7 Outdoor Objects I Never Saw Before Moving to America

[@LostinthePond]

Edit: 1) Canada and Mexico have yellow school buses. 2) *Chain-linked fences.

[@whathanul5798]

You must not have dealt with a very athletic dog if one hasn't jumped over a chain-link fence. Half the dogs my parents had while growing up would jump right over their fence the moment my parents called it.

[@pearlllg]

Chain LINK not chain linked. Almost though. Nice effort.

[@SpicyTexan64]

@@whathanul5798 I have a Great Dane that could hop over my 3 foot fence anytime he wants. He just doesn't want to. Obedience training is a thing.

[@HariSeldon913]

I just want to note something I found amusing: Patriotic - US uses long 'a', UK uses short 'a' Patent - US uses short 'a', UK uses long 'a'.

[@davidjames4915]

Canada uses fire hydrants too, but ours have to withstand freezing so they're far more "industrial" looking than their American counterparts. In snowier cities, they're also fitted with tall plastic marker poles in the fall so they can be readily located in the winter. Front yard fences and hedges are generally rarer in Canada than in either the US or UK. And if someone does have a hedge next to the sidewalk, it gets trimmed by its owner unlike in much of the UK where the homeowners don't seem to give a damn about hedges and shrubs spreading out across it... of course if you don't keep your hedge trimmed here it will get ripped out by the sidewalk snowplow in the winter.

[@firemane1667]

Watching someone who wasn’t born in America describe American things is honestly very entertaining

[@tejaswoman]

You have discovered a major source of the innate charm of this series. The other main source, of course, is the delightful host himself.

[@matanadragonlin]

Indeed 😎

[@-_-Baguette-_-]

@@tejaswoman the other charm of the series is being a Brit who’s considering moving to the us in the distant future, and this series is a fun way to find out more from someone who speaks the same language! (Pun intended)

[@seantyler7401]

And important to Americas small minding supremacy agency

[@paulrupright4694]

My brothers wife is from Tuscany and just moved to America. She’s awesome and I’m having some fun with her and American stuff!!!

[@dadoctah]

Funny how in the UK, the Royal Mail delivers the post, while in the US the Post Office delivers the mail.

[@labhrais6957]

😧

[@laurawaterfield838]

Brilliant comment. 🇬🇧😊🇬🇧😊

[@arthurvasey]

Mind you, you can get gas from the electric company and electricity from the gas board, these days, in the UK!

[@corybennett6476]

dadoctah oh how funny! Our two countries seem to enjoy contradiction!

[@kelf114]

Sort of like how we drive on parkways and park in driveways. 😁

[@davidwooden4175]

Here in the States, your British gardens are called a yard. A garden is a section of the yard that you designate to grow flowers/vegetables/fruit.

[@morgan9774]

I was thinking . . . "Not everyone has gardens in America"

[@cleoldbagtraallsorts3380]

Yards here tend to be small concreted enclosed areas in place of gardens, but people will also sometimes refer to their back garden as the backyard.

[@emjayay]

@@cleoldbagtraallsorts3380 Yeah, to me (US) the yard is any area of the lot not covered by the house. Back yard, front yard, maybe side yards. A garden in the US is definitely only the vegies or flowers areas.

[@dunbar9finger]

Simple rule of thumb in the US: does running a lawn mower over it ruin the plants? If yes, it's a garden. If no, then it's a lawn.

[@Oztinfrog]

I believe its because the grass is a plant thats grown and manicured purposefully instead of just dirt so basically the whole thing is a garden if you think about it .it goes back to wen people first intentionally mowed the grass and cept it nice instead of letting it go crazy and letting livestock eat it . So both ways of saying it is correct yard is just another word for garden really

[@grumblesa10]

The steel water towers were also an early air navigation aid. During the late teens/1920s air mail aircraft navigated visually and having the name of a town on a tower you can see from miles away was pretty important.

[@katrinat.3032]

Now that’s a cool factoid

[@Cincy32]

That reminds me of how when you go out West in some places you'll see the tallest, closest mountain to a town will have the first letter of the town name painted very large on top, usually in white though I remember seeing yellow ones too back when I lived out there.

[@mrcryptozoic817]

Also in the western US, there are giant concrete arrows laying on the ground pointing east or west which told mail pilots they were on the right course to get where they were going.

[@chloeedmund4350]

Same thing if one is driving on the highways as well.

[@Bob-jm8kl]

I have a French friend who once commented on American flags everywhere. He's since become a US citizen and has an American flag on his front porch.

[@yuppers1]

And in Texas you'll see Texas flags everywhere

[@mephostopheles3752]

yup And quite frequently in the South you’ll see Confederate battle flags, particularly tied onto big obnoxious pickup trucks in the suburbs.

[@starcruiser1241]

Bob that's too cute. What seemed odd when he saw it at first he's now embraced lol

[@grovelandgal1222]

Yeah, I have a German friend mention that we have flags everywhere.

[@loveUSA1]

In britain people do have flags up but not alot it's rare thing to see I see alot more Welsh flags then any other flags which I love seeing as it's such a pretty flag

[@lorenzoboyd6889]

The mailbox is important. It delineates the maximum distance from the front door that one can walk in a bathrobe (OK, dressing gown) without being presumed to be a mental patient.

[@raynemichelle2996]

Housecoat

[@ragingraichu219]

Unless you live out in the country, and your mailbox is at the end of a lane. Be a bit weird to walk half a mile in a robe to get your mail, lmao.

[@shannonvalleriecarr-dawson9470]

Having mailbox out near street increases the chance of your mail getting stolen. Which btw is a regular occurrence.

[@CoffeebreakTX]

Actually it's so those bloody mailman don't have to exert themselves by walking door to door as they used to although, in fact, they all could damn well use the exercise.

[@shannonvalleriecarr-dawson9470]

@@CoffeebreakTX lol yeah it’s is quicker. Have you noticed they work on Sundays too now? Do British postman work weekends?

[@maggiemalone9908]

I remember when my German friend saw a mailman driving his little mail truck. She was in awe! She thought they were only in the movies!

[@dubuyajay9964]

How did she react to Solo Cups?

[@LordOceanus]

​Wait what do they drive in Germany? I mean i get that it wont be the same vehicle but do they not have dedicated postal vehicles?

[@news_internationale2035]

@Roger Balcer Italian mob was big in cities before they largely collapsed in the 1990s.

[@Wrasko]

@@LordOceanus Don't know about germany, but in Norway we have ordinary "vans" like Ford Connect, and small electric atv in cities.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

I don't why a German would be shocked by the sight of a US mail van. France has yellow mail vans.

[@amazinggrace5692]

In inner cities, the fire department will sometimes put a special thing on the fire hydrants to allow the water to spray out in a controlled way so kids can cool off. This was done because otherwise people themselves would open the hydrant and a ton of water was wasted. In winter, they attach a long high visibility stick the hydrants so they can be found when buried in snow. 💕🐝

[@sarahgilbert8036]

Illegal not to clear the snow from around them if they're on your property. Our neighbour burried it with his plowed away snow!

[@amazinggrace5692]

@Menti Capti That’s interesting! I hadn’t heard that before, but the color coding is not true for my area. I love learning new facts! 💕🐝💕

[@amazinggrace5692]

@@defectivedegenerate4046 I do live in the US and I have firefighter brothers and also my husband is a paramedic/firefighter. I asked them.

[@SaintSaint]

@Menti Capti Wow! I didn't know that Red: Indicates a hydrant that can deliver 500 gallons per minute (GPM) or more Orange: Indicates a hydrant that can deliver 500 GPM or less Green: Indicates a hydrant that is connected to a private water supply, such as a lake or pond Blue: Indicates a hydrant that is connected to a public water supply, but is used only for non-potable water, such as for irrigation or industrial purposes

[@GetDougDimmadomed]

​@Menti Capti Interesting. I just thought it was to match their incorrectly not-red fire trucks. You learn something new every day

[@sunriseshell]

"Going crazy being in quarantine for 8 days" Lol, what a difference a year makes!

[@augustus2043]

Exactly this 💯

[@randomheadful7190]

That gave me a chuckle!

[@n0tyham]

The whole quarantine reaction mildly amuses me, because I'm disabled and haven't left my house in 2 years!

[@seanj3667]

Yeah.

[@marigeobrien]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing! Ah, what a difference a year makes.

[@twillbdone3273]

Old school bus driver. Fun fact: The specific color of all school buses in the USA is called Nation School Bus Chrome. It is against the law to paint any other vehicle that color. And if you choose to purchase a retired school bus you must change the paint color. Cross over lights must be removed also.

[@ImNotaRussianBot]

I actually had that question. Like why yellow (beside it being bright)? Why not neon pink, or green, or blue, etc.

