WJS

I feel they are very true.

A few of the comments at the bottom I find interesting as well.

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/s/16-th...165800590.html

sir_eccles

Some of those had me wondering what stone age part of Europe the writer was from and what bit of America they had visited.

Ok, I looked it up. Apparently she grew up in Germany and seems to live in NYC. It doesn't take much to be a travel writer these days I suppose.

Nutek

Most of that is a load of bollocks.

The burger looks ok, assuming it comes with unlimited fries.

scrubbedexpat091

Most of those apply to Canada too, our coins if the US has the same value coin is called the same thing.

Loonie
Toonie
Nickel
Dime
Quarter

Our portions are smaller then the US but larger then most other countries, the grocery store also has an entire aisle dedicated to soda, and an entire aisle dedicated to chips.

We say how are you as a greeting, we tip, we use ice and get free refills at most major chain restaurants.

We mix sweet potatoes and marshmallows and soda and ice cream too.

Most things are priced tax free and added at check out, gas is the big exception where taxes are included.

Measurement we technically use metric, but a lot of people still use feet and inches, and pounds for weight, so its a mixed bag there.

We keep buildings cold in summer with a/c, and and we are just as cashless as the US.

So basically we are the same more or less up here..

Snap Shot

A lot of people might disagree !

AdobePinon

Hasn't been here very long if that's all she's got.

Steve_

I always like the fact that tax is added on at the checkout. I like to know how much of my money is going to the govt. I find it rather depressing when Europeans complain about it, totally brainwashed into accepting hidden taxes.

Same with tax returns, nothing more informative than being forced to work out how much tax you owe, whereas in the UK for example it's largely hidden by PAYE RTI and there is income tax withholding directly on bank accounts, etc.

lansbury

I quite agree with #7, tipping should be subject to a

SultanOfSwing

I don't think I found any of that strange, I didn't really even notice half of those, mostly because, as Nutek so wonderfully put it:

Especially this bit: "Why is a dime smaller than a nickel, but worth more?", because it's not like the 2p coin isn't bigger than the 5p, 10p and 20p coins or anything, right?

Meh, no point - it'd most likely only end up getting replaced by a system that's even more arsed up.

robin1234

I've always assumed that the reason that tax is added at the point of purchase in America is that most retailers operate in several different sales tax regimes (different states, counties, and cities) so adding the tax at the till allows them to price and advertise things uniformly across the board. It also makes tax free periods etc possible.

WJS

I agree with your comments about not hiding sales tax particularly here in France for example it is 20%! 10% applies to building works and 5.5% for food, water alcohol, books etc..


However, I do always forget when in America and most of the time stupidly get that surprise at the checkout. I'm sure once I'm living there it will become the norm but I think it would be a good idea to show the price net and then the total including tax in my opinion on the ticket.


I think these things shown in the link seem a load of bollocks to those of you that have been there a while but for someone like me that has been in Europe for a while they ring very true. Living there as mentioned I'm sure many more important differences come to light. By the way, some of them keep me up at night.

scrubbedexpat091

Makes sense, never thought of that aspect before, but does make total sense.

WJS

I missed that comment. I agree that does make sense.

robUK81

Pharmacies selling cigarettes was a hard one for me to wrap my head around.

SultanOfSwing

It was handy for me when I still smoked, because there was a Walgreens a two minute walk away from our flat

CVS have stopped selling fags now though, I think.