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

When I was in Canada the gap was at the bottom. The door started at about knee height

The tops of the doors are pretty low too - what with that and the gaps at the bottom and sides there's really not much door at all

I don't think it's hard to figure out 15%, you take 10% of the bill (easy), then add half of that again. Though I admit we are used to it

Call me a muppet but I just double the tax and round it up. So if it's (say) $6.42 I'll call it $7, double it to $14 and hand over a five and a ten

I’m from Florida and live here now, but lived in North Carolina for a few years, and have never been without a clothes line. I don’t put bras in the dryer to be destroyed when a few minutes on the lines dries them. My former in-laws were from Pennsylvania and quite wealthy, but always used a line, even on a very expensive and exclusive island they had their winter home on. But when I told a co-worker that I like my bath towels hung out to dry, she laughed. I think they absorb water better than when they come out of the dryer.

@banivani

But does your building code forbid electricity in bathrooms altogether? No, because you have lights. So it's possible - why does no-one do it when for example building a new house or renovating?

Bathrooms are divided into zones and electrical fittings have to be suitable for the zone that they are in, broadly speaking they are divided into areas with different requirements.

Why they price things at $x.99 in Australia when you don't get the cent change?
Just round it up to a full $

I've got a plug in my bathroom in airing cupboard but don't use it

@Naticus

Why they price things at $x.99 in Australia when you don't get the cent change? Just round it up to a full $

That used to be a thing here although not so much now I think. Anyway, who uses cash nowadays? (This past year I mean. )

Anyway I am going to think about what baffles me about other countries now.
I'm sure the citizens of those countries will be fascinated to hear your insights.

Denmark does the same with DKr x.99 and they don't give you any change.

Something to do with psychology - x.99 and it's less than X, well, not so that you would notice!

Sunflower and buttercups-
Some people are wicked snotty snobs.

There are informal rules about hanging clothes to dry. Sheets go on the outside, followed by towels and dishcloths. Clothes are then hung, with underpants, socks hung next to their mates, and nightwear in the miles of parallel lines. Bras, shape wear, and tights are dried inside, so no one sees them.

Why don't French people have kettles

When i was in canada you could only buy huge bags of crisps ( potato chips) no individual bags , not sure if changed?
Also there large pizzas are huge and seemed loads cheaper than say a dominos here
But was a few yeArs ago so guess it could changed
And I don't know why but i really want chinese out the pots they have in america , ever since I see lost boys

@SushiSoozie

I don't know why you're getting so upset about it 😂 I'm from a tropical climate, so think I am qualified to say that yes, it does get quite hot here, and for quite a few months. Where do you live? Scottish isles?

The average temp in the UK in the warmer SE, is 18-23 deg C. IF you're from a tropical climate and you think 18-23 is HOT, there is something wrong with your internal thermometer.
Objectively, the UK cannot ever be described as a hot country.

@SushiSoozie it's hot as hell inside people's homes, hence my point about AC/fans etc. In the tropics our houses are designed totally differently so keep cool. Here homes are designed to retain heat I guess, and that they do in the hot months! And opening a window when there is no breeze doesn't really do much at all. I just don't think it's that big a deal to have a couple of fans around, but people will sit and talk about how hot it is while sweating and smiling and would not think to purchase a fan.

WHY do Americans pollute all dishes with cinnamon? National obsession.

Ireland on my go to place but worried it won't live upto my expectations

@snowliving

Also the amount of tip expected is around 18% in restaurants. DP was really offended when the server in one place wrote this on the bill.

He shouldn't have taken it personally, it is just that a lot of Brits who visit the USA don't understand how tipping work.
So they either don't tip or think they are being very generous with 10%.

My point was that we were well aware it was customary. It was that the server felt the need to point out it was expected he felt was rude.

"That really doesn't work well"

No, opening the windows doesn't work when it's over 30 degrees, but it works in a normal British summer.

"we are in the middle of summer atm so I know what I'm talking about. "

You're obviously not in the UK then are you?

Why don't French people have kettles

www.darty.com/nav/achat/petit_electromenager/petit_dejeuner-bouilloire_theiere/bouilloire/index.html

@Literallynoidea

Why don't French people have kettles

Because they drink more coffee than tea. I think some of them probably do have a kettle, but not everyone.

I live in new build uk and def could use air con upstairs at least , as its hot from april to sept

I don't know if this still happens but in Indonesia if they didn't have enough change they'd give you a few sweets instead.

I haven't rtft.
Do some countries (i remember Greece being one) still have the system of not flushing toilet roll down the loo but placing it into a usually open bin next to the toilet?

Im from the uk. I wash up in a bowl. I change the water frequently - is the alternative washing up in running water as surely you would have the same issue if you washed up in a sink with a plug?
Also I wouldn't wash up without a bowl in a belfast sink for fear of breaking things.

'My point was that we were well aware it was customary. It was that the server felt the need to point out it was expected he felt was rude.'

Many servers in America don't even earn minimum wage so I can understand that they feel the need to point out tipping culture to tourists. Some people might find it rude of course, and refuse to tip at all, but more often it probably works out in the servers' interests.

@Annedunne181Ireland rarely gets credit for the quiet examination and dismantling of the institutions of power over the last two generations. The complete overturning, not just of church power but of the socially entrenched attitudes within living memory are incredible achievements. And it has largely been driven by phenomenal women like Mary Robinson amongst others

And it’s easy to sneer at the power given to the Catholic Church when you don’t look back a bit further to the religious persecution and discrimination that drove people to become so entrenched in that religion. Vast numbers of people would have had no access to schooling, and healthcare without the Catholic Church. The Industrial schools and the Mother and Baby Homes were appalling but it’s easy to forget that they were also a vast improvement on the Workhouses that they replaced. What happened was inexcusable and shameful and also part of a process of social change and ever shifting cultural values. Ireland is a country that isn’t afraid to lift the rocks of its history and take a good look underneath.
The period of time when the Catholic Church held immense power was very short and coincided with a period of political stagnation. And it’s simply wrong to assume that everyone was a devoted Catholic. Among my grandparents generation there was always an undercurrent of dislike and mockery. It took time to gather momentum. Of course there’s more to be done but in contrast with some countries with their blind patriotism and glorification of military or colonial achievements, genocides of native people, and no attempt to address the other side of their history, I don’t think Ireland deserves the reputation of being a backward place.

"@SushiSoozie it's hot as hell inside people's homes"

It just isn't though! I've been hot on a bus and in an office building because both of those can have a greenhouse effect with too many windows, I've never been boiling hot inside a house in the UK in the summer.
Granted, I'm not from the south of England, but I'm not from the coldest part of the UK.
Are you really sure it's not the menopause? It's not normal to think it's 'hot as hell' in house in the UK.

@Exhausteddog

I haven't rtft. Do some countries (i remember Greece being one) still have the system of not flushing toilet roll down the loo but placing it into a usually open bin next to the toilet?

Im from the uk. I wash up in a bowl. I change the water frequently - is the alternative washing up in running water as surely you would have the same issue if you washed up in a sink with a plug?
Also I wouldn't wash up without a bowl in a belfast sink for fear of breaking things.

Greece and toilet roll - yes still true. Also Turkey, Cuba and Egypt.