Things I think are true about America based on Tv and Film

[PennyHasNoSurname]

People sort of pick at their food with just a fork - putting it on, scraping it off, moving it round the plate before putting it back on again and eating half of whats on the fork. Food must be stone cold by the end.

Nobody says goodbye on the phone. Now I know us Brits are painfully polite to a fault but "see you later" or "bye" is basic?

Everyone eats out of packets / dried goods. Of which they have 3000 of in their basement

School finishes at about 11am. University is called School (isnt that confusing?!)

"College" in the US means university. So you would say, "I went to college at Harvard."

It's true that "school" can mean anything from nursery to a PhD from Yale.

And as a previous poster said, professional degrees, like medicine and law are post-graduate degrees. So four years of college (university) for a BA or BS degree then medical school/law school for another degree.

The mall is the place to be, everyone hangs out at the mall. People rarely do any actual shopping there though.

People with professional jobs are able to walk out for hours or days on end if a distant relation requires an intervention. All single people live in huge houses and are able to adopt whole families of cute dc with no notice or monitoring. .

"All radio stations are abbreviated and begin with the letter k. Why is this? It's troubled me for years."
Every radio and TV station has a unique, government issued, legal ID. Stations in the western US will all start with a K, in the east they start with a W. (Because most TV and movie production companies are in California, they tend to start with K unless they're obviously set somewhere else.) They're legally required to identify themselves by this 'call sign' at regular intervals during their broadcasts, and are frequently known/referred to by these IDs by their listeners.

Bahhaha!

I'm only on page 4 but in our area:

Yes to guns. You aren't weird if you don't have them but many people do.

There are high school cliques but not to the extent of Mean Girls etc.

I only drink bottled water on car trips.

My house isn't huge, it's 1400 sq ft.

We don't decorate with Christmas lights but I do put out a wreath.

My dog IS a lab.

I do not drive everywhere, or in fact, anywhere.

My children are often grubby little feral looking things.

Every where serves massive meals that no one can finish and they will all wrap up your left overs for you.

I've never ever seen that done in the UK or France.

If you need to go from one side of the country to the other, there are always flights, you can always get on one and you can always afford it.

Everyone drinks coffee.

Shop assistants always say 'Have a nice day' when giving you your change.

NYC police are all of Irish decent.

Everyone Italian is in the Mob. Or knows 'a guy'.

I do think Americans are more community focused in general. They're definitely more philanthropic. It's ingrained from elementary school. When people get cancer etc here, it's obviously incredibly expensive. So it's very normal for communities to get together and have huge fundraisers. I guess that's where the whole online group funding came from.

And, yes, they often share dorm rooms with complete strangers in freshman year of college. Which is also called school but, weirdly, rarely Uni.

There is a massive Irish influence in parts of the NYPD. Pearl River (about 20 miles nw of nyc) has historically held very dubious financial relations with the IRA. You're not allowed to mention that now though.

Boston is also very Irish.

Yes to community mindedness. I am leaving on Sunday to go on a weeklong retreat to help me be a better "community leader". It's put on by a foundation that does only that...trains people to vitalize their rural communities.

Some places will wrap leftovers for you. Some you do it yourself.

I only eat out about once a month.

I wear jeans all the time unless it's a formal occasion.

College is never called uni. I went to one with university in the name and I still always said I was "going to college" or "in college." I did live in a tiny dorm, but with my best friend from home.

I could hang things to dry but we have temps below freezing for many months of the year.

A garden is a specific patch of land, like a flower garden or a vegetable garden. If it's just grass it's a yard or a lawn.

I would be considered a troublesome lunatic if I moved to the US. I would exercise my right to dry, whether I had it or not. Using a tumble dryer when the weather is dry is insantity for all sorts of reasons.

I would also walk rather than drive distances of up to a mile or two. Or perhaps I could get away with being an eccentric Brit?

Cheerful Yank. According to this, your house is much larger than averag British house, but I have no idea what any of these numbers look like because we mainly choose houses by the number of bedrooms there is.

I have learned that if a blonde twenty-something woman goes jogging with earphones in she has a 90% chance of being abducted by a serial killer.

In the poorer areas of town there is always a fire hydrant gushing water and scores of children playing on the street.

Traffic is controlled by a single wise cracking cop.

Waitresses are always sassy.

That Girl Scout Cookies are delicious and hand made by gangs of cheerful Girl Scouts, and not bought in hard, tasteless biscuits designed to survive a nuclear winter.

I also don't understand the school system despite having seen many high school /college based movies.
People have to share a room at college/uni.
Unless you live in new York, you need a car.
Drink driving is not a problem. However you can go to a bar and drink the same as your friend. If you are the driver, you will be fine but they'll be stumbling out of the car when you drop them off!

There are no men over 5ft 10 it seems.
All the women are at least 5ft 11 and size 8.

Your child's friends will regularly enter and leave your home via your child's bedroom window.

Nobody seems to walk anywhere (unless they live in Stars Hollow). Surely some children must live within walking distance of their school?

Every time I see those all-in-one school desk-chair combos, I think how much less comfortable they must be for left-handed children.

"Every time I see those all-in-one school desk-chair combos, I think how much less comfortable they must be for left-handed children."
Actually, the ones with a full desk top aren't that bad. But the ones with just an extended arm for a writing surface are a bit evil.
Every once in a blue moon you'll walk into a classroom and see one that's got the desk top on the other side, and as a lefty you do a little internal skip of joy.

Everyone middle class is an architect

"Every frump will be unmasked as the school/office beauty after a helpful makeover from a sympathetic co-pupil/worker."

The makeover usually consists of simply removing your glasses and everyone stares in shock at how beautiful you now are.

Someone owns a lake house
Boy kids have basin cuts
People in gas stations/general stores know where everyone is.
Teenage girls often dress like Maggie Thatcher. Unlike their moms who dress like their dd's should.

In the parts of the States I've visited there sometimes weren't pavements so walking was discouraged and people really did park their car one side of the street, go into the shop then get back in the car, drive down the block, park again and get out.

I studied at university over there for a year. It was referred to as school. Although you were provided with a bed in the room many of their fathers came and built them a bunk bed so that you could then fit in a sofa as well (which were bought cheap or also provided by parents). In my experience of UK universities your parents drove you up there, dropped you off and left you to it. I couldn't believe it when all these fathers started building. The rooms are relatively basic and are very much personalised by the students - not just posters, I mean things like curtains as well.

Houses - especially outside of the major cities - are bigger than UK houses because they have more land so they can have more space. They aren't all huge though and definitely not as super glamorous as the houses you see in films.

People are generally much better mannered that in the UK and do talk to you in shops. I missed the 'have a nice day' culture when I moved back. And they tend to actually help you in shops so they can sell you things rather than try to pretend they can't see you as they often do in this country.

I stayed with my bio dad in NY state when I was 10 and went to day camp. I got to go in a yellow bus every day and all the other children wanted to be friends with me just to hear me speak! I had lunch from a brown bag and everyone thought I was super intelligent. I lived the dream for one month

Lots of adults drink milk with their dinner.
They never say "bye" on the phone.
They have lots of high school cliques and spend lots of time going on dates and obsessing about their dates for the prom.
They all have massive houses and a tree the size of one you would have in the town centre for Christmas.
When they go to hospital they never have any issues with not having the right health insurance/their insurance not covering their treatment.