11. The ADA / accessibility in public spaces
“The ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act*. America is really accessible compared to many of if not most other places. I consider myself able bodied and I travel a lot. When I do, I’m reminded how special the ADA is. And as an able bodied person I’m also aware that designing things for everyone makes them better for everyone.
[…]Didn’t expect this to become my most upvoted post ever and couldn’t be happier that it is. One of my favorite ADA examples is that many of the paths in our amazing national park system are paved. Many people can get to the Old Faithful geyser. If you’ve ever been to the national mall in DC you also experience the benefits of the ADA—it’s an amazing wide network of running paths and sidewalks and it if you don’t run it’s equally accessible.
The ADA is far more than ramps, important as they may be. It is as subtle as braille on elevator buttons and as profound as how we design airplanes. The ADA is why we have more prolific subtitles. It’s why we have hand rails in most bathrooms—which anyone can appreciate after leg day in the gym 😂. I love the types of accessibility designs where nothing is lost by being inclusive and everyone stands to gain something as a result. […]”
12. Retail
“Retail.
I go to a store in Canada and they’ll have maybe two or three options for the item I’m looking for.
I go to the same store in the US and it’ll be more like six or seven to choose from, often better quality for less money.
The last 18 months showed me how much I took living in a border city for granted, being able to pop over there for a shopping trip.”
13. Cheeseburgers
“Cheeseburgers”
14. Barbecue
“BBQ… black, white, Asian, Hispanic…. North south east or west…. We make bbq bang like you didn’t know it could”
15. Halloween
“I love the Spooky Season and Halloween spirit in America! I now live in the UK and they just do not do it like they do in the US! I have friends who wish they did to so I have said next year we are going to go all out and decorate our office and dress up! You just do not see the houses lit up and pumpkins and treats around or Halloween-themed pastries and such! It’s catching on more as folks see fun things in Tic Toks and other social media so I am hoping it becomes more of a thing here! It’s getting there! Just let go and let out your inner child and wear a silly costume out! It’s liberating! x”
16. Ranch dressing
“Ranch dressing. We have something labelled as ranch where I am, but it’s not the same as actually American ranch. Not even even close.
Real American ranch is amazing.”
17. Discouraging smoking
“Gotta hand it to USA there. I quit smoking because I felt so disgusted by the habit. In 2012, I could find company while smoking quite easily. I felt like a right moron smoking in 2020. Haven’t smoked since June 2020.
Edit: Thank you for the support people. I appreciate everyone leaving kind words. For anyone looking for ways to quit, speak to your doctor and they’ll be happy to help you quit. Mine offered some medication but I did not need to take it since I had a pretty good handle on my cravings. I had smoked for a good 20 years before I quit. I hope I have not done too much damage in that time but of course I have. Still better than doing 40 years of damage.”
18. Optimism
“I copied this from a comment I saved about a year ago. u/portarossa
There’s genuinely nothing quite like American optimism.
I know, I know… the done thing is to shit-talk America in threads like this, but speaking as a Brit, that’s what really makes the USA special and relatively unique in terms of national histories. America is a country that’s (at least theoretically) built on the idea of equality and justice quite literally for all. You had the sheer brass balls to put a big ol’ statue up at one of the most trafficked entryways in the world—yes, yes, OP’s momma notwithstanding—that literally asked the world to give you its tired, its poor, its huddled masses yearning to breathe free. You built an entire mythology around the idea that, by pulling together and with a little elbow grease, you can make something of yourself no matter where you start from.
Is it true? No, not completely—not for a lot of people. But it is important. It’s a hardscrabble world out there, and the idea that Americans are better because they’ll do the right thing, the honourable thing, the decent thing no matter how hard that might be makes things a little bit brighter. It’s important that the first thing countless immigrants got to see wasn’t a display of America’s power and strength and prosperity but of America’s guidance: a torchlight in the darkness. That most mythological of figures, Superman, espouses the idea of Truth, Justice and the American Way for a reason. That’s not because it’s the way things are, but because it’s the way things can be. It’s something to aspire to. It’s Atticus Finch and Jefferson Smith and Rocky Balboa and the Little Engine That Could.
You lose your way sometimes—and you really, really do lose your way; no one should dispute that, especially given recent events—but you’re never so far gone that you can’t pull your way back. America is one of very, very few countries where you always feel that that return is both possible, and something that you root for. It’s the world’s largest superpower that has never quite learned that it isn’t the plucky underdog.
Don’t let that optimism and hope for the future die out. Don’t let the feeling that you can step up and change things even when the odds seem stacked against you become apathy, hate and fear. Don’t be afraid to learn, to improve, to be better. I spend a lot of time writing about American politics, and I know full well how stressful it can be, but without hope there can be no change for the better. Improvement is aspirational, and it depends on people getting out there and choosing to try, even when it looks and feels like it makes no difference at all—because it still does.
If anything, that’s when it matters the most—and it’s worth keeping.”
19. Right on red
“Being able to turn right on red lights.”
20. Apple pie
“Desserts. The USA does not fool around when it comes to desserts.”