Australian LEARNS Shocking Mistakes to Avoid in the USA
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- G'day guys today we are reacting to The Don'ts of visiting the USA. Join Lyle on a hilarious journey as he learns about the shocking mistakes to avoid when visiting the USA! From personal space to public transportation, get ready for some tongue-in-cheek advice that will make you laugh out loud. Don't forget to subscribe for more entertaining travel tips!
Timecodes-
0:00 Intro
0:25 Video Review
19:32 Final Thoughts
21:12 Outro
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Every time I watch someone abroad reacting to these kinds of videos, it's always, "Why don't Americans just do x like everyone else?" The answer is because that's what a culture is. Culture is doing things differently. If we did everything the same as other western nations, we would lose a significant part of our culture. The things that are "confusing" to people abroad are perfectl fine for the people who live here, and that's why they remain. You don't shape your culture based on what foreigners want it to be. There are plenty of things other countries do that would seem confusing to us, but that's their culture, so they shouldn't be expected to change it if it's not causing harm...
This guy nailed it when he mentioned "Different regions, different states, different tax-". He seemed confused, but he had a good point without necessarily realizing it?
Yep - exactly. It's a lot more common sense when you look at it more as "50 different countries with vastly different economies, populations, cultures, needs, climates and demands... united under a common banner"
This is why things end up a little complex and not simply "well just do it as (blank) country does it! Simply unify all of it flat across the board!"
That also ignores the fact that because of our governmental design...the federal government couldn't demand that if we wanted it to. The States hold final individual say.
Have you ever known in history that America did things like Anyone else
Irritates the shit out of me when they do that. I have a saying, YOU CAN'T VIEW AMERICA THROUGH EUROPEAN EYES. It won't ever work. You MUST have a complete open mind when learning about us LOL really.
I never hear these people putting the USA down.
@@magloper1 She didn't say they put us down. She's asking why Europeans keep wondering why Americans don't do things the same way they do. And I wonder that a lot too.
I worked in an upscale cocktail bar in Cairns when an American military group came through, I made over $1000 in tips that week. I couldn't believe how generous they were.
I wait tables near a navy base. I make $1500-2000 a week in tips
They respected you more than the owner of the bar.
Americans are used to tipping 20% of the tab or a buck or two a drink (depending on if it's a simple beer or a multi-step cocktail). Going overseas Americans usually don't know how to NOT tip where it wouldn't be expected. From what I understand, tipping a bartender in Japan can be considered somewhat offensive, although they will usually cut gaijin (foreigners) some slack as being culturally naive when a Japanese person might get some harsh criticism. I've read a few stories of Japanese Americans being treated harshly as they may not immediately be recognized as a foreigner.
@@christopherflanagan9626 oh I think they liked the bar owner as well, they drank quite a bit and bought food. The owner was very happy, as were the staff. They were well behaved and friendly to everyone.
There is a good reason the tax is added on when you pay, its so you know how much tax you are paying and so the govt cant sneak in a tax without the people knowing it
Exactly!! While I wouldn't mind seeing the price AS IS, there's a reason for why we do it this way. I get why it seems underhanded to some but you see it for the purposes of full-disclosure. You know exactly how much of your purchase goes to sales tax.
In the American state of Oregon, we are very proud to have voted against and defeated sales tax initiatives a dozen times! In Oregon you can trust the listed price is all you have to pay! We pity the Americans who have been duped into establishing sales tax. However, our property taxes are very high.
Or people would know what the sales tax is...cos it's the same percent every time new Zealand 22 percent
Regarding Taxes: In the US, the public is well aware of how much the government is taking from people and we want to be aware of it.
Americans know the metric system because certain jobs require at least some knowledge of it. But Americans will never use it to please the rest of the world. In fact, foreigners demanding that we use it will just piss us off more than ever. Americans love to be different and that makes us special and America a special place.
Australians should understand Americans better than anyone else. Americans and Aussies have reputations of being crazy, and open among the other residents on this planet. Our two nations suffer from the same crazy weather and both nations have animals which could kill each of us in a nanosecond.
