The USA exists in more than just one place. It shows up in music, movies, headlines, and everyday conversations around the world. That kind of presence builds expectations, whether we mean to or not.

But what you imagine doesn’t always line up with what you see on the ground. These Redditors shared what threw them off during their time in the States, and their stories range from funny to flat-out bizarre. Scroll on and check out the moments that stuck with them.

#1

Just how un-walkable everywhere was.

momohatch:

Yes! As an American I usually only vacation in pedestrian friendly places. I love a walkable downtown. I don’t want to have to use a car to get around.

Image credits: Ben-the-banana-man

#2

How many ads there were on TV regarding healthcare and the need to sue someone.

fossilCreature:

I have type two diabetes, but I manage it well. It’s a little pill with a big story to tell…
This s**t needs to be banned. it is in some countries…. reason why I avoid tv. The most soulless ads with the most generic people and music. it’s awful. This is what hell is.

Llama_Shaman:
Military ads at the airport. S**t was like being in Starship Troopers.

Image credits: Miss_Bisou

#3

Tipping culture was very intimidating especially coming from a south east asian country.

skol_vikings_88:

It’s getting bad at this point, even for us Americans. We’re now getting asked to tip cashiers for doing nothing out of the ordinary, it’s getting ridiculous.
Like I told my wife, if I have to stand up to order, I’m not tipping anything, and no amount of social pressure is going to change my mind on that.

Image credits: needy_yue

#4

The huge side gap in stalls of public restrooms. I don’t want to make eye contact with strangers while my pants are down.

Image credits: chronicallyill_dr

#5

The sheer size of portions made me question if I was in a buffet or a restaurant.

Image credits: Hopeful-Fan-4757

#6

Elderly people working. We had a waitress at a hotel who looked like she was in her eighties. It made me sad that she had to keep working.

Image credits: Trapallada

#7

How dirty the Hollywood Walk of Fame is… on TV it looked so neat.

ScreamingDizzBuster:

This is even referenced symbolically at the beginning and end of The Substance.

Image credits: Saggitarius30

#8

Random people will stop and talk to you. I’m used to a friendly nod or a “good morning” but in America they’re open to conversations with strangers.

Image credits: MagicalWhisk

#9

The weird uncanny valley vibe from customer service and wait staff. The overly enthusiastic act just creeped me out because it felt so fake.

Alex_butler:

Most waiters and waitresses that I’m friends with genuinely are just like that. They actually enjoy serving and want people to have a good time. Can see how that could be overwhelming if you’re not from here though.

Image credits: SawtoothCampion

#10

The amount of poverty and homelessness for “the land of opportunities”.

And also the sheer amount of plastic waste, everything is in plastic. You want a to-go coffee? Oh here, let me stick a pointless plastic piece on-top of the coffee cup lid.

On the other side, the land is beautiful, the national parks are amazing!

Image credits: slug-pace

#11

Long roads with no shoulder to pull over and no turning points for miles.

Image credits: JustSteppedInToSay

#12

The fact that not having a car means you are screwed.

Image credits: Bigstar976

#13

Getting charged for everything, the amount of hidden costs was nuts.

Image credits: Mortcarpediem

#14

How absolutely obese they are.

Image credits: BodybuilderClean2480

#15

There was how sweet the supermarket bread was but the bread from normal bakers was great. Coke tasted weird due to using HFCS and not cane sugar.

Image credits: Galloping_Scallop

#16

I was shocked at the state of your roads. They were f*****g s**t. The shameless amount of food waste was sickening.

Image credits: RemarkableOil8

#17

Cereal aisle.

Image credits: Smar12

#18

So much sugar in everything. I wasn’t able to drink the sweet tea as it tasted sweeter than our cordial without water added.

Image credits: JustSteppedInToSay

#19

The poverty. And the wealth.

Image credits: ashenning

#20

Underdeveloped public transit system and everyone having a car.

Image credits: malu_saadi

#21

How GOOD the food is in large cities. Literally everything I had was ridiculously delicious and huge portions, I’d 100% be 300lbs if I lived there.

#22

How pleasant and welcoming almost everyone was. I found the majority of people I interacted with to be friendly, polite, interested in where I came from when they heard an accent etc. I’m afraid I had allowed myself to believe that all this c**p we see online reflects the reality in US for most people, which it absolutely doesn’t. People in USA were getting along with their days and along with each other pretty well from what I see.

#23

Something that surprised me was how many people with unchecked mental illness were on the streets. It just felt like a huge amount of people who’ve fallen through the cracks and not received the support they need. Been to 5 states and several cities and NYC was particularly bad for this and it was pretty heartbreaking.

#24

I’m surprised nobody said this yet, and maybe it’s a bit cliché, but the socioeconomic race divide was absolutely stunning to see, different than what I could have imagined.

And I lived in London at the time, which has a huge mix of cultures and class divide as well, but this was so different. So much more systemic if you know what I mean?

I went to Washington DC for work, I decided to stay in an Airbnb in a residential area. And every day I took the bus from the nice white neighborhood through a “slum” of poc neighbourhoods with visible poverty and signs of systematic neglect (I spare you the details).
Then arrived in central DC in my nice white office, where the only poc people are the staff like cafeteria workers and cleaners.

#25

Look to your left? US flag.
Look to the right? US flag.
Car park? Huge US flag.
Car dealership? More flags than cars.
I always thought that bit in Spiderman was over the top but flaaaags! 😂.

#26

Probably not my ‘biggest shock’, but something that hasn’t been mentioned that I can see:

The amount of billboards along roads. A ludicrous amount. And sooo many of them are for personal injury lawyers (and by that, I mean there are an insufferable amount of Morgan&Morgan billboards).

#27

Seeing a sign on a restaurant, the first time I was ever there, stating that it was a “gun free zone”. Live in Canada, have lived in the far North close to the Arctic Circle, in large inner cities, in small rural farm communities, we certainly have our share of guns here, but to see something like this needing to be stated was….unsettling to say the least.

#28

I didn’t believe that all New Yorkers actually dressed that cool. I thought it was just something TV exaggerated until I finally visited and realized that, yeah, every single one of them really is that effortlessly cool.

From casual and effortless to bold and unique, everyone had a distinct sense of style and each outfit felt like a personal expression of who they were.

Very different to what you see in my city.

#29

The working homeless. People who work full time and live out their cars. The lack of social parachute is disgusting for such a rich country. It doesn’t care about the people but the rich buggers who own it.

And the idiots vote for it to continue and get worse.

#30

I honestly thought the front door opening up right in the living room was just a trope for TV shows because of the studio audience and such. No, turns out many American homes are designed this way. Blew my mind. You’d never find a single home or apartment without some kind of entrance hall, foyer or mudroom where I’m from.

#31

Not exactly shocking, but makes you nervous that they can carry a gun on them anywhere. Want American snacks from Walmart? Careful, there could be a shooting

The day before my family and I visited Mall of America there was a shooting in a shoe store. Outside the mall there’s stickers claiming “no guns allowed”.

#32

I went grocery shopping in Florida, and there were rows and rows of processed foods (specifically frozen pizzas that came with chocolate chip cookies) vs. the little section of produce. The rows of sugary cereal and all kind of junk blew my mind, and not in a good way.

#33

How big it is. Theoretically, I knew that it’s big, but my husband and I did a road trip from SF through Yosemite via Tioga Pass and down through Death Valley to Las Vegas. It was amaaazing how much scenery we saw and I was flabbergasted with the changing of the landscape. From Las Vegas we drove to LA and then flew to NY. It was wild, esp for a first timer from SE Asia. Such a thrilling and awe-inspiring experience.

#34

Drive in banks
Drive in pharmacies

We have drive in fast food joints but you guys weaponized the concept.

#35

That it’s a foreign country. That might sound weird but you think you know America because you see so much of it on tv/music/cinema and because we share a language but it’s not until you go there you realise that it’s truly a foreign country, with all sorts of customs and habits you’re unfamiliar with.

#36

I landed at JFK. Shortly before that we were over a residential area, and I was shocked by how it was just horizon to horizon same size house lots in a grid pattern, not broken up by apartment buildings, or parks, or shopping areas…just houses and houses and houses…and more houses…

#37

Canadian here. I’ve never craved vegetables more than when i came back from a road trip in the US. It’s not so bad in big cities, but on the road i could hardly find anything healthy to eat.

#38

I don’t know how else to explain it but literally everything there is too much.

The customer service, the portions, the buildings, the cars, the way so many people act, just everything. Too big. Over the top. They do everything to excess. It’s too much. I couldn’t stand it.

#39

I’m Canadian, grew up very close to the border.

The thing that has always “shocked” me is how much more affordable (even with the exchange rate taken into consideration) clothes a 30-minutes drive away. Like, I once bought a sweater at Macy’s (which, granted, was on sale) only to be shopping at The Bay a couple of months later and come across the exact same sweater at 3x the price.

#40

‘Yes, America has its problems, but it is still the best country in the world!”

“Oh! Have you ever traveled abroad?”

‘Why would I? This is the best country in the world!”

I’ve had this conversation more than once in the U.S.

#41

When the waiter takes your card from you and walks away with it to use the machine to pay

The waiter coming over and asking every 10 mins how the food is and being overly friendly

How loud people talk. Literally everyone can hear their conversation.

Tipping culture. Don’t even get me started on that.

Walking into an establishment and seeing a “no firearms beyond this point” sign on the door

In some shops we were shocked to see snacks locked inside a glass cupboard so we needed to ring the bell and ask a member of staff to unlock it just so we could get a Reese’s bar of chocolate.

But all in all I loved the US each time I visited. The people are very friendly and I will definitely be back again!

#42

As a solo female traveler that only visited major cities on the east coast, it was that everywhere I went, most people acted friendly but there seemed to be an underlying sense of anxiety and caution. It’s hard to explain but it was as if fear and worry was built into their worldview in a way I haven’t seen before.

#43

I’m always shocked at how little Americans know about history or events beyond their own borders.

#44

That VAT isn’t included in anything you buy, and making me do maths to work out how much i should tip.

#45

In one road trip across the US, I encountered much of what other commenters have said, but one surprising thing was this: if you can think of a way to staple a bed to the back of a vehicle, the Americans do it. So many different ways to have a vacation driving around with a caravan, a popup top on the back of a pickup, a winnebago, so on and so forth. They do like their driving vacations, and are creative about how.

#46

As both a tourist and an immigrant (now a naturalized citizen) I will never not find the level of racial segregation alarming.

Look up a data visualisation of most cities based on the % of people from minority backgrounds and you’ll see concentrated populations, often in areas annexed off from other areas by highways. And there’s usually a shocking lack of amenities and infrastructure in those areas too. Plus fewer parks, sidewalks, trees and I could honestly keep going.

I was especially shocked when I found out that school funding is significantly influenced by the property taxes paid by people in the catchment for that school.

It seems completely unconscionable.

#47

Canadian so expected similarities in general but here’s what’s different:

Hospital and pharmaceutical commercials are commonplace.

Hwys are littered with very tall and obtrusive chain restaurant signs and billboards (laws where I live prevent these).

Fireworks and Jesus billboards.

Debit and credit machines are not as widespread as I expected.

Flying into the US is never smooth due to customs (other places are not so intense).

#48

Visited New York years ago from London and it was one of the best places I’ve ever been to. Everyone was wonderful, kind and polite. Every person called us sir/ma’am, opened doors for me in and my husband. We went when Donald Trump had just gotten into power and I was nervous being foreign but I didn’t have to be. We saw the thanksgiving Macy’s parade and met two different groups of people, who were talking about their political views very politely.

I don’t even want to start on all the amazing food we ate. From delicious soul food in Harlem, to the best steak I’ve ever had (I forget the name of the place).
As a whole I’d love to go back to the USA and visit other places and it’s on my bucket list.

#49

Americans do monuments really, really well. Was awed by the size of Arlington cemetery but sickened by the pride the tour guide had in announcing it was almost full and they’d be opening up another section soon (this was 2015 with troops still in Afghanistan). Also struck by the hypocrisy of Americans thanking vets for their service while ignoring the number of maimed and homeless ex-military I saw begging in different parts of the country.

#50

Walking past a Hooters and seeing a 12 year old boy having a birthday party with two adult women in their tiny outfits present him with a cake. He was surrounded by male family members. I was horrified.

#51

I only went to New York, but there were two things that really struck me.

The subway looked so underfunded; the stations were dirty, the trains were broken, and it definitely didn’t feel as safe as the London underground or other similar sized metros.

The thing that really surprised me was the number of people clearly having mental health issues just left to fend for themselves. I know other countries aren’t perfect when it comes to looking after these people, but in NYC there were so many!

#52

The race disparity. Public transport was very not white. Any fast food place had poc behind the counter. The most blatant was the zoo. All the workers and guides were white and then the security staff at the gate were all poc. Stores too, clerk white security guy black. I knew it would be bad but I didn’t expect it to be so glaring.

#53

Honestly? Water level in the toilets, like wtf. That s**t’s disgusting, in this case may be literally so. The first time I went for numero dos I was just sitting there hoping it wouldn’t splash up.

#54

How dirty it was. Trash everywhere. All over the streets and some highways

Also the food portions are HUGE compared to Canada’s. And it’s super salty too. Not necessarily seasoned but salt overtakes any flavour.

The bad drivers.

#55

Certain areas are considered no go zones due to poverty. As an Aussie visiting my exes family in illinois (outside chicago) close to the Wisconsin border. They told us to avoid certain towns and bars, it was certainly overtly racist but I saw it more as a social-economic thing but they didn’t and blamed the people living there not the conditions that led to it.

#56

How attractive the girls are.

#57

How much weight I gained in 1 week! Your food is pumped with absolute c**p.

#58

No one knows anything about my home country but I know everything about theirs 😭.

#59

The size of the cars, suburbs without sidewalks, getting shouted at for jaywalking because we didn’t know that was a thing.

#60

Had always been told “America is the Greatest country in the world” and as a young man was contemplating moving there.

Went and was shocked at the amount of homeless, D**g addicts on the street, people with stories about how their lives fell apart due to medical debt. The fact that things i took for granted in my country “6 weeks government mandated vacation” and free healthcare was not a thing.

And that is before i met people at the college i was studying at that had friends, or had themselves seen school shootings or knew people who died in them.

To me, America felt like a 3rd world country it was like walking into an open prison where tripping on the sidewalk could “lock you up” in debt for life.

A place where my host family told me not to leave after a certain time due to fear that if i wandered the wrong neighborhood a gang could accost me and potentially hurt me.

I was shook to my core and gained a huge apreciation for my home country, a place where the only homeless people i had seen had been so because they completely refuse to interact with society, where no one had to worry if a knee operation or their education would shackle them with debt for life.

I left my home country wanting to move, and came home apreciating all i had so much more. My country has its own problems but by god i am so much more free than i thought.

#61

The “Me first” “Main character” mindset. It was everywhere. No one had consideration for those around them, everyone seemed so self involved, selfish, and only out for themselves. Everything from not watching where they walk and blatantly stepping in front on moving “foot traffic”, rushing to get off planes when asked to stay seated so a few passengers can make their connections, making unreasonable demands of service staff, I could go on.

After experiencing it firsthand, I understood how Trump got voted in. There doesn’t seem to be a “for the greater good” vibe, just a “what’s in it for me” vibe.

#62

The driving in NYC scared me. Everything was going so fast, the GPS couldn’t keep up. I wasn’t even the driver lol.

#63

Extra ingredients in the milk.

#64

Cheese. Everything seemed to have cheese on it, warranted or otherwise.