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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zander" data-source="post: 6275967" data-attributes="member: 1364">The OP asked about identifiably American "things" scene in movies/TV. Here is my list based not on films or telly, but on my experience of living in the US, Europe and Asia. I have confined myself to anything that can be perceived directly including audio-visuals. I'm not going to cover intangibles like the educational system (which has already been discussed in this thread).<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Isopropyl alcohol also called rubbing alcohol. You can get it at chemists (= US drug stores) and many people seem to have it at home. It's incredibly useful stuff and I'm surprised it's not common in the UK where I currently live. You can get surgical spirits at chemists in the UK which is similar, but people generally don't know what it is and tend not to have it at home.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">ID. Yes, every country in the world issues ID (though lots of people especially in developing nations don't have any), but in the US, you're asked for it all the time so people normally have some outside their home. Want to buy a drink even though you're obviously of legal age? ID, please. Want to pay for something by credit card? ID, please. Want to enter many office blocks in US cities? ID, please. Inhale? ID, please. Exhale? ID, please. Blink? ID, please. You get the idea.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Chewy chocolate chip cookies. Go into any supermarket or chemist in the US and you can pick up a pack of chewy Chips Ahoy (they used to come in red packets - do they still?). In Europe, there may be places where you can get chewy choc chip cookies, but they are far from common. It seems that Europeans like their CCC's crunchy. I don't know about elsewhere in the world. In case you haven't already guessed, I miss chewy CCC's!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ads on television. Of course, advertisements on television are hardly uniquely American, but the US has a far greater ratio of ads to programme content than other countries. I don't think I've been anywhere else where the title sequence/opening credits for programmes are sandwiched between sets of ads.</li> </ul>That's it for now. If I think of more, I'll edit this post.</blockquote>

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