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Differences between the USA and the UK


Captain Slog

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11 minutes ago, Auld Reekin' said:

 

On the plus side, she didn't shoot you!   :icon14:

I think she would have if it hadn’t been for the paperwork afterwards. 
I got pulled over by the CHP on a previous trip (pattern developing here?) for the terrible crime of putting a tyre on the road with no headlamps on as I left a petrol station. Literally one tyre before I noticed and turned them on. He followed me for a mile before he pulled me over. Then the classic approaching your car from behind with the massive torch pointed at your door mirror so when you look in it you’re instantly dazzled. Other hand on his gun all the way to the door. I just sat with my hands where I was told to put them and agreed with everything he said as I’d been warned by friends not to try and be nice and charm them as it wouldn’t work. Mind you it was in LA so I guess the cops are quite cautious there a lot of the time. 

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4 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I think she would have if it hadn’t been for the paperwork afterwards. 
I got pulled over by the CHP on a previous trip (pattern developing here?) for the terrible crime of putting a tyre on the road with no headlamps on as I left a petrol station. Literally one tyre before I noticed and turned them on. He followed me for a mile before he pulled me over. Then the classic approaching your car from behind with the massive torch pointed at your door mirror so when you look in it you’re instantly dazzled. Other hand on his gun all the way to the door. I just sat with my hands where I was told to put them and agreed with everything he said as I’d been warned by friends not to try and be nice and charm them as it wouldn’t work. Mind you it was in LA so I guess the cops are quite cautious there a lot of the time. 

 They would be suspicious that your car was equipped with tyres, instead of tires.😀

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Just now, Sharpie said:

 They would be suspicious that your car was equipped with tyres, instead of tires.😀

Haha. Funnily I did think that as I was typing it. 

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Kalamazoo Jambo
2 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Haha. Funnily I did think that as I was typing it. 


...and torch = flashlight 

 

edit: and petrol station = gas station :ninja:

 

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1 minute ago, Kalamazoo Jambo said:


...and torch = flashlight 

And I thought of that as well. I should have stuck to what I wrote first which was Maglite. The torch (flashlight) of choice for bouncers and police due to their brightness and efficiency as an improvised club. 

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Kalamazoo Jambo
Just now, Tazio said:

And I thought of that as well. I should have stuck to what I wrote first which was Maglite. The torch (flashlight) of choice for bouncers and police due to their brightness and efficiency as an improvised club. 


yeah, I could see that :laugh:

 

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25 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I got pulled over by the CHP on a previous trip (pattern developing here?) for the terrible crime of putting a tyre on the road with no headlamps on as I left a petrol station. Literally one tyre before I noticed and turned them on. He followed me for a mile before he pulled me over.

American police love to follow you for a while to see if you'll do anything else illegal. Once had a officer follow me almost all 15 miles home before stopping to tell me I drove in the left lane of a four lane road for too long a while back. Guess he was really, really bored.

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Kalamazoo Jambo
Just now, Dorothy said:

American police love to follow you for a while to see if you'll do anything else illegal. Once had a officer follow me almost all 15 miles home before stopping to tell me I drove in the left lane of a four lane road for too long a while back. Guess he was really, really bored.


Just practicing for the UK :cheers:

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1 minute ago, Kalamazoo Jambo said:

Random add to the food list. Most Americans won’t know what a ‘99’ is (in terms of ice cream with flake).

 

 

 

And, as for a "black-man"...?!?!?!?   :arry:   :facepalm:

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The Real Maroonblood
3 minutes ago, Auld Reekin' said:

 

And, as for a "black-man"...?!?!?!?   :arry:   :facepalm:

Weegies must be posher as they call them nougat wafers.

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3 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Weegies must be posher as they call them nougat wafers.

 

Yeah, must be...   :ermm:

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20 hours ago, Captain Slog said:

It's four months now until the future Mrs Captain Slog (aka @Dorothy) emigrates over here to snowy Edinburgh, so it got me thinking.  Are there any really any major differences in our culture, so that I can prepare and try and make her transition as smooth as possible?

 

I'm thinking there may be little things, like I'll be able to serve her proper bacon and decent beer, but is there anything i should order in so she feels at home?  This all came about because she went on about Cookie butter during the Superb Owl, and now I', wondering what else is alien to her here.

