Over at Reddit, they asked their non-American readers to
comment on things they find strange or bizarre about American culture.

Some of the responses referred to oddities that also
bother many Americans: TV ads for prescription drugs, or laws that allow
18-year-olds to go to war or vote in elections, but prevent them from drinking
a beer. But many of the most frequent comments are interesting, if not
eye-opening.

The folks at BusinessInsider.com organized the Reddit
material into a list of the “13  Things That Americans Do That The Rest Of The
World Just Finds Bizarre.”

Among them: 
spending several hours at a time behind the wheel, whether on a long
trip or in horrendous traffic; eating countless types of foods with cheese in
or on them; being obsessed with straight, ultrawhite teeth – the Hollywood
smile; eating so many food items with pumpkin in them; carrying coffee with us
everywhere we go.

Some of the responses are much more serious:
being able to buy anything at WalMart, including shotguns, all under one roof;
and being obsessed with maintaining the status of best country in the world.

Here are my favorites:


Cheerleaders

“…dressing up young girls in short skirts and getting
them to dance around and cheer on young men strikes me as odd. Yes I
know some people consider it a sport in and of itself but when it takes place
on the side lines of another more popular sport I think it’s mainly about
spectacle.” — preparetodobattle

Being obsessed with your alma mater.

“I know this does not apply to everyone but your
attachment to your college/university AFTER you have left. The amount of older
people I saw on my trip wearing college gear was insane. As well as supporting
your college as an alumni. Coming from the UK where a university is used to
gain your degree then its a case of thanks for the piss ups, bye!” — Fenrir89

“I get made fun of all the time in Russia for having an
attachment to my college. They just don’t get the idea of loyalty to the
school. I think it comes from two places: sports, and a sense of community.” — Ck14

All the pomp and circumstance surrounding prom

“I have cousins who live in the US and just hearing about
the number of hoops they had to jump through to ask someone to a dance is hilarious.”
— Saysthingsfromabush

“In Scotland our equivalents (to proms) are ceilidhs and in school
you just go and f***ing dance. Concept of building up the courage to ask
someone to a ceilidh is simply ridiculous. ‘hey would you like to come and
get bruised with me doing some fast dances to violins?’ As is tradition.
— Reducto_Absurdum