to think there is something wrong with Americans?

[TheBloodManCometh]

In Colorado, here for 5 weeks.

Why the HELL is there a half inch gap on either side of the door in all public toilets?? You can see everything going on!!!
This has been the case everywhere I've been in America?
AIBU to be both baffled and embarrassed

lighthearted btw. I don't really think there's something wrong with the Americans

I like my coffee either black or very milky, so cream is too heavy.

My favourite thing about Americans is watching big stars on Graham Norton and realising that they can swear on TV! Watching a first timer is very entertaining, I think it was Zac Efron (possibly..) who almost fell off the sofa when a british guest called another british guest a wanker (say, I cant actually remember but it was a swear!) and they all just guffawed!

Marking place, this is fascinating!

Apologies for derailing the thread somewhat but I've just come back from the US (Miami) and was very confused by the following:

Whenever I bought something in a shop (small purchases; less than 20 dollars) the cashier was very weird when giving change. They would look at the till screen, count the change out, look at me, look at the screen, count the change again, look in the till, look at me, look at the change - it went on and on. In one deli it took the server about 5 mins to give me my change. This happened several times, so not an isolated incident.

Anyone else experienced this? Do American shops rarely handle cash now?

Or more likely they were waiting for you to say "keep the change"?

This thread is an eye opener.

Bogey - yes maybe they did expect me to say 'keep the change' - didn't think of that! (although change in some cases would have been more than 10 dollars).

Obfus - shops such as a deli, newsagent at airport, sandwich bar etc.

Maybe they just don't use much cash - the stewardess on a short internal flight (American Airlines) wouldn't accept cash for a 4 dollar tub of Pringles - only cards.

Why would anyone need telling not to bend over and spray a toilet in shit?!

Signs like this bother me because it means that at some point someone must have done just that, because otherwise no one would have thought to put up a sign!

It looks like one of those joke signs to me, you know like the one that says "Good idea: Bath baby in baby bath. Bad idea: Wash baby in washing machine"

Kate they have odd tipping rules in America. This is quite baffling but would be useful if I ever go there: waitbutwhy.com/2014/04/everything-dont-know-tipping.html

yes in florida I was amazed when people used cards so much. I paid by cash.

Well not odd I suppose, but alien to British people.

In shops, they would not expect you to say keep the change (or tip) in a shop. It is more likely due to increased use of debit cards and the clerk double checking to make sure they were handing back the correct change.

I think all airlines in the US require cards now; no cash transactions on the planes.

In America if you don't tip it's like walking out without paying for your haircut.

Oh I got that :) Bad choice of analogy perhaps!

yes i find the tip thing in the US baffling - it's not really optional, it's basically a sales tax so please just add it to the total along with the city tax, state tax, and all the other things that aren't listed in the menu , and pay a proper wage

i get anxious that i haven't tipped everyone i should though (the person who took my order, the person who brought the food to my table, the person who cleared the plates away, the person who kept the water topped up - often these are different people) so i just hope it all comes out of the tip to the final bill. and when i travel in the usa it's usually for work so i need a record of tips etc so that i can claim them back on expenses, otherwise i'm going to be paying that 15-25% out of my own pocket, so it needs to go on the credit card really

Yep, like the use of "busboy" in that article which also seems to be a US thing, I had to look it up, that's the person who clears the table and attends to the small things like water etc.

In most restaurants, especially the nicer ones, wait staff are expected to share tips with bus staff, so you don't need to tip them separately. At the hairdresser, I do tip the shampoo person separately, usually a couple of dollars.

that's a relief!

I find the whole idea exhausting and it makes me feel anxious. I'd rather just have the person set the price for their work and I'll pay it. I don't want to worry I've given too much or too little or accidentally implied that their work is bad or something. (And if it was, I'd feel bad being so blatant about it!) Perhaps that is particularly British

tbh being british i think they expect you to tip badly anyway by reputation, so it's not hard to exceed their expectations

but i agree with you - i would rather see a higher menu price and know that the staff aren't relying on 90-100% of their income from tips, but i guess it's a cultural thing that isn't going to go away

Bloody hell, do they get any kind of health insurance with that kind of work?