What's one thing you've seen in other countries that you wish we had here?

[chocolateychurros]

In my home country, we have riders on motorbikes whose job it is to transport things from one place to another.
For example, if you left your charger at your mums, you could just request one of those and they would bring it straight to you.
Mind you in that country taxis are a lot cheaper than they are over here, so even if we had something like this here it would probably be too expensive and not worth it.

Prescription free drugs. Having to get a scrip for antibiotics is ridiculous.

Considering the damage that unnecessary use of antibiotics causes, leading to antibiotic resistance, I think it’s a very good thing that they aren’t able to be accessed freely.

Berlin has the numbers on trees too, and they ARE used to report "tree emergencies". :-) For example when a tree has fallen over in a storm or looks diseased enough to possibly endanger the public - e.g. they can develop big cracks in the trunk or where branches attach to the trunk, so look in imminent danger of falling over or dropping a branch.
On a less emergency basis, people also use the numbers to report trees that look diseased or are in need of trimming. One reports to the Grünflächenamt, a government department in charge of streets and green spaces used by the public.

Me, yes, yes.

Now I know the tree emergencies!
I did have to report a fallen tree once, fell on power lines and was probably the cause of the 5 day power cut I was experiencing. But no tree numbers, so just had to say there's a fallen tree somewhere on this [very long country] road.

I do this anyway when I pick up a Click and Collect order from M&S or John Lewis.

Cheesecake Factory cheesecake!!

The school age to start at 7 like most other countries! Just doesn't feel right sending tiny 4&5 year olds to school all day 5 days a week.

Is it like "actual" school at 4 or 5?
I am from CE, we start at 6, but at 5 we need to be in pre-school, most go from 4 anyway.
(maternity leave is 2 or 4 years). It's playtime with some basic play learning. Letters, numebrs etc, but basics

Stand your ground laws and the ability and right to defend yourself and your property.

SUN

Fully functioning hospitals with high levels of hygiene, cleanliness and tidiness. And nursing staff without greasy hair and stained uniforms.

DD was admitted to hospital in Prague. She was amazed at how sparkling clean and quiet everything was. She had fully expected to spend at least 12 hours on a dirty plastic chair in a grubby, chaotic A&E.

Instead, within 2 hours she was seen by 2 doctors, had an ultra sound, had results back from her blood tests and was put to bed on an immaculately clean, quiet and orderly ward.

On the cleaner public transport/toilets/streets, which is the chicken, which is the egg? Do people litter/leave dog shit and put feet on seats/be antisocial on trains and leave junk outside houses and generally treat their environment like shit because they see a lack of investment, or does the poor behaviour lead to lower investment, because why make buses more reliable if they are still filthy, so no one will use them?

I think there is a culture of 'well, it's not MY fault' which permeates UK society and leads to a loss of amenities for all. You only have to suggest that someone is wrong to have 85 posters jump on you, howling that it's NOT the person's FAULT and it's so RUDE to correct others, to see this. I know from living in Denmark that if you infringe the social contract (fail to shovel snow off your front path, for example) you will swiftly be told of your mistake. Everyone pulls up their grown up pants and tries to do better next time. There isn't public hysteria about how you have been harmed by someone explaining the right way to do something.

Bet they have decent, private showering facilities and in-house laundering of uniform.

I don't know about that? But when I arrived to visit DD I was amazed at how incredibly clean everything was (including staff) and just how quiet/orderly the atmosphere was.

@Winter2028

To be fair under this system you wouldn't be doing much childcare for your kids. I am chinese and I am probably the first person in my family in generations to raise my child myself though I will use childcare. My grandma raised me and my sister while my parents worked from 9 am to 12 midnight (mum became senior management at an American bank, dad has his own business though to be fair its mainly passive income even from the start).. I was sent to daycare from 4 but my grandpa did pick ups.

None of that sounds like a way I would want to live.

@CurlewKate

In Malta they have the most amazing public transport system I have ever seen.

It was a long time ago when I went there

• but the local buses were terrifying!

Yes - it’s the complete lack of shame. No public shaming (“you’re being litterbug-phobic!”) and no personal shame. Everyone has to be allowed to do what’s right for them and them alone, and never mind society.

You see it all the time on MN, and all the time in real life.

Thought of another today. I know in the UK, if a pedestrian has their foot on the zebra crossing, a car should stop. But you still feel you can't trust them to do that so you pause and wait. I noticed on a trip to Prague that pedestrians don't stop to check. All drivers stop and seem trusted to stop. Pedestrian power.

Hot weather

IME in France if you don't say hello in shops etc (and goodbye when you leave, even if you didn't buy anything), it's considered very rude. I rather like it; you know that, if you follow those basic rules, then at that level you will get on with someone.

St James Quarter car park in Edinburgh but it’s only 2 -3years old so we are late to this and it’s really useful

Basements as standard in houses - my niece’s one in the US is amazing

I don't, but I think that proves the point!