American chocolate is shite, even compared to British chocolate. Hershey's 🤣

The choice of beer in America is sublime. She'll be disappointed with the shite that's largely on offer here.

Not sure you'll be able to get her Gatorade.

You'll need to teach her that she needs a PIN to use a credit/debit card.

She'll probably want to drive everywhere and will struggle with walking.

 

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45 minutes ago, IronJambo said:

American chocolate is shite, even compared to British chocolate. Hershey's 🤣

The choice of beer in America is sublime. She'll be disappointed with the shite that's largely on offer here.

Not sure you'll be able to get her Gatorade.

You'll need to teach her that she needs a PIN to use a credit/debit card.

She'll probably want to drive everywhere and will struggle with walking.

 

 

It used to be very much the other way around... Lots of good beer here too if you avoid the industrial chemi-fizz though.

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Kalamazoo Jambo

Don’t assume all the drugs that are available over-the-counter in the US will be similarly available in the UK (most will, but a few may not be). Double-check you won’t have issues getting any prescription drugs you know you’ll need. Also, acetaminophen = paracetamol and pharmacist = chemist.

 

Drive-thrus (be it fast food, banks, pharmacies or whatever) are much more prevalent in the US than the UK.

 

I may be out of date on this one, but you can’t always easily return merchandise in the UK like you generally can in the US. 

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8 hours ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Weegies must be posher as they call them nougat wafers.

No they don't. A single nougat or double nougat are what they are. A 99 is a 99. And a cone with a fudge in it, is a fudgerydo. :)

 

Ah right, who they feck calls a nought a black man. Londonburgers must be weirdo racists? If that's what you call it. Do you still call Chinese and Pakistanis by their short form as well. 

Fecking Glesga folk. :yadayada:

Edited by ri Alban
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The Real Maroonblood
4 hours ago, ri Alban said:

No they don't. A single nougat or double nougat are what they are. A 99 is a 99. And a cone with a fudge in it, is a fudgerydo. :)

 

Ah right, who they feck calls a nought a black man. Londonburgers must be weirdo racists? If that's what you call it. Do you still call Chinese and Pakistanis by their short form as well. 

Fecking Glesga folk. :yadayada:

:lol:

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Whilst you might be refuelling (or refueling) your vehicle by pumping gas, it's not normally something you'd casually mention on the eastern side of the Atlantic.

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15 hours ago, Tazio said:

I think she would have if it hadn’t been for the paperwork afterwards. 
I got pulled over by the CHP on a previous trip (pattern developing here?) for the terrible crime of putting a tyre on the road with no headlamps on as I left a petrol station. Literally one tyre before I noticed and turned them on. He followed me for a mile before he pulled me over. Then the classic approaching your car from behind with the massive torch pointed at your door mirror so when you look in it you’re instantly dazzled. Other hand on his gun all the way to the door. I just sat with my hands where I was told to put them and agreed with everything he said as I’d been warned by friends not to try and be nice and charm them as it wouldn’t work. Mind you it was in LA so I guess the cops are quite cautious there a lot of the time. 

We stayed in a small Az town when visiting the Grand Canyon : it was rodeo day but the rodeo got cancelled so all the boozers were rammed with punters (me included). On the way home we got stopped by a sherrif (all on his own , in town). He shone his torch right in my face, kept his other hand on his gun  and starting asking all sorts of questions quite aggressively - I couldn't speak, I was that drunk.  Not a pleasant experience. 

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The Hogfather
15 hours ago, IronJambo said:

American chocolate is shite, even compared to British chocolate. Hershey's 🤣

The choice of beer in America is sublime. She'll be disappointed with the shite that's largely on offer here.

Not sure you'll be able to get her Gatorade.

You'll need to teach her that she needs a PIN to use a credit/debit card.

She'll probably want to drive everywhere and will struggle with walking.

 

 

I tried a handful of American beers when I was over and they were all awful. Special mention for Samuel Adams though, absolute swill.

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37 minutes ago, Nunya Business said:

 

I tried a handful of American beers when I was over and they were all awful. Special mention for Samuel Adams though, absolute swill.

That make ok generic lagers, which are no better or worse than what we do. They have some top American IPA's by the bucketful, which we do also but in not such plentiful a fashion. I found in the ten or so States I was in that they generally had much more choice regardless of where the beer was from.

