American Reacts to American Things Europeans Can't Understand

American Guy Reacts to American Things Europeans Can't Understand
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[@andishawjfac]

One thing I really don't get is wearing clothing with political parties on it, Trump hats, Biden shirts etc. Like in Europe it would be considered so cringe to wear a tshirt with our political parties logo on them. You treat politics like sports so it makes sense but it's weird as fuck.

[@carmenl163]

This!

[@Trifler500]

In a country where nobody can talk about politics, I guess the clothing and stickers became the only way of expressing political opinions, for some. As for myself, the last thing I ever wanted to do was announce which side I preferred without being able to clarify what I like, what I don't like, and my reasoning.

[@weequarter]

This is all part of the propaganda machine from the rich. A divided population is easier to control. As they fight each other. Rather than what the real problem is (corruption) United you stand Divided you fall.

[@Fulbor]

Well in germany it was at one point quite common for people having green party buttons and stickers but that's a bit of an exception cause back in those days it was a protest party formed to promote more environmental consciousness

[@Siamotutti161]

I would argue that there is such a culture on the right but more subtile on. I saw ppl with AFD suits in the party colours and maybe a small pin. And stuff like that. But yeah i never saw a left person with left party shirts other than the JUSO in Switzerland, but that might be since it's not really taken as a normal party.

[@joostdejongh3549]

It's absolutely ridiculous to me that you're allowed to hire waiters without paying them MINIMUM WAGE. Even the minimum wage is incredibly low in the US.

[@Trifler500]

As an American, I agree completely.

[@jeschinstad]

I don't know. As a kid in Norway, I was able to make a lot of money from having a high commission instead of any salary. That's ok in Norway, because if you don't succeed, you can go claim your allowance, which is a thousand dollars for household and a thousand dollars for rent, approximately. But when you claim your allowance, they look at your finances going back, so that if you ought to have had enough to get by, you're stripped to ten dollars per day or something. This encourages people to take risk and do their best and to be financially responsible, but at the same time know that they are safe. I think that's sort of better, because minimum wage quickly becomes a standard wage and socialism tends to spiral inwards, while investment tends to grow. If the employer doesn't risk much and the employee can afford the risk, then people sometimes succeed when you wouldn't expect them to. Capitalism with a crutch is better than government planning of people's salaries. There is also a psychological issue with minimum wage; the fact that you're a minimum wage person, can't make you feel very good about yourself.

[@czebosak]

compared to some other countries their wage is high, but yeah this still shouldn't be happening

[@gabrielesolletico6542]

If restaurant owner should start paying minimum wage here in Italy, they will probably all fail. Remember that there are a lot of European Country where there is no minimum wage for law, and the private parts can discuss about one employees salary. I've know University students that accept to work as a waiter, for the summer season, for like 2€ an hour. Believe me, in the USA you don't even know what LOW SALARIES are... I've heard that in California the minimum wage is 13 dollars for an hour... 2 euros an hour, less than 2 dollars a day, for working for 10/12 hours or more as a waiter, remember?

[@markus4732]

What's even the point of calling it "MINIMUM" wage when you can underpay it??

[@Asa...S]

I feel like a lot of this boils downs to that the US is ruled by the companies, rather than the people. I think that is the main thing us Europeans don't understand, why do you accept living like that, where are the unions, where are the boycotts and strikes? Why is no one protesting? Why is it so accepted that politicians are paid off by the companies to do their bidding, rather than trying to improve the life of the people? That's what we don't understand.

[@Real_MisterSir]

Yep. I mean, the main telling point is to simply look at how expensive it is to run for US presidency. They claim "anyone can become a President in the US", but realistically you have to be +60 years old and have amassed a fortune and/or have very deep pocketed investors because everything is decided through add campaigns and not the actual policies you believe in. Money buys the US life, not your ideology as a citizen.

[@sogghartha]

you should just watch last week tonight with john oliver. it's basically a show that highlights one large issue what's wrong with the USA each week

[@OrontesRM]

Well, maybe so, but private companies are CONSTANTLY trying to take over Europe's politics and lifestyle, and it is a constant 'battle' in the EU Parliament because there is ALWAYS some a**hole sellout politician trying to favour them.

[@paul1979uk2000]

That's likely a big part of it but it's the people that allow companies to rule the US, to me, it kinda looks like it's trading in democracy for big corporations that are not elected by the people. Many like to complain about big governments in European countries, but thanks to that, Europeans have a lot more rights, benefits and other social programs that benefit everyone and that's likely because governments can stand up to big companies in the EU whereas in the US, it looks like companies rule the country, hence why everything seems to revolve around money in the US.

[@jaspervanwijk2685]

Spot on

[@robinjulien5163]

I always found it funny that you can buy guns in the main store, but you have to buy alcohol in a separate store that is in the main store.

[@Whatever94-i4u]

And you can buy a gun and drive at 18, but you can drink alcohol and smoke only after you turned 21... Like what??? So stupid and makes no sense at all.

[@AdrianOkay]

Well a gun and a car are supposed to be ''tools'' but alcohol gives absolutely no benefit

[@aleide2980]

@@AdrianOkay I would argue alcohol gives more benefits than a gun (to the average American)

[@CaptainDCap]

@@aleide2980 And you would be arguing in bad faith. Benefits to EVERY responsible gun owner: Protection from life-threatening attack, not least of which from increasingly tyrannical governments worldwide. Benefits to EVERY responsible drinker: ...I guess you can make friends a little better if you're socially inept?

[@grandrapids57]

@@Whatever94-i4u And you can buy a gun and drive at 18, but you can drink alcohol and smoke only after you turned 21... Like what??? So stupid and makes no sense at all" If you looked at the data the way the legislature did, you might reach the same conclusion. It's easy to criticize in a vacuum.

[@Xia-hu]

The thing is, over here in Europe, most restaurants don't offer you an XXL pizza at all. Some may offer party size pizzas when you order for like 10 people but it's still not common. Also, McDonalds wont give you Coke in a 1L size like in the US :D

[@speedbully_84]

Was looking for this comment. Find it kind of funny that he defended the meal sizes with that statement, because here those sizes aren't even offered. Been awhile since I've been to McDonald's but I think our large is 0,5 liters which is almost 17 Oz. (and no free refill btw). And if I'm not mistaken some American places offer even larger sizes than 1liter. Mind blowing!

[@Randybobandy024]

In Austria, all the pizza take away offer family sized pizza and McDonald's biggest drink is 0.7 i think but i don't know, don't eat there

[@koopa5504]

I went to ONE cinema in the US and got the smallest coke and a small popcorn, both was that huge I made a photo that I look at frequently to this day. The coke was like 0,5l

[@ccoder4953]

@@speedbully_84 In fairness, most US restaurants don't offer pizza sizes like that either. And when they do, it's intended for multiple people. One of the few nationwide restaurants that offers a pizza like what was shown (Chicago style deep dish or stuffed pizza) is Papa Murphy's. The biggest size they offer on that style of pizza is 16". It's a very large pizza (though smaller than the one in the video, I think). But I generally can only eat 1.5-2 slices of that. One is basically a meal for a family, probably with leftovers. Now our drinks. Yes, sizes larger than 17oz are very common. A McDonalds small is 16oz and a large is 30oz. That's pretty typical. Some places offer larger than that too. Lots of convenience stores offer 42oz. Some movie theaters go even bigger. But honestly, if your large is only 17oz with no refills, what is your small? A shot glass? Seems like you would need more than the coke with your meal to not be thirsty in any case. And maybe that's the difference. We expect that the Coke (or other soft drink) is all you will have to drink with your meal. Perhaps that's not true in Europe. Also, we almost always have our cold drinks with ice in them. Usually about 1/3 of the volume will be ice. I've heard Europeans don't generally like ice in their drinks. So that may also account for some discrepancy.

[@pepita2437]

@@speedbully_84 We don't even have MCDonalds in most of the villages where I live(Transilvania, Romania). :) Last year they opened one in the city I live, and I'm 30. Before that I ate like five times in MCDonald's in my whole life. ;P

[@enemixius]

In Europe, if you find yourself in a store or on a website showing all the prices excluding VAT, it's most likely targeted at businesses and not consumers. For a business, VAT is usually irrelevant since it's all deductible anyway, so they're more interested in the actual price.

[@enemixius]

@@schwanksational Did you reply to the wrong comment? If not, what do you mean?

[@tompiper9276]

@@schwanksational What??

[@tompiper9276]

@@schwanksational How did VAT make Venezuela dangerous??

[@schwanksational]

@@enemixius yes I replied to the wrong commen

[@germangarcia6118]

Yeah. Also, I'm pretty sure adding the VAT is optional. At least I remember when it was first introduced in Spain the shops didn't add it. It was when people kept complaining they started adding it, and even today you can sometimes find a store (almost always online) that doesn't. But they are rare to find. People don't like it.

