Only in America

Joker · Mar 8, 2014

Taking an ambulance ride costs a thousand dollars.

Ubiquitous air-conditioning.

Everyone has a car. Everyone.

Enormous diversity of nature and great open spaces.

Malls. They exist in other places but I remember there being a mall or a large outlet in nearly every largish town in MN.

Everything in the States is just a couple sizes larger. The cars, the roads, sidewalkes, portions, backyards, school sports.

I miss Mall of America. I remember there was a hooters next to an arcade at the top floor. I wonder if it's still there.

Danny, everyone has mayo, ketchup and peanut butter. It's just that the American versions taste different. Like, I understand why you wouldn't drown your fries in that .... different.

Hussar · Mar 8, 2014

I asked a couple of students who just came back from living in Tennessee what they found most surprising. The older sister was shocked that you had choices in the school lunch cafeteria and everyone could eat different food. The younger brother was shocked by gun sales at Walmart.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 8, 2014

Danny, everyone has mayo, ketchup and peanut butter. It's just that the American versions taste different. Like, I understand why you wouldn't drown your fries in that .... different.

I'm very particular about fries. Peculiar, too.

Generally speaking, I prefer just salt on mine. But, I have sodium-dependent hypertension, so sometimes my fries don't get any NaCl. Depending on how they're fried, I may also eat them with:

1) lemon juice with black pepper
2) malt vinegar- the Brits really did get that one right
3) chili & cheese
4) dipping them in a mix of 50% yellow mustard, 50% A-1 steak sauce, seasoned with black pepper & Tabasco to taste
5) dipping them in a vanilla milk shake- its a kind of salty-sweet combo that is culinary surprise (has to be a good shake, though).

pedr · Mar 8, 2014

Can you get LoSalt or similar? 1/3 NaCl, 2/3 KCl ?

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 8, 2014

pedr said:
Can you get LoSalt or similar? 1/3 NaCl, 2/3 KCl ?

I have found I can do just fine with things like lemon juice/citric acid, vinegars and dry white wines for most applications. Or sometimes I do without. I've tried KCL substitutes, and they taste terrible to me.

But for certain things- because of taste, consistency or desired chemical reactions- salt is the only thing that will work.

Viking Bastard · Mar 8, 2014

As someone who works in the tourist industry, I would like to mount a defense on behalf of American tourists.

As a whole, American tourists are just the nicest.* Just the friendliest people. They often come off as ignorant, but only because they're so continually amazed at anything different from what they're used to. Everybody else expects things to be different from the get-go and will ask pointed questions to figure out how things work--Americans will just assume stuff works the same as back home.

* Actually, Canadians are the nicest. Canadians are just the best.

Ahnehnois · Mar 8, 2014

It's interesting to me just to read all these things as someone who lives in the District of Columbia. We are, ironically, one of the areas that is least like stereotypical America and most like Europe, despite being the capital. And yet, a fair amount of this does apply to us as well.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 8, 2014

Ahnehnois said:
It's interesting to me just to read all these things as someone who lives in the District of Columbia. We are, ironically, one of the areas that is least like stereotypical America and most like Europe, despite being the capital. And yet, a fair amount of this does apply to us as well.

Only in America

Joker

First Post

Hussar

Legend

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator

pedr

Explorer

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator

Viking Bastard

Adventurer

Ahnehnois

First Post

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel

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