Why do they not want to go bankrupt from major health issues?

Why smoking remains so prevalent. I'm sure it's not a majority that smokes, but it is massively more common anywhere I've been in Europe than here in the US. I live in a fairly large city and I will go many days in a row without seeing a single person smoking.

I just don't really get it. It's gross, it smells, it ruins your teeth and your lungs, and it's expensive. Why do it?

Monarchy. It's the 21st Century and y'all still pay people to live a lavish lifestyle because they are distantly related to some warlord from the 9th century

Specific to Germany, but when a second cashier opens up, it's a first come first serve rush for it, rather than letting the person next inline at the original cashier take the first spot in the new one.

I belong to neither of these groups. But here goes it.

Europe: when ordering water, I have to specify for it not to have gas (non-carbonated). Also in places like Germany, people drink those before playing football. I don’t understand how you do it or even like it that way.

People in electric scooters are out of control. Specially in Spain. They’re the most egregious when it comes to disrespecting pedestrian crosswalks, dangerous overtaking in bike lanes and all around assholeness. You shouldn’t ride your fucking patinete in a train station crowded with people.

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People from the US: Your tipping culture is out of control. It’s good for outstanding service on certain scenarios. But not for handing me takeout or pulling out a foamy beer from a cooler.

Also , don’t tell newly-aquatinted people from the south that you’re not religious. They’ll try to tell you it’s their duty to save your soul and try to make you go to their religious services, which antagonizes them if you try to set boundaries on your personal beliefs.

Btw. I still like you both.

• No ice in their water or soda
• No refills on fountain drinks

These are the things that stood out to me whenever I have visited.

I spent a good while in Berlin once and one of my favorite restaurants was this Australian themed place by the IMAX theater just because I could get a nice big Diet Coke with ice in it. Their kangaroo sandwich also wasn’t half bad.

I mean, it might just be a rumor but I hear that instead of being born with arms, Europeans are born with baguette extremities. They nibble on their baguette arms throughout the day, and they grow back while they’re sleeping.

How do they put up with the lack of mass shootings ?

I know that a short visit doesnt give great insight into a place, but the following 2 things were very striking to me when visiting:

1 - the smoking.. i found it disturbing just how many people were smoking 2 - the graffiti. I was surprised by just how much graffiti there was. Do people not take pride in their property enough to wash it off? I know Graffiti is common everywhere, but it seemed to be on a whole other level in europe.. like it wasnt just on the back alleys, but on the front facades of buildings too. The front door of one of my airbnbs was covered in graffiti.

There was 1 thing though that was totally the opposite though & made total sense... the dual function windows (where you turn the handle 1 way to open them like a door & another way to lean them in to provide ventilation. These were everywhere & i found them to be the most functional thing ever! I wish they would catch on in the usa.. with that said, the first time i discovered this functionality, it was accidental. I panicked as i thought i broke the window lol.

I met up for lunch with a buddy and his partner who was visiting from Europe. I mentioned that I drink a lot of water and asked for a refill, they asked if water was free.

Tiny things, like tiny doorknobs, tiny stairs cases, tiny doors, tiny houses, tiny cars, and a tiny say in government legislation, etc.

And all the smoking! Eek. And we thought we had a drug problem in the USA. I've never seen so many people addicted to nicotine in my life when I've been there. It's everywhere. No thank you, I don't want to inhale nasty odor while eating my lunch. Jeez, WTF?

How much they personally hate/dislike us.

• They've seen too many movies and make unfair assumptions about us and then judge us? Idk.

How racist they are but have no idea they are.

• They ridicule the US for our own brand of terrible racism but seem to be clueless that they and their government have their own vicious and oppressive racism.

How stuck in tradition they are.

• I feel like I don't see a lot of progress in construction, culinary arts, or caste systems (to name a few).

Why some of them seem downright gleeful about every American shortcoming or perceived shortcoming.

I'm not American but i've worked in Western Europe. I don't know why but there seems to be a lot of taxes for everything. You have to get govt permission for everything. People seem to rely on the govt to provide things rather than have some agencies fill niches that aren't filled by the govt (for example I saw signs like don't help homeless people, the govt is helping them).

I'm from an Asian country, we don't have much tax, we don't rely on the govt for anything (we can't), and we have many NGOs. I think it's similar in America.

As an Asian, there are a few things I can note about Europeans.

• Europeans seem to have lost their sense of traditions, to me as an Asian it doesn't make sense since keeping our traditions and values is a huge part of our culture and society.

• Europeans also accept blame for bad things they did in the past (which is a good thing) but I think they can go overboard to compensate for that (to their detriment). I don't think accepting blame for things in the past is a thing that's done in Asia; we rewrite history instead. It would help if we acknowledged what we did and can have better relations with others moving forward.

• Europeans identify more with nationality than ethnicity. For example, someone from Czech Republic moving to France is considered French. In North America I think they would be considered Czech-French. In Asia they would be considered to be a Czech expat living in France. Our ethnicity matters a lot.

It largely depends on the European nation. Even as a non-native, I don't tend to lump them all in one judgment, just as Europeans shouldn't lump all Americans in one judgment. Every American state is different. Reply to this comment with a European country and I'll share the thing about it that I understand the least.

Half of these posts are just inverse statements trying to shit on America. Very boring.

Why would they want to take more than 10 vacation days each year.