125450846&mkgroupid=116304586509&rlsatarget=aud-629407026865:pla-1141640585251&abcId=9300480&merchantid=6995734&gclid=Cj0KCQiA6t6ABhDMARIsAONIYyzBGdrvZ5a-9PSErCvQehbjRsOLSCbM0C_kbsrYEFlHXjo8TQdtTdkaAiQaEALw_wcB&pageci=335ea5b8-978d-49f3-85bf-c4b022e187fd

The class system in Britain stems from 1066 when the Normans invaded. The king and aristocracy were all Norman French and most are still descended from them (including David Cameron). Upper class here refers to these people whereas other countries have an upper class based on money.

Fair point @Gwenhwyfar. In that case I’ll nominate dressing your kids as if preparing for a polar expedition until well into May ( France).

@SushiSoozie

I wondered how long it would be until we got very offensive posts about Ireland. Took longer than I thought but they were more offensive than ever

Fuck me do you know nothing at all about Ireland!

I agree.

@CaptainMyCaptain

The class system in Britain stems from 1066 when the Normans invaded. The king and aristocracy were all Norman French and most are still descended from them (including David Cameron). Upper class here refers to these people whereas other countries have an upper class based on money.

Wasn't David Cameron related to Katherine the Great of Russia

@Betsybetty

Oh please, can't you think of anything that hasn't been done to death on the thread and debunked or explained?

Washing dishes in running water is a sign of wastefulness and incompetence.
For toilet bowls read the first 17 pages of this thread.

Ssome people on this thread even thought we scoop our shit out of the bowl and display it somewhere. It is getting old.

Wasn't David Cameron related to Katherine the Great of Russia I only know his claim to have descended from the Normans but it's quite possible. Most of us have a variety of ancestors but his seem to be directly from the 'ruling classes'.

[quote LifeExperience]@Gwenhwyer If people with murderous intent don't have access to guns they will find other ways to kill. The overall homicide statistics bear witness to that.[/quote]
But you can't kill as many people in the same amount of time with a knife. When we had a school shooting in Scotland (Dunblane), gun controls were introduced and we've never had one since.

@CaptainMyCaptain

Wasn't David Cameron related to Katherine the Great of Russia I only know his claim to have descended from the Normans but it's quite possible. Most of us have a variety of ancestors but his seem to be directly from the 'ruling classes'.

There is definitely a resemblance and I remember reading something about it.

Interesting about the Norman connection but makes sense, the land of the shires handed down over generations

@CaptainMyCaptain

The class system in Britain stems from 1066 when the Normans invaded. The king and aristocracy were all Norman French and most are still descended from them (including David Cameron). Upper class here refers to these people whereas other countries have an upper class based on money.

Other countries absolutely do have class systems that aren't entirely money based - 'nouveau riche' isn't a uniquely British concept. Americans often claim to have no class system, but usually know what the term WASP means and its implications...

"Upper class here refers to these people whereas other countries have an upper class based on money."

Loads of countries have aristocracies. Even in the US, I don't think it's 'just' money that makes people upper class. They have their 'old' families and their 'good' families as well.

"Americans often claim to have no class system, but usually know what the term WASP means and its implications..."

I don't think a family like the Kennedys in just middle class with some money.

@Highfalutinlootin

So much xenophobia on this thread, my goodness.

On America and guns: I know Europeans always struggle to understand just how vast and truly wild America it's because Europe is so densely populated and built out that it's hard for Europeans to imagine living anywhere you might actually need a gun for survival due to wildlife threats and being too remote to receive police assistance. There are many places in the U.S. where there are bears, elk, mountain lions, wolves etc. that can and will kill you on your property if you don't have a gun to defend yourself. Why guns? Because that was the history of life on the frontier, which was many Americans until fairly recently. Just because it's not a reality in Europe doesn't mean it's no longer a reality in other countries. Do some reading.

Yeah. You really need a machine gun around your neck walking around Walmart 🙄

@CaptainMyCaptain

Wasn't David Cameron related to Katherine the Great of Russia I only know his claim to have descended from the Normans but it's quite possible. Most of us have a variety of ancestors but his seem to be directly from the 'ruling classes'.

Everyone alive now is related to former monarchs and aristocrats. Almost everyone in Europe is descended from Charlemagne. Cameron is not that distantly related to the current Queen, that's more of a thing imo.

@whataboutbob

Fair point *@Gwenhwyfar*. In that case I’ll nominate dressing your kids as if preparing for a polar expedition until well into May ( France).

Yes, but the counterpart is British people going out in tiny skirts and no coats in the middle of winter. You can take a layer off, but you can't add one if you haven't got it.

America does have a class system - but it's all new money compared to Europe.

Imagine making an annual visit to a country that you thought was the strangest and the cruelest there was.

Doesn't seem like a very clever thing to do, to pay to spend time in a place you dislike so much.

Goodness me.

Phoebe from Friends trying to fit in with some posh people:

They're obviously rich as well, but it's not just money is it?

^Puzzled - it is absolutely true. The pooing Nativity man even has his very own Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer^
There’s Boris-caganer currently on eBay grin

Ponders if it'll go with my new and rather taseful blonde wood nativity scene
Realises it won't

@Gwenhwyfar

"Upper class here refers to these people whereas other countries have an upper class based on money."

Loads of countries have aristocracies. Even in the US, I don't think it's 'just' money that makes people upper class. They have their 'old' families and their 'good' families as well.

I didn't mean Britain was the only place with an aristocracy but the aristocracy here is based on an invasion. I'm sure there has been a certain amount of mingling over the centuries since but the origins are from a two tier system.

The US have their 'old' families and their 'good' families as well

Yes, and then they have the Kennedys - and if that's not baffling I don't know what is

@Gwenhwyfar

"Americans often claim to have no class system, but usually know what the term WASP means and its implications..."

I don't think a family like the Kennedys in just middle class with some money.

Those who believe there is no class system in the US really need to go to Boston, or the Newport, Rhode Island Polo Club Ball. But don't do the latter if you are not white; nobody will talk to you except expat brits who don't really belong there.

Wasn't David Cameron related to Katherine the Great of Russia
Catherine was German. Does he have German ancestry?

In the United States, building codes often prevent installing clothes washers in the kitchen, but putting them in a bathroom is permissible. Many zoning codes prohibit clotheslines outside, as they are considered unattractive. It doesn’t bother me, as it’s a sign of cleanliness and good order.

[quote mommybunny]@Nancydrawn you are right about not being allowed to pump your own gas in New Jersey but as far as I’m aware it isn’t the only state where that applies: unless the law has changed in the last 20 years, Oregon also didn’t allow people to pump their own gas.

And lest people think it was just a way to increase the price of petrol, it was almost always much cheaper to fill up in New Jersey than over the bridge in New York. We had among the lowest gas prices in the country when I was growing up.[/quote]
I forgot about Oregon! Actually, they changed the law a few years ago and you can pump your own gas in small cities/towns/rural areas. But you're still prohibited in the big cities. No self-pump in Portland!