As many know I spent the first 20 years of my life in London, England. I’ve done a couple of editorials on London versus America, but I thought a fun one would be things British people find strange about America. I should note that since I’ve been here 12 years most of these I don’t find as strange anymore, but I certainly did at the beginning!
Sockets in the bathroom. Occasionally in England there would be a specialized one for shavers, but not a general socket, nor would there be one near the sink in the kitchen. I always assumed it would be really dangerous. It’s more convenient when using heated hair styling products to have one in the bathroom and I suppose the difference could have to do with the fact that regular household power is 240 volts whereas here it is 120 volts. And while we’re on the subject of outlets, British ones have individual off-switches.
Tax isn’t included in the price; this took a LOT of getting used to. As a child if my parents gave me a pound to spend I could choose anything up to a pound, there was no calculating how much of it needed to be saved for the tax added at the checkout. If a shirt was five pounds then it was five pounds. I have since noticed that tax in Idaho is significantly less and perhaps UK prices hide high taxes, but it’s still really annoying not knowing exactly how much your purchase is going to cost without a calculator or a math degree.
Pharmaceutical advertising! Ok this one is super weird still. Prescription drugs are just not advertised in Britain, period. You go to the doctor and they tell you which prescription you need or don’t and you go and get it from the pharmacy. There is no desire to suggest a drug to the doctor so the end consumer doesn’t need to know what drugs are out there. One of these days I will write about National Healthcare but not today. In general the British public are much more compliant and are far less likely to advocate for themselves with healthcare. If you’re going to die before you get to the front of the line well that’s how it is. British people are known for not making a fuss.
Gaps between public bathroom stalls – maybe one of my readers could tell me why they are so big in America? While waiting for the bathroom you glance in the direction of a stall door and can see the other poor woman sitting doing her business. In Britain there is no gap between stalls, if you wanted a peek you’d have to look very obviously under or over the door! It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable using public restrooms in America. It makes sense why there’s a gap underneath if you need to crawl out, but why the gap in between? – bet you never noticed it before!
Strangers talk to you. My husband loves a story where he was over in England with me on New Years Day and we went for a walk. He took great pleasure in calling out “happy new year!” to everyone we passed. He was greeted with 100 percent shocked faces. You don’t talk to strangers! You never strike up a conversation on public transport. When you walk into a store you are not greeted/bothered by someone asking how you are and whether they can help you find something.Things British people find
strange about America
As many know I spent the first 20 years of my life in London, England. I’ve done a couple of editorials on London versus America, but I thought a fun one would be things British people find strange about America. I should note that since I’ve been here 12 years most of these I don’t find as strange anymore, but I certainly did at the beginning!
Sockets in the bathroom. Occasionally in England there would be a specialized one for shavers, but not a general socket, nor would there be one near the sink in the kitchen. I always assumed it would be really dangerous. It’s more convenient when using heated hair styling products to have one in the bathroom and I suppose the difference could have to do with the fact that regular household power is 240 volts whereas here it is 120 volts. And while we’re on the subject of outlets, British ones have individual off-switches.
Tax isn’t included in the price; this took a LOT of getting used to. As a child if my parents gave me a pound to spend I could choose anything up to a pound, there was no calculating how much of it needed to be saved for the tax added at the checkout. If a shirt was five pounds then it was five pounds. I have since noticed that tax in Idaho is significantly less and perhaps UK prices hide high taxes, but it’s still really annoying not knowing exactly how much your purchase is going to cost without a calculator or a math degree.
Pharmaceutical advertising! Ok this one is super weird still. Prescription drugs are just not advertised in Britain, period. You go to the doctor and they tell you which prescription you need or don’t and you go and get it from the pharmacy. There is no desire to suggest a drug to the doctor so the end consumer doesn’t need to know what drugs are out there. One of these days I will write about National Healthcare but not today. In general the British public are much more compliant and are far less likely to advocate for themselves with healthcare. If you’re going to die before you get to the front of the line well that’s how it is. British people are known for not making a fuss.
Gaps between public bathroom stalls – maybe one of my readers could tell me why they are so big in America? While waiting for the bathroom you glance in the direction of a stall door and can see the other poor woman sitting doing her business. In Britain there is no gap between stalls, if you wanted a peek you’d have to look very obviously under or over the door! It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable using public restrooms in America. It makes sense why there’s a gap underneath if you need to crawl out, but why the gap in between? – bet you never noticed it before!
Strangers talk to you. My husband loves a story where he was over in England with me on New Years Day and we went for a walk. He took great pleasure in calling out “happy new year!” to everyone we passed. He was greeted with 100 percent shocked faces. You don’t talk to strangers! You never strike up a conversation on public transport. When you walk into a store you are not greeted/bothered by someone asking how you are and whether they can help you find something.
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