10 things you quickly get used to in the US

I have been living in the States for a long time. Upon arrival, a lot of things seemed unusual to me, not the same as ours. However, very soon I got used to it, and without some things I don’t even imagine my life.

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It seems that it was like this all my life and I want this to be the case with us. Today - about what I'm used to, living in America.

Potlak

Potluck is probably the best American tradition, which should definitely migrate to us. This is a holiday (party) format when guests bring food with them, from which a common table is formed. This way, the host is spared the need to stand at the stove all day and prepare goodies to feed all the guests. One or two dishes from each - and no one will remain hungry.

Everyone spends a minimum of effort, and not one takes the rap for everyone. Our customary holiday “glades,” which were an integral part of any celebration, almost made me hate all holidays. Now that I don’t need to cook almost anything, I enjoy receiving guests and going to visit myself.

Drinking water

The widespread availability of drinking water has firmly entered my life. If at home I always carried a bottle of water without gas with me, then in the States there was no need for that. Drinking fountains are installed in almost all public places, from which you can drink good quality water. In parks, in playgrounds, in libraries, there is water everywhere. You can drink it on the spot or take it with you (special side taps allow you to do this). In parks where dog walking is allowed, there are containers for watering pets.

Easy return on almost everything

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In the US, almost any product with a check can be returned without any questions or explanations. Even if you opened the packaging, even if the product is of high quality and you just did not like it externally, or you just changed your mind - you can return it and get the money back.

You bought a vacuum cleaner and use it for a week, but find the same one cheaper in a competitor’s store? Feel free to go to the seller - they will either refund you the difference in price or take the vacuum cleaner back. Is your new foundation drying out your skin? If it’s even more than half, you can return it! I don’t know why this happens: maybe because of high competition, but I like it...

The absence of advertising brochures in the mailboxes

In America, at the legislative level, it is forbidden to put anything in mailboxes: it can only be done by a post office employee and only with a postmark. Therefore, in the States, I do not rake out a pile of advertising papers, left-wing newspapers and booklets from the nearest stores from my mailbox, as it was in my homeland.

It is not customary to show off

In the States do not buy a sports car, if there is no money for gasoline. Do not walk in the restaurant at all pay to impress. Do not sit 4 months half starving, because they pay a loan for a fashionable phone. The “dusting our eyes” adopted by us and the desire to appear better than you really are is not clear to Americans.

Moreover, even those who have above-average income, as a rule, are in no hurry to show it: they dress in ordinary clothes, drive an ordinary car, and do not buy expensive watches or accessories to “emphasize their status.” There are always exceptions, of course, but I like this general calm attitude towards the visual manifestation of wealth.

Smoke and fire detectors

A wonderful device that adds peace of mind to my every day. Smoke and fire detectors are legally installed in all residential areas of America. When the sensor picks up smoke, a shrill squeak is heard in the apartment, and the signal is transmitted to the local fire department. This is a signal to residents that need to leave the premises. The fire brigade arrives at the site during the 10-15 minutes (in Boston, we were visited during this time).

For me, as a mother of two children, it is important to know that if something happens, we will be saved and the fire will be put out. And it doesn’t matter that the sensors are often triggered by a powerful toaster that is toasting bread, or by burnt cookies in the oven. I myself, without suspecting it, had already falsely called the fire department twice - and they came twice. I haven't been fined for this yet. And you know, I’m glad that there is such control!

Free public toilets everywhere

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I remember that there was always a problem with public toilets at home. If in the shopping center or in the cinema after the session there was no problem going to the toilet, then in the park or just walking around the city, in order to relieve themselves, you had to look for McDonalds.

In America, every grocery store, park, or city stadium will definitely have a clean free toilet. Or, in the worst case, a bio-booth, but it will definitely be, and will be free. For some reason, the United States understands that if there are people, then there are natural needs, and having a toilet is one of them.

Almost complete lack of domestic corruption

I will not say that it does not exist at all, but in comparison with our country, we can say that in the USA it does not exist at all. Here you cannot find a person through whom you can “resolve” something outside of the law, and considering that America is a foreign country for us, and there are no “our” special acquaintances here, we can even rejoice at this! For us the law is the same as for our American neighbor.

For example, all without exception pass on the rights. You sign up for a test online and do not know your inspector by sight, and therefore no one can demand a bribe from you. Smoke detectors will be installed in all apartments, otherwise the house will not be commissioned. And if you, God forbid, poisoned in the restaurant and complain - it will be closed for inspection and not opened until all violations are corrected and the case is closed.

Moral damages

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We, unfortunately, still do not compensate for the damage to the moral plan. Probably, our legislators still can not translate it into a cash equivalent. So, if you are poisoned in the same restaurant, then in addition to reimbursement of the cost of the examination for the poisoning and the amount spent on treatment, the court will assign the guilty person to compensate you for moral damage.

On the one hand, how to compensate for something that cannot be seen or confirmed by a document? These are not bruises on the body or receipts from the pharmacy. On the other hand, these are worries about your (or children’s) life, this is the time spent in the hospital, this is a ruined date or meeting. Maybe you have been traumatized for life and now you won’t be able to look at seafood, for example? The American court takes all this into account - and moral damages are necessarily compensated!

Meat without hormones

On the territory of America at the federal level, the use of hormones in the cultivation of poultry and pork is prohibited. Therefore, buying chicken, turkey or pork neck in ANY supermarket for baking, I can be sure that it is grown without hormones. The relevant regulatory bodies regularly do their work.

You will say that we also have such meat, but you need to know where to find it. Honestly? I don’t trust some grandmother at the market who allegedly fed the chicken corn. As for farms, I’m not sure they’re not breaking laws. Legislative and regulatory bodies are mired in corruption, and even when the label says that the composition does not contain GMOs or that no hormones were used during cultivation, I cannot believe it! In our country, to be sure of something, you need to do it yourself. But why not do all the livestock farming?

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