16 Things Europeans Tell Americans “They’re Not Ready To Hear” (But They’ll Tell You Anyway)

It’s always interesting to hear other countries’ perspectives on American culture. So when I came across this Reddit thread where u/Mamutu7 asked, “Europeans, what is something we Americans are not ready to hear?“Of course, I was surprised to read many of these responses. Here are some of them.

1.“EpiPens cost $69 in the UK compared to $600 – and yes, the pharmaceutical companies make a profit.

—u/DevDudeZX81

2.“Tipping is stupid. Pay your staff a proper living wage!”

3.“Sugar is not in everything, especially bread.”

—u/WrestlingWoman

4.“Europe is more than England and Paris.”

—u/SloRules

5.“You’ll spend too much time worrying about paying your taxes and not enough time making sure your taxes are going to the right programs.”

—u/Novah13

6.“You are very loud as tourists. Speak at a normal volume, please.”

7.“An American accent is still an accent.”

—u/Orange_fan1

8.“Health care doesn’t cost that much. Everything is enormously inflated.”

—u/nurseofdeath

9.“If your great-great-great-grandparents moved from Norway to the US, started a family, and generations later you were born, you are NOT Norwegian. Your ancestors were, and you have a little Nordic blood in you, but you’re still 100 years old. % American, not Norwegian, not 25% Irish, 10% Swedish, 3% Norwegian, 5% Danish.

10.“Different countries are really different from different states. We perfectly understand the differences between them, but Americans tend to think we don’t and try to make us believe that Denmark and Portugal are the same difference as Washington and Mississippi. No, it isn’t indeed different. Having another language is something that changes everything. Suddenly you can’t read anything and can’t communicate beyond very basic words. The law is also totally different, there is a “European constitution” that applies everywhere in every local law. But thinking that moving from one European country to another is like moving from one state to another is completely wrong. It applies very well within the border of a fairly large country, but not outside the borders.”

—u/oranje_meckanik

11.“Your car-dependent infrastructure is terrible. You shouldn’t be forced to own a car just to go anywhere.”

12.“You don’t have to sing the national anthem every 15 minutes. At some point, it’s just annoying and loses all value.”

—u/StRodeNL

13.“Before visiting a country educate yourself a bit about it geographyculture, language(s) and laws. And yes, a little political knowledge is also good.”

—u/FriendshipNo1440

14.“27 days of PTO is absolutely normal.”

—u/Whole-Bank9820

15.“Foods that are usually eaten within a few days don’t really need all those chemicals to preserve the food.”

16.“Visiting European cities and telling us how different it is in America is not as good a conversation starter as you think. We know it’s different.”

—u/MsB0x

Could you add something to this list? If so, share it with me in the comments below!

Note: Some answers have been edited for length and/or clarity.