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Oh and once shops open back up you'll need to explain that prices are inclusive of any tax so the price you see is the price you pay

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Joey J J Jr Shabadoo

Yes, loads of good beers to be had in the US. Plenty of micro breweries about. Samuel Adams was decent, too. Especially the seasonal beers.

Plenty of good breweries around Edinburgh/Dalkeith, too, though.

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We say cheers to the driver as we get off the bus. Though the reintroduction of middle exit doors on some buses makes this more difficult again.

 

Shouting at tourists and pushing them out the way is permitted for the entirety of August, though maybe post covid we'll see more limits set for the city.

 

We say aluminium instead of alumium.

 

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3 hours ago, NANOJAMBO said:

We stayed in a small Az town when visiting the Grand Canyon : it was rodeo day but the rodeo got cancelled so all the boozers were rammed with punters (me included). On the way home we got stopped by a sherrif (all on his own , in town). He shone his torch right in my face, kept his other hand on his gun  and starting asking all sorts of questions quite aggressively - I couldn't speak, I was that drunk.  Not a pleasant experience. 

 

Presumably, the one question he didn't actually ask you was to blow into his breathalyser! Just as well too, by the sounds of it...

 

However, from what another poster said earlier, it's one thing the police seem a bit more lax about over there. No doubt that'll vary from county to county and state to state though.

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50 minutes ago, Joey J J Jr Shabadoo said:

Yes, loads of good beers to be had in the US. Plenty of micro breweries about. Samuel Adams was decent, too. Especially the seasonal beers.

Plenty of good breweries around Edinburgh/Dalkeith, too, though.

 

The only time I've been in the US - a visit to NYC in the mid-late 80s - the draught beer on offer was uniformly shite. As a result, I ended-up drinking bottles of Becks, which most bars seemed to stock.

 

Of course, it's changed a lot since then: from what I gather, the whole "craft-beer" movement started in the US as a consequence of the lack of variety of taste and distinctiveness in the major beer brands there at the time.

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2 hours ago, Nunya Business said:

 

I tried a handful of American beers when I was over and they were all awful. Special mention for Samuel Adams though, absolute swill.

 

Really??. Definitely in my top 10 of beers from around the world. But then again, I grew up on McEwans Export and Tartan Special.

 

This though....GTF.

"Can I have a beer ?"

"You got ID ?"

" I'm 57 !!!"

" I need to see ID"

"Ram it".

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39 minutes ago, Auld Reekin' said:

 

The only time I've been in the US - a visit to NYC in the mid-late 80s - the draught beer on offer was uniformly shite. As a result, I ended-up drinking bottles of Becks, which most bars seemed to stock.

 

Of course, it's changed a lot since then: from what I gather, the whole "craft-beer" movement started in the US as a consequence of the lack of variety of taste and distinctiveness in the major beer brands there at the time.

I was in Montana about 10 years ago doing a Rockies tour and the variety & quality of beers there was astounding for such a small place.  Some superb stuff on offer. 

 

NYC isn't up to much beer wise at the tourist traps but I've never had the chance to get into a "local" bar yet. 

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1 hour ago, Ribble said:

Oh and once shops open back up you'll need to explain that prices are inclusive of any tax so the price you see is the price you pay

That drives me nuts to the point I once went into a hotel and asked how much their $49.00 rooms were.😄

 

"All you can eat for $7.99" (doesn't include local taxes, state taxes, service charges, tips).

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2 minutes ago, NANOJAMBO said:

That drives me nuts to the point I once went into a hotel and asked how much their $49.00 rooms were.😄

 

"All you can eat for $7.99" (doesn't include local taxes, state taxes, service charges, tips).

it is nuts but understandable why they do it

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1 minute ago, milky_26 said:

it is nuts but understandable why they do it

How so ? How difficult is it to advertise a price - for anything - that includes taxes (I don't mean restaurants). It's not like the tax rates are changing on a daily basis.

 

Rant over. 

 

😄

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1 minute ago, NANOJAMBO said:

How so ? How difficult is it to advertise a price - for anything - that includes taxes (I don't mean restaurants). It's not like the tax rates are changing on a daily basis.

 

Rant over. 