I may just be old but ..metric system? No give me inches, feet, yards, gallons, pounds, miles per hour...🎉🎉🎉🎉
Right I don't use the metric system just to piss the world off.
The Metric system seems like a rip-off to Americans. Poor Metric Kilometer is only, like two thirds of a mile it takes multiple centimeters to measure up to the big strong American inch. We are only tempted to use centimeter to measure one thing, haha.
Australians have a myriad of poisonous creatures. We crazy Americans (aside from the Rattlesnake) only have animals that depend on their teeth to kill, like wolves, bears, and cougars/panthers/pumas/mountain lions. There's also the wolverine which, from what I understand, once it decides to kill you is like the Terminator (but that could just be hype).
we don't disagree that the metric system is better, we just refuse to use it out of sheer stubbornness lol
even though we largely have it everywhere.
I hate the metric system. It sucks
The redesign of factory and production components to metric is far too expensive. And yes, we also love to be different.
If you don't like the metric system, you really should get rid of those 9 millimeter pistols. They are metric.
I don't agree it is better. But I also don't find it to be worse. I use both, depending on what project I am working on. Some of my projects are easier with the Imperial (USCS) system, and others using the metric system. I find both to be rather handy. But my husband hates using the metric system. Of course, considering what he does for a living, I understand why he prefers Imperial. But I still hold that neither is better than the other. And it all depends on what job or project you are doing that one or the other is a better fit for that job. If one doesn't seem to be working out, just switch to the other and you'll be surprised at how things suddenly fall into place.
I would have assumed that Australia wouldn’t have much in the way of public transportation for the same reason as the states-the country is WAY too big to make it reasonable.
Kinda out-there but it seems like unlimited sunlight should make Australia a free-energy utopia, between solar, partially buried Stirling Engines and the day/night temperature expansion differential that can be used to power "perpetual motion" machines. Why not establish free solar transit, even if it only goes 20 miles an hour?
Public transport is almost impossible outside of large cities, but the US isn't even remotely as dense as in the EU or England, so there is no way to have something for everywhere.
Americans don't need to change for the rest of the world, I wouldn't expect any other country to change for me.
Patrol Nation, lmao, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and when in New York, do as the New Yorkers do. 🙂 Plus we all have unit converters in our phones now. So if someone gives you a measurement in miles, just whip out the smartphone, go the calculator, click the ruler icon, and convert to km. 🙂
Here it is. As an American that probably will never leave the country, which is a majority of the population, why should they have to adjust to outside units of measurement? Why, is it to make it easier on foreigners or Americans?
both for trade. the rest of the planet thought the 10 times table was pretty easy.
@@mikek5977 As if US companies involved in international trade don’t use the metric system of measurements… 😉
To be fair Metric system is easier to learn and numbers make a lot of logical sense. And if they pirates hadn't sank the ship the U.S would be using the metric system.
@@novanastalga The US wouldn't have used it even if that ship arrived to the country because we were still largely trading with Britain, so it made more logical sense to stick to their system for the time.
@@yashjoseph3544 I would tend to agree save for the fact Thomas Jefferson was specifically tasked with coming up with a new measurement system for the republic.
I’ve been to 6 continents where tipping isn’t normal. Service in restaurants isn’t as friendly or as quick as in the states. In the states, service personnel are friendly and hustle to earn good tips.
I was in Europe 5 times but in the 1980’s. My impression regarding the people were they stayed to themselves but whenever we met Aussies and Canadians we all talked like long lost friends and Europeans looked on with a surprised expression. Ithink it’s because we’re large countries formed by immigrants.
"Less free stuff at fancy hotels" -- a big part of the reason for that is that fancy, upscale hotels are mostly focused on *business* travelers, who are usually traveling on expense accounts and thus don't really care if the hotel charges extra for WiFi because they can just write it off as a business expense or charge it to their company card. Business travellers also tend to *have* to stay at a certain hotel, whether it has free amenities or not, because that hotel is located next to the convention center they'll be spending most of the day in anyway. Smaller hotels and motels cater to vacationers and families, who are more price-sensitive and can more easily be persuaded to make their hotel choices based on how many "extras" they'll get.
