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29 Times the United States Got Lapped by the Rest of the World

There’ll be no medals for these missteps

29 Times the United States Got Lapped by the Rest of the World

August 10, 2024

Yes, the U.S rakes in some shiny hardware every four years at the Olympics, but in a whole bunch of non-sporty categories, we don’t even place. Things like parental leave and the two-party system don’t aim to win medals, but it’s an analogy so please stick with us. We’re clearly throwing in something about the Olympics to stay topical and relevant, but it’s a list about a country, so it’s not too far of a stretch.

Now, check out how the U.S fell short, would ya?

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29

Office Hours

CRACKED THE U.S WORKS WAY TOO MUCH. INSURICARE A adidas | I SERVICE Americans work almost 25% more hours than Europeans, 137 more hours per year than the Japanese, and 499 more hours per year than the French. Americans retire later, and take fewer vacations than most other countries. — Source

28

CRACKED WEARING SHOES IN THE HOUSE. The rule is household to household in the U.S., but it's considered rude and offensive in most of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Canada. — Source

27

CRACKED THANKSGIVING IN THE U.S. IS WEIRD! Canada has an even older Thanksgiving than the U.S., and most countries who celebrate Thanksgiving do so in early October, to give thanks for the last harvests. The U.S. holds it way after the harvest, and is the only one that involves Pilgrims. — Source

26

CRACKED WORLDWIDE DRINKING AGES. 64% of the world's drinking age is 18 or under. Canada is split between 18 and 19, but America's age of 21 is only behind the Eastern African nation of Eritrea (25 years old) and, of course, the 11 countries where alcohol is banned altogether. — Source

25

CRACKED AMERICAN DATES ARE CONFUSING. 12 17 18 19 24 25 Americans write the month, the day, then the year, but pretty much every other country writes the day first, then the month, then the year. So 06/03/1985 is June 3rd, 1985 in the U.S., but the 6th of March, 1985 everywhere else. — Source

24

CRACKED SITTING IN THE BACK OF A CAB. In many countries, sitting in the back of the cab/Uber/Lyft is considered offensive and elitist, so riders sit in the front passenger seat. To be fair, most American cabbies would prefer you sit in the back too. — Source

23

CRACKED YOU'RE FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Travelers saying they're American implies that only the U.S. should be considered America. From North to South, there are 38 American countries. — Source

22

CRACKED ATHLEISURE ISN'T COOL EVERYWHERE ELSE. TRADEIDRED Sure, stylish sportswear outside of the gym is trendy, but in Japan, most of Europe, and elsewhere, wearing sweatpants, leggings, flip flops, and even baseball caps in public is disrespectful. — Source

21

CRACKED ASKING WHAT DO YOU DO? Asking about someone's profession is a common American icebreaker, but is considered insulting or possibly classist in countries like The Netherlands. If the dinner party guest says lawyer or janitor are you going to treat them differently? — Source

20

ICY DRINKS Other countries chill drinks, and they throw in a couple ice cubes, but visitors to America are baffled by the tradition of filling a glass with ice and then trickling a tiny bit of liquid around it. Many think they're being cheated. They're somewhat mollified, though, when they learn about the American tradition of free refills. GRACKED.COM — Source

19

American Bread

BREAD To visitors from other countries, American bread tastes like cake. That's because manufacturers add a ton of high-fructose corn syrup-the stuff is so cheap there, thanks to corn subsidies. Some people think American bread tastes better. Others think the sweetness makes it incompatible with any kind of topping. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

DINNERTIME Since many middle-class Americans skip breakfast (or eat on the go) and eat lunch at their desk (if at all), they're ready for dinner as soon as they walk in the door, often as early as 5:30 p.m. This is considered too early for the vast majority of the world, where most people don't even consider sitting down to dinner until 8 or 9. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

COLLEGE LOANS xx STOP R.I.P. T the Price OUR of our DR FUTURE Even keeping to where student loans are necessary, there's a big difference in how the U.S. and other countries handle them. In America, you'll be hounded to pay back loans even after declaring bankruptcy. In the UK, your student debt is completely written off if you have not repaid it in 25-35 years. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