[@everything6582]

@@ImNotaRussianBot If you do a search for "Why are school buses yellow" in KZbin, you get about a half-dozen videos claiming to answer that question (and one claiming to answer why the roofs are white.)

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

As someone who bought an old school bus at an auction, I can confirm that before the sale could be completed I had to sign a document stating that I would change the color and the lights in accordance to the law. The documents covered the butts of the sellers.

[@whoahanant]

@@ImNotaRussianBot yellow was chosen mostly because it was the most notable color on a road. When school buses were introduced after carriages they were sorta random. This was a problem, so a committee got together and made like 44 rules for school buses. Yellow at the time was a more normal color, neons weren't prominent during those days and the black lettering stood out more on the yellow. Blue, black, red, white and grey are all normal car colors but yellow is not very prominent even today you may see yellow cars but they aren't as common or liked as all other colors. So school buses were chosen to be yellow.

[@missmoxie9188]

I used to work on a school bus I remember that lesson

[@floridaman5411]

I’ve been a professional fireman for over 16 years and I’ve not once made the connection between the helmet and hydrant until this video! Well done!

[@Blondie42]

In the small rural town that I grew up in several of the fire hydrants were painted to look like little people. And those that weren't were yellow, like the helmets of our volunteer fire department.

[@kennethferland5579]

Or maybe the hats were made to look like the Hydrants? Naaa, they are probably both just idedpently phalic shaped.

[@kamcorder3585]

@@Blondie42 That's unbearably cute

[@SaintSaint]

@@Blondie42 Red: Indicates a hydrant that can deliver 500 gallons per minute (GPM) or more Orange(or yellow): Indicates a hydrant that can deliver 500 GPM or less Green: Indicates a hydrant that is connected to a private water supply, such as a lake or pond Blue: Indicates a hydrant that is connected to a public water supply, but is used only for non-potable water, such as for irrigation or industrial purposes. 500 GPM is an obscene amount of water.

[@Blondie42]

@@SaintSaint Not relevant

[@guyvanarsdall7686]

Poor Laurance, just 8 days into quarantine and he already thought he was going mad. Glad he made it through!

[@shawnn1412]

In Farmington, NM, a billboard stands next to an adult bookstore that says "Jesus is Watching You."

[@Katy32344]

😂

[@raymondgerlach3148]

I like that one. There are a few other states that could those. Life Maryland and Texas. 😁👍😜

[@GoofysHatBand]

I used to visit Farmington as a kid. I remember Ship Rock and going to four corners and then on to Durango, Co to see the Bar D Wranglers.

[@efs83dws]

I’ve seen that.

[@seed_drill7135]

Someone should paint "Fap" after the "You".

[@asinglemantear]

Watching this in December and laughing over "being in quarantine for 8 days" hahahaha

[@sunriseshell]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.............................................................................. Sorry it's been a long year.

[@Shylade]

I know right? 8 days? Yeah those first few days were the hardest. Now we are all hermits and don’t know how to deal with crowds, naked faces, and talking to strangers...

[@shannonvalleriecarr-dawson9470]

Hahah Now February 😫

[@isaacthomas9279]

Watching this in March and laughing over “being in quarantine for 8 days” hahahaha

[@JackChristenson]

March 2021 here

[@redthorne1129]

Meanwhile, I grew up in a house that literally had a white picket fence, with a mailbox out by the road...that had an american flag sticking out of it, and a fire hydrant up by the sidewalk. I never thought of ANY of them as unusual to anyone. Such an eye opening video :D

[@spaceracer23]

My house has all that now. Only I'll see your fire hydrant and raise you an actual freak'n water tower that's about 300 yards down the street.

[@samanthab1923]

All that seems perfectly normal to me.

[@patscott6365]

Your "sidewalk" is a "pavement" in the UK and Australia.

[@katei84]

@@patscott6365 it’s actually known as a footpath in Australia

[@patscott6365]

@@katei84 I live in Oz now but have been calling it a pavement all the time. No one thought to correct me! Mind you, living here I now pronounce "garage" the French way and not "garridge" as I did in Scotland. My sister back home laughs when I say it the Aussie way.

[@RealBelisariusCawl]

Fashionably late to the party here, but the yellow busses are standardised across the US as a safety measure: drivers are always taught to watch for them and drive very carefully, as well as to watch for the stop signs to pop out the sides of the bus, which MUST be obeyed as any other stop sign. That yellow colour is super important.

[@thevoxdeus]

Actually, the stop sign on the side of a school bus is much stricter than an ordinary stop sign. You may pass a stop sign after stopping (duh), and procede safely onward depending on the right of way rules. You cannot generally pass a bus that has its stop sign deployed.

[@geofferypmeyers]

“stuck inside for EIGHT days!” LOL Hello from July.

[@Chemnerdy]

Right. God still here in July

[@Abcdefu420]

And January lol

[@jacobberry5138]

I actually laughed out loud at your comment. Thanks for that.

[@dracofirex]

Hello from almost August!

[@towermonkey5563]

@M Detlef Heh, no. Won't be for much longer. Meanwhile out in the countryside things continue as ... normal. Don't even know that anything is going on unless until you turn on the TV or drive 10 miles into town and see the loon-bat crazies. Hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, canoeing, camping, and the normal large variety of mundane tasks to prep for another winter. We're like, "Lock-down? What lock-down? Ohh, hmm that must suck for you city folk." The things you don't notice when your nearest neighbor is a mile and half away.

[@richardleatherman5075]

My favorite local billboard cautions motorists to "Avoid distractions while driving!"

[@dubuyajay9964]

😂🤣

[@Mother5hit]

Mine says HELL IS REAL

[@rustyreturns9754]

How ironic! “No texting while driving” is near a highway entrance ramp near me.

[@talikatz3287]

When I was traveling I was chatting with some guys from Europe. They were joking about what if those green signs with the city name and population were real and I was like they are. You pass that every time you enter a new city and they also have elevation. They stared like I was telling them the yeti was real.

[@matsv201]

How often is it updated? If the town have like 2000 people it would need to be updated like 150 times a year

[@lorenasanchez-limon3802]

matsv201 Every time Census is taken, so every 10 years

[@emjayay]

Ha!

[@Rick_Sanchez_C137_]

matsv201 There are small towns (

[@adoxartist1258]

@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ That's pretty cool.

[@Teverell]

The UK 'fire hydrant' is basically a sign telling the fire brigade the nearest location they can plug their equipment into the mains. They lift a small plate in the ground and connect their hose directly to the mains water supply, using a T-bar that allows them to turn the valve so their hoses use mains water pressure to fight the fire with. (We had the same equipment on a trailer when I was in training in the British Army because the folks on guard duty could get to any point on the camp before the fire brigade, so we were taught how to use actual fire brigade equipment in case there was a fire. Really interesting, and actually pretty fun training!)

[@chrisgraham2904]

The UK fire hydrants can be located on a building wall or flat on a sidewalk or flat on the roadway for access by the Fire Department. In Canada, most hydrants are similar to the type shown in the U.S.A. because we have a real winter as does the northern U.S. states. In a fire emergency, you have to be able to locate the hydrant when it it buried under several feet of snow or if you had to chip through ten inches of ice and attempt to open the little access door that would be frozen shut. Canadian hydrants, which are about 3 feet tall, often have a 4 foot rod attached to the top of them with a reflector on top to locate the hydrant when it's buried in 6 feet of snow. We also have arrows painted in the middle of the roadway that point to the hydrant's location at the curb. If you have a hydrant on the front lawn of your home, most municipalities have bylaws that require the homeowner to dig out their fire hydrant after a snowfall to make sure it is visible and accessible.

[@Glamrockqueen]

@@chrisgraham2904 Chris, darling. We don't have sidewalks in the UK. We have pavements.

[@chrisgraham2904]

@@Glamrockqueen Cool! In Canada, "pavement" is used as a construction term for any outdoor floor or superficial surface covering. Paving materials include asphalt, concrete, stones such as flagstone, cobblestone, artificial stone, bricks, or tiles.

[@Glamrockqueen]

@@chrisgraham2904 Oh wow! I didn't expect you to reply to me. Thank you x

[@chrisgraham2904]

@@Glamrockqueen I lived in England for months as a child and learned many of the different words and meanings....except pavement. LOL xxx

[@ricksarvas6563]

I remember when I lived in Moscow for a while in the mid 90s, I'd frequently get questions about REAL American culture vs. what was seen in Hollywood movies. One of the things I had the hardest time convincing my Russian friends of was that The Yellow School Bus - flashing lights and all - was a real thing. I had a tough time not only convincing them such a thing really existed and how common they were, but that they came in two sizes: the regular sized school bus, and the "short" school bus. Predictably, they had never hear of or seen a short school bus, and when pressed for how I knew such a thing was real, I had to admit that I used to ride one for a while. I... um... chose to not further to explain more the short bus.

