People from countries outside the US are sharing the things ‘Americans aren’t ready to hear’

‘Treating your president like someone you worship is bizarre,’ one Reddit user claimed

People are sharing the things ‘Americans aren’t ready to hear' (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

People from countries other than the US are sharing the things that Americans “aren’t ready to hear” after the question was posed on Reddit.

On Monday, a Reddit user by the name @jaycool74 posted the question to the AskReddit subreddit, where they wrote: “Redditors from foreign countries, what’s something us Americans aren’t ready to hear?”

The inquiry has since been upvoted more than 9,000 times as people from countries all over the world have shared the things that those living in the US are oblivious to, or refuse to admit.

According to one person, the factor of American life that should be addressed is sugar intake, as they wrote: “You all eat too much sugar.”

The response prompted agreement from other users, with one adding: “I lived there for six months. Shortly after moving I bought a loaf of bread and made a sandwich but it was so sweet! I told my housemates that I think I’d accidentally bought a dessert bread. They tried it. NOPE - regular bread. It was just FULL of sugar.”

The topic of food also extended to the quality, as many other Reddit users claimed that certain foods are better in other countries.

“The quality of your fast food is absolutely horrible compared to that of Canada’s,” one user wrote. “I’m referring to the same chains, Burger King, McDonald’s, etc.”

According to another person, the same is true in the UK, as they claimed that “KFC is so much better in the UK” and it “rivals McDonald’s for the most popular day food chain”.

“The taste, quality, marketing, and innovation are just another world compared to North America,” they added.

One user even suggested that popular food brands in the US make “better versions of their products” in other countries, prompting confirmation from an American living in Germany, who wrote: “Can confirm. Philadelphia cream cheese is so much better here.”

The Reddit thread also prompted some users to point to issues with the US government, with one person claiming that the country needs “more than two major parties”.

“In fact, you need an entire range: left, centre-left, centre-right, and right. Democracy means that you need to give the people a better freedom of choice than just choosing a different side of the same coin,” they continued.

For one Redditor, the issue with America stems from its education system, as they claimed that it is “far worse than you think” and that the “state of [the] political climate proves it”.

“Not just worse but also really really bad in terms of metrics and history,” someone else added.

Others pointed to the Reddit thread’s initial question as one of the problems Americans fail to see, as some users acknowledged that one issue is “calling everyone on Reddit a foreigner for starters”.

“Apparently they aren’t ready to hear that people from countries that aren’t America don’t consider themselves as being from foreign countries,” another person said, while someone else wrote: “The world does not revolve around you.”

At the same time, Reddit users also made an effort to inform Americans that they “DO have an accent,” prompting one person to reveal that they’d once gotten into an argument with other Americans about the topic in a master’s level linguistics class.

“These people were learning about accents at a linguistic level in a MASTER’S LANGUAGE PROGRAM and still couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact that they do, in fact, have an accent,” they wrote. “Even if it’s just SAE (Standard American English) that is still a noticeable accent to ANYONE outside of the US.”

In the thread, users also shared their issues with America’s “fetishisation of the military,” as well as the “bizarre” idea of “treating your president like someone you worship,” while someone else noted that “the freedom Americans often boast they have is less than in many other countries”.

The topic of tax was also raised, with one person claiming that the way the US adds tax to items at the cash register is “mental”.

“Just tell me what it costs on the fricking label!” they added.

While many of the issues stemmed from the country’s government, one person’s concern with America had to do with its bathroom stalls, which they described as “exposed as f***”.

“A grown man could crawl under one of them and the vertical gap has a big enough gap to make full-on eye contact with anyone walking by,” the user said.