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Original poster

Can someone explain the reasons behind these differences between Americans and Brits?

397 replies

kurstytemple · 01/07/2021 22:49

I've noticed that Americans greet people often with, 'hey, what are you doing?' even when it's completely clear what the person is doing, ie, picking them up from the airport, bumping into them shopping. As opposed to the British greeting, 'hi how are you?'

Also Americans can say bye ONCE on the telephone yet us British folk seem to say bye about 1 million times repeatedly whilst hanging up the phone. For example, Americans - 'it was good speaking to you, bye'. Brits - 'it was good speaking to you, okay, you too, okay, bye, bye, bye, bye, byeeeee, bye, bu-bye, byeeeee'. What is that all about?

Additionally, I've been watching a lot of teen mom 2 Grin and the court system over there just seems so much more straightforward and fair. Not sure if that's an accurate representation. But for instance, a person can go directly to the court for custody arrangements instead of all the faffing about before getting to that point, seems to be easier to get protection orders from someone and seems to be a bit more lenient with young people, making deals with them to ensure that certain convictions don't go on their record hence not making them unemployable. I still have to declare a breach of the peace I got at 18 pissed as a fart.

Anyway there's my ramblings. Anyone else noticed this or care to explain why the differences? Or point out any of their own for me to ponder Grin

OP posts:
GrandmasCat · 02/07/2021 08:17

I was quite shocked when my British raised kid shown no interest in driving lessons, he said there was no point if he could get everywhere in his bike it public transport.

He may have a point, transport was not as frequent and convenient where I come from. For us, you were properly stranded without a car, there were not even pavements in residential areas!

That also made me realise that although many Americans aim to get a bigger house, with a lot of land, in a quiet area and expensive cars, people in the UK (and other European countries) would happily swap all that for a smaller house surrounded by local conveniences they can walk or cycle to.

NeonDreams · 02/07/2021 08:18

Ever tried shopping with a trolley on a bus? Pretty difficult and not very convenient. We've done it a few times ourselves. NEVER....AGAIN!

Also delivery can be very expensive, so you are paying anyway, whether it be by car or delivery. Also 'online shopping' has only been a thing for say the last 2 decades. Before that, people had to pay a fortune for delivery or pick it up yourself, and you can go and do shopping and visit restaurants at the same time. Even do a big bulk shop. It's independence and convenience. Being able to leave from where you want (not at specific stops), when you want, what time you want, etc. Spent half my life taking public transport. Never again. The price of independence and not relying on a bus or train timetable is absolutely invaluable. No price can be put on it.

SoupDragon · 02/07/2021 08:19

That also made me realise that although many Americans aim to get a bigger house, with a lot of land, in a quiet area and expensive cars, people in the UK (and other European countries) would happily swap all that for a smaller house surrounded by local conveniences they can walk or cycle to.

There is also the small matter that the U.K. is tiny compared the the US.

SoupDragon · 02/07/2021 08:20

@NeonDreams

Ever tried shopping with a trolley on a bus? Pretty difficult and not very convenient. We've done it a few times ourselves. NEVER....AGAIN!

Also delivery can be very expensive, so you are paying anyway, whether it be by car or delivery. Also 'online shopping' has only been a thing for say the last 2 decades. Before that, people had to pay a fortune for delivery or pick it up yourself, and you can go and do shopping and visit restaurants at the same time. Even do a big bulk shop. It's independence and convenience. Being able to leave from where you want (not at specific stops), when you want, what time you want, etc. Spent half my life taking public transport. Never again. The price of independence and not relying on a bus or train timetable is absolutely invaluable. No price can be put on it.

You really are blinkered aren't you?
Lairymary · 02/07/2021 08:20

I've noticed from watching too much TV (and too much teen mom) they always seem to greet someone on the phone with a "hey, what are you doin'?", the response is always "nothin'".

WaltzingBetty · 02/07/2021 08:21

@NeonDreams

Ever tried shopping with a trolley on a bus? Pretty difficult and not very convenient. We've done it a few times ourselves. NEVER....AGAIN!

Also delivery can be very expensive, so you are paying anyway, whether it be by car or delivery. Also 'online shopping' has only been a thing for say the last 2 decades. Before that, people had to pay a fortune for delivery or pick it up yourself, and you can go and do shopping and visit restaurants at the same time. Even do a big bulk shop. It's independence and convenience. Being able to leave from where you want (not at specific stops), when you want, what time you want, etc. Spent half my life taking public transport. Never again. The price of independence and not relying on a bus or train timetable is absolutely invaluable. No price can be put on it.

In your opinion.

Other people make different choices.

You do sound rather intolerant of other people's lifestyle choices Confused

GrandmasCat · 02/07/2021 08:22

There is also the small matter that the U.K. is tiny compared the the US.

Tell me about it, when I was there I wouldn’t mind driving 50 miles to a restaurant that served amazing steaks. I know it sounds a bonkers thing to do here Grin

NeonDreams · 02/07/2021 08:23

Lol what, @SoupDragon ? Excuse me? I am giving my EXPERIENCES. It seems you are so closed-minded you are unable to see anything outside of your own experience. or, you're just overly defensive for no reason and see my posts as attacking. I am simply stating what my experiences are, and as someone who spent a lot of time having to rely on public transport vs having a car, the relief and convenience and independence is utterly priceless. If you can't understand that, that is your problem. Not everyone has to have your beliefs or experiences. Hmm

Terhou · 02/07/2021 08:23

Also delivery can be very expensive, so you are paying anyway, whether it be by car or delivery.