[@jenniferharden2258]

HILARIOUS

[@vespurrs]

These days the short buses are the same size as the regular ones, at least in the district I drive my regular bus in.

[@numbernine3436]

😂😂😂😂

[@bellhopwalrus2517]

Rick S.: You stole my very predictable joke and used it on yourself before I had the chance.

[@whoahanant]

Also our school buses are practically military grade lol they are actually built to be as armored and tanky as possible. They outweigh almost all cars and contend with semi trucks. They're built for shock absorption and even for full roll overs. I think it's like 1% death rate in school buses out of all vehicle accidents. You can find images of cars being completely totaled and the bus has no damage whatsoever. It can look like a semi truck hit the car instead, you can even find photos of semi trucks demolished after hitting a school bus.

[@PheOfTheFae]

Re: fire hydrants, I recently found out that they are color coded to indicate how much water pressure they have! The red ones are less pressured than the yellow ones, so you'll usually see yellow ones, say, around bigger buildings like apartments or something where the fire hoses would have to spray further, and the red ones around single family homes. Now you will always notice the color difference. It sticks out to me.

[@Drinksfromtap]

Some places definitely color code them based on how much flow they can provide (which is a function of pressure, water main size, and other factors) but others just paint them all the same color regardless of flow. Mueller, who makes the iconic looking hydrants like in the video, has a good explainer here: www.muellercompany.com/sites/muellercompany.com/files/uploads/media/mueller_wp17303_paintingfirehydrants_f13807_v8.pdf

[@injunsun]

Hm.. I've seen some, mainly red I suppose, but painted to look like a little person wearing a hat. That's apparently illegal in most places, tho.

[@vicleaken]

Maybe wherever you live, but of the ten different localities where I've lived this far, fire hydrants have been artistically painted with any imaginable colors and designs you could ever think of. Purple with white polka dots comes to mind, as does diagonal stripes, red, white and blue, and imagery of dogs, holstein cows... some places even repainted them seasonally.

[@judywright4241]

---The last neighborhood we got vandalized out of after 13 years, had silver fire hydrants. Bet money it meant no water pressure present.

[@dallasarnold8615]

The color code varies depending on the jurisdiction ( city or county ) controlling the fire department.

[@TheLpbrennan]

The flag was something that puzzled a British friend who visited here several times back in the Eighties. A fellow railfan, he was fascinated at the sheer size of American trains. And even some of the trains have flags on them -- New York subway cars have flags. He said that back home, the only things with flags on them were government buildings. He couldn't understand our tendency to fly them from homes, businesses, and just about everywhere. I said it was probably because the average American identifies with the flag -- after all, our basic document starts "We, the People-" and most of us take that seriously. It's ours, not the Queen's.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Greyhound Buses Have a decal of the American flag on each side of the bus. On the driver's side, the flag looks like you'd expect, with the canton -the stars on a field of dark (navy?) blue -in the upper lefthand corner. On the entry side, the flag looks reversed. This is because, I assume, that it acts as if a flag were on top of the bus flying in the wind. The flag would be seen in such a fashion if you were looking toward these sides. The wind would be blowing the flag to the rear of the bus.

[@travissmith2848]

@@ginnyjollykidd Same reason the flag on American Sevicemembers' arm is "backwards" were it displayed in the proper way it would look like they were running backwards and we don't retreat.

[@reginafontenot600]

@TheRenaissanceman65 we have American citizens and across the pond are British subjects.

[@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER]

@TheRenaissanceman65 Patriotism has to be taught and practiced. It simply cannot be "assumed" or it will be lost during one or two generations. And then one day you will wake up and your own capital city will look like a hostile foreign terrorist "religion" has taken it over. And even the mayor will be one of these barbarians. And you'll wonder how and when THAT happened. And you won't know of a way to kick them all out and take your country back. (But...of COURSE that could NEVER happen in Great Britain. Right?)

[@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER]

@TheRenaissanceman65 I'm NOT racist. I am against the Libtarded racists, such as yourself, who have no survival instincts for the HUMAN race as a whole, or for their own particular sub-category of it. Btw, can you be more specific, and name the race that you have falsely accused me of harboring racism towards? Go ahead...name the race. I'll wait.

[@Jo1day]

I laughed out loud at "so you know what country you're in." But in my experience, those huge flags are usually "so you know where that cool auto dealership is"

[@mrcryptozoic817]

Or the post office (really big flags)

[@cpovey1]

The yellow color of school busses is restricted to school busses, to make them stand out. They are also quite strong and safe. The black stripes on them is very thick, strong steel.

[@DFX2KX]

Also, the lack seatbelts usually. as the only thing that they *can* be susceptible to is fire. it's also why there are escape windows every few seats and a big ol door on the back.

[@cactusman1771]

@@DFX2KX the lack of seatbelts is actually a safety feature. Its safer than having belts. Especially in situations where the bus needs to be evacuated quickly.

[@robert3302]

They have bright yellow lights and a Stop sign that flips out when they are stopped for children. It is required to stop when the lights start to flash, as I am sure you have discovered.

[@derdin8]

@@robert3302 It is required for BOTH DIRECTIONS of traffic to stop for a schoolbus...I'm sure you know, but maybe Lawrence (the host of Lost in the Pond) doesn't.

[@Michael-es4dt]

@@DFX2KX most buses don't have seatbelts.

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

The reason you see mailboxes along the street in rural and suburban areas is because mail is delivered by car in those locations. Having the mailbox along the street makes in much easier for the letter carrier to deliver the mail. If you take a closer look at one, you'll see a flag on the side that can be raised or lowered. The resident will raise the flag when they've put mail in the box for the carrier to pick up. The carrier will then lower the flag once they've picked it up.

[@kkarllwt]

And, the are all built to 3 standard federal sizes.

[@Duke00x]

Also many (most) mail delivery vehicles have the steering wheel on the right side to help with this. The driver has everything sorted out by address and just drive down the road and put mail in the boxes out their vehicle windows.

[@elultimo102]

The mail box flag is an invitation to steal your outgoing mail---better to take it to the post office or at least a secure drop box.

[@TheMarkster245]

Jason Kron either you’re paranoid or need to consider moving

[@jameshorn270]

@@elultimo102 Note that once mail is put into the mailbox, it is a Federal crime too mess with it. Likewise, taking mail out of the mailbox if you are not the authorized user or family will bring the Feds down on you. And destroying a mail box is also a Federal crime.

[@Gerisheng]

As a mailman, I really cracked up at the whole out-of-nowhere "Don't touch the postpeople" bit. I love all of your little asides, they make your videos great.

[@poisonpotato1]

Edit: here is a link that explains it better kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4val5aDiKl1ftU Water towers store water. They’re connected to the system. When everyone is asleep and not using much water, the pumps are still running and fill it up. In the morning, when everyone is using water at the same time (showers, making breakfast, brushing teeth) it becomes too much for the pumps to handle they can’t keep the pressure up, so the water in the tower makes up the difference by keeping the pressure at a constant level using gravity

[@blindleader42]

Unless you're a civil engineer who knows something I don't, I strongly doubt that water pumps are involved in pressurizing the mains. That would provide no benefit that I can think of, and be far more complicated (expensive) than just continuously topping up a water tower, which provides all the water to the mains.

[@Caderic]

@@blindleader42 The pumps provide the pressure, the towers balance the peaks and valleys of usage. And yes, a civil engineer will tell you that. I learned from my father, who worked in civil/industrial water treatment. Then confirmed in my physics class in college.

[@Caderic]

@@blindleader42 One other thing, they don't always run all night they only run until the max pressure is reached. Nominally, it's 80ish psi, but that varies with distance/elivation between the pump station(s) and the customers.

[@kkarllwt]

Water pressure rises 1 LB. for each 2 ft. of height. Water towers are high enough to maintain the distribution pressure at 60 to 80 Psi. Often placed at a high point to reduce cost of construction. A second function is to maintain a reserve of water for fire fighting. A city would be screwed if the electricity went down and a big fire started. Also, superbowl halftime flushes.

[@seed_drill7135]

When my inlaws moved down here from Massachusetts they thought the famous Gaffney Peach shaped water tower was an ass crack.

[@suesylvester7075]

Those “mesh” fences are more commonly called chain link fences. Never heard them called mesh, but Laurence is the wordsmith here.

[@schatzeeone6230]

Definitely chain-link fences. Out here on the northern Great Plains, mesh fences are made of plastic mesh (usually bright orange) and are used to stop the snow so it doesn’t drift onto your driveway.

