Odd Customs
 

So what things do you do that are weird, or seem weird over here? and what have you noticed that you think is weird over here?

I'll start, I like ketchup and mayo with chips and stuff, which certainly gets' weird looks over here :)
But what I find weird, and this could be just a new england thing, they serve maple syrup with gammon ham steaks and sausages, I get very weird looks when asking for ketchup with the bangers.

Also, tea, everytime I offer, people expect herbal tea or that chai stuff, and have it either plain, with lemon and or sugar, and look aghast when it's plain ole PG tips served with milk.....anyone else get that?

Re: Odd Customs
 

Demonstrating the ability to use a knife and fork at the same time always gets strange looks....

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Ah. This member beat me to it. Americans like to use their fork alone when eating AND on the ocassions they do actually use the knife, there's all this swapping utensils from one hand to the other. i.e. cut with knife in right hand (with fork in left), then put down knife and swap fork to right hand to eat.

Not surprisingly, I don't eat like that and I usually have to ask for a knife at eating establishments :rolleyes:




NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

Agree with the knife and fork. People always find my eating habits - the fact that I eat with two hands - to be very odd. Especially when I eat my pizza with a knife and fork.

Putting salt and vinegar on my chips/fries. I get lots of wrinkled-up-nose looks at that one.

Finishing *all* of my beer. Over here, bartenders are very quick to take away my beer when I've still got a good 3-4 sips left in it! What's up with that?!? They'd never get away with that back home!

I'll add more when I think of them. I'm sure there are plenty.....

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They all drink cold black sweet tea down here, I've be showing my other half's son how to use a knife with his fork!!!

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Seeing people use a fork backwards (like a dagger hold) really amuses me.
When I put ketchup and mustard on my hot-dog I get odd looks
People think im also odd as on thanksgiving I asked "mom" if we could have roast potatoes and she asked me how to make them!
I hate American gravy!! (Sorry)

Re: Odd Customs
 

yeah, my other half actually had the cheek to APOLOGISE to other people for me using a knife and fork, and says i have bad manners - what a crock of shit

mayonaise on fries always is a funny one to throw out there

butter on bread freaks people out too

bearing in mind americans eat vegetation reserved for cattle in the UK (turnip greens and collard greens) and eat crispy greasy bits of fat with slivers of meat in it (bacon), and OVERCOOK pretty much any kind of food they can get their hands on so it turns in a nasty grey mushy mess (asparagus/green beans), I think i'll continue putting mayo on my chips :p

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Just sharpen one edge of your fork you have the perfect combination tool.

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Nooo! Collard greens, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, etc. are good eats! (why is there no smilie for licking the lips?)

I'll throw in the Americans love of carbs. Why do Americans insist of a bag of crisps (chips) with their sandwich? Aren't there enough carbs and calories in the bread (that contains the ubiquitous corn syrup)?

I much prefer eating my pizza with a knife and fork. I've seen my American spouse eat his slice of pizza by hand but he quite often burns his mouth when he puts the hot slice in there whole (i.e. not cutting off a bite size piece).




NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

This is a very big pet peeve of mine. People seem to have sweet potatoes (BLEAUGH) or mashed potatoes - which I used to eat with bangers and baked beans on a school night - certainly not a side dish to go with a special occasion feast!

This year I actually made my own roast potatoes and took them with me to our Thanksgiving dinner. They went down remarkably well! I think I'll be doing that every year from now on. :D

Re: Odd Customs
 

er....WALK!!!
When i lived in louisiana there where practically no sidewalks but neverthe less with two little ones in a double stoller i'd take a nice walk to a few of the playgrounds....people would be staring out their car windows at me like I'd just escaped an insane Asylum!!! :eek:

Of course driving like a maniac to get to the gym ,to walk on the tredmill makes perfect sense :rolleyes:
I'm in a city now, more sidewalks ...but still not too many people about....and they wonder why they're all fat :confused:

Re: Odd Customs
 

:D No kidding! I'm fortunate in that people in Santa Fe like walking, so it's expected and accepted here. But I did a stint in Ohio many years ago - everytime I walked somewhere drivers would roll down the windows and either hurl insults, or offer me a ride. :confused:

Re: Odd Customs
 

Hehe,...yeah, I noticed that last winter, I'd get stared at walking to the post office, ok, it was sub zero temp, but the post office is only a 5 min walk down the street and that's quicker and safer than driving because it'll take 15 mins to warm the car up etc.

Re: Odd Customs
 

Ah, walking indeed!

I was working in an office on a lovely summer day here in Ohio and I wanted to go to the store, which was maybe a 5 or 10 minute walk away. Everyone began insisting that they'd drive me and were aghast that I'd actually want to walk somewhere since it 'wasn't safe'. It was in a very nice area of town with very little traffic!! I don't get it... no wonder why Columbus is one of the fattest cities in the United States!

Re: Odd Customs
 

I have to admit that when I go to Cleveland, OH, I have been known to go walking (downtown and in the neighborhood where the in-laws live). When walking in the in-laws neighborhood, I did notice that the less than well off were the only other ones on the street. e.g. waiting at bus stops, walking to the shops.

It was pretty much, if you can afford to drive, you do so, regardless of the potential health benefits.





NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

That I can pronounce words correctly! :D I cant believe the ordinary words that get so mispronounced. I sometimes wonder how some people ever passed through school.

Re: Odd Customs
 

Please give examples!

Thanks,




NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

I asked my husband about it and he said pretty much the same thing. He explained that at least in Ohio, the only people that walk are the ones that can't afford an alternative.