 

😄

 

It comes from manufacturers, if Nike sell a pair of shorts and they want the price point to show as $49.99 regardless of where you are in the US, whether the price after tax is then $55 in colorado but $65 in texas they don't care as Nike are still seen to be selling at $49.99

 

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4 minutes ago, NANOJAMBO said:

How so ? How difficult is it to advertise a price - for anything - that includes taxes (I don't mean restaurants). It's not like the tax rates are changing on a daily basis.

 

Rant over. 

 

😄

it was explained to me that the products will have a state/federal tax on them along with a local tax. however towns next to each other could have different tax levels. if you showed the total price people would not go to the higher priced one, but if you show the same pre tax price people will go to both

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44 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

it was explained to me that the products will have a state/federal tax on them along with a local tax. however towns next to each other could have different tax levels. if you showed the total price people would not go to the higher priced one, but if you show the same pre tax price people will go to both

Yes, we have different tax depending on where the product is purchased. For example, on food purchases there is a state, county, and city tax rate. The state may require 5%, the county 2%, and the city 1%, meaning that a food purchase of $10 in city A ends up being $10.80. City B grocery just a town over might have a city rate of 2% and make the same set of groceries $10.90 even if they are from the same company of stores. In the interest of efficiency companies just set a base price and calculate the tax at the till. Most Americans I know just round the price on the shelf up to the next dollar to estimate tax if they're on a budget.

 

That said, I really look forward to shops where I don't have to guess and estimate.

Edited by Dorothy
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19 hours ago, IronJambo said:

 

Not sure you'll be able to get her Gatorade.

 

Gatorade seems to be pretty common here now. The orange and the blue stuff.

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When I was travelling across the US I was confused as anything when I went to 'pump gas' and find nothing came out. No obvious way to pay at the pump either. 

 

Turns out I had to go inside to the kiosk, tell them $50 of petrol, I mean gas, handover the cash, return to car, pump gas then go back in and get my change. 

 

Much better system here.

Edited by cuthy2k
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Customer service here may not always be up to the standard that she is used to. Surly and belligerent seems to be the level that some restaurant, retail and pub staff aspire too. 

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It's really unusual to meet a rude American I find. So much so that when you very rarely do, they stick out like a sore thumb and it's a bit of a shock. 

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33 minutes ago, cuthy2k said:

When I was travelling across the US I was confused as anything when I went to 'pump gas' and find nothing came out. No obvious way to pay at the pump either. 

 

Turns out I had to go inside to the kiosk, tell them $50 of petrol, I mean gas, handover the cash, return to car, pump gas then go back in and get my change. 

 

Much better system here.

My missus had this experience (while I sat laughing in the car 😄 ).

 

She loves it when people say "ma'am" to her. 

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58 minutes ago, cuthy2k said:

When I was travelling across the US I was confused as anything when I went to 'pump gas' and find nothing came out. No obvious way to pay at the pump either. 

 

Turns out I had to go inside to the kiosk, tell them $50 of petrol, I mean gas, handover the cash, return to car, pump gas then go back in and get my change. 

 

Much better system here.

I'm going to guess you were in the south? Generally petrol here is pay at the pump, the only place I've been where it wasn't was there.

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18 hours ago, Dorothy said:

I'm going to guess you were in the south? Generally petrol here is pay at the pump, the only place I've been where it wasn't was there.

 

In most states, you need to enter a 'zip' code with the credit card at the pump. No zip code means you have to pre pay at the kiosk. 

 

Note: some pumps will accept 00000 as a zip code, but not all. Oh, and $50 prepay would have the 'gas' running down your boots in most states. 😁

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2 hours ago, Hugh Phamism said:

 

In most states, you need to enter a 'zip' code with the credit card at the pump. No zip code means you have to pre pay at the kiosk. 

 

Note: some pumps will accept 00000 as a zip code, but not all. Oh, and $50 prepay would have the 'gas' running down your boots in most states. 😁

I got caught out with that in New England. No idea how much a full tank for the hire car would cost in the States. ☹️

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5 hours ago, Hugh Phamism said:

 

In most states, you need to enter a 'zip' code with the credit card at the pump. No zip code means you have to pre pay at the kiosk. 

 

Note: some pumps will accept 00000 as a zip code, but not all. Oh, and $50 prepay would have the 'gas' running down your boots in most states. 😁

Ahh didn't even think of that, where I buy petrol it doesn't require a zip. That is annoyingly inconvenient.

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