I put together a list of things that struck me as weird while I was in the States. I dictated it to my sister during our road trip, because it had been taking up space in my brain for the first 3 weeks I was “home” but I hadn’t yet written it down or, really, formulated, what was so weird about these things. Some of these things are maybe specific to the Carolinas, or the South, but both of those things are just smaller subsets of things that struck me about being back in the USA after such a long time away.
Many of them had to do with driving:
- Generally speaking, people drive like lunatics, zipping in and out and around other cars, and rarely sticking to the speed limit.
- No one uses their indicators (we have the same problem in Sweden, too).
- People pass constantly on the right. Cars hang out in the center or left lanes as a general rule, so I can see why, but it happens everywhere and all the time and is very disconcerting.
- Speed limit signs aren’t posted well or consistently. If GPS hadn’t been informing me, most of the time, I had no idea what the speed limit was, anywhere. Here in Sweden, speed limit signs are posted consistently where intersections are, so there’s no excuse for not knowing. Here they are big and brightly colored and circular with huge numbers. In the US, they’re small black and white signs, which are also easy to miss.
- People left 2-3 car lengths of space IN FRONT OF THEMSELVES at stop signs and traffic lights, when stopped. Very weird, and extremely irritating.
- At least in the Carolinas, around the Charlotte area, and for quite a long way on the highways we took north to Boston, there were almost NO wildlife crossing warning signs at all. We’re so used to them everywhere in Sweden (we even have one for ducks in Södra Sandby) for deer and moose, that I was a bit shocked by their absence. Granted, moose aren’t common until you get up into New Hampshire, but I thought deer were pretty much everywhere.
But there were other things, too:
- Toilets in the US seem to have been measured for and installed by toddlers. They are so low to the ground that you feel like you are FALLING just to sit DOWN on them. My mom made a comment that it helped with the “evacuation process”, “like toilets in India” but I was a bit skeptical that Americans would be so globally-minded about their toilet installations, so to speak. This article that I found had some thoughts on the matter.
- The cost of eating out. It has SKYROCKETED. I had massive sticker shock every time we went to a restaurant, no matter what kind of food or what type of restaurant, or what time of day we were eating. Fancier/Nicer restaurants were easily $30-$40 for a dinner entree, and that was for restaurants that I remember thinking were expensive when their meals averaged around $20.
- The prevalence of single use plastics…everywhere. I was dismayed about this one. Every place we went, plastic was in use: straws, cup lids, cutlery (often INSIDE of plastic packets or bags), takeout containers. In Sweden, we have very definitely seen a difference. Straws are made of thick paper usually, so are takeout containers. Cutlery is often made of cheap wood or bamboo, or at least recycled plastic. Plastic bags are no longer sold in many of the grocery stores, unless they are recycled and recyclable.
- The number of fast food places specializing in CHICKEN. This was a bit boggling, and I don’t know if it was because there were some I had never heard of or because we were in the South, where fried chicken is so beloved. I counted SEVEN different chains that were chicken joints: KFC, Popeyes, Bojangles, Chick-fil-A, Zaxbys, Chicken King, and Church’s, and that’s not including any of the places that specialized in chicken wings. At one intersection close to my sister’s home, there were actually FOUR of these fast food chicken restaurants on each corner. Americans eat a LOT of chickens. Over 8 billion a year. The average American eats 23 chickens a year…I don’t know if that’s by weight or what, and that’s not even counting EGGS.
- Businesses built around the premise that Americans can’t be bothered to clean up their own dog’s poop in their own yards. We saw multiple vans belonging to small companies that provide this service, which appears to be a nationwide, very profitable, trend. Googling this led us to some hilariously punny company names: Kroopin’s Poopin Scoopin, The Turd Nerds, Adieu Poo, Doody Calls. HA!
The only other weird thing was very specific to the southeast US: red clay soil. It was strange to see, if you’re used to dark clay or soil. It’s VERY red. Apparently, it comes in a wide range of colors, but around Charlotte, it was all very red.
Mood: contemplative
Music: Cocoon (feat. Lola Marsh)—I Got You