Of course, I have made fun of him so much for getting back in his car to drive two stores down in a strip mall! :rolleyes:

Re: Odd Customs
 

Hmmm...didn't mean this to turn into another rant thread :D

Though the not getting new cutlery at a restaurant is an odd one...

Re: Odd Customs
 

yeah isn't that crazy , I've noticed that too ,unfortunately
the same attitude is toward the bus transpo. here ...it's absurd!!!

like i said..how can they even wonder why they are the fattest nation? :confused:

Re: Odd Customs
 

One custom that is different is that everyone brings a dish to a dinner party. At home one person slaves over the stove all day and then everyone else turns up to eat. Often when I am having dinner at my house my guests will ask what to bring and I say booze, they say no what food shall I bring.

Another custom is Americans use paper plates and cups whenever possible. I guess it makes sense however you would be shot at my families house for daring to try that one. :)

Re: Odd Customs
 

This has driven Cathy crazy for the last few years too!! And each time I'm back in Spain I really am amazed at how much walking is involved. But I guess if I had to trade our house with 5 acre yard for a 5th floor condo (piso) in order to have the population density required to support the 'neighborhood' grocer/butcher/etc and the lifestyle of walking.... i'd keep the yard and car.

Cathy often jokes that Americans are going to evvolve into these fat beings with two appendages below which are only used to reach the gas and brake pedals.

Re: Odd Customs
 

odd customs... hmm


Sugar in EVERYTHING, sweet potatoes SOOO don't need half a pound of sugar in them AND then marhmellows to top it off... my god.. by the time they're done there is NOTHING of the actual sweet potatoe taste left.

and.. agreed on the walking.. I got this only 5mins ago.. I WALKED :eek: to Cost Plus (500 yards) and then back... got offered 2 lifts and stared at LOTS... wtf ?

there are more.. but.. I don't want to rant

Re: Odd Customs
 

Well, the way I was raised back in the UK, I/my family would never go anywhere (invited of course) without bringing something for the host/hostess. Sometimes it would be food (sometimes bought, sometimes homemade) or drink (wine). Or, something for the home such as flowers, potplant, etc.

What ladylisa describes sounds much like a potluck as its known in my part of the US.




NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

Hehe...yeah....bring the booze I say :D

Don't have a problem with paper plates, saves on washing, but is a bit odd that, normally done for breafast or lunch at the in-laws, just because of limited hot water if everyone wants a shower.

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Inviting family members over and watch in horror as they spit and piss in my yard. And that's just the women :rolleyes:

Guys, the bathroom is inside the house. I've even had relations get up and walk outside to use the bathroom. Man, it's gross.

Re: Odd Customs
 

Whisking your empty plate away in a restaurant before anyone else has finished eating, and then bringing the bill (sorry - check :rolleyes: ) before you even ask for it - it's like "C'mon - we need this table for the next customer!".

Having said that, I love California :D

Pat

Re: Odd Customs
 

Bit like my local CVS (chemist chain); one of the CVS's has 20 minute parking or vehicle towed signage ... trouble is, inside the CVS are long lines at the pharmacist and the regular check out! Sometimes it is a miracle getting out in 35 minutes! :rolleyes:

And when you get out ... "Where's my car dude?" :D

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ewwwww!! :eek: and i think i remember you making red-neck jokes !!!!
that is GROSS!! and not usual American behaviour i might add....though of course in Georgia it may well be :scared: :p

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Try that in the winter here...you might start out being a guy, but you wouldn't be once your finished :D

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seeing men "dipping" snuff or tobacco (holding a wodge of tobacco in your cheek and sucking on it) and carrying round a polystyrene cup to spit into ... which gradually fills up during the day ... what can be more gross than that?!!

and, believe it or not, this goes on at the office too ...

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That people will not walk out in the fresh air (yes we do have some side walks here) but go to the mall just to walk... one local mall opens early (before the stores open) just for walkers :confused:

Ash

Re: Odd Customs
 

I've noticed that, very weird that ain't it....but then at least there heated and ice free...so I can kinda see if in the winter.....but then there A/C in the summer...hmmm...oh well :D

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The continued popularity of ice(d) tea during fall and winter. The locals round here drink it year round.

Personally, I don't want ice in any drinks during the winter...





NC Penguin

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Although the Mocha MooLattes from Dairy Queen are tops :D

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I can't believe that DQ are still getting away with selling a product named "Moolatte" :confused:

No DQs near me. The only queens I know of are the ones at the Drag Bingo! :)




NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

Oooh, this really irks me. It's such bad manners to do this in England - and it doesn't just happen in restaurants over here, but also at people's homes. While I've never been particularly offended, it does give a feeling of needing to rush, and I prefer to enjoy my meals at a leisurely pace.

In fact, that's another custom that's irksome in general - people not taking enough time to eat and enjoy their food. Granted, I've always been guilty of grabbing a quick sarnie or nuked food for lunch to eat at my desk, but I'd far rather eat at a proper dinner table in the evening, than eat off a plate on my lap in front of the TV.

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No pub lunches or anything like that, which I find odd....but then also, not much conversation after a meal either, always in a hurry to pay up and leave, which I don't like.

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The pubs round where I live serve food but it's not quite the pub meals that are to be found in the UK really.

There's a pub a very short drive from where I live (it's name in the strip mall is "Pub". This isn't its full name fortunately) that has a pretty good fish and chips. It's not a themed pub either...





NC Penguin

Re: Odd Customs
 

OMG!! i can't believe you said that! , my hubby's like that ,his family too.....what the hecks wrong with ordering another drink,chilling out ,and letting your food settle, he about gives me heartburn!!! :rolleyes: