I know not everyone on this sub is from the US but what are things you have been surprised to learn are not a “standard” in other parts of the world (compared to where you grew up)?
I’ll add a few of mine
- Ice is not standard outside the US
- We went to Ireland and I had recently broken a part of my ankle, finding any ice was a wild endeavor
- US food portions are actually substantial
- this one is super easy mode but still, it shocked me seeing how and what we eat against other countries
- Major cities/countries can have power grid issues (looking at you South Africa)
- I had no idea that the grid was that unstable in SA until this most recent season of Other Way
Vented clothes dryers.
Outside of the US, most people line dry their clothes. If they have a dryer, it is usually integrated into the washer and simply “bakes” the clothes.
But basically Americans use an enormous amount of energy per person. Outside US, people conserve energy probably for a care of environment and because energy is just so much more expensive or the infrastructure doesn’t exist. So common things like dryers and ACs simply don’t exist commonly abroad.
I think we non-Americans are completely baffled by this business of throwing every last thing in the washing machine & dryer. Like, in movies y’all throw even 2 items of clothing in there just willy nilly. Are things like the water & electricity not expensive for y’all??
That’s a great call out. I definitely shifted away from using our dryer but it’s still very “standard” and customary to a lot of families. I definitely grew up with the notion my mom had, which was not having a dryer = poor; in reality, it was just advertising and companies finding a way to profit off of classism and create more desire for a luxury product.
Water and electricity are definitely way cheaper than in Europe. And you are so right that it is our habit to use it for like a few pieces of clothing without thinking about it.