[@patrickholzer6415]

Austrian here, I think the advertisement for pharmaceuticals is so strange to us because we have Healthcare. If we need meds, we can go to the doctor, who will check if we actually need them, and then writes a prescription, which in most cases makes the medication much cheaper than just buying them outright. So taking non prescription drugs is mostly sonething for people who don't trust in their doctor's abilities or are into esoteric methods like Homöopathics, which are literally placebos.

[@OriginalPuro]

@@koschmx "American's have healthcare" Sure, but which level? Level 1? Level 2? Premium? Maximum? There are high costs for good healthcare, but sure, everyone can get the cheapest one. At Level 1 you might have to pay for certain things at a hospital, but with maximum then you only pay the fee for the Maximum model.

[@giornikitop5373]

@@koschmx health care is a big pain wordwide and it has never been "free". it doesn't matter which country you live, there is always big bs in the health system, simply because, it has been for decades a strict bussiness nothing more. of course, most doctors try their best to help the ppl, but they are overly trumped by policies and insurance tactics. long story short, no insurance pay or money, they will leave you in the floor like a dog.

[@carmenl163]

But surely you will not visit your doctor for a simple paracetamol painkiller? Or for a cream for treatment of muscle pain? Those are all non prescription drugs.

[@patrickholzer6415]

@@carmenl163 true, there are non prescription drugs like Aspirin, Paracetamol and thee sorts, however even those are usually cheaper if you get a prescription. I myself always ask my doctor before getting medication that I don't know of beforehand, though as a nurse I know most of the usual stuff anyways, so take that with a grain of salt. An example for the former would be a drug against strong itches, l know that my skin is sensible, so I won't just buy the first drug I can get, but rather get detailed information, and a recccomendation first.

[@carmenl163]

@@patrickholzer6415 Those drugs are not cheaper with a prescription where I live, in the Netherlands. You can buy paracetamol in every drugstore and in most supermarkets. The cheapest package will be €1,25 for 50 pills of 500 mg. Usually, Aspirin is not recommended as that is harming your stomach. If we would need advice on certain drugs, we would usually ask the pharmacist.

[@joslouarnik1805]

French here : generally, when it comes to how much sugar or salt you put in something, getting used to less sugar or salt is always better, because otherwise your palate just gets saturated and you are only going to want more to even feel it. Less quantity, better quality, more sense. That's it boiii :)

[@BioTheHuman]

But then is so annoying when maybe you have to cook for someone else and they're constantly "Yo, why didn't you put salt in it?" - "I did, just the right dose. To my taste it's ok" 😮‍💨

[@YashiroTeishi]

@@BioTheHuman You could always add salt to your own portion.

[@addzay3135]

@@Sienisota everyone does that in France at least

[@BioTheHuman]

@@Sienisota Of course we have it too, but the taste is different from when you add salt while cooking.

[@KasparonPL]

There are so many tasty spices, and Americans insist on using excess amount of the two most unhealthy.

[@snakeyfox]

I worked for a University recently as an intern for 6 months in Ireland, I was entitled to 6 days holiday (with pay). Asking for the days off couldn't have been easier. I just logged on to an employee database, then scroll through a calendar and mark the days (or even half days) I wanted. A day later an email is sent with approval (or not). So, I didn't even have to open my mouth. No begging required!

[@550077]

I don’t think Americans lose anything. You just get a much higher salary. In Europe, a certain amount is deducted from your monthly salary for your paid leave.

[@emmasly123]

@@550077 Of course you lose - you lose quality of life! It is nice to have money on your bank account, but you also need to LIVE, like spend time with friends and family, travel, pursue hobbies etc. Europeans work about 40 hours per week. There are laws in place that define maximum hours per week and it is prohibited and penalized if they are exceeded.

[@emmasly123]

@@550077 And just looking at the example of waiters: we have minimum wage here. In Germany, the minimum wage will be raised to €12/h as of Oct 2022. So, waiters will get minimum wage plus tip for good service.

[@daviddieudonne7829]

@@550077 what are you talking about? Higher salaries, maybe, but healthcare, education, retirement etc… is not really included in their taxes, meaning they have to earn more, to be able to put aside for those, not for holidays. And that’s if they don’t have student debts anymore… I just got an email from my boss telling me hr just notified him I still have to take 20 days this year… and I already took 2 weeks of last month. Will give me time to do whatever I want, from staying home to traveling. I’ll definitely take the last 2 of the year and will have to see whatever I wanna do with the other days. That’s a big difference, my boss tells me to take time off, theirs tell them they can’t even take a couple of days.

[@Nikita_Akashya]

@@emmasly123 German here. Currently doing an internship in a library until october. In october, I will start an internship in an archive here in my city. I'm something called Unterstützte Beschäftigung UB for short, which will help me find a company where I can do an apprenticeship for my future work opportunities. I'm glad my city has so many programs for disbled people and young people in general. Who the hell needs more money when you don't have any free time to enjoy it? My goal is to also work part time in the future to have a better work life balance. I just need to find a place that can take me first until I gain enough experience. I hope i can earn my own money sometime next xear. Thank god, my Jugendamt is so great. But living in a church is still pretty exhausting.

[@schwanksational]

I really dislike the tipping culture. It exists because the federal minimum wage is way to low and restaurant owners are also not willing to provide a decent wage to their staff. So you come in and are expected to also provide tips because the employers are to cheap everywhere you go in the USA.

[@charpost62]

also is has a racist history

[@darrellbeets7758]

Truth bomb.

[@taand4725]

What I hate the most is places with a sign that says 'gratuity NOT included!'. The owner is basically making the customer responsible for the staff earning a living wage. It's ridiculous.

[@schwanksational]

@@taand4725 I'm surprised that is even legal. Or like deducting average tips from the already minimum wage income. It is inhuman.

[@nacholibre4516]

It's because of the hyperkapitalistic and individualistic society you guys live in.

[@Sadi_K]

In France, tips are included in the price displayed on the menu. So when French leave a tip it's to show their appreciation for the good service they received.

[@carmenl163]

You mean service is included. A tip is always a bonus.

[@dutchgamer842]

If you see tips and service as the same, you clearly don't know what tips in Europe mean

[@carmenl163]

@@dutchgamer842 it's probably a bad transaction.

[@singingcat02]

@@dutchgamer842 They just probably don’t speak english perfectly, they confused service and tip, it’s understandable. Indeed, it’s the service that’s included in the bill, unlike in the US where you have to pay the service in addition to the bill (it is called a tip, but really it’s considered mandatory, otherwise it’s like the waiters didn’t get paid).

[@daraghtremble4479]

Ive never been to America, but everyone I know that has been there says the bread is inedible alrigh. Europeans love bread, but we don’t like all bread to taste like brioche with extra sugar, as one of my friends described American bread. Cheese seems also to be a big thing. For Europeans this is a very cheap commodity, but in America good cheese is very very expensive apparently. And even average European cheese there is even more expensive than that.

[@Joefusz]

cheese in netherlands is expensive as well

[@deborahcrumley8044]

Yeah when i was in america i couldnt eat there bread or cheese / butter it was awful, there pototoes as well terrible. So much junk food.. i just craved a good clean home cooked meal. 4 weeks paid holidays in ireland, bank holidays all paid and christmas ❤

[@tompiper9276]

Cheese is the most shoplifted item in the UK. Followed by meat then alcohol. Good cheese is really pricy!

[@angelavara4097]

Most foods there are too sweet or taste of chemicals.

[@Lily_and_River]

@@Joefusz yes but that's quality cheese you're talking about... I've heard that cheese in the U.S. is expensive when it doesn't even come close to our supermarket cheeses.

[@biebel1963]

I think it’s funny how Americans stand in a lift. They all stand in rows facing the door. We don’t do that in Europe. We mostly just stand with our back to the wall. 😄

[@sssenseiii]

Pretty sure that's a movie thing, so that you can see everyones face when something funny happens. I've never seen anyone stand in rows all facing the door like in I, Robot. Maybe I didn't notice.

[@Trifler500]

I think part of it depends on how slow the elevator is. If it's really quick, I'll remain ready to depart, but if it's a long ride to my floor, I'll slouch against the wall and relax.

[@eh-i1841]

I think you’re getting your impression,from tv,or movies.That’s just to show the actors faces.

[@JMS-2111]

The bleaching of teeth is a mystery to me. But to answer the question about bread, less sugar means that you taste more of the bread (my preference for bread - to treat myself - is a buckwheat flour and walnut bread). From my experience a kilo of bread needs a maximum of half a teaspoon of sugar, and even that is just to excite the yeast to rise more.