There is no way the cost of the occasional delivery equates to the costs of running a car.

I get the convenience factor, but it's limited if you live somewhere with poor parking availability but good public transport.

NeonDreams · 02/07/2021 08:24

@WaltzingBetty I'm not the one intolerant of other people's lifestyles. PMSL Confused Hmm

SoupDragon · 02/07/2021 08:24

@GrandmasCat

There is also the small matter that the U.K. is tiny compared the the US.

Tell me about it, when I was there I wouldn’t mind driving 50 miles to a restaurant that served amazing steaks. I know it sounds a bonkers thing to do here Grin

I've driven from SanFrancisco to Santa Barbara and taken 4 hour internal flights in Australia and thought "Fuck! This place is huge!"
NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 02/07/2021 08:24

Different cultural mores underpin the USA than Britain though? That will make a huge difference in attitudes to everything!

Original poster
kurstytemple · 02/07/2021 08:25

@LibertyMole eh yes I do...I work with both children and vulnerable adults and I can assure you I do have to declare it until I am 33 and the 15 years have passed.

OP posts:
NeonDreams · 02/07/2021 08:25

Tell me about it, when I was there I wouldn’t mind driving 50 miles to a restaurant that served amazing steaks. I know it sounds a bonkers thing to do here

Careful, you'll be sneered at by the defensive lot on here.

SoupDragon · 02/07/2021 08:26

@NeonDreams

Lol what, *@SoupDragon* ? Excuse me? I am giving my EXPERIENCES. It seems you are so closed-minded you are unable to see anything outside of your own experience. or, you're just overly defensive for no reason and see my posts as attacking. I am simply stating what my experiences are, and as someone who spent a lot of time having to rely on public transport vs having a car, the relief and convenience and independence is utterly priceless. If you can't understand that, that is your problem. Not everyone has to have your beliefs or experiences. Hmm
LOL. I'm not close minded because I can understand why people in a different place much larger, country might do things differently. You simply state that its wrong and you can't understand why we don't do things the same.
SoupDragon · 02/07/2021 08:26

Careful, you'll be sneered at by the defensive lot on here.

Like you are sneering at the U.K. 🤷🏻‍♀️

SoupDragon · 02/07/2021 08:27

It's pointless. I'm off.

WaltzingBetty · 02/07/2021 08:27

[quote NeonDreams]@WaltzingBetty I'm not the one intolerant of other people's lifestyles. PMSL Confused Hmm[/quote]
Then why the objection to people on the other side of the world not having air con, choosing to line dry and take public transport?
Why the accusations and assumption of poor hygiene because we produce less waste and aim to use less energy?

No one on this thread has criticised you. But you seem very invested in telling folk in the other side of the world that they shouldn't use public transport and need air con.

CaptainBarbossa · 02/07/2021 08:30

I* still have to declare the breach of the peace I got at 18 pissed as a fart.
*
You shouldn't need to declare this if it's your only offence. It should be eligible for filtering, even from an enhanced check if the right number of years have passed.

GrandmasCat · 02/07/2021 08:32

I've driven from SanFrancisco to Santa Barbara and taken 4 hour internal flights in Australia and thought "Fuck! This place is huge!"

I know, even all these years later, I still feel blessed that I can be at the west or east coast in less than two hours driving. It used to take over 30 hours driving to get to my nearest beach.

NeonDreams · 02/07/2021 08:33

@WaltzingBetty There is no 'objection', I was simply pointing out it would be a health hazard here, as it would be to not have bins collected weekly and to not shower once a day. These are all things all the rest of the 1st world countries manage to do, it's not just on the other side of the world. Oh, and we also line dry. I mentioned that myself. I've been accused of things on here, because some Brits are overly-invested (like yourself) and overly defensive and sensitive. This thread was also started by a UK resident, trying to pick apart differences in America, so the faux outrage is silly. If you pick at a country, then others can pick at yours.

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/07/2021 08:33

@strangestranger

Northerners often say 'Hiya--y'all right?'. This has led to many confused responses based on why this person is concerned about them~!!!
True. I often get this from complete strangers when I'm walking my dog. I think it is a fairly recent thing though, I don't remember it happening in the past (I'm quite old).
MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously · 02/07/2021 08:34

Re the bins, we get our recycling and food waste collected weekly. It's just our non-recyclable waste that gets collected every 3 weeks. I do agree that it's not frequent enough, though. Especially considering the cost of council tax.
I would really like window screens - would keep the flies out of the house and the cat in! We should have those as standard. Air con would also be good - we don't always have long summers in the UK but they can he meltingly hot when we do!
Tumble dryers are common here but it really is nicer to line dry. It strikes me as madness that my sister in law in California does all her drying artificially when she has all that lovely sunshine for free.

WaltzingBetty · 02/07/2021 08:34

Excuse me? I am giving my EXPERIENCES

The issue is you seem unable to comprehend that people living in the other side of the world with different climate, culture and experiences may choose to live differently and not based on your experience of life in Australia @NeonDreams

The UK not having airconditioning really stumps me, too

It would be unheard of not to want to get your wheels, your independence.

If we had to wait once a fortnight or once a month? Shudder.

I do think hygiene is laxer in the UK than Australia and the US

Oh yeah, definitely no assumptions or judgement there Confused

NeonDreams · 02/07/2021 08:36

@WaltzingBetty The issue is you seem unable to comprehend that people living in the other side of the world with different climate, culture and experiences may choose to live differently and not based on your experience of life in Australia

One can say the exact same about you. Your over-defensiveness shows this.