AIBU to ask you some questions about the USA?

[BreakfastInAmerica]

I've been reading lots of US fiction over lockdown, I've never been there.

What's the big deal with joining a fraternity house at College? What is the benefit of it? Why the Greek frat house names?

Is public access television still a thing?

Why do they call savoury muffins English Muffins when I'm more likely to see a blueberry or chocolate muffin when I'm out and about?

How do Americans eat things like thick pancakes with cream for breakfast, even the people who are slim?

What are grits?

Why are Automatic cars so prolific in the US, rather than manual/stick shift?

I'm sure I've got lots more questions and please pitch in with your own questions and answers.

AIBU to ask for your answers and questions about the small differences between the US and the UK?

How do visually impaired Americans cope with banknotes that are the same size and colour for every denomination?

Poorly -- it requires a reader device or even just something as simple as having different denominations folded in different ways, but the answer is it's not a great situation for visually impaired people.

@HelloToMyKitty

He wasn't wrong with any of those statements

He was not only wrong but quite inflammatory. But they didn’t call him Joe the Gaffer for nothing

I wasn't talking about that statement. I was talking about the statement that he made of poor kids being just as smart as white kids. Yes he did make that statement and to white people it was offensive but the fact remains that due to all of his hard work along side of Obama he will carry the vote of PIC including Indian-Americans. Why? Because he does believe that POC deserve more, deserve better and he has fought for their rights for a very long time. It's real easy to take a snip of a conversation and make it racist. But it's the actions behind the words that matter. For example his continued support for illegal immigrants and their children (Dreamers) and 30 billion dollars for small businesses for POC

@Itstheprinciple Some states have laws disallowing the use of cell phones while driving and others don’t. In the US, many laws are specific to just a state or even a city.

As for electric kettles, they are fairly uncommon, but becoming more prevalent. Part of that has to do with the fact that they are less efficient as the US uses 110 instead of 220 electricity.

@Knittedfairies Visually impaired people tend to use sorting techniques for various denominations of bills. There are also apps that will identify denominations now.

As for electric kettles, they are fairly uncommon, but becoming more prevalent. Part of that has to do with the fact that they are less efficient as the US uses 110 instead of 220 electricity.

Really? Most of my US friends seem to have them, and they're readily available.

Does our voltage in the U.K. mean that we literally use twice the electric for everything?? Or have I got that wrong!

I was talking about the statement that he made of poor kids being just as smart as white kids

It doesn’t even make sense. Poor kids are demographically overwhelmingly white? Sounds like he’s mixing up class and race, or tried to integrate both and ended up saying something stupid and offensive.

Also, East Asian kids often come from very poor backgrounds but are statistically smarter than white kids? Does he even consider that smart kids come from poor backgrounds?

His underlying assumptions are just weird.

his continued support for illegal immigrants and their children (Dreamers) and 30 billion dollars for small businesses for POC

Illegal immigration has nothing to do with black Americans.

@BreakfastInAmerica...what maternity leave? We don't have a government mandated maternity leave. Some companies offer it but most don't. You can pay extra for short term disability insurance which will pay you a portion of your wages for about 6 weeks. The only thing we have is FMLA and there are stringent conditions such as size of company and how long you have been at the company and how many hours you had worked during that period. All of does is guarantee your job for 12 weeks without pay. The average American who works full time gets 2 weeks. Some companies add a year to that for every year worked up to a certain point. But they don't have to offer any vacation time, paid sick pay, holiday pay etc...We very much have lazy Americans who play the system

Electric kettles are readily available but I only know one or two other people that actually have one.

Question my dd asked today which I couldnt answer so looks like this is a good place to ask and a few more she has asked before..

Summer camps, do they go all summer or just a week, do most children go or just a few?

Also how do the schools work, what age is kindergarten? What ages do they move up to next school like our primary to Secondary?

Also is it true that kinder eggs are banned in USA?

As for electric kettles, they are fairly uncommon, but becoming more prevalent. Part of that has to do with the fact that they are less efficient as the US uses 110 instead of 220 electricity

I think they are pretty rare, most people still use the stovetop kettles. Definitely a power issue, as I bought one for my parents and it takes way longer to run than in the U.K.

They insist on using the microwave to make tea 😱

I have never used the microwave to make tea. No one I know ever does that.

Kinder eggs are banned because they're considered adulterated food -- something with a choking hazard in.

Summer camps, do they go all summer or just a week, do most children go or just a few?

Depends on the camp and the parents. Some kids go all summer, some go to a sleepaway camp for days or weeks (2-week sessions seems standard around here) and some just go for the day. My DC always went to day camps before this year.

American English muffins are not crumpets. They have crumpets there too. They are simuliar but bot the same as what I've seen called Englush muffins here.
Pancakes are not a daily breakfast choice. More something you might eat on a Sunday, much like you might treat yourself to a full english on a Sunday here.
I'm the only one of my friends here who still drives a manual car, so do not think it will be long before most here drive automatically too. I guess people find them easier to drive.

@HelloToMyKitty

I was talking about the statement that he made of poor kids being just as smart as white kids

It doesn’t even make sense. Poor kids are demographically overwhelmingly white? Sounds like he’s mixing up class and race, or tried to integrate both and ended up saying something stupid and offensive.

Also, East Asian kids often come from very poor backgrounds but are statistically smarter than white kids? Does he even consider that smart kids come from poor backgrounds?

His underlying assumptions are just weird.

his continued support for illegal immigrants and their children (Dreamers) and 30 billion dollars for small businesses for POC

Illegal immigration has nothing to do with black Americans.

You really need to read. Biden said that poor kids are just as smart as white kids. In America the most poverty stricken kids are POC and immigrants. He was telling that demographic that their kids are just as smart as white kids and they deserve those same opportunitities.

Once again read. 30 billion dollars for small businesses owned by POC. Are you saying that African-American are not POC?

Also how do the schools work, what age is kindergarten? What ages do they move up to next school like our primary to Secondary?

Kindergarten is year 1 age group -- it meant my DC repeated a year when we moved three years ago as no one would put them up past their peer group even though they'd already done the work.

Primary school is generally K-4, middle school is 5-8 and high schools is 9-12 (Freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.) Some schools put 8th grade in the high school too, and some don't have middle school and just do K-8 -- schooling is regional and varies from town to town, county to county, and state to state.

@Rocketpants50
Kindergarten is age 5. Elementary school is Kindergarten to either 5th or 6th grade. Then on to either Middle School for 6-8th grade or Junior High for 7-8th grade. They function basically the same. It varies by school district which is usually by city or county depending on the area. Some smaller school districts have schools that go from Kindergarten to 8th grade. Then on to High School, which is 9-12th grade. 12th graders are 17 or 18 by the time they graduate. Then, if you want to/can college/university. People call it college, but the terms are functionally interchangeable (there is a technical difference, but it’s not differentiated in common vernacular).

Biden is such a closet racist he's going to pick Kamala Harris to be his VP.

College and university are interchangeable in the sense that you have Boston College and Boston University and they are the same kind of institution (4 year higher ed). But no one says they're going to university. You go to college.

Grits are absolutely disgusting.

Doesn't everyone drive an automatic now? I've had one for over 17 years. None of my family drive manual.

@Rocketpants50

Question my dd asked today which I couldnt answer so looks like this is a good place to ask and a few more she has asked before..

Summer camps, do they go all summer or just a week, do most children go or just a few?

Also how do the schools work, what age is kindergarten? What ages do they move up to next school like our primary to Secondary?

Also is it true that kinder eggs are banned in USA?

As far as camps go that is going to.depend on how much their parents can afford. Kindergarten is usually ages 5 to age 7. Depends on your state laws,when their birthday is and whether or not the parents decided to red shirt their kids. This means delaying kindergarten due the child not quite being ready and circumstances. I fed shifted my 5 yo this year due to the pandemic. She will start 6 months after her 6 th birthday. We have elementary schools that are from Kindergarten thru 4 th or 5th grade (your equivalent would be years). Then they move up to middle school which is 5th grade through 8th grade and then we have high school which would be 9th grade thru 12th grade where they graduate at 17 or 18 and then do whatever they want

Yes for a long time kinder eggs were banned in the US due to the tiny you in the middle considered a choking hazzard. We now have kinder eggs but the little toy inside is much bigger than the ones in UK

[quote Gotakeahike]@Itstheprinciple Some states have laws disallowing the use of cell phones while driving and others don’t. In the US, many laws are specific to just a state or even a city.

As for electric kettles, they are fairly uncommon, but becoming more prevalent. Part of that has to do with the fact that they are less efficient as the US uses 110 instead of 220 electricity.

@Knittedfairies Visually impaired people tend to use sorting techniques for various denominations of bills. There are also apps that will identify denominations now.[/quote]
Ah, that explains why the travel kettle we were trying to use to make a cup of tea in Florida took about three hours to boil!

(Disclaimer: probably not actually three hours but that's how it felt after a long day at Disney when you just want a cup of tea before bed. I just thought MIL's travel kettle was crap!)

@dreamingbohemian

Biden is such a closet racist he's going to pick Kamala Harris to be his VP.

Yeah just no. Absolutely not. He isn't picking her because of her face or the fact that she is female. He will pick her because they were the most alike and she would be better to replace him in 4 years

He was also vp under Obama but it didn’t stop him coming out with his comment

—at his first campaign rally with Barack Obama after being announced as his running mate, Springfield, Illinois, Aug. 23, 2008
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Is bullying as rife and brutal as made out in ALL American school films?

He was telling that demographic that their kids are just as smart as white kids and they deserve those same opportunitities

You don’t think this is offensive? Why would anyone actually think black Americans are not as smart based solely on skin colour? To tell a room full of black Americans this? Awful.

But I do think he just mixed up race and class, he is very gaffe prone.

Once again read. 30 billion dollars for small businesses owned by POC. Are you saying that African-American are not POC?

Why do you again lump black Americans with POC? They are not a singular community and have diverse needs. Helping POC doesn’t necessarily mean helping black people.

Illegal immigration disproportionately affects black Americans, btw, in terms of depressing wages and employment opportunities.

Biden is such a closet racist he's going to pick Kamala Harris to be his VP

He’s not racist so much as he just says really dumb shit. But everyone already knew that and still voted for him in the primary 🤷‍♀️