[@thomasthedankengine3492]

I'm American I call them mesh fences.

[@johnnygreenface]

@@thomasthedankengine3492 you are wrong!

[@darrenswails]

At first i thought he was talking about chicken wire

[@AFriendlyTheo]

Yeah, mesh fences in the midwest will usually refer to tightly strung chicken wire or a literal mesh screen serving as a fence (shit gets ghetto sometimes)

[@frankendragon5442]

There is a community on I-81 south of Roanoke, VA which has TWO water towers. They painted them, not with the town name, but with "Hot" and "Cold". . Yes, really!

[@artos1955]

Charlie Ellis Priceless🤣😂

[@1950Grendel]

Bartlesville, OK has three - "Hot " "Cold" and "Warm". They aren't towers because they're not on stilts, but they're still water containers.

[@derdin8]

There is also a pair of water towers labeled Hot and Cold in Pratt, Kansas!

[@AsmodeusDHare]

I''m surprised they don't have one that's painted with "Missing Persons. Last seen Aug. 1587. Write Sir Walter Raleigh if you have any information" on it.

[@VolcanoEarth]

I like when a city has its tower pained and custom shaped to look like something of local importance, like the giant peach at Gaffney SC or the golf ball of Rend Lake IL. Americans who live out in the country who keep residential LP tanks for cooking and heating also like to paint them up to look like funny cylindrical cows, little submarines, or giant hotdogs. A Google search for "propane tank art" will yield all kinds of gems.

[@TylerBunchanumbers]

Interesting bit: Many roads have reflectors embedded into the pavement. To aid in night driving. Yellow=yellow line Red = wrong way White =boundary BLUE = Fire Hydrant Most people have never noticed the blue ones. Thankfully the fire fire fighters do. Good show ole chap! Cheerio

[@Whitebeard79outOfRus]

In many other countries Blue means payless parking ;)

[@BradyPostma]

"If you don't have insurance, you are screwed." America defined.

[@BigDogCountry]

If you're American, American law applies to you even if what you are doing in another country is Legal, but isn't in America. And you have to pay American income tax until you renounce your citizenship, (and then they still fine you heavily for it) even if you work and live in a furrin country. And they've gone after people who are dual citizens. Land of the "free".

[@LJBSullivan]

Even with insurance, riots aren't covered

[@tacodias]

Isn’t insurance mandatory?

[@samfaspage25]

You can't drive without insurance at all in the USA. It's illegal.

[@TheGramophoneGirl]

@@samfaspage25 Yeah but proper insurance, not the State minimum which can be very low. In the UK the liability is £20M, whereas in the US I think some States require as little as $50k - which won't go far.

[@chazmichaelmichaels88]

Great video. In the U.S. we even have something called Flag Code. It is a set of rules that are to be followed when handling the U.S. flag. Such as how to properly fold it, how it must hang, when and where to fly it, don't ever let it touch the ground, how to properly dispose of a torn flag, etc. It isn't actually legally enforced, but you'll see the military following it to perfection and a lot of citizens respect the flag code.

[@valerielutter7921]

My husband, retired military officer, wouldn't let me throw out the little plastic flag that some realtor stuck on the lawn (with her business card) for Memorial Day! So it littered my garage until he wasn't looking, then I threw this advertisement away!

[@ananthropomorphictalkinggo6641]

I've seen a picture of an American flag thong with a hole in the back, so not everyone follows the flag code lol

[@redrick8900]

@@ananthropomorphictalkinggo6641 That isn't the flag. The colors and patterns are fair game. It has to be an actual flag for the code to apply.

[@marilyntaylor9577]

We learned that in Girl Scouts

[@lookoutforchris]

The UK has the same basic rules though I doubt anyone outside of the military knows about them.

[@pasqualinamichelaconsiglio9391]

Someone hook him up. If you're a school bus driver take him for a ride.

[@grovelandgal1222]

If he were close to me in Wisconsin I would take him. Of course I would have to take him down the typical school bus ride. Got to have a good bumpy dirt road in there somewhere.

[@badhabitbabbitt7655]

Sit in the row with the rear wheels gets a little exciting when you hit a pothole or curb check.

[@NyuuMikuru1]

Have him sit in the back on a very bumpy roads. Fun.

[@kyleshores432]

hmm bus ride, could also show him how to properly use duct tape by taping him to the hood for said bus ride....

[@billyhilton499]

There are lots of privately owned ones

[@ruprecht8520]

Regarding watertowers: In America most water is used in the morning when people get to work, and at night when they cook dinner. Multiple towns often pull from the same water supply so you start to run out. The water towers fill up from the water supply during non-peak hours and then supplement the supply to their community during the peak hours.

[@jacob_90s]

Just to add on to this answer; the reason they're used (and kept above the ground) is to use the weight of all the stored water to keep the pressure in the main lines high, rather than having to require one or more massive pumps to do it.

[@SaintSaint]

This is... how and when most water towers are used. Not just in America, right?

[@ruprecht8520]

@@SaintSaint I would assume so.

[@timprussell]

@@jacob_90s That is the main function not just a reserve but the height provides a consistent pressure. They are everywhere but stick out on the landscape when you have a small town. The town names on the towers provide useful markers for VFR aircraft.

[@xenadu02]

They do double duty; often the pump supplying them in rural areas is a relatively low volume pump - say 15/gpm. The tower smooths out demand functioning as a water battery. It also generates head pressure and so eliminates the need for large pumps to pressurize the mains.

[@davebirch1976]

The irony is, a lot of the original New York fire hydrants were actually made in England in South Yorkshire 😂

[@Lady_Tee15]

😂🤣😂😂

[@alec4672]

Water towers are really quite simple actually. They have some source of water usually a well under them that they fill the tank with. The pump on the well pumps at a constant flow but people use water at random so once the tank at the top has been emptied a specific amount the well gets turned on and tops up the tank and they cycle repeats itself. The tank is up so high because that's what provides the water pressure to move the water through the pipes.

[@willg4802]

The term you are looking for is "float switch". The same kind of mechanism that is in the toilet tank.

[@xMasterxRazorx]

They're also where the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot live.

[@genli5603]

Britain made everyone have cisterns in their attics for a long time to fulfill that buffer function instead. They often got dead things in them and of course the water pressure was abysmal.

[@EricFarmall]

That's also the reason they seem to be in random locations, they are almost always on high ground. If two water towers on the same system are at different heights the higher one will empty until it's water level is the same as the lower water tower so water districts have to have the tanks all at the same elevation.

[@alanlight7740]

I think using well water for municipal water systems is rarer than you think. Most places draw their water from a river or a reservoir (frequently named "City Pond").

[@Ojisan642]

Letterman also refers to someone who has made the varsity team in school sports.

[@SherriLyle80s]

Yeah we have shifted to calling them mail carriers. Almost all of my carriers have been women.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Or anyone who has lettered (earned by participating one year in the activity), such as Marching Band or Orchestra.

[@DestinationsChronicles]

Also the name of a pop trio who sang, ,"when I fall in love".... LOL

[@akeeperofoddknowledge4956]

Also, a "rock" band in the '60s. And I use the term rock band, lightly - like the Beatles or the Four Seasons. They were British, I think but I could be wrong about that.

[@antmax]

Most British people wouldn't have a clue what a varsity was. I had to look it up, same with fraternity and sorority. Had to look those up too since they didn't exist in England. Didn't have school proms till fairly recently either, certainly not ones where you were expected to hook up with someone like in American films.

[@annfarrell1404]

I moved to US from England and lived in California for 30 years. I've experienced a lot of what you say so I'm laughing a lot when I watch you. As far as yellow school buses I made a point of really wanting to go on one as I had watched Charlie Brown and other American TV shows. When my daughter went on a school trip I finally got a chance. But won't ever repeat it, the kids screamed the whole time! Still, I can cross it off my bucket list. P.S. I still don't like ice in my drinks!

[@elainebelzDetroit]

When I lived in Oakland, CA, it seemed the kids rode to school on the public buses (AC Transit). I don't remember now if there were yellow school buses, but I imagine there would have been to take kids to areas where there wasn't as thorough public transit (e.g., up in the hills).

[@lindaduncan7181]

That was one of the nightmare aspects of going to school, the screaming kids. Imagine what the poor bus drivers endured every day!! 😱😢 As for drinks, ice in tea, never in soda. I don't know how you feel about iced tea, but it's a staple of the Southeast US. Especially sweet tea, which unfortunately can be rather like tea-flavored syrup. In Kentucky, if you go north of the Mason-Dixon line, you'd be hard-pressed to find sweet tea. Also, the language changes slightly. It's somewhat like East and West Germany, if you go from one to the other even since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I know there are fruit-flavored teas, such as peach or raspberry, but I find those abhorrent.