TWO PARTIES There are ten political parties represented in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. The Bundestag in Germany has six. Eleven in the Oireachtas in Ireland. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has 28. New Zealand? Seven parties. South Africa's Parliament? Thirteen. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

CRACKED.COM Only the U.S. has widely adopted in-sink garbage disposals. insinkeraborg food waste disposer Because of how much water they use and the burden they put on sewage systems, in-sink garbage disposals are really unpopular outside the U.S. For example, nearly half of U.S. households have in-sink garbage disposals, but only 5% of U.K. ones do. They used to be banned in Japan and Australia, and still are in Austria, Portugal, and the Netherlands. — Source

14

There are almost as many cars in the U.S. as there are people. The average for all 50 states is 910 cars per 1,000 citizens. The numbers for the European Union countries are much lower-587 cars per 1,000 citizens. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

GRAGKED.COM Drugs are more expensive in the US than other nations. A month's supply of diabetes medication Januvia costs $168.61 after discounts in the US. Canada pays the next highest price ($68.10), which is not discounted and still $100 less. — Source

12

In the US, the number of vacant houses are six times greater than the number of homeless people. USA Europe Homeless 3.5 million 4.1 million people Vacant 18.5 million 11 million houses The ratio in Europe is less than half that. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Americans are extremely obsessed with their flag. The U.S. is pretty much the only country where flying a flag year-round is common. In France, the flag is associated with aggressive nationalism and the far right. In the UK, flying a flag outside your house would be kind of embarrassing-it's just not done. In Germany, the flags on the parliament building are almost the only ones flown, by anyone. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

The United States is the only nation that hasn't ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which means that American children may be treated by the criminal justice system as adults, including being arrested and serving life sentences. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

The United States, China and Japan US are the top three oil 20% consumers in the world. CHINA 11.7% Americans use more JAPAN oil than China and Japan 5.3% COMBINED. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Measurements

CRACKED COM There are currently three countries that do not use the metric system-Burma, Liberia, and the United States. 2 a 81 LI 10FEET 3m s 3 Many U.S. industries have been slow to adopt the metric system, but it is becoming standard in certain areas of science, medicine, and government. — Source

7

Unlike many other countries around the world, America doesn't officially embrace the tradition of napping. It's a cultural expectation in places like Italy, Spain, Greece, the Philippines, Nigeria & others, but viewed as slacking here. GRAGKED.COM — Source

6

Maternity Leave

The U.S. is 1 of only 4 countries in the world that does not require paid maternity leave. The U.S. ranks last among developed countries when it comes to paid parental leave. While many U.S. companies offer paid parental leave, the United States is the only advanced country without a federal law mandating it. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Individually, Americans use more cocaine than any other country. The percentage of users in America is only a tenth of a percent higher than Brazil, but Americans use 36% of the world's cocaine, compared to Brazil's 18%. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Paper Size

Most of the world uses the A series of paper sizes; doubling in size but maintaining the same aspect ratio throughout. Neat. 841 841 A1 GOLD 594 x 841 AO reamstime 1189 841x1189 A3 297 . 420 A2 420 x 594 A5 - A4 207 -210 . AS Meanwhile, the US only uses two sizes of paper: Letter, and Legal, which is slightly longer than letter-sized. GRACKED.COM — Source

3

The United States is the only modern democracy to elect its president via Electoral College CRACKED COM — Source

2

THERE ARE MORE TIGERS PRIVATELY OWNED IN THE US THAN TIGERS IN THE WILD WORLDWIDE. ESTIMATED TALLY ESTIMATED TALLY г IN THE WILD IN US CAPTIVITY 3,890 5,000 And only 6% of the tigers in the United States are held in accredited facilities. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

CRACKED.COM American portion sizes are abnormally huge. Food servings are 40% to 80% larger in American cities than in European ones. op When adopting 35 an a typical American diet or moving to America, people from other cultures gain significant amounts of weight. — Source

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