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What seemed weird when I visited your country
94ssd:
--- Quote from: Metope on 03 Nov 2013, 11:01 ---Everyone in the states drives all the time, everywhere. I understand why, because everything is incredibly spread out, but it's so weird to me. Especially on the west coast, everything is so wide and vast and open, the roads are so wide and... yeah. My west coast-based boyfriend told me he felt claustrophobic when he visited the UK because everything was so narrow and tiny, but to me this is the norm.
Also I'm 25 and I can't drive, which everyone I know from the states finds really weird.
--- End quote ---
There's actually quite an interesting story behind why Los Angeles in particular has really shitty public transportation but an infinite number of highways.
lepetitfromage:
bhtooefr: Sales tax really is bizarre. The weirdest part about it to me is that it even varies by county. Here in Dutchess county, we pay .125% more than our neighbors in Ulster but they pay a whole percent more than a few other counties.....which I believe are in Western NY.
For the longest time, I remember my parents would take us shopping for school clothes when we went to visit relatives in NJ- no sales tax on clothes there!
bainidhe_dub:
Maryland has a week every August when they don't charge sales tax on any clothing item under $100 to encourage people to do school shopping. Otherwise it's 6% on most things except groceries.
Skewbrow:
--- Quote from: Papersatan on 03 Nov 2013, 18:06 ---WRT US pricing I'd like to point out that:
some goods are priced before they reach a store (clothing and books come to mind)
--- End quote ---
Are you really saying that a bookstore (or clothing store) in the US has no say in how much they charge for a book or an item of clothing? That's not how I thought the free market works, but whatever - surely you know this better than I do. I just would have thought the store buys in stuff at whatever bulk price they can negotiate, and then charge whatever they see fit.
My culture shock things about US (IIRC):
* You couldn't buy stationery at a mall bookstore (they would advertise marital aids on yellow pages though)
* You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)
* These people actually use bank cheques for paying utility bills and for shopping? Is this like the 70s or something?
* Why would anyone want to use a credit card? Why run up a debt? Can't you like afford to pay for it right away? These I learned to live it. I mean, yeah, things don't work quite the same way all over the globe. So?
The thing I never learned to accomodate for in the US: the overwhelming desire of the people to keep indoor temperature between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit. Goddammit. It's 90 degrees out, and I am dressing accordingly. I don't want to catch a flu for needing to stand in the line in a bank or while shopping groceries. Cool it to make it manageable if you must, but make it like 75 or something that's still warm. The same thing every single year - the first week on the Western side of the pond I came down with a flu because of this.
Is their a moral to all this? Wherever you go, people usually have a reason to doing things the way they do them. The reason is often not visible to a casual visitor, and may be connected to other local solutions in unexpected ways. It may depend on the problem having appeared in slightly different historical setting. Assuming that the locals are just weird is natural and human, but won't give you much understanding.
94ssd:
--- Quote from: Skewbrow on 18 Dec 2013, 10:58 ---Are you really saying that a bookstore (or clothing store) in the US has no say in how much they charge for a book or an item of clothing? That's not how I thought the free market works,
--- End quote ---
Welcome to corporate America. If it's a chain store, it receives the item in bulk and is told what price to sell it for. There is very little room for variation. Price setting is generally done by regional managers rather than by the managers of individual stores, who, by the way, are given lengthy instructions on how to deal with every situation and would be fired if they deviated from them.
--- Quote ---You couldn't buy stationery at a mall bookstore (they would advertise marital aids on yellow pages though)
--- End quote ---
Generally a bookstore means what it says, it sells books. Print shops are considered a separate entity.
--- Quote ---You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)
--- End quote ---
I've always thought having food, drinks, etc. at pharmacies was weird, but I thought it was normal to have hygiene stuff there.
--- Quote ---These people actually use bank cheques for paying utility bills and for shopping? Is this like the 70s or something?
--- End quote ---
I do most transactions through debit/credit card, but that's not always a possibility, especially if paying rent or at a lot of local shops. I loathe carrying around large amounts of money, it makes me nervous.
--- Quote ---Why would anyone want to use a credit card? Why run up a debt? Can't you like afford to pay for it right away?
--- End quote ---
Two reasons. First is that people are tricked by too-good-to-be-true "free" cards and low rates, but fail to consider hidden fees. Second is because credit is king. If you don't build up and maintain good credit, you may find yourself unable to buy a car or home, or take out any sort of loan. I use my credit card for things I know I can pay for so that I can establish good credit.
--- Quote from: bainidhe_dub on 18 Dec 2013, 06:48 ---Maryland has a week every August when they don't charge sales tax on any clothing item under $100 to encourage people to do school shopping. Otherwise it's 6% on most things except groceries.
--- End quote ---
North Carolina had this, but "low-tax" McCrory has gotten rid of it and raised the sales tax as part of an overall scheme to collect most of the states sales revenue through sales, rather than income, tax. What this actually amounts to is a regressive tax on the poor for their basic goods and services.
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