Well, enough to admire the star-spangled banner. It’s time to pick America’s bones. In the USA I visit often and every time I face difficulties and hardships. Here’s my list of what is most annoying in America in everyday terms.
Tips
With the tip everything is completely insane. The restaurant in new York in check immediately prompted to leave from 18 to 22 per cent for tea. To make it easier, you immediately think, how much is this account. In a taxi, if you pay by card also have a choice on how much to leave to the driver: 20, 25 or 30%. Every year growing tips. I still remember the days when it was normal to leave 12.5%, then 15%, now less than 18% is considered offensive.
Taxes
The Americans never include taxes in the price of goods. That is, if written on the price tag of$ 50, this means that the checkout will be 53 or 54, and 56 may, depending on the state. You have to remember how much is tax in every state. It’s really embarrassing, so how obscure the real price of the goods. In addition, there are a bunch of other taxes, don’t speak about or who write about the fine print. Often taxes are combined. Can be a state tax, County tax, city tax, etc.
Here, for example, the menu ordering food in the room of one of the hotels. 2.5 dollar charge on top for delivery of food, 20% services, 8% sales tax and 10% tax on drinks. Top hotels love to ascribe any amounts explaining tourism fees, air taxes and fees for service.
Coffee
Americans drink some dishwater instead of coffee. Every hotel is a coffee maker with filter bags. Find drinks based on espresso very difficult. After a few days of this life garbage like Starbucks will seem a great coffee shop. Although in a normal country in a Starbucks you can go just for the free toilet and the Internet. American Starbucks from a nice coffee shop for hipsters turned into a nasty rygalova with the atmosphere of fast food. Nice young men that you’ve smiled from behind the bar, disappeared. They were replaced by fatty the tired workers with unwashed heads.
In the U.S. shitty coffee — part of the national culture. In honor of the Americans even called a coffee Americano. Popular version of its origin is this: when American soldiers were stationed in Italy during the Second world war, they began to dilute the espresso with boiling water. The Italians called it a proud word “Americano”, and thought to myself “Well, stupid! This frog juice, not coffee, but drink, americanii if you like!”.
To dilute the espresso with boiling water — this is blasphemy. It’s like buy a Ferrari and drive it on the manure itself to the country. In any good coffee shop caffè Americano you won’t find. Max serves Lungo is espresso, which is prepared using larger than usual amounts of water. Can offer alternative ways of brewing coffee. If you insist, Barista prepare Americano, but myself think voice Zadornov, “Well, stupid!”.
In America espresso has become popular only in the eighties of the last century. But drip brewing is still popular. Remember the coffee in American movies? Poured a bag of coffee in the car, then after it drips hot water, and down falls for coffee. Here is all of America, and drink. And they don’t care what the quality of this coffee will be, so much so, that they sell coffee in multiliter the packages that you can take to the office and drink friendly staff. They even warm up cold coffee or sell canned coffee in cans (which for some reason love in Japan, everywhere it was sold in vending machines).
Also no normal tea — bags sawdust everywhere.
Food
Awful infuriates the American culture of food consumption. More precisely, the lack of this culture. Huge portions, pile on all like the pig. In America you feel a pig for fattening. If you order a salad, we’ll bring you a bucket of chopped vegetables, drowned in sauce. Small desserts don’t exist in principle. If I can pour the oil will pour. Most recipes soup and salad are free of side dishes bring about ten, everything is done to ensure that you eat off a huge belly. Of course, no one is forcing you eat all, but how can you resist?
To find a good healthy diet is very difficult. The shops sell buckets of some kind of chemistry. Simple products are incredibly expensive.
Cards with chip
Despite the fact that the yard in 2016, to pay the usual European Bank card with chip in USA is not always possible. Many stores, restaurants and gas stations, chip just not accepted. This can become a problem for you, if you don’t have the cash.
Cond
The first impression of the U.S. among many tourists is the bitter cold. It’s cold in the summer and cold in winter. If you ever fly American airlines, don’t forget to bring a jacket, hat and warm shoes. No matter what time of the year on the calendar, the plane will be cold. Restaurants and cafes air conditioning is available so that an inexperienced person is very difficult to be long in the room. In cars, of course, Americans also turn on the air conditioning at full capacity.
In addition, in the USA really like in hotels and homes to put window air conditioners. They are so noisy they cannot sleep properly.
Shower
The Americans do not recognize a shower with the hose. In almost all American homes and hotels showers are hard-wired into the wall. There are exceptions, of course, if the design make the Europeans, but very rarely. American used to stand under the shower and sing a song amelias. Don’t want to get my hair wet? There is a cap. All. Do you want to wash only the feet or the ass? Sorry, you’re not in Europe — all or nothing.
The light in the room
Shower — the only inconvenience will be waiting for you in the hotel room. Americans don’t like to do normal switches, so that the light could have been extinguished with one button (sometimes called flow switch). Moreover, all lamps and floor lamps have their own switches. That is, when you go to sleep, you need to run around the room and each lamp off individually. In Europe, long have the master button. Clicked and go to sleep.
Public transport
In America surprisingly unattractive design of public transport. American trains are dirty and horrible, American buses are uncomfortable and ugly. To use the American public transportation unpleasant.
Miles
In the world there are three countries that do not use the metric system, the USA, Liberia and Myanmar. Sure, Liberia and Myanmar on the map you will not find, so in fact USA is the only major country in the world, which continues to protest against common sense. Inches, miles, feet, Fahrenheit… with modern technology this is not a problem, but still terribly angry.
Initially to adopt the metric system the United States prevented the chill in relations with France (the country that invented it). To do it now is quite expensive for the economy, because in that case you will have to redo all the technical documentation in the country. For example, to process the technical drawings of NASA, will need 370 million dollars, which is half the cost of the launch of a space Shuttle.
To be precise, in the USA there are many laws approving the use of the metric system, but they are Advisory, not mandatory. So everyone continues to use the familiar feet and pounds. Ordinary Americans are very stubborn in this regard.