[@ForgottenGames]

I think the freshness is most important, nothing compares to freshly baked bread... I eat low carb bread (no sugar added) and Waldkorn full wheat only. For the 'allison' carb free bread, I prefer to toast it a bit though, because no sugar is usually pretty salty and tasteless, especially if not fresh. - But.. 2 loafs, little egg omelet in between- both toasted.. makes everything allright,. Did you know, most US bread would be qualified as 'cake' in Europe.

[@eh-i1841]

I couldn’t eat sugary bread,mostly because it’s just not right,to make it like that.Also I’m diabetic,and the sugar would be a big problem.I like granary,or seeded bread,from Hovis.

[@T0MT0Mmmmy]

Which taste? Without sugar there's no taste left in US American bread.

[@BluePhoenix_]

I like me some sweet bread once in a while, but if i want to eat BREAD, like for breakfast, i won't eat the sweet one.

[@haraldtoepfer233]

I think bleached teeth are so embarassing, to me it looks like "oh look, I had such ugly teeth that I needed to do this to be able to smile again withouth people fainting" haha.

[@bev419]

In Australia, as like the EU, we don't have direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. No wonder the US Big Pharma is out of control, and your drug prices are so high. Yet, a majority of the funding for US Big Pharma research and development comes from the US public purse. The mind boggles!

[@OriginalPuro]

Yet, they do nothing and let the government run over them. "Stupid is what stupid does." - Forrest Gump.

[@Real_MisterSir]

drug people enough, and they wont build effective natural resistances - thus needing even heavier reliance on big pharma for smaller and smaller issues. Self feeding loop.

[@pontiuspilatus7900]

When I arrived in Australia first time in 1982, nobody, but nobody expected a tip, some service people felt offended because they took pride in their jobs, and had unions behind them. Thank you for this video.

[@danielrobertgorman3257]

Having lived in Europe, and still living in Europe, (I'm an American) we find that "tipping culture" EMBARASSING - we know waiters etc etc expect tips and actually need tips to make ends meet, but we deep down condemn the system that forces the person serving you to actually depend on you in some way. We in Europe view other workers as our equals and don't want to see someone dependent on you. The money mentality in the USA has transformed everyone to chase the next buck. In coffee shops and restaurants in Paris city law allows an automatic 15% tip on the bill. We accept it and don't gripe even if the entire world knows that waiters in Paris are notiriously very rude (they must handle too many crazy foreign tourists I guess).

[@arturobianco848]

Do they still use that system that you pay more in "tips" the further away you are from the serving point?

[@actionalex3611]

Very well put sir.

[@arturobianco848]

@@Sienisota Used to be all over france cheapest get it at the bar then inside most expensive on the terass. It wasn't a voluntairenly tip either you got billed.

[@eleanorcooke7136]

In England, we like to tip our servers and actually do it often. That said, we don't like the automatically added gratuity. If we think that the servers have done well then we'll decide to tip them. If we are automatically expected to tip so that it's already on the bill then we feel like it's a hidden price and don't like it. And you also feel like a total bellend if you ask them to take it off.

[@dannychan6167]

In Germany its more like, if you cant live from your job, then the job shouldnt exist. But there are some exeptions, in this case the "country" will fill up the money to the minimum wage (but still there are more exceptions). But mainly everyone must get the legal minimum wage per hour 12€ - 11,81 US-Dollar. I just give tips, if i like the person and then its max 1 or 2 €, normally fill it up to the next bigger Banknote, so you gotta pay 8,50€, make it to 10€, thats fair here.

[@Sharongeval]

I'm so so happy I don't live in the US. Was there 2 weeks ago and you just get tired of the bigs portions you get in a restaurant. Eating pancakes + double espresso as breakfast is very expensive with the tip you HAVE TO give them. Also YES, the gap between the doors in the restroom, like wtf?

[@actionalex3611]

Could it be they don´t want you to use them, cutting costs for cleaning etc... Always thought i would go to the US someday, not so sure now. How is Canada this time of the year lol

[@koopa5504]

@@actionalex3611 Ever noticed in the US they always have a few standard reasons for every "weird thing"? Either it's money reasons, "freedom" reasons, sex or violence related reasons or reasons connected to laziness or easiness?

[@Flowyerg]

I am from Germany. Most times I see Americans is when I'm watching some movies, tv shows or KZbin content, so maybe I am wrong about this: My biggest problem with Americans is the false identity they often times proclaim to have. For example, when someone born and raised in the US and who has rarely or never left the US speaks about being italian/german/chinese/whatever, just because his or her great grandparents are from there, then it makes me kind of angry. I really don't give a f**k about nations, states, passports, IDs or the migration history of people, but when someone tells me he comes from a place he never was before, it sounds like a big and disgusting lie to me. It is an heavy insult to everyone really coming from the places these people pretend to come from.

[@drivehard2395]

It's true, and it's because there is a lack of US culture. In schools at a young age, when we are taught about immigrants, one of the things done is for everyone to identify where their family roots came from. We are taught to label ourselves. When someone who's great great grandfather came from Germany, that gives that person a sense of heritage and culture.. and in a lot of cases, a sense of family or belonging that may not exist otherwise. On the flip side, it's a divider. We label POC as African American and such. I've heard arguments over who's more American based on when their ancestors came here. I've always claimed being German because I'm first born in the US in my family. My family came from Schwerin. My upbringing was full of German customs. I have been to Germany, and recently, because of rule changes there, I am able to apply for Deutsch dual citizenship. My documents have been submitted and I wait.

[@mrsmerily]

lack of identity and culture i would say.

[@weequarter]

Scottish here yes must agree. Its the arrogance & entitlement thats drummed into them, having to say your great , only serves to prove the opposite. A lady in new york told me she was Scottish, 🤔 i said you must have moved when you were young, as youv lost your accent! No her great grandmother emigrated there!

[@BluePhoenix_]

I love it, when americans tell me how defunct the german healthcare system is, how we are all poor, because of the costs of social programs and how the euro is worth nothing compared to the dollar... And of course since my country is a socialist, communist, atheist hellscape, i am so bad off... Because that how words work apparently.

[@rolandhellmann3819]

@@BluePhoenix_ And yet most americans that lived for a while in germany don't want to get back to the us.

[@jbird4478]

Officially employers are supposed to pay up to minimum wage in the US if the tips don't add up to that. But many simply don't do that. It also makes the situation even weirder because it means you're actually tipping the boss because you're saving him money.

[@SjaakSchulteis]

I'm baking my own bread: just water, whole weat, salt and yeast! It tastes (to me) delicious but of course is not the kind of white bread from a shop. It is hard, but very healthy and home-made.

[@uzytkownik15]

Fellow bread-baker here, you can try preparing your yeast with warm milk to make the bread fluffier. I don't know what yeast you use, I used to use only home made rye yeast and the bread was hard, but I started adding shop paste-yeast (idk if you have it in your contry, dry yeast should also be ok) on warm milk and it's even lighter than the shop one. Also it needs a lot of time to grow, a couple of hours at least before you knead it.

[@SoundlessMusic]

been baking bread for like 2 years now, yeasted, sourdough, mixed, anything. Try bumping up your steam game. It makes the crust be crusty and keeps it from drying off, experiment a bit :)) it's always fun to experiment in the kitchen. Two more upsides to home-baked bread I can add - two slices and I'm full, whereas with storebought I can eat as many as 6 or 8 and still feel hungry after an hour or two. Secondly, I can leave the bread for up to two weeks, quick "renewal" (lightly mist the bread with water and shove it into the oven for like 10-15mins at 230C - 430-440F) and it's good to go for another day or two.

[@Heligany]

I messed abourt with making my own bread for a while, never got good at it, but a bit of soya flour in the mix seemed to help a bit.

[@bitofvenom107]

Free refills sounds nice. Knowing the Dutch, probably won't ever happen. No vacation sounds really weird to me. Even working long hours, is weird. Today, 3pm, it's hard to find anyone at the office. Besides that, also lots of out of office replies of the holiday season. I think America is a bit inward oriented. Look outside of the borders what is possible and what you are missing out of.

[@sharonswa]

Burger King in the Netherlands has free refills, but no one really uses it. 1 normal beverage is enough.

[@Real_MisterSir]

@@sharonswa yea and it's not really a culture to stay for that long at a fast food restaurant for refills to even be considered. Usually you'd go through your drink and your meal at roughly the same pace and move on.

[@patrick71994]

I’ve seen it in some KFC’s around here as well. And IKEA has also free refils.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

i could say that europe is a bit "inward oriented". in terms of both size and population, "america" is a lot more analogous to "europe" than to a single european country. europeans frequently misunderstand this.

[@Widdekuu91]

But the refills include about 50% ice-cubes (meaning, water, that dilutes your drink if you don't drink it fast) and you need to realize that the refills are not good for you, you don't get healthdrink-refills, you get rot-your-teeth-away-now-refills.

[@metalvideos1961]

no its not only because of the portion sizes. its also the amount of sugars and salt they use in their food. at least twice as much sugar is in food and soft drinks in america. and dont forget the hormone meat that makes you more fat as well.

[@kokkolintu3528]

And the corn syrup in everything.

[@scottbreon9448]

@@kokkolintu3528 And all the adjuncts we put in our beers (well the mainstream corporate beers anyway)

[@JohnAlfwynn]

In the UK were legally entitled to 28 days of paid leave per year. Eight of those are bank Holidays, public/national holidays. 20 days to spend as you wish (so 4 weeks) and those extra 8 days make it 5.6 weeks. In my job I get 25 days of leave, and those 8 days too

[@Heligany]

I have had a UK employer try to convince me I had to work a year first, but only the one- Im looking at you Co-op.

[@Myria83]

It's 4 weeks (minimum) in Italy, by law.

[@MericWolf]

5 weeks minimum in france, not including the bank and national holidays

[@Guevara1015]

On the Home Owners Associations: I live in France, in what is probably one of the most regulated places in the country with respect to regulations about how someone’s house can look. We still have huge amounts of freedom to do what we want with our property, the city can dictate what we are allowed to build but beyond that if I want to put 1000 plastic flamingos on my lawn nobody except me and my common sense will ever try to stop it

[@irissupercoolsy]

doesn't matter, we already blame everything on the French 😅😅

[@tompiper9276]

Go for the flamingos.... You know you want to! 😉

[@JesseJamesEttebe]

France has a ton of homes part of copropriété. Which is annoying as hell. They will bleed you dry.

[@carmenl163]

That is completely different from a Home Owners Association.

[@Ghenesa]

I'm from Slovenia and we also pay this ( by law) but only to be used on common property of home/building. So you only need to pay it if you live in a building with 2 or more owners. All public infrastructure is owned by municipality and paid for and maintained from local tax and tax income comming from state level taxing ( basicaly you pay taxes to state and your municipality will get portion of that tax back, depending on number of people living in municipality). For utilites this are public companies or owned by municipality and you pay for services.

[@expatfamilylive9041]

We can't understand those giant packages of everything for sure... Hugs from the Netherlands :)

[@andishawjfac]

What's an Expat?

[@katarzynaxx563]

Yes, that’s totally sick, that you are a single, you live alone and you can’t buy 1l of milk.

[@AC-dn7yq]

late, I know. but : simple bread: 500 g flour (also half wholemeal, half white), 350 ml water, 1 sachet of dry yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp oil. Fat for the mold Working time approx. 20 minutes Resting time approx. 1 hour Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes Total time approx. 2 hours 10 minutes Knead all the ingredients together, cover and leave to rise until double in size. Then knead again thoroughly and place in a greased loaf tin (I also sprinkle in breadcrumbs). Leave to rise again for approx. 20 minutes. Brush the top with water. Then bake for approx. 40 - 50 minutes at 220 °C top/bottom heat in a preheated oven.

[@emeursing]

You're very welcome overhere in the Netherlands and leave these mad things behind. I'm quite sure, besides your family and friends, you're not going to miss anything. Have you already decided which town (or area) you want to move to? My advice for you would be Arnhem as it's a nice historic city and within 15 minutes you're in Germany (happy wife equals happy life) Keep up the good work, i always enjoy your insights and comments!👍🏻

[@bramilan]

I'd like to move to the Netherlands... (But I'm not from the US). My wife had passed a year in Wageningen in the past, so not far away from you... We fell in love with your country. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a job in my profession. You have a great great country!

[@hansisbrucker813]

Deventer is also nice 😊

[@dcay5652]

The Homeowners association is actually still a thing in the Netherlands. Well sort of, if you live in an Apartment building or as we call them "Flats". You pay a similar fee to whatever organization maintains the building itself, although you pay a lot less as it usually just means a new coat of paint and elevator maintenance here and there. Pretty sure a lot of European countries have that too.

[@vasek987]

Well it is something different when you live in block of flats, because it is one building where many lives. Therefore it makes common sense to pay some fee for building maintenance and maybe some upgrades. In the video it was pointed at house owners where it doesn't make much sense. But on the other hand from what I know there are some residential areas which are closed and maybe some guards maybe present as well 🤔

[@haukenot3345]

I think it's somewhat like that n German appartment buildings as well, if the units are independently owned. And when it comes to maintaining streets that only benefit the people actually living there, the maintenance work is done by the municipality, but the homeowners have to chip in.

[@elelith7802]

We have similarin Nordics too, allthough that cost includes yard work, winter up keep (plenty of that on some years!) garbage and they usually come fix anything that is broken. Last time we moved it was friday afternoon and our shower blender broke, I called to the janitoral company respobsible for the maintenance and they came within hour to swap it to a new one. It's all included in the monthly cost.

[@lucyj8204]

Yes, common in apartment buildings, but less common for houses. We live in an area with a trust equivalent to a HOA, but they mainly deal with the common spaces and community events such as fireworks. There's some control about alterations to your building, but they're barely stricter than our national/regional restrictions anyway.

[@JanJaapZwaag]

Fun fact: in the Netherlands even people that are unemloyed or disabled and live on benefit get vacationdays and vacationpay

[@tremere26]

To be fair that vacationpay is usually put aside for unexpected cost. The unemployment benefit is hardly enough to survive on.

[@JanJaapZwaag]

@@tremere26 I know and that is sad enough but luckely it exists

[@arturobianco848]

Techicly if they are on the wellfare benefits they don't get vacations days. They can however stay abroad for a limited amount of time before loosing the beneifits. Even proffesionals sometimes confuse that with vacation days and its even written doen in official local documents. It used to drive me mad because i oversaw the procedure for one one of the larerst city's in the netherlands and it aint true. By law people on welfare benfits don't have rights on any vacation days. Most city's just pretend they do and won't punish people on welfare if they take a normal vacation periode of from finding a job.

[@gijsvanlieshout]

The Home Owner Association is common in The Netherlands, but only if you share a building together (an apartment building, for example), for which you need to organize and finance maintenance together since you actually own the building together. All other communal, public space, is organized and paid for through the municipality and local taxes.

[@germangarcia6118]

In Spain they are also present in "urbanizations". I don't know how those would be called in english... but, y'know. An area of small houses built at once and enclosed in a private area. I suspect the video got that one wrong and they are a common thing everywhere. It something that just makes sense.

[@birgitmelchior8248]

Same here in Belgium, dear neighbour

[@leoanne06]

Same in Poland

[@saraquintanilha5903]

Same in Portugal

[@biebel1963]

Real bread just contains water, yeast, flour and salt.

[@KolyanKolyanitch]

And a bit of sugar, that will be processed by the yeast.

[@RaduRadonys]

@@KolyanKolyanitch Yes, but it's not required. I'm making my own bread, and used to add sugar for yest feeding, but I tested without any sugar and the result was pretty much the same.

[@percevalmahpouyas9933]

So much sugar just leads to addiction.

[@scottbreon9448]

I agree, although some people do add butter

[@irbaboon1979]

Regarding the bread - it should be possible to find in the US but you’ll probably need to find an artisan bakery… stay out of the wonder bread territory at least. No idea how much of an actual quest it might turn out to be but there’s always the option of baking it yourself (it’s flour, salt, water, yeast and a bit of elbow grease after all) - it could make a nice video even that would surely be appreciated by many…

[@jaspervanwijk2685]

Making bread is so easy did it last weekend. took like 20 mins of work plus 2 hours off dough rising and around 40 minutes baking time. If u want to make a different bread just use a different flour style. Also Its dirt cheap compared to a bread out of a bakery.

[@eVOLUC]

in norway we dont have sugar in bread, thats just stupid

[@metalvideos1961]

you kinda have.sugar is in bread. but its food for the yeast. so you wont taste the sugar in bread. but yes bread does have sugar not not noticeable. Sometimes bakers add sugar when preparing bread. In most cases they do this as food for the yeast. The yeast converts sugar into gas and alcohol, which causes the bread to rise. The bread gains volume and sugar affects the color of the crust here this is why. not always the case but sometimes they do.

[@lws7394]

In Sweden they add sugar/syrop to bread according a friend of mine. ( As a conservation additive appearantly..)

[@sssenseiii]

@@metalvideos1961 The US has added sugar on top of that. Sugar that is not eaten by yeast.

[@metalvideos1961]

@@sssenseiii thats true. thats why you wont taste sugar in our bread. well european bread. its pointless to put so many sugar in things lol. why the hell would you make bread unhealthy.

[@sssenseiii]

@@metalvideos1961 Some people don't like the guy for how woke he is, but Johnny Harris has a cool video explaining it. There is also The G word on Netflix that goes into the FDA. And in Europe we have fruit breads too with raisins and apricot and stuff. And some breads here could do with a bit of sugar like German rye bread or Spanish pa rodo, not only has no sugar but also no salt AND it doesn't rise because of the low gluten levels of the flour. It's not good.

[@anzelmasmatutis2500]

In Lithuania (EU) I can see that Sugar in bread varies.. I can find white bread with sugar from 0.6g to 5.2g per 100g of bread. I checked the one I eat: White bread - 3.8g sugar; Black bread - 3.1g sugar (per 100g).

[@peterdurnien9084]

6 grams of sugar! Thats cake.

[@Peregrin3]

No paid vacations, something the US shares in common with North Korea apparently.😅

[@humtidumty1]

About the sugar: it probably does not help that in the us it is normal to use cornsugar. The body does not respond to this alternative like normal sugar.

[@dopeheaddude9651]

Yes it switches off a chem in your liver that tells the mind you are full. And its in a lot of stuff as it cheaper and sweeter than using sugar

[@zsoltpapp3363]

cornsugar is everywhere in Europe too, thanks to Coca Cola products

[@isabellrm739]

We don't have "neighborhood watch" like paying a fee to our property's, but while we pay taxes some of thoses will be used for the towns and town-employees to do the same job as the neighborhood watch would do.

[@frenschie]

About Europeans and bread: Just watched again a documentary about baking a "good" bread in Germany. The procedure lasted 20 hours, eatable for about seven days, natural sugar through fermentation, two pounds for under four Euros. Surely no daily bread in Germany but maybe explains the cultural background. :)

[@elelith7802]

You have a very calm voice! :D For me one of the weirdest thing is the obsession with the flag. Like.. sure I like my countries flag too. I guess. It's there, it exists. It's out on certain holidays but having it been made into shirts, bikinis, bags, caps.. everything. And it being so holy at the same time is just odd to me.

[@gertvanderstraaten6352]

I lived in the US for 3 months. I could literally not watch a movie on tv without either losing the plot (literally) or getting too disgusted to continue. And yeah, lots of commercials for pharma but what also struck me was payday loans and storage units. I think that says a lot about poverty. Also weird to me that you have to pay (or can pay) your cable bill in cash at the cable place. We pay them by transferring money to their account. If you live here you usually let them charge you automatically. That homeowner's association thing sounds suspiciously like taxes. VERY HIGH taxes. I had a steak in Texas that you could land a helicopter on. They also have doggy bags though. Pizza seem to be about the same size.

[@Real_MisterSir]

Yep the homeowners' association is literally just taxes - except the richer your neighborhood the more benefits you get. So people who are poor get no benefits because they can't afford the high homeowner's tax system, thus they can't live in decent places. upwards of 300 USD per month sounds like a total ripoff for anyone working a job with common wage.

[@hansisbrucker813]

And for that tax you get meddling Karens; lots of meddling Karens.

[@jasonwarwick5062]

You’re healthy attitude to constructive criticism just got you a sub sir 😁 G’day from Australia 👍

[@llioncurt4679]

As an European from a non-English speaking country I've always found funny the struggle for English native speakers to write "your" and "you're".

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

HOA: this type of association exists in Belgium for apartment buildings but not for single family homes. It is to cover the cost of building repairs, janitor, etc. Vacation: standard in most European countries is around 4 weeks. In addition in Belgium you often get something called “maaltijdcheques” (meal cheques) to cover the cost of your lunch for each day you are working. You can pay for meals in a restaurant or for foodstuffs in supermarkets with these cheques. People working in the restaurant industry will often get the day’s special instead of the cheque. Maaltijdcheques aren’t standard and aren’t mandatory but are very often given. The employer pays for most of the daily sum (around 3/4 I think) and the employee pays for a small portion. On sick days or when you’re on vacation, you won’t get a cheque for that day. They’re usually paid out per month.

[@truedarklander]

I mean what you're talking about is the condominium not an HOA.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@truedarklander - Sorry, English isn’t my native language. In Belgium there are organisations called “syndic” or ”syndicale eigenarenvereniging” that basically are a committee of the owners of the appartment units within a building. They appoint one person to coordinate the daily running of à building’s upkeep, and is in charge of seeing to hiring people for repairs, cleaning common areas etc. This person, depending on the rules laid out by the owners, might even act as a go-between in issues with renters etc. He or she is not a janitor. The owners will pay a monthly fee to cover costs and some times even a salary for this coordinator (who, to make matters confusing, is also called a “syndic”). They’re not as all-powerful as a HOA in the US.

[@truedarklander]

@@eddavanleemputten9232 yeah that's fairly normal for apartment buildings around the world. What's not normal is single family housing areas having HOAs with more control over your backyard than a Condominium has over your apartment, despite the condominium being an organization to take care of the common areas

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@truedarklander - So true. I have no issues at all with an organised way of taking care of a commonly owned building. Where an entire neighbourhood is concerned, I’d be noping out.

[@coraclouden2506]

The local council should be responsible for maintaining neighbourhoods. That to me is what Council Tax is for (as well as other costs)

[@schwanksational]

If I have learned anything about the USA then it is that everything leads back to money. Like the weird toilets. Less material cost to build. Led privacy equals less usage equally less costs. They are not dirty because they are lazy. It all leads back to reducing cost.

[@Real_MisterSir]

yup, if fewer people use restrooms because they're dirty to begin with, then there is even less of a need to clean them regularly - especially when this is the nation-wide standard so it doesn't directly affect your business reputation. Unlike in Europe where such conditions would throw your rating in the gutter if you dared to pull such stunts.

[@BluePhoenix_]

And about half of them know your country, the athest communist, socialist hellscape, better than you do, because Ben Shapiro told them what is going on there.

[@Zi-Mo-Ki]

Love the fact that you comment in a very soothing and relaxed voice unlike the majority of KZbinrs , that scream for no reason all the time!!!

[@Jolanda789]

I live in Italy, about the paid vacation I know that here is not only possible to have vacation days, you are obligated to take vacations, if you don't you and the company will have to pay a fine. So here happens that many people have the "obligated vacations" when you are legally paid to absolutely don't work, even if you wanted

[@katarzynaxx563]

That’s normal in Europe. Same in Poland.

[@ilmatanela1816]

If you don't use the vacation you have accumulated, companies don't pay fine but they must pay you the corresponding amount within a deadline, as that money belongs to the worker. That's why companies prefer their employees to use all of their vacation.

[@calvinchann1996]

I live in Portugal. We have a law mandated 22 days annual paid leave per year. I live in an apartment complex and we have a condominium fee to pay for the upkeep of the common areas. Here, tips belong to the employees and it’s up to them to manage the distribution of the tips.

[@Arjay404]

As someone living in a flat, we do have a fee that we all pay to take care of the shared space, cleaning, painting and so on, however that fee is something like 8 euros per month, not $300 and that fee is ONLY for the upkeep of the space, there is no group that has semi-government powers that can tell us what we can hang on our door or our balcony or what color curtains we are allowed to use and we certainly would never get a fine for anything like that. If HOAs just stuck to mowing the grass, watering and caring for the bushes and tress around the are, then there would be no problem (fees would also likely come down), it's when the HOA decides to become style police that there is a problem.

[@tkps]

We have them in Australia too for a blocks of units or flats etc. They call it strata title and have to let you know before you buy in case you don't want to buy into one. Normal housing we don't have it. My sister's yearly fee of $500 is for upkeep/maintenance of shared areas and her unit's building insurance (not contents which is separate and your own choice). Here they usually employ a company to run it all for you who take a small fee and do all the work. One resident per year takes a turn to liaise & make decisions with said company. So there's no Mrs Jones next door nosing into your choice of front door/plants.

[@dutchgamer842]

Always looks so weird, when someone says living in a flat.

[@McW4hn]

in Norway you have to go through a long process to get your hunting licence, no other firearm is legal and there are also very strict laws on knives

[@somedutchguy2062]

6:30 Some years ago I had not taken up a lot of paid free days and they kept on stacking and stacking, until the employer approached me and asked me to make a planning to reduce the huge amount of unused vacation-days. Basically they almost forced me to take vacations.

[@BioTheHuman]

I don't know if in all Europe is like that, but here in Italy is literally illegal not using your vacation days 😅😂 You can't even change them for money if you want, you must take the vacation 🤷

[@Moonkin444]

@@BioTheHuman it’s the same in germany

[@ladycyanide4952]

The vacation thing shocked me. Here in Austria we get at least 5 weeks payed leave per year (6 weeks when you're over 50) + national holidays... Like what the hell...

[@diedampfbrasse98]

"Why is it like that?" SIMPLE ANSWER: because YOU (the common citizen) dont act in self-interest as a voter, consumer and worker ... no participation in politics, no creation of political alternatives, no solidarity with your equals, no unionization, no change in your consumer behaviour, no labour disputes and never any escalation of protests/opposition until things are changed in favor. Its your ignorance and inaction which is the why ... rich people are the same around the world, our upper classes dont give benefits and higher pay willingly ... we always had/have to force them into these changes. If you dont get it its because you dont act.

[@brandonofthedead]

There's no real political avenue the average American can take. Democrats and Republicans run this operation like WWE. Fight in public about emotional topics, but work together on the real policies that work against us.

[@garrywolfe6077]

I don't disagree at all - economic divides around the globe have many common themes, including acceptance of the status quo by the masses. However, as your comments alluding to non-participation do not seem to include yourself, and references to forcing change ARE self inclusive, I would be very interested to know what changes you (and your ilk) have made and also what actions you can suggest the rest of us take to achieve the 'SIMPLE ANSWER' as mentioned?

[@diedampfbrasse98]

@@garrywolfe6077 before you imagine some lazy european talking from the safety of what other people did for him: I was born in eastern germany, before the age of 18 I already took part in protests and other such political activism to end a dictatorship. And I went on participating by not just joining unions or a new political party which now is part of a few german governments, but also by doing volunteer work in those organizations. Result being that East Germany generally is now ahead of the US when it comes to its social and political development ... and this btw isnt a unique experience/thing in eastern europe, millions managed to do what I did or more. Stop searching for excuses why things are the way they are in the US, just get your a** up and use that time activly working for change ... it is really that simple. Even if whatever you picked as an answer is not the perfect one, the simple fact that you work (!) to end the status quo forces change in the politics as those who like the status quo will have to compromise. Just look to europes conservative parties ... pretty much all of them were forced to adapt social politics if they wanted to stay relevant ... and many managed to do so and ended up far further on the workers/lower class side then an American could imagine. Murrican lower/working classes wouldnt need to win a majority with a new party or other such organized opposition, all they need is to steal enough votes to pressure their old parties into change ... these rich ppl love to stay and they will give things to you if you threaten their future ... you just have to demand much bigger pieces of the pie while threatening their chance to rule and ofc you need to stop settling with some crumbs.

[@arturobianco848]

@@garrywolfe6077 As member of that ILK we don't have to do all that much anymore. our forerunners made sure we got decent structure to resolve our disputes and have a reasonble fair voting system. What you need to do then is supporting your unions and make smart decessions when you vote. and with when i mean always vote if you can. As for me i was a second tier member of the highschool union (we only have one for the interire country and its for highschool students) I was 16 at the time and second tier member means just below board member so i actually met and had meatings with the secraty of state for education. I organized 2 protest marches against new policy's that we didn't agree with. later in live i went on strike once when other workers in the community/compagny where threated badly by new regulation (witch they altered for those workers) . I was always fine so i did the action for them not for my own benfit. And for the rest the unions have always negaotiated on my behave with enough results so i didn't need to do anything. s for voting i look at what the county need at that moment and vote for the party that provides the most in that direction. If it need moderate left i will hold my nose and vote for that party. if they need more progressive stance i go for a progressive stance. If i think the stability is good i go for a centist slightly conservative party. Thats how you should do it. Ofcourse the USA is about a 100 years behind in that political reality. They where only about 20 to 30 years behind until reagan came along and the clock went backwards.

[@garrywolfe6077]

@@arturobianco848 Hey Arturo, many thanks for the response. I do appreciate it. I was not questioning anyone's resolve but more asking for ideas of things that had resulted in positive outcomes so that different, successful, strategies could be considered by others. I don't doubt your integrity but when is the last time that a march in USA or the UK actually changed anything?

[@Kagarine54]

About the homeowner association thing, I got something similar for my apartment residence in France where I live, but the fees are way, way cheaper, it's usually for maintenance of the building, elevators and such for paying the cleaning personnel that cleans the hallways every week

[@Tejiknasten]

The first time I was in the US, I thought the stall at the restroom was broken. I was shocked that the gaps was American standard 🤣

[@Touamatou]

In France when you work you can earn 2.5 days of paid leave per month. I's mean you have 5 weeks of paid leave per year and those paid leave not include the public days off. And sometimes (depend where you work) you can earn 12 days of paid leave in addition of the 5 weeks (6 days you can take whenever you want and the 6 others days are decided by your boss). But most of French don't "take" those wholes 5 weeks. Usually we take 1 week between christmas and the new year and the rest is for summer (July or August). But for example if you have one week of paid leave and you don't take it before May (the 5 weeks are "reloaded" every month of May) you 2 solutions. 1 : Your boss can pay this "lost" week in your salary 2 : Your boss can force you to take this week before May one those two option are mandatory. Usually they force you because it's cheaper for them.

[@suppuahdoepah]

What I've learned was (not knowing if its true) the reason the food portions are larger in the US compared to other countries has to do with coca cola. They had a business tactic that involved selling more coke to their existing customers. By giving huge coke glasses for free at gas stations. It triggers the mind by pouring more coke into the glass then what you would usually do. And later on more companies started to do that. That what I've heard not knowing it's legit

[@Real_MisterSir]

It's most likely legit, perhaps not the sole cause but certainly a tactic that has been used multiple times in many industries, especially the food and drinks industry. You also see it with pharmaceutical, if you can conjure more solutions to problems, people will look out for more problems and illnesses because the mind starts to think anything can and should be treated no matter its significance. And reports have even shown that an overdependence on hygiene products in the US has actually lowered the average immune system in the US, causing people to more easily fall victim to smaller and smaller diseases etc. It's being labelled as US ultra-sanitize hazard, as people are more and more excluded from natural exposure to bacteria, viruses, etc can cause immune systems to not build natural resistances - thus further relying on pharmaceuticals sold at ridiculous prices.

[@suppuahdoepah]

@@Real_MisterSir dam, that's quite something. Yeah I believe almost every western country has a bit of a problem with consumer products such as food being the sole cost to a lot of health risk. But in the us it's far worse then the rest of these western countries. As well as with the hole hygiëne thing, but surely not as bad as sit is in the us. But in general I believe we all are losing the touch with nature in the western worlds more and more by time. But the us is far ahead as the rest of the world when it comes to losing the touch with nature in general I believe.

[@My_Master_Waves]

In Europe(not all countries) you are entitled to 4 weeks of holiday a year and it's all being paid. So people usually just leave work for a month or 2 week(and then 2 weeks some other time a year) to go on a vacation and then return home and get a paycheck as if they worked this whole month.

[@tuijakantola6550]

Visited the US twice, I would never move there.

[@DonDadda45]

Same. So many better places in the world

[@bertrandvanleeuwen]

The nature and landscapes are nice though, but the US people/gov didn't create that, that was mother nature.. So yeah..

[@Progress303]

We do still have condominium laws., if you live in an apartment building. Fees aren't that high (mostly for changing light bulbs and paw the cleaning of the common areas). But sometimes building maintenance is needed like restoration of roof or outside areas, when that happens meetings take place to discuss options because the costs are divided by owners equally. The owners are on a yearly rotation shift. Every year it's a different owner managing the maintenance of the condominium.

[@francinethoen1136]

Not everyone sitting down on a toilet takes a dump😂 we women don't really have a choice.. 😅

[@Real_MisterSir]

and what media wont tell you is, not every guy stands up either. Most guys who stand up will just use the purpose-made urinals anyways.

[@RaduRadonys]

There is a way for women to pee while standing up, don't ask me how it works because I dunno, but I heard some ladies do it in public toilets :)

[@denisbulgaranov9132]

I live in Bulgaria, an EU country, and we have a similar thing like the Homeowners thing in my building. We pay a fee per person living in the house, around 4 dollars a month. Then a council decides to invest the money in things like roof maintenance, thermal insulation of the building, lights in the halls, elevator repairs and so on. Its a good system if you're sharing a building with 10 other households.

[@kaelon9170]

VAT here in the Netherlands is 21% though, quite a bit higher. And then for some products we have a low rate rather than them not being taxed, and that low rate is 9%.

[@KapitanWasTaken]

Similarly in Poland, here the standard rate is 23% but there are also reduced rates 8%, 5% and 0%

[@drivehard2395]

Drug adverts were given the power back in the mid 80s. One day there were no drug ads, the next it all started.

[@module79l28]

Apparently, the americans took the Condominium Law and applied it to individual houses, which no one here does. We have the Condominium Law here in Portugal but it only applies to flats/apartments and yes, home owners do have to pay a monthly fee, but I don't think it comes close to those numbers, not even in luxury private condos.

[@shadowtheimpure]

Usually, only in upper-middle class neighborhoods.

[@Cetadrius01]

and that fee goes to pay electricity bills and maintenece for the building

[@module79l28]

@@Cetadrius01 - That goes without saying.

[@DonDadda45]

15:00 WTF? How is that not labeled as child abuse?

[@deborahvretis3195]

I don't watch TV anymore, either. Exactly because of the commercials. Watching a show is so frustrating. I use my lap-top.