[@brianstratton8767]

​@@lindaduncan7181 Due to excessively long morning ride & afternoon mayhem I preferred hitchhiking ( mid 70's..) Was only late a few* times:/ Destroyed my teeth drinkin' too much pop, specifically Squirt & I can't stand an actual grapefruit:( Weird world but another good channel!

[@tekcomputers]

Remember, America has mail, which is handled by the United States POSTal Service, whereas Britain has the post, which is handled by the Royal MAIL Service.

[@anthony2816]

That's a brilliant observation. Can't believe I never noticed that before.

[@richardm3023]

Britain has mail as well, it's just worn by knights.

[@losthor1zon]

@@richardm3023 - Yes, but these days chain letters are frowned upon.

[@katashworth41]

This is a Bill Bryson quote.

[@richardawilliamsjr5832]

@@anthony2816 Now does Alice in wonderland make sense?

[@ktrinablue3774]

I am always amazed when I see total tornado destruction and someone displays the American flag!!!! It's like they are saying "We may be down, but we will get back up!!!! We will rise again." Awesome!!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@jeffbrooks5580]

I live in Dayton Ohio last year on memorial day we had a tornado my neighborhood got hit the neighbor across the street his flag was gone cause of wind but i swear he had a new flag right after he cleaned up and before he put his tarp on the roof

[@kgranger6400]

@Sam Bacon 66 Republicans/30 Democrats in the House as per an article; 11 Republicans/6 Democrats in the Senate, by my count so could be off. Mostly Republicans but good for all of them.

[@Asti.sayAhstee]

K Granger you may want to read Sam’s comment again because it looks like you missed the boat. Hmmm, I wonder if they say that in Britain. ⛵️

[@RoemDaug]

@Art E Caza okay boomer

[@conitorres9774]

Ktrina Blue ❤️🇺🇸

[@JJMcCullough]

Do Brits have red barns? That seems like a very American thing.

[@firesurfer]

American settlers added iron oxide to the paint as an antibacterial agent. Barns in Europe were usually smaller and not painted. www.grit.com/departments/why-are-barns-red

[@toddie3910]

We do not 🙂 Definitely seems like an American thing

[@Windgonner]

@@justmeandi8256 Nope, "falurött" is made from copper oxide. Comes from waste from the "Falu koppargruva".

[@davidseed2939]

most barns in uk are black

[@MalcrowAlogoran]

@@justmeandi8256 makes sense. Swedish farmers dominated the 1800s in USA manifest destiny.

[@matthewjbauer1990]

American water towers work (at a basic level) by pumping up water to the storage area at the top. The pump is only strong enough to pump water up to the tank area and not much stronger (for efficiency reasons). Gravity is used to pull water from the tank and help maintain water pressure in the water system. The pumping fill speed is balanced with gravity pulling water out so the tank at the top of the tower doesn't go empty.

[@nicky5683]

Watching the part about the fire hydrants reminded me of something. In the US, with rare exceptions, all fire trucks are equipped with pumps mounted in the middle of the chassis, with the operating panel either right on top (behind the cab) or on the driver's (left) side. I was a member of a fire company. We were buying a new engine, and looking to sell one of our old ones. A fire brigade in the UK contacted us looking to buy it, and they were amazed at the set up. Apparently, all the pumps/panels are at the rear of the engine. A couple of their guys came over and had a blast operating it, learning the different hose set ups, etc.

[@zachdaniel6285]

I’m telling you, the largest American flags you’ll ever see are in car dealerships, that are usually the first building you pass coming into a big city Edit: Especially coming into Dallas.

[@purselmer5931]

Largest American flags are at TEXAS car dealerships, lol. One right off I35 in Dallas - I swear that thing was HUGE, lol.

[@lovelyunknown]

camping world?

[@zachdaniel6285]

@@purselmer5931 YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!

[@docrichardson7034]

So true from Dallas

[@hawkenparker]

Biggest flag i've ever seen was at a gas station between Corpus and San Antonio. You really COULD see that thing miles away. It was taken down years ago. I miss it.

[@nairbvel]

Oh, one more comment on the school buses... Last summer, there was a big town-sponsored event nearby for which the only road was closed, so they used school buses to ferry everyone back & forth from the center of town to the outlying parking lots. EVERYONE in my generation was shocked and jealous after boarding the buses; we expected our standard semi-padded bench seats with bare metal (or barely padded metal) hand rails, "catch and smash your fingers" windows that opened by dropping down when the latches were released, a single small heater up near the driver's seat (no A/C), and thin aluminum bodies... what we got was thickly padded, comfortable bench seats (with actual seat belts, fer gosshakes!), well-padded handrails on the seatbacks, well-behaved windows, a sound system with speakers in the ceiling, and actual air conditioning throughout the well-insulated passenger area! None of the kids could understand why their parents were all babbling about the bus... LOL

[@thomashughes_teh]

The agricultural temporary work bus (retired school bus) I rode on was about as comfortable as an Auschwitz cattle car. I had to brush the gravel size dirt clumps off the seat where the broken springs were enough to rip clothing and draw blood.

[@llddau]

haha you didn’t expect any changes in 40-50 years? Here in Oz though bus windows do not open and there are certainly no seatbelts like there should be!

[@JimmyMon666]

And if you were ever in the military, you rode those white buses which were also old school buses with absolutely no amenities. I only rode a school bus for two years growing up, that was enough for me.

[@MrJest2]

@@JimmyMon666 Two years for me, too... and that was only on rainy days when I couldn't comfortably use my bicycle. By the end of 10th grade, I was well motivated to get my driver license - I had already saved up for a used car. :-)

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I remember being happy I was only semi-cool in high school, which meant I didn't sit in the back with the cool kids or the very front with the constant victims of the back-of-the-bus crowd. I got to sit a little forward of the rear axle, where the heating/cooling vents let out. Total win for semi-cool. Also, playing a euphonium in the band meant I had an instrument big enough to never have to share a seat.

[@brianmaday9227]

Only just discovered this channel a couple of weeks ago. Going stir crazy after a week in your apartment in March of 2020 seems so deliciously naive today.

[@RavenwoodJones]

When I was little our mailbox used to be attached to the house right outside the front door. When I was maybe 12ish we got a new mailbox that sits on a post in the front yard. Apparently when we switched to the new mailbox our old mailman was really happy and mentioned to my parents that it was a benefit to him because that meant a few less steps he had to walk up/down everyday. So while those types of mailboxes might mean a few more steps for the homeowner, they help make the mailman's job a little easier. Plus another benefit is that they have so many different sizes so you can get one to fit packages in as well as letters/bills.

[@ressljs]

I think it's rare in Europe to have front yards like we do. I remember my aunt had one of those mail slots and boxes by the door, but she live in a row home where the door was about 10 feet from the street. The house I grew up on would have required the mail man to walk about 100 feet to reach the front door.

[@kittyelf1485]

Things I never thought I’d hear: chain link fence being called a mesh fence, and someone thinking fire hydrants are sexy.

[@insooleedat1asiandude]

😂

[@nyrockchicxx]

We call it a 'hurricane' fence, as the winds from hurricanes & tornados can pass through the openings. But I laughed at Mesh.

[@2008rmartin]

When I was a child in '75 or '76 they painted all the fire hydrants in out closest town in celebration of the Bicentennial, like Independence men or with stars and stripes and I *loved* it. I can see how someone might use the term (albeit jokingly) "sexy"

[@micheleweber7297]

The irony is that our mail trucks are the only ones with the drivers’ seats on the right side like the British

[@theanarcho-luthierist2882]

im not sure if this is a problem in other places, but in san antonio there is a huge problem with people putting used diapers in recycle bins - and the other day i saw a city inspector driving a perfectly normal looking brand new jeep, but with a right side drivers seat (presumably chrysler just sold one meant for export) it had the SA city emblem on the side and everything - she was driving from bin to bin checking for diapers... i also used to drive a street sweeper, many of the larger ones have steering wheels on both sides..