As for health care here -- "don't get sick!" is a *bit* of an exaggeration. 🙂 Yes, if anything happens to you that requires a significant hospital stay or a sudden trip to a fully-equipped emergency room (like a heart attack, car accident, etc.), it's going to be pricey if you don't have any kind of insurance -- but if it's something relatively simple that doesn't require any kind of hospitalization or specialty care, there are all kinds of walk-in clinics where you can get basic care relatively inexpensively, around $100-ish depending on what it is. You're not going to be bankrupted just because you came down with a case of the sniffles here. 😀
"52 states" -- I have no idea. I can only assume there's a confusion of concepts here, where some people know that we have two states that are not part of the "mainland" (Alaska and Hawaii), but don't realize that the mainland consists of 48 states, not 50.
Sales tax not included in the shelf tag is a bit weird, to be sure, but... eh. It's just the way we do things here. The fact that it's *different* from one place to the next is because sales tax isn't a *federal* thing controlled or collected by the federal governent in Washington DC -- it's a function of the individual states. Sales tax collected here in Texas goes to our state government's coffers to pay for things in our state; none of the surrounding states, or the FedGov, get a cut of it. The additional variation from one city to the next within a state is because most states provide for a local option where counties and municipalities can lay claim to a certain percentage as well, which the state treasurer will collect on their behalf and then distribute to them. Also, different states have different rules about what's taxable and what's not; many states do not collect sales tax on food, for example, but the legal definition of "food" for tax purposes can be kind of non-intuitive, as things generally are whenever politicians and lawyers get involved. 😀
Yup. Box of raisins? Not taxable. Yogurt covered raisins? Taxable. Same with peanuts. Usually any fresh snack foods covered in chocolate, yogurt etc a lot of places charge tax. What Europe fails to realize is the Value Added Tax so that they pay the shelf price can be charging up to 20 percent tax. Sometimes more depending on the country. So actually I think the way the United States does it is better and cheaper. They don't realize we'd rather pay between 6 and 8 percent sales tax. Europe doesn't realize how much more money they are paying out of pocket for the value added tax. Ours is more confusing for them but it's cheaper. Just round up to the nearest dollar and they'll be fine.
Howdy y'all from the Great State of Texas 🤠🇺🇸
Many of us do know the metric system - it's used in a lot of science or medical fields, for instance. We simply don't use it day to day because the rest of our world is in Imperial. Would cost a ton of time and money to switch now - and what we have *works*. It clearly isn't hindering international trade. So ...why change just because everyone outside the US who doesn't need to use Imperial hates it?
we largely see metric in day to day life as well. pretty sure almost all food products show both. most medicine is largely metric. tools have metric and sae. most people i know are fluent enough in metric. on the road its largely arbritrary using either. ive chatted with europeans that struggled to convert mph to km/h to mph to calculate speed driving. its just matching numbers. car speedometers are largely already in both and have been such since before i started driving 20 years ago.
The rest of our world is not Imperial... It's US customary units.
I actually thought the guy made some good points. I live in Washington State so we’re on the West Coast and it’s a lot different than the East. Totally agree about public transportation. I would never take a city bus pretty sketchy people most of the time and it’s not efficient. Taxis are expensive too as everything is spread out, it would cost a fortune to get around that way. Best to rent a car but check age requirements in many cases you have to be 25 to rent a car. If you wanted to really see and experience the West Coast (Washington, Oregon & California) plan on at least 3 weeks probably 4. I’ve driven from SW Washington to San Jose, CA and it took 13 hours with two quick stops. To Drive from the West side of Washington to the East is about 6.5 - 7 hours and from North to South about 4-5.
Seattle has great public transit. I'm from San Jose, but I lived near Seattle for four years on submarines (Bangor Naval Submarine Base). I went to Seattle whenever we were in port and I was off duty. I don't know how to drive, and I got around just fine up there. 🙂
Love your channel. FYI, Imperial vs metric. I've read that the UK used the imperial system when the British colonized America. They switched later, but US didn't. We still measure a lot of things in metric, and a lot of products show imperial and metric on the labels. US studied the cost of switching to metrics decades ago, and it was decided it would be too expensive to change everything. Some schools in US teach metric as well as imperial.
In most places in the USA, there's no taxes on "wholesome" foods you prepare yourself, such as fruits and vegetables, meats, even most canned foods and cereals are non-taxable. But if the item is warmed or prepared at a kiosk or deli within the store, you pay tax. Paper goods are taxed, toys are taxed, some jurisdictions repeal the tax on non-luxury clothing. We also have State Sales Tax and County Sales tax. When you buy a meal at a restaurant, the meal is taxed. Basically any food which is "prepared" for you is taxed.
And some places tax restaurant food eaten on site but don't tax food ordered "to go"
Those were indeed sponges. There are parts of the Gulf of Mexico where there's good sponge fishing here. Tarpon Springs, Florida (which is on the gulf-coast side, near Tampa Bay) was originally founded by Greek immigrants who took up the sponge-fishing trade there, and to this day the city has a strongly Greek-influenced culture as a result.
When I was in 4th grade we had to stop our regular lessons for a week and learn the metric system because they said we were going to switch to metric. That was in 1978, still waiting on the switch.
They did the same thing to us in Minnesota in 1976, and I was a nerd and I was hot to trot for it, but they never made the change. I remember they put up THINK METRIC! signs on the highway - so many miles = kilometers to this town or that. Over sixty years, the signs kinda faded away . . .
To change to the metric system would be incredibly expensive!!
Canada made the change 😊
@@thesecretlifeofwonderwoman lol. well, we have no reason to down here. I'm always surprised that Canada did because we are their closest neighbor and we don't use SI in daily life. Now, mind you, we DO use it, but for science, industry, etc. Of course, we all carry unit converters in our pocket now (at least, with android, the default calculator has a unit converter built in). The only possible advantage for the USA converting to metric would be for foreigners to be less confused, and our answer to that is "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".....when in New York, do as the New Yorkers do, and get used to the measurement system they use. 🙂
I live in Oregon, NO sales taxes. Good for theb state, and good for visitors
Oregon has state income tax.
As college students we always went out to bars. We would order only drinks and the bar would supply free food. We would then tip generously to cover the food. That's how it worked. The wait staff got their tips and we got our delicious food.
Also I think tipping should be worldwide, BUT I think servers shouldn’t have to reply on tips. I tips should be showing your appreciation for good service, or as encouragement. But like I said, the company should always pay their employees well enough that if no one tips they can still
Afford a comfortable living.
Also the idea of withholding good service until a good tip is given (the bartender example) is more like a catch-22 to me. Some states can still pay servers as little as $2.25 (unless this has recently changed?) per hour if they also receive wages via tips. This also means that sometimes a server's actual paycheck is basically $0 because tips are taxed and things like health insurance fees are pulled from the bi-weekly checks. In the USA servers are quite literally surviving on tips, it depends on what state you're in (not intended to be political, but the reality is if you're in a more "conservative" state it's much more likely your server is being paid almost nothing via hourly wage) but when you realize they if you don't tip that bartender pretty much is giving you and the restaurant free labor it's not so much blackmail as it is triage. I hope that makes sense lol.
I recently had to go to the US from Australia to take care of my mother after she had surgery. I couldn't fly into the airport in the city she lives in due to costs so I had to fly into a city about 2 hours away. It was about a 24 hour flight, and there wasn't a bus or train that was going the direction I needed. Had to take a rental car, very dangerous as I was really tired. Highly recommend staying overnight in an overpriced motel before doing the drive...
I think US is more touchy than several countries. But true, people everywhere like their personal space, that’s a give in.
Every metro area in the USA over 100,000 population has a bus system. Some as small as 20,000 have a bus system. They don't run as frequently as Europe of Asia but at least it runs.
The "don't touch" is for Italians.