[@christoffersen372]

The bread is so sweet in the US, and the portion is so big, I remember ordering a chicken salad and after eating you couldn't see that I had touched it. For me it is insane how big the portions are in the US.

[@eclecticx]

US Expat in Spain here. The differences in the amount of sugar between food in the US and Europe is astounding. Even when it's an American product that's exported, the amount of sugar is far far less here in Europe. Ditto for the amount of chemicals in food. No wonder many people in the US are overweight despite food not tasting nearly as good.

[@s.b.907]

In the Netherlands we have some kind of home owner associations also, mostly for appartement buildings were you have communal spaces like the main entrance, elevator, parking area, etc. But never heard the horror stories like in USA.

[@hendrikperdok2965]

the VVE , its always connected to appartment building , not like regular family homes ( dutchie here)

[@RealConstructor]

@@hendrikperdok2965 Family homes can have something called mandelig eigendom (joint ownership). It is often a shared wall, fence, a secluded parking lot, playground or garden. If that is the case it is mentioned/included in your purchase contract of your property and in the national land registry.

[@komkwam]

One of purposes of the VVE is to reduce costs on maintanance/cleaning.

[@patrick71994]

@@hendrikperdok2965 VVE is sometimes also used for a shared private parking or a shared garden. Where I live, in a newly build district, there are connected homes (‘rijtjeshuizen’) build around a square with private parking, and they have VVE. The sign ‘Eigen weg’ is placed because it is not public parking.

[@kaspernielsen9149]

I once told a clerk at a supermarket in California that Danish people didn't have to pay the VAT because our Queen made a deal to stop being a Viking in return for Danish tourists not having to pay VAT and the actually fell for at and retracted the VAT amount. :D I obviously said it as a joke. but hey... I save some $ :D

[@jepettoNFT]

at 6:04 - i'm French and, indeed, i don't know what this guy is talking about with his Homeowner association, especially paying this much for the "service". I can maybe see parallels with things we have in place, but we are very far from such fees (if we pay 30€ a month that's already high) at 22:45 - Oh wow, you can buy ammo in pharmacies ? that's a little contrarian to what services pharmacies are supposed to provide, isn't it ?

[@tompiper9276]

We had a property in France for 20 years, the local toy shop also sold shotguns and crsbows. Which I suppose was just toys for adults.... Bit weird though!

[@jepettoNFT]

@@tompiper9276 I never saw these in toy shops, but i assume these were air weapons (like for paintball) indeed. For crossbows it doesn't surprise me, but indeed, you have to be 18yo and have a kind of licence to buy them; As they are seen as the same category as knives, the regulation to buy them isn't has complicated as for regular gun, so you can find them at sports shops frequently (and in toy shop it seems 😂).

[@tompiper9276]

@@jepettoNFT No, shotguns. Semi auto, double barreled either side by side or over and under. And ammunition.

[@jepettoNFT]

@@tompiper9276 oh wow, that's crazy; I never saw that in a toy shop. I don't know how they can do it because there are regulations to be able to sell such items and they are not supposed to be available in kids (less than 18yo) stores. that's interesting to know.

[@tompiper9276]

@@jepettoNFT It was a while back, I suspect with the increased security needed through out Europe this is no longer the case.

[@NEAAFFAIRS]

Even when Singapore was a developing country , mandatory leave was the law after you worked 3 months. Now we have 4 months paid maternity leave, childcare leave, 14 days sick leave +46 hospitalization leave. During Covid, sick leave was deducted from 46 hospitalization leave so that you don't consume sick leave for ' normal 'sickness. I don't feel privileged, but sadness for Americans

[@mariusadrianpintilii3328]

Wow!!! We will never leave a tip's because ( the state and the salary should be enough to pay bills and all the cost) !!!! I was thinking to go in USA but.... No thank you!!! Hello from France

[@Mazamune]

5:28 we still have that in France, only for multi residential blocs or apartment as you would call it. You have what we call, in France, "charges" meaning it's a lil fee that covers things like waste disposal, electricity or water bill for the "shared" parts (like corridors, stairwells, etc), cleaning fees, etc etc. In short, everything that the whole building needs to look nice and comfy for everyone inside is SHARED among everyone living there. So if you live in a very luxuous building with green parks, private parking, etc. those "charges" are going to cost you unless there's a lot other people living there too. 7:50 in France, if you have worked a FULL year at full part time, you will get something around 30 PAID days off (i have 32/year) that you can take ANY TIME you want in the year. Beside that, in here for now we are at 35hours of work per week for a FULL PART time job. IF your company (like mine) want you to work over that then you earn what is call "RTT" (could translate as work time reduction) time. I.E. legally i should work at 35hrs/week, now i work for 38hrs/week, that make me earn 3hrs of RTT /week. Those RTT hours, i can spend any way i want as time OFF and is more flexible compared to the paid time off. Paid time off, you must warn your boss at least one week before it, whereas for RTT you can put them even after taking time off (i.e. you wake up, getting ready to go to work BUT you realise your kids are sick and won't be able to go to school, then you can use RTT time off to just tend to your kids for a day and warn your boss about it the next day).

[@iuliaovidenie90]

In Romania,we have this homeowners association bill applied only at flats. If you re living in an apartment, beside the common bills, you have to pay something called "maintenance " that is the price of the cold water you use, the price per m2 of apartment you live in and a little fee for maintaining the cleaning of the entire flat.

[@m0t0b33]

That's optional now though... it was more mandatory in the like... 90's... early 2000's as an aftermath of the previous regime, but yeah... in my town we pay only our dues per apartment and that's it. It just wasn't worth it, as they were robbing us blind and some neighbors had a scheme going on to profit from that system. Utility (water, electricity, gas) bills get paid at the service providers or at a Paypoint in town, the tax for the apartment and building gets paid at the City Hall at the beginning of the year, same for the tax per garbage collection or something like that... and that's it. With the HOA, they used to make a sort of an average and you had to pay even for stuff you didn't even use, or for amounts of water you didn't consume, etc.

[@lydia5232]

We do not have an owners' association, but we do have a building manager. We pay for maintenance and cleaning, garbage removal, we have water meters for water and we pay for exact consumption and not a flat rate, it's the same with heating - there are devices on the radiators that read consumption - you pay according to consumption.

[@lydia5232]

@@m0t0b33 Where the hell do you live? It's still mandatory! In well-maintained multi-apartment buildings, everything is paid for as it should be - the building is taken care of by companies that deal with it professionally and are chosen by the apartment owners. And don't sell crap...!!

[@m0t0b33]

@@lydia5232 sheesh... no need to get all inflamed. All I'm saying it's not the general consensus for the whole country... I live in a small mountain town (but that's dubbed as a city for tax purposes) and I happen to know that my relatives who live in apartment buildings in different cities in the country have the same ordeal. Also it depends on what "well maintained" entails.

[@lydia5232]

@@m0t0b33 What I wrote applies to larger cities. Sorry if we misunderstood each other.

[@bobingabout]

Here in the UK, I think my brother is in something similar to a home owner's association... But it's a private area, where the Counsel doesn't actually own the street, so they basically just set the rules on some things, like looking after the bushes outside your house, but not in your garden, that the counsel would usually look after. Doesn't cost any money to be in it.

[@Sahnor]

21:58 just to be blatantly real here, to say it is only for cleaning and passing toilet paper is the most disgusting and naive understatement, bordering a lie. The one and only reason is "defensive architecture": To get rid out homeless and drug addicts. Gaps in the stall are the same BS, as spikes in front of store windows. Because McD, BK and all the others would rather let people fix next to the dirty dumpster or freeze to death in a dark alley than to give them 5 min of decency and privacy. And you can't even really blame them, because it fits the egocentric, intolerant society america is heavily steering into over the last years

[@drivehard2395]

Gaps in stalls have been around forever. I'm 54 and have always seen them. Less materials = less cost. It's always about money. Why would there be gapped stalls in an elementary school (grade K - 7) in the middle of cornfield Ohio in the early 70s? Less materials = less cost.

[@OrontesRM]

Yours sounds like a more plausible explanation than the one in the video

[@ricequin]

We’re used to tipping being a bonus because our waiters actually get paid at least minimum wage. On one visit to Massachusetts my husband was literally chased as we left a restaurant and informed that the standard tip was 20%. I’m not sure what he had left that was deemed so insulting as to warrant running after a customer but he informed them that they were horribly rude and weren’t getting a penny more.

[@mindmachinepsy]

Yea there's a lot of things that strike me as weird. But what i never really understood was the weak walls, don't know the name right now. Like why would you put walls into your house that break the second some average sized person slams into it? So often you see people punch the wall and leave a hole. I always think like if they did that here in germany, that would be hospital time xD

[@2012inca]

In the Netherlands too, we hwve houses of stone not of dry wall and wood like in the US. Americans say to us how can you live in a country below sea level isnt that dangerous. Then we say how can you live in a house built of wood instead of stones in a tornado area. They obviously didnt read the fairytale where the wolf blows a wooden house away.

[@Lilygirl283]

I'm dutch and live in Australia, in the sub tropical climates and tropical climate like Queensland and the Northern Territory they also have have homes with drywalls, they are not as weak as you may think, i have never had a problem with them, and i have lived here for 42 years..

[@2012inca]

@@Lilygirl283 I tought we were talking about American houses not Australian houses. Have you ever seen American houses after a tornado on the news they are completely destroyed. A house made of stone in a tornado only the roof will blow of and the windows will be destroyed. It is a bit hard to blow stones away ! Cant remember the last time there was a tornado in Australia.

[@Lilygirl283]

@@2012inca you do realise that we get cyclones? Do a google and see how destructive they are... and i do know he is talking about America, i am talking about comparising both countries...

[@2012inca]

@@Lilygirl283 You said you lived in Australia for 42 years without problems in a house with dry wall, you said dry wall is stronger than you think. You seem to skip the fact American houses with dry wall get completely destroyed in big tornados. That is why I said they obviously didnt read the fairytale of the wolf blowing away wooden house as a metaphor. When was the last cyclone in Australia that destroyed all houses like tornados do in the US ? Never mind just saw a picture of an Australian house with dry wall destroyed by a cyclone just like tornados do in the US.

[@ClaireWW]

We stopped having HOAs because such things are usually covered by your local council, which, yes, charges you a fee for it. In some areas which aren't covered by the council you pay a reduced council tax and pay the equivalent of an HOA to cover the difference.

[@ildikomelindacsabina3291]

i remember visiting the us in 2008 and i couldn't buy any food that didn't taste sweet. Like even my scrambled eggs were sweet... and the sizes are really bigger, i guess what we consider normal size here is the small size in the us. Anyways, hoe is jouw Nederlands? ☺️

[@linneasandstrom2303]

5:00 In Sweden the government pays for the fees of fixing roads or reparation work in citys or communities, via the taxes that we pay to the government. Regardless if you live in an apartment or a house, you don't need to pay a special fee for that here. Also, we don't have to pay taxes separately in Sweden. Our taxes are automatically drawn from our pay check and tax is also included in every price in everything we purchase.

[@carmenl163]

In the Netherlands we also have home owners associations but that exists only if the home owners live in the same building. So they pay a monthly fee as a deposit for when the roof needs fixing, or the drainage needs repair. Street safety is something we pay taxes for, so our police can take care of that.

[@Stefus87]

Wouldn't this be common in many countries? How else would you manage a building? The difference is that in the US they do it for entire neighborhoods with houses.

[@carmenl163]

@@Stefus87 I didn't get the impression that it's about repairs in the US.

[@germangarcia6118]

@@carmenl163 I suspect it's the same as us, tbh. The video described it as some security thing, but common sense dictates it would first do the mantainance and improvement of the comunal spaces. The video didn't either know it's done pretty much everywhere in the world.

[@exXOwn]

As a european I couldnt understand, why a waitress dont get a right salary. Imagine a train driver would only get money if the train is on time, not matter if he could influence that.

[@magda8189]

This is why I simply love Europe❤

[@xhail928]

Lmao, here I was thinking that Cyberpunk was a fantasy dystopia, when it only was your average day in the US actual dystopia

[@belindamilne4922]

Australian here. These things are weird to me too. The closest I’ve had to American bread is those tiny dinner rolls they have at KFC. They taste weirdly sweet but I always assumed that was just a KFC thing

[@mistylee717]

I live in a nice neighborhood and we have an HOA. It only costs us about $100 a year. It’s voluntary since the association was formed after we moved in. We of course are glad to pay it.

[@ducomaritiem7160]

You're ok man. But from here, the Netherlands, America seems like a third world country. Socialism is ( not to you, but to a lot of americans) like communism for the average American. But well, we are democratic, we pay taxes (a lot), but get back a lot. Free health care (almost free, I pay my bills for health insurance, but get back 90% every month from the government)

[@lillithdv8]

I just counted my vacation time, I got 37 days of paid vacation and my boss gave me last Friday and Monday paid, in addition for being stuck at the office later than usual. Europe does it right on this front

[@magdajarco478]

Homeowner associations are very much a thing in Europe, at least in Poland, where I live. If you own a flat, a duplex or a terraced house in a housing development you pay a fee to maintain the common grounds owned jointly by everybody on the development (like elevators or inner roads, etc.). Sometimes your city utilities like water or gas are calcuated into that as well. But homeowners association are rare if you own your own detached home and it's really the idea of keeping your lawn perfectly manicured or you'll piss off the homeowner association that boggles the Europeans.

[@ipaolo1]

To be fair we have something similar to the homeowners association in france is when you have an appartement for rent or your own you pay “charges” which is in the average about the same amount , this covers maintenance of the common part , air conditioner , water,gas,electricity , sometimes it depends on the place pay for security , electronic doors , elevator , concierge and the prices can very differ depending on the area and the surface

[@kasiazdrojewska3616]

"That's not your normal size, that's the XL jumbo size" Man, when I last stayed in the US I was ordering child size in restaurants to have a meal that is an equivalent to a regular one here XD And then on top of that there's the option of a XXL Jumbo xD

[@anashiedler6926]

i mean its called "minimum wage" for a reason. why is it legal to pay less, and then depend on tips? That seems illegal to me.

[@bobosims1848]

Hey Charlie. I'd like to add some to your point on tips. If it's true that most servers in the US get paid no more than $7.25 (apparently currently the nation-wide minimum wage), and need to make double hours (or work two or three jobs every day), just to get by, can you imagine how overworked they become? And how sick they are of customers being all entitled about it? Because customers can be rude, too. And those are usually the ones who tip the worst. European countries have minimum wages set such that every person can live on the earnings of ANY single 40 hr job! Of course, this means that Bar/Restaurant owners cannot do free refills at all! So if the customer wants to drink a dozen cups of coffee, they'll have to pay for them. But they do NOT have to add at least 12.5% tip (or more), and the servers do not have to get overworked, yet still go home with a living wage, a salary that allows them to pay for rent and utilities, buy food for the household, and everything else. If I visit a restaurant here in the Netherlands, and I decide to splurge and spend €80 on food and drinks, and I'm VERY satisfied with the service, I'll gladly leave a €5 tip. That doesn't come close to what I would be expected to tip in the US. But seeing as how EVERYONE working there already earns enough to live comfortably without needing a second or third job, they do not NEED the €5, so they're absolutely THRILLED to get that much. Because most people will tip only €1 or €2, if at all. So yeah, I get that American servers get rude at some point. Many of their customers make them that way, and their employers aren't helping, either.

[@grahamsmith9541]

$7.25 minimum wage excludes servers. There minimum wage is $2.35 as tips are expected to make it up to the $7.25 minimum. The minimum wage has not been increased since 2009.

[@actionalex3611]

@@grahamsmith9541 Thats is the thing that need highlighting as well. How the f is that legal. They get away with anything over there.

[@actionalex3611]

@@grahamsmith9541 This sentence alone. "$7.25 minimum wage excludes servers." How can something written in law exclude anybody. Thought y´all were done with that after the civil rights movements...

[@miloudekoning3829]

In the Netherlands we don’t pay for the homeowners association, but we pay incredible amounts of township taxes? (Gemeente belastingen)(depending on the ‘value’ of your house). The township is doing all of the upkeep of streets, bike lanes, walkways, electrics, playgrounds etc etc etc. We also pay taxes for our trash, cars, income, just on about everything. That’s way towns and roads in the Netherlands are so well maintained.

[@MagnusArnason]

The size thing is very true, I went to California and had to order a Small of everything and I was never able to finish my food cause the portion was way to big. Who drinks a liter of coffee first thing in the morning for example? And also why is it so hard to get a normal coffee? Just want a normal cup of coffee with a little milk and maybe some sweetener. And the mandatory tip thing is ridiculous… just pay your employees a decent wage, it shouldn’t be my problem thinking about their paycheck… Sorry for venting 😅 just came back and this is really bugging me

[@danielrobertgorman3257]

Now although I'm an American (I live in Italy) I'll tell you what really upsets most continental Europeans is the fact that BIDETS are not common in American bathrooms !! Here they are set right next to the toilet bowl, so once you have made you dump and wiped your ass with toilet paper and flushed, all you have to do is sit on the bidet and wash. It Is so much easier. I had to mention this...we all "sit on the throne".

[@coastallab5526]

i'm italian, and most continental europeans don't use bidets :D

[@anneh1890]

I'm Dutch and it seems really weird to me to have water flushing my ass -.-

[@vivienkoles1880]

I live in Hungary in Europe, and we have this Home Owner Association, but just for shared buildings, like apartemethouses, and currently I need to pay monthly around 25$. They use it for maintenance.