[@ram89572]

The Anarcho-Luthierist Yes Chrysler sells a limited number of brand new right hand drive jeeps within the US specifically for applications that could use it. Primarily rural mail carriers. In the bigger cities even rural carriers drive the post office LLVs but in smaller towns we carriers actually drive our own vehicles to deliver in. Some people like the right hand drive jeeps. Not enough space in one for me and they are overpriced. I’d never have one. Right now I carry in a 2004 Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab pickup. I sit halfway on the middle seat and halfway in the passenger seat and run the wheel and pedals with my left arm and leg. Deliver out the passenger window with my right arm. Maybe one day I’ll upgrade and get a minivan or a city van and put a right hand conversion kit in it

[@borscheeger9855]

In Louisiana they are still on the left

[@ram89572]

Luke Erskine If you are talking about official liveried USPS vehicles you are most likely talking about the FFV (flex fuel vehicle) which would be used for delivery on walking routes/cluster boxes or picking up/delivering packages and the like. The standard USPS delivery vehicle for delivering to curbside boxes on the route is the Grumman LLV (long life vehicle). I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any office allowing a carrier to drive a left hand drive USPS vehicle to deliver in the manner us rural carriers driving our POV (privately owned vehicle) do.

[@davidmehling4310]

I've been a city mail carrier 26 years driving an llv and maybe half the time someone walks up to the vehicle to talk with me, they approach the left aka tray side and start talking. I then make a sweeping pointing gesture, over here, I'm on the right side

[@rustymugg9658]

Your witty humor is such a treat❤❤❤

[@geriroush8004]

when you see really big, or multiple American flags, you will probably find a car dealership.

[@PongoXBongo]

Or a Perkins restaurant.

[@robert3302]

Or a gas station (petrol station) or a hot-tub dealership. Or pretty much any retail business that wants to draw attention to itself. Oddly, our largest retailer, Walmart, usually has astonishingly small flags on poles that barely clear the roof.

[@bobhusslein6655]

Robert Coates mm:

[@matsv201]

In my university town in sweden there was a car dealership that imported cars from the US. They have like 4 huge US flags... it looks kind of on the outskirts of a swedish city

[@emjayay]

@Roger Balcer American flags take a lot of sewing = a lot of labor = made in a low wage country.

[@spudgamer6049]

On water towers: They allow a smaller pump to meet the overall demand via pumping excess water into the tower during periods of low demand, and having their flow supplemented via water from the tank during periods of high demand, rather than having to size a pump to meet max demand. The reason they are so high up is to store not only the water, but also the energy to move that water via the pressure generated in a tall water column, ie the main pipe that drains the tank. Side note: many single residence wells in rural areas use a similar tank concept, only instead of height(gravity) providing the energy storage, the air in the tank is compressed by the water rather than being allowed to escape the tank. The system often has a valve stem like on a tire to added compressed air to the tank before even pumping water in the first time to establish a minimum system pressure.

[@scottbilger9294]

Same reason apartment buildings and factories have a water tank on the roof.

[@rogeranderson8741]

I really enjoy your astute beer atone. I never thought of some of those things as uniquely American. They sell HP sauce in several of the supermarkets in my area. Just for fun next time you're in a large supermarket ask if they have a small section featuring British foods. It's fun to see what Brits miss when they're here. I've been in England when the FIFA World Cup tournament is going on. That's when you'll see lots of houses flying their country's flag, not the Union Jack, but the English flag. There's an explanation for our mailboxes on posts, but it would take too much space. I happen to live in a suburban house where the letter boxes are on the front of our houses. The ones on posts are to make the letter carriers' jobs easier because they can sit in their little Jeeps as they drive down the roads delivering the mail. Keep up your comments!

[@edletain385]

@@scottbilger9294 Yes, they keep water pressure constant as well

[@Drinksfromtap]

Water engineer here, went to comment and @spud gamer you explained it better than I would have :)

[@mezbrookscarter8289]

@@rogeranderson8741 The reason that we fly the English flag during the world cup is that all four nations compete separately. There is no such thing as a British team, so no need to fly the union flag (by the way it's only called the Union Jack when it's on a ship at sea - if it's on land its the Union flag).

[@cstephenson3749]

This id s great series for an American citizen. I guess I never realized how the US looks to someone who has not grown up here. Thanks for pointing these things, including cicadas, out . It has really opened my eyes. Screens on windows are a mandatory legal sanitation issue. The fact that they keep the pets inside is secondary. They are designed to keep insects and hail out.

[@evil1by1]

Lol wut. Screens are not the law. Windows come with screens but nobody is condemning your house if you take the screen out or gasp have double hung windows and leave the screen over the closed portion.

[@peterzavon3012]

@@evil1by1 I would imagine that depends on the requirements of your local jurisdiction.

[@Alma-xr6fn]

You're so cute Lawrence, I never thought about school buses much as they've always been around. Most don't have picket fences but tall wooden fences, but only in the backyard, as HOA's don't allow frontyard fences, lol. Now I do have one around my backyard pollinator garden, and I love it!

[@maureensimpson4383]

My husbands home town lights up their water tower like a present at Christmas every year.

[@Becko78]

Our town turned ours into a restaurant after it wasn't used for water anymore. 😂

[@marccolten9801]

How Hallmark Christmas movie.

[@amybee40]

Wait, you light up your presents?

[@TheOneGuy1111]

My hometown ... tore down its iconic water tower in 1998. Okay, admittedly it was really old and getting rusty.

[@mantistoboggan5171]

who lights up their presents?

[@rainyweigt6077]

we pronounce patriotic as PAY-triotic as opposed to PAT-riotic.

[@okaro6595]

That is because you need to pay for all the wars.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@@okaro6595 >>> Freedom AIN'T Free....

[@Be-Es---___]

You're free to pay.

[@kpkndusa]

pay-tree otic

[@Whitepaint]

Water towers equalize pressure. If there is a sudden change or air pocket, the pressure differential is handled in the tower, rather than by a pipe underground, keeping flow consistent

[@oceana9294]

Thanks for the explanation. There is a water tower in our town and I've always wondered about it but never asked anyone how it really works.

[@pinky69207]

Really? I had no idea. Thanks for the explanation. It’s weird how you see things every day and have no idea how they work.

[@ericwolf9664]

They also double as a back up water supply if the electrical pumps go offline.

[@anitapeludat256]

Truly a follower for a long time. Thanks for pointing out some of the positives in the USA. And I've always loved the Brit sense of humor. It's why I've watched a lot of BBC since back in the 60s, whenever I could get access.

[@ayliea3974]

I grew up in Michigan in a neighborhood lost in the mists of time. The year was 1971 but it seemed that the calender here had stopped around 1940. If you looked around not much had changed. Our streets were still gravel, the houses were old. Some of them still had outhouses in the back. But we had plumbing. And grass. Our family house had a wooden frame and was sided with white wooden clapboard and surrounded by a lush lawn meticulously maintained by my father. At the end of hot summer days our soft, deep green grass was more cool and refreshing to roll in than a dip in any swanky swimming pool in a neighborhood far away. The edge of our lot was marked by an idyllic white picket fence through which a stepping stone path to the gate that was laid by my father. Up against the fence were unapologetic, floridly loud peonies that sang out "True Love in June" with all of their hearts. I used to marvel at the impossibly tiny stripes of red and brown stretching out boldly from the innocent white centers. Where were they going? What was their target? What the captivating scent compelled me towards I years later recognized as romance. But I was just a child. It confused me. All I could identify with was wanting to eat them. But I didn't. But I did eat the impossibility full, red luscious raspberries that grew next to them. My father said he that the raspberries grew so well because he had the right soil laid. His friend with heavy earth moving equipment brought the soil to our yard from the banks of the swampy river just over the hill. Behind our garden were the twin pines that grew to be 60 feet high. From our kitchen window we watched them dance in the wind like Fred and Ginger or Baryshnikov and Kirkland for most of the year. In May and June the twins became towers of ornithological song rejoicing in the triumph of life over winter, life over death. Somehow, we had all beat the odds for another year. But this was so long ago and this is all that all that is left. Like Polaroid snapshots fading in my mind. My father didn't live long. Before I was grown up he died. The living pool of summer verdant refreshment he left us soon reverted back to its natural state of moss and pine needles. Without tending the raspberry bushes they were choked out by weeds. And a thief in the night stole the peonies from the roots down. But I remember in my skin the touch of the tender green grass. I still feel my tiny, little girl legs walking the long distance to the peony bushes, my delicate fingers caressing their fragrant, fragile, white delicacy. The heady scent stays with me, decades past. Even still, in the heavy heat and humidity of Michigan Julys the burst of just picked red bumpy celebration, roses for your mouth, plucked from thorny bushes, is still alive, loving my tongue and my tongue loving it back. A kiss, I suppose. I remember the white picket fence, a symbol of protection, a symbol of us, and my father telling the same old worn out April Fools joke every year about a robin perching on it. How silly! There's still snow on the ground! And that tenderly laid stone path leading us out of the gate of the white picket fence.

[@lvnlrnification]

your imagery is divine. may those memories always sustain you

[@caitlinhanson8631]

Is that an excerpt from a book?

[@ayliea3974]

@@caitlinhanson8631 Thank you! It's an excerpt from my memory, another beam of love shooting out from my heart to my dad, gone so long now. Maybe this time we'll connect. Thanks for reminding me that I can write.

[@gretchenseigfried4459]

Will you write a book so I can buy it? Thanks.

[@ayliea3974]

@@gretchenseigfried4459 I must! Thank you 😊

[@shayelea]

Me, watching this in early June 2020 and hearing 8 days of quarantine called “a long time”: Oh honey, no.

[@epowell4211]

For real! Lol

[@bandotaku]

Seriously, I don't know how many years it's been! Have the Huns invaded China? Is the Ice Age still going on?

[@pehartman2]

My yard and garden has never looked better!

[@shayelea]

Peter Hartman for real.

[@MrPlemke50]

It's early morning August 21st. We're still going.

[@Oduunich]

"Going insane after 8 days" *laughcries from Mar 2021*

[@tejaswoman]

Feelin' ya from August 2021 when, after a brief time of it being okay for me as a vaccinated person to go to karaoke (where nobody was wearing masks) even though I'm often around my elderly and likewise-vaccinated mother, I'm back to staying at home I'm going to the store as little as possible because it's on the rise again in Texas... thanks in large part to conservative whites in rural areas and POC in urban areas (though the latter are less likely to be refusing vaccination as opposed to having trouble working out logistics) and hardly at all the result of the group our asshole governor prefers to scapegoat. **sighs**

[@Oduunich]

@@tejaswoman It's not too different here in MI. Except they tried to kidnap our governor for trying to keep them safe, then sued her to remove her ability to make those decisions, then blamed her when it started getting bad again. These people need some bleach in their gene pool.

[@janet91973gm]

Still laughing in October 2021

[@davidcousins5493]

Talking of flags, Makes me cry every time I watch it: the closing titles of American Sniper. Keep up the good work Laurence, great content.

[@saraa3418]

I guess my childhood dog was pretty smart. She did jump the waist-high chainlink fence regularly. The truly enormous flags are usually on car dealerships. I never noticed that until my husband pointed it out to me and now I can't unsee it.

[@UtahTabby]

And the car commercials speak in the local accent always.

[@prettybullet9875]

Americans love their flag. I even have the U.S Flag on my Converse hi -tops.

[@user-lv6rn9cf8m]

Except when they go to abroad and put Canadian flags on their backpacks so no one will think they're American :/

[@Markle2k]

Englanders prefer the Saint George’s flag on their faces and clothing in “football” season. Which it would be except for the current virus outbreak.

[@cnett486]

I'm an outlier here I guess

[@marccolten9801]

Which is a violation of the Flag Code.

[@prettybullet9875]

@MARSHELL TUCKER lol I had someone just recently say the same thing to me when he saw my hi tops. Merica.

[@SSgtBaloo]

"School bus yellow is a color that was specifically formulated for use on school buses in North America in 1939. The color is now officially known in Canada and the U.S. as National School Bus Glossy Yellow and was originally called National School Bus Chrome. The pigment used for this color was, for a long time, the lead-containing chrome yellow." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_bus_yellow

[@dunbar9finger]

It's also not legal to use that color on other busses, to distinguish the ones with kids in them.

[@Craspic]

Texas Instruments makes graphing calculators in school bus yellow that are supposed to only be sold to schools, so it's easy to spot a calculator that belongs to the school rather than the kid.

[@rebeccanichols3795]

When I was a child, I lived in the country. During the summer, I would make a point of walking to the end of the driveway to get the mail directly from the post man, whose name was Merle. He was really pleasant and fun to talk to.🙂

[@lbicknell]

In many big cities, houses have letterboxes in the door and the postman delivers door to door. I believe the mailbox you referenced at the end of the driveway came in part from "Rural Free Delivery (RFD)" in 1896. Many of the rural properties had poor or no driveways, and/or had locked gates to keep livestock inside. Putting a mailbox at the edge of the main road was an obvious solution, the postman stayed on a good road, didn't get stuck, didn't get run over by a charging bull. As we suburbanized that standard was taken over, if it was only 100 feet to the end of your paved driveway. It allows the postman to serve far many more houses per day than if they were walking, particularly important before FedEx and UPS when the post office delivered most parcels.

[@annpino5005]

I've lived in both a US suburb and a house in the inner city, and my observation has been that suburbs have mailboxes at the end of the driveway and older neighborhoods closer in have a slot in the door. There are exceptions, of course, but where I live, the exceptions serve to prove the rule.

[@paulk4919]

I used to work for the post office. There are two kinds of letter carriers. A city route carrier and a rural route carrier. The rural route carriers deliver to the mail boxes mentioned in this video. The city carrier goes out mostly on foot and delivers the mail. Houses built before a certain time may still have a letter slot that is used. I live in a small town in a 100 year old house. We have a letter slot next to our front door that our mail is delivered to by our city carrier. To help lower the amount of people that are hired, any new home that is built is designated as a rural route. Even if it's not that rural.

[@lisao7600]

In some places the houses are so far apart that it would be ridiculous to walk house to house to deliver mail.

[@TheKaylaGayle]

And then you have the boxes all together in a square metal shape. Sort of like apartment ones but they serve the whole subdivision. My sister has one.

[@brandonclevenger7050]

Ohio use letter boxes in houses close together.

[@deanlevinsohn9563]

I do remember that in "Keeping Up Appearances" Hyacinth Bucket, pronounced Bouquet, would terrorize the post man. He made an all out effort to silently deposit the mail in her letterbox. It was hilarious.

[@glasswhisperer]

I've never heard a chain linked fence called mesh before.

[@marshfellowman]

When I heard him say that I assumed he meant those lattice things.

[@nkelly5851]

It might be regional, because I've heard them called that a few times.

[@GerardPalmeri]

Where I grew up they were called "chained-link or chain-link" fences but also, curiously, some people would call them "hurricane" fences. First of all, can anybody back me up on the term "hurricane fences"? And if so, where does that term come from to describe this type of fencing?

[@stevejfromak842]

@@GerardPalmeri Sure, when I was a kid they were called hurricane fences because they supposedly were so tough that even a hurricane couldn't wreck them. Which was very handy indeed in tornado alley where i grew up.

[@caulkins69]

@@GerardPalmeri I've occasionally heard them called "cyclone fences" but "hurricane fences" is a new one on me.

[@malavethred8735]

When I was a kid I used to live near two gas stations that were in a battle to see who could fly the biggest flag. As I recall the city ended up refusing to permit larger flag poles to be installed due to "unsafe flagpole conditions" ?

[@Mel.H_]

😂😂😂😂🤣

[@markbrown2640]

The "Today I Found Out" KZbin channel recently did a whole segment on school buses. There's a national standing committee for school transportation safety. The yellow color, easy to distinguish in poor visibility, was one of the first regulations they recommended.

[@catlady5862]

Don't feel bad , we're all going crazy during this virus . Thank god that you have a great sense of humor and you are full of lots of info . 😊

[@JNoMooreNumbers]

A new breed of comedians when this blows over. Probably more musicians, handymen, gardeners and lots of DIY projects done.

[@ameliaq.7481]

I've seen 2 or 3 different vlogs where KZbinrs from other countries came to the US (one was from England, the other was from the Philippines), and they got so excited when they saw a school bus pass by. I just thought that was so cute.

[@cdmalchusable]

Lol,.I love seeing America through your eyes😁 You make us seem much more interesting than we are😉♥️

[@mickeybreezy]

1:02 I nearly fell out of my chair when you showed this. I live in Elkhart, IN and the fact that out of all the places you chose our water tower, and of all the KZbin videos I could have been watching I chose this because it was randomly suggested to me is unbelievable.

[@MrEazyE357]

Doesn't he live in IN though?

[@mickeybreezy]

@@MrEazyE357 Yes but for me this was one of those random KZbin suggestions that I knew nothing about until I watched it.

[@MrEazyE357]

@Dave Hicinbothem I hear that if you use that Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil for your hat, it's more effective. It also comes in handy if a bird shits on your head.

[@sjdeklerk2919]

So as you stay longer in quarantine you revert back to britishisms. Wardrobe, mesh fence, Etc. What I find fun is that when you do a humorous accent you often choose a northern accent. In the states, when us non-Southerners choose a humorous accent we will often choose a Southern accent. (and yes, autoinsert chose a capital s for "southern")

[@jdcunnington]

I wonder what accent Southerners use?

[@isaackellogg3493]

Our southern cousin will say "you guys" to make fun of our accent, instead of the more normal y'all.

[@Catbirdmom2]

Isaac Kellogg You guys is just plain wrong. Y’all is much more inclusive. Lol

[@elbruces]

Britain keeps all their funny talking weirdos in the north of their country. America flips that upside down.

[@BranchHeadJim]

SJ de Klerk, as a Southerner, I find myself put off by folks (non-Southerners in the U.S. and folks in the UK on their panel shows) that use the Southern accent to denote a dimwit. I think because many of us tend to speak more slowly, the assumption is we think more slowly.

[@hebneh]

"Mesh fences" - chainlink fences, as we actually call them.

[@justsomeone4347]

Chain link sounds cooler then mesh

[@hebneh]

@@justsomeone4347 Sounds kind of like "chain mail", worn by knights with suits of armor.

[@VirgoVeg]

hebneh yeah when he said mesh all i could think of was a net for some reason and was really confused

[@emjayay]

@@VirgoVeg Yes, "mesh" would indicate a much finer weave.

[@michellefricke7942]

Also called hurricane fence.

[@shareenj.2602]

I enjoy hearing the differences. Thanks

[@TracySmith-xy9tq]

The reason there are mail boxes down by the road in front of houses is to speed delivery of mail. No more walking from house to house, but mail carriers can stay in their mail trucks to deliver to each house, first on one side of the street, then up the other side. The steering wheels on mail trucks are on the opposite side from usual, which helps get the mail carrier closer to the mail box. Much more efficient than having to walk to each individual house.

[@notavideographer]

Who's watching this months later, laugh/crying about how naive Lawrence was to think 8 days was a long lockdown?

[@MundaneGray]

One year and counting.

[@georgemetz7277]

Eight days is how long I was without power and then water in the great Texas Freeze of 2021. That was just on top of the year long virus apocalypse.

[@eddiewillers1]

Lawrence seems naive about a lot of things - unless its a Limey affectation.

[@artao5]

.... 8 more months later .....

[@maxazoff9824]

Welcome to 2022

[@goalie2998]

I foolishly thought owls brought the post in the U.k. Hmm my whole life has been based on a lie

[@dougbrowning82]

I always thought eagles brought the mail in the US, as there's an eagle on the mail box.

[@goalie2998]

@@dougbrowning82 only 1st class mail. The rest of the bills, just comes with a postal worker.

[@jetsons101]

Great movie.....

[@elainelytle9704]

LOL. Owl mail !!

[@BattleshipOrion]

When the mailman/woman is out I get packages via a Bald Eagle... it drives an M1abrams with a 8x8inch barrel for mail, and have the American flag all over it.

[@marilyncote-miller8010]

Love these. Thanks Lawrence.

[@karibeneck]

Having lived on both sides of "the pond," I truly enjoy your videos.

[@JacobSanders-zc7sq]

I'll let you in on a secret only American citizens are privy too- most of those water towers are full of moonshine. In Canada, they contain maple syrup.

[@marycarricaburu3683]

OMG! you told our secret! You know where you are going when you die, and you will not play a harp.

[@wizardsuth]

When I was a kid the water tower in my town had "BEER" written on the side.

[@MrAnticlimate]

I knew it!

[@patphatkitten]

Funny!

[@elbruces]

Haha! It's just a joke, Lawrence! We're so silly, us Americans. With our jokes...

[@ImNotaRussianBot]

We stand in brain-melting isolationist solidarity with you, Lawrence.

[@10171981]

New York, Illinois, California, or New Jersey lol !!!

[@Paladinpal]

I'm in Illinois and I still have to work. And not even from home.

[@theduckchick]

@@Paladinpal stay safe!

[@10171981]

@@Paladinpal Me too !!! It is good being "essential" !!!

[@normlor]

THERE ARE A FEW OF US WHO ARE CANADIAN AS WELL AND WHO LOVE THIS FUNNY SITE!!

[@maryann7619]

Spot on re: flying Old Glory. Goes back generations in my family...🇺🇸

[@heidimarchant5438]

I have 3 windchimes inside my house. I like to hear the gentle breeze brushing them around when I open the windows as weather warms, plus it's free entertainment when you have cats. If I put them outside I'd go nuts because the wind blows too hard here.

[@kaylapalooza66]

Nice. I thought I was the only person with a windchime inside.

[@billievm5236]

I currently have an exchange student from Finland living with us (Michigan), and she has also asked me about our mailboxes, American flags, and water towers.

[@explosivemallard8038]

This probably won't be interesting to most, but if you found the US' roadside mailboxes interesting, I think I've got another one for you. Our states have their own governmental Department of Transportations which have road maintenance crews who also plow snow off the road with huge dump trucks (assuming the state gets snow). After working with these crews, I've learned that they very commonly blast snow off the roads so hard, that they'll destroy these mailboxes. Sometimes it's spectacular, with mail flying everywhere like some important confetti. Many houses mount their boxes on steel poles afterwards. Sometimes the snow will shear the box strait off of the poles and be found in a pile of snow. The roadside mailbox system has a few flaws, particularly for northerners.

[@scotte2815]

Way back when I was learning to fly airplanes, I got lost during my long cross-country solo flight (that's a test that comes upon student pilots once their training reaches a certain level. it requires you fly to two other airports that are at least 50 nautical miles apart) I got lost on my return leg but found my way by reading the name of a town from its water tower

[@rebeccasteen]

"They have to become intimate with your house." 😂😂😂

[@stracepipe]

The first I visited America, I cycled around my brother's neighborhood (in Delaware) thinking "There's something different but I don't know what it is". Then I realised that it was the absence of letter boxes in the front doors.

[@xo2quilt]

Grew up in Reno, Nevada...I've not seen a water tower here. I was quite surprised by them when we went to visit relatives in Nebraska. Our water supply is from Lake Tahoe, through the Truckee River (which runs through town), with nary a water tower needed. Now I live on a farm and we have our own well.

[@sherievaughn6475]

I’m an indoor person and I want to go outside now because there are no people there. People are overrated 🙃

[@Be-Es---___]

I agree. It should be so much fun to visit Venice now. No tourists. Wonderful!

[@pamelasuccaw7214]

But fire hydrants are kinda cool...

[@bdub8174]

The term your looking for is introvert

[@jocelynpadilla9194]

Same...😂

[@ericf7063]

I agree. People are overrated. But at the same time, I don't want to catch their filth.

[@frankhooper7871]

The "H" sign at 6:35 isn't the hydrant! it's the indicator showing exactly how far away the hydrant is located. The actual hydrant is [usually] in the road itself and hidden beneath a flush cover.

[@kentix417]

Although here our fire hydrants are visible by the side of the road in residential areas they are also marked out to make them more easy to locate (at least where I live). In the middle of the road, even with every fire hydrant, there is a small blue reflector embedded directly in the road surface. So at night, as you drive down the street, the blue flash indicates the presence of a fire hydrant. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Fire_Hydrant_and_blue_reflector.jpg

[@Canalcoholic]

The sign pictured has an 80 over a 2. That tells the firefighters that the hydrant is 2 metres away and they need an 80mm hose connection. And yes, that’s metric, deal with it.

[@DarkTouch]

@@Canalcoholic go to a pub and ask for half liter of beer, they'll look at you funny, but not milk at the grocers nor gasoline at the petrol station. and if you go on a weight control program, they still use stone.. and they drive in miles/mph so its a very mixed up country.

[@Canalcoholic]

@@DarkTouch We still use pounds, stones and miles. There are 16 ounces to a US pint but 20 to a British one, so your gallons are 3.8 litres while ours are 4.5 litres. We buy petrol by the litre (currently around £1.10) but still talk about miles per gallon. Oh, and many of us use Fahrenheit when it’s warm but Centigrade when it’s cold.

[@DarkTouch]

@@Canalcoholic exactly. all mixed up. I know. I'm American, my wife's British and I've spent a fair bit of time in the UK. In america its just scientists and car mechanics using metric. I ride bikes, all in metric. drives my riding cohort nutty. I'm also a hobby woodworker, all imperial. I have a friend who is British, he prefers metric... the list goes on, ad nauseum ad infinitum

[@LVMarty]

The mail slot on the front door image struck a chord with me. My grandparents house along with everyone else had mail delivered directly to the door and subsequently into the front hallway. Never had to guess if the mail arrived as it plunked to the floor. Very convenient. The mail delivery was everything. Highlight of the day.

[@patrickjanecke5894]

I suppose that we don't have mail slots in our front doors because of the winters.

[@JWRogersPS]

Our house, built in 1930, has a mail slot in the wall. The mail drops into a box built into the thickness of the wall. You open the door on the inside of the house (in the dining room, to be precise), and remove the mail.

[@claudial3875]

Postal workers have it easier with front yard mailboxes cause they can just drive up to them. It's more easy and efficient for workers.

[@maryh3907]

Love your videos! And you’re hysterical !