Sales taxes cannot be hidden in the final price because it is illegal. Moreover, every town, city, county and state decides its own sales taxes. There are gazillion different sales taxes in the US and sometimes there are not taxes at all or only certain products. For example, in Florida most food purchased in supermarkets is not taxed at all. I spent $100 on food the other day and I was only taxed 7 cent for a bottle of Coke and another 14 cents on some candy I bought as a snack. So my final total for everything was $100.21.
I just add 10% to all the products I am going to buy. Whatever the final price is before the sales tax, I just add another 10% to it. I say 10% because I believe it is the highest sales tax in the nation (Chicago).
American culture was one of distrust of government and limited government. Thus we want to know what taxes are being charged without being hidden in the background. It does not matter if this makes it harder for us, so long as it is transparent.
With regard to gun control and the second amendment, what most people foreign and domestic don't understand about the Second Amendment is that it comes right after the first amendment for a reason. The first amendment is a delineation of our basic rights and freedoms from the government, and the second is the basic means of protection of the rights outlined in the first. It is a latent threat to our would-be oppressors. It's the means by which we get to tell federal agents no at the barrel of a gun and defend our rights from them. It makes our would-be overlords and oppressors more hesitant to try what they are thinking. It has nothing to do with hunting or self-defense. It has everything to do with the preservation of our liberties from an encroaching government and the basic means by which the people have a threat of retaliation and self-defense against their government. Such that the government behaves. That's why the despots everywhere and always are looking to collect your guns.
I mean, think about the absolutely egregious crap they did to y'all in Australia during covid. And you had no means to respond or retaliate or resist. The millions of guns in the hands of Americans are the last line of defense against worldwide totalitarianism and communism.
The fact that you don't feel safe unless you can kill someone else is why the rest of the world thinks the United States is backwards.
I use imperial and metric (mostly for baking) but here in my state we travel by time because we have 2 major seasons...winter and construction. There are no state sales tax in AK but some towns and boroughs have them.
and I didn't realize how much I cherish my personal space till i got to Thailand.
The normal rate for tipping for wait staff is about 15% in the US. Their hourly rate for them is lower due to these tips.
I think that everybody had their own particular idea. He sure isn't talking about everyone!! As far as size. You could fit 75 United Kingdoms inside the contiguous United States.
#1 The Vandals wrote a song about this.
#2 Certain parts of USA are better than others.
#5 Tipping is the only thing keeping our restaurants going now. Most server rely on the tip because they are paid below the minimum wage.
#7 Smoker's life spans are not cut short by smoking but, by the terrible conditions they force them into to have a cigarette.
Gun control means hitting your target. In general 2 topics to avoid anywhere are religion and politics. Because it often gives way to ranting and raving. (Dr. Demento song)
In a busy bar, he is correct only if you are paying cash for each drink you buy. If you have a tab, it's not the same.
The reason they don't is that each state has different taxes, then cities can add additional tax, it would be very hard to add it ahead of time as our taxes are more fluid, they change often by varied amounts. I could go up the street and by something for 1.24 with tax, drive out of the city limits and pay 1.13 for the same product because of the city tax.
I am all for the pay the workers and let the customer tip as desired but it's not going to change anytime soon.
Cigarettes is now 21 as well, just a heads up.
The reason we don't change over to metric is because of money, it's too expensive to make the change. We are taught metric but because we don't use it we forget.
I am from the US and agree about the sales tax. I would love to have tax included in the sticker. And I would love to get rid of daylight savings time. Two small changes that would make life just a little bit better :)
Sydney has the light rail in the city
Sales tax varies because of states rights. Each State can determine whether or not to charge sales tax and some cities have sales tax as well.
The hourly wage for restaurant servers is abhorrent. A couple dollars an hour is the standard. Theoretically this structure is used to apply leverage to servers to provide great service because their salary depends on their performance. I don’t tip or leave a couple bucks if the service is bad.
Switching to metric system would be very expensive for the governments and businesses. I would love it if we switched too.
Tipping is how some of these people live. Their wages are much lower than most.
Most importantly, don't fuck with our boats!
As an American, you're 100% right about tipping. It originally WAS an extra reward for good service, but eventually it became so common that business models were build around it and now it's just expected. I wish we would get rid of it culturally, if I'm being honest.
One thing about tipping, in some restaurants the staff that doesn’t wait the tables, such as the cooks in the back or the busboys and hostess, they are given a percentage off your ticket that comes out of the waitress/waiter’s tip. It is coming out even if you did not tip, meaning your server is being charged to serve you.
First of all, it's great watching an Australian reaction to this because Aussies are the only other people who get the concept of driving more than two hours at a time.
Yes, British gallons are different than American gallons but the video is about visiting America, so... And, people are more likely to dive driving distances in time - "It's about an hour and a half away"
America uses the metric system for science, engineering, matters of international trade and the other things that should matter to people in other countries. But vehicle speeds where you match the number on the dashboard with the number on the road sign, or what measurements carpenters use when they build houses, that kind of stuff.... who cares? Does it matter is you're dying from the heat at 40° and we're dying from the heat at 100°? We're both bleeping uncomfortable. Seriously, if something doesn't directly effect your life, what's it matter how someone else does it? Like others have said, why travel to experience a different culture and then spend all your time bitching about how that culture is different?
Ask yourself one question:
Would you rather pay $15 for a meal and not tip?
Or pay $10 and tip $3 for better service?
Sales taxes are controlled by local governmental units, states, municipalities and counties; in many areas it is the only revenue they have and it's controlled by tax issues that are voted on in general and sometimes special elections. It's hard for outsiders to wrap their heads around the idea that there is a difference between states and federal in the US. The federal system is paid for by federal taxes, mostly on income, whereas the states may have state and local income taxes, property taxes and/or sales taxes to fund them. There are a few states that do not have income taxes and their sales taxes are naturally higher than in other states.
They took a poll to switch to metric. 76% said No.
Those are sponges that is Tarpon Springs Florida I believe that is the only place in the USA that does sponge diving
I agree with your good service first, but as a waitress, my tips depended on cooks, bus people, bartenders and quality of food. I have worked nice places for 2 bucks per hour. The rest of my money depended on tips, which I was taxed for.
All I've learned from this video is 'Don't go to Australia' things are dangerous there'😁
Like the metric system, it'll bite you right in the metres
@@_ChristyMuz 😂😂
Very true. You guys like to squeeze into places. We have a bubble even if the bus is packed. Try to maintain that 6ft 😊
Six feet? What is that, Socialist Distancing? You are not going to get that in NYC, and whatever you do, don't go to Japan!
Also don't stare at people! "HEY WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT !"
Is a common phrase. There's no good answer, that person is looking for a fight. Every country has it's jerks! Most people can be surprisingly nice and helpful, if you're polite to them.
We say Howdy Ya'll here in Texas.
Just admit that there's very little drama with Celsius. Where I live we can go from 20 below (-20) to 95 within a 4 month span with the Fahrenheit scale.
Some stores in Los Angeles have changed it stores like Grocery Outlet the shelf price has the sales tax build in for food only though
We tried to go metric back in the 70’s. That lasted about a day or two. I remember the gas being sold by the gallon switch to liters and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Our population at the time couldn’t wrap their heads around the mathematical conversions. Logistically it would have cost a fortune to change all the signs on the roads and highways. They pushed the switch in school but society rejected it. We do use the metric system in our jobs to a small degree.
When I visited Australia, I bought a Qantas pass that allowed me to fly all over. I've probably seen more of the country than a lot of Australians. Great time, by the way.
Whether sales tax is included in the tagged price, in the US is entirely up to the shopkeeper. Thing is, they want to advertise a lower number, or they want to advertise the same price across different districts with different tax rates - so most of them (with few exceptions) leave it out of the tagged price.
in the US, the added taxes are separate because citizens want to know what they are paying. It is a governance and voter thing.
Oh, I enjoy his channel
The Connecticut guy in the video dumbs it down, but he’s generally not wrong.
- Personal space: people won’t climb on your back when queueing, like in some other countries.
- Personal hygiene: people are very sensitive to body odor.
- Civic behavior: don’t litter, be respectful to others when on your cell.
- Public transport: don't count on it, even in big cities if traveling out a bit. Population density arguments aside, investments in mass transit have to battle crazy car culture. Also, don't assume anything is walkable.
- Taxes: state and city tax levels and rules vary.
- Tipping: is OUT OF CONTROL. Not expected just for service anymore. Video’s explanation was poor - tipping is business' way of shifting what should really be their costs to the customer. Servers don’t make minimum wage in most cases and survive on tips. For health safety, tip if you might have to come back to a place to eat.
- Customer rights: much better than in a lot of other countries.
- Knowledge of history, geography or proper driving: assume most people have little.
- Attitudes to foreigners: recent rhetoric aside, people are generally pretty friendly and curious, but varies based on part of the country.
- Terminology: ask for an eraser, not a rubber, unless you have fun post-dinner plans. Elevator not lift, etc. etc.
- Insurance: don’t skimp under any circumstances. Get travel medical, not just trip insurance, so you don't get stuck paying $15,000 for a broken leg. Renting a car? Get all the insurance.
- Food: relatively cheap and you can buy it at any hour (unlike in parts of Europe).
- Remember: it’s a huge, diverse, culturally-rich country, so careful about generalizing. It has a lot of jerks but even more cool people. It’s beautiful.
The idea of tipping is that wages for bartenders, waitresses, etc. are about half of "minimum wage." Therefore, you are giving them money to live on. Restaurant owners claim they have to do that to keep food prices "affordable." Taxing is complex, since each community has "home rule" with regard to raising money for the services they provide. The price will then vary with which location you are in, since you are paying for police, fire protection, road repair, schools, etc. with your nickels and dimes.
1. We like to know when we are being taxed and how much (it keeps the government from sneaking taxes into prices with random new laws and taxes which are very common in Europe and other places). 2 each state has its own sales tax or no sales tax at all. Plus some city's add their own sales tax plus grocery stores have a different sales tax then convenience stores (and these can be set by states and cities). Because of this it is pretty much impossible to have a unified price. Sure theoretically each store could just add in the tax to the price but that is extra work for the business and again back to point 1. How do we know not only what the government may have snuck in tax wise but even stores can sneak in extra cost this way (who is going to notice an extra cent or two on the listed price? Stores already partly set their own prices they can increase or decrease the listed price of something pretty much as they want with in a certain range. allowing them to do so even more and then just shift blame to taxes and the government will only make it worse).
In the U.S. I think there are only two states that pay minimum wage to servers. California is one. But you still tip, unless the service is awful.
The thing with US sales tax not being on the price sticker is literally just a marketing gimmick. Businesses don't post the price after taxes because they want the items to look like they are cheaper and priced more competitively to drive sales. In most cases how the taxes vary city by city the state government sets the sales tax rate. In my state it is 6% with some cities local government adding and extra 1 or 2 percent to generate tax revenue for things in the city. It can get confusing but if you need to keep track for budget reasons you can almost always get away with adding 10% onto the price of everything and spend less than you are thinking if you are here for a visit. There aren't many places that have more than a 10% sales tax. Chicago Illinois and Long Beach California have 10.25% and Tacoma Washington has has 10.3%. So most towns and cities it is safe to guess no more then 10% and even if it is higher than 10% it is only barely higher.
“Most of the world uses the metric system. Just use it.” That’s funny coming from a person from a country that drives on the left side of the road. Since most of the world drives on the right, you should too.
67 countries drive on the left...3 countries use imperial.
@@PatrolNation Only one country has landed a man on the moon, and it doesn’t use the Metric system.
5:06 We don't have sales tax in Oregon State! Foreign tourists are welcome to come enjoy Crater Lake, Multnomah Falls, Voodoo Doughnuts, Powell's Book Store, the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, Cannon Beach, Gold Beach, desert hot springs, Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor skiing, McKenzie River rafting, free National Forest camping, mountain hiking and full-service gas stations. I work at Century Hotel in South West Portland, the prices are moderately high and there is no free breakfast, but the rooms and town are safe, clean and comfortable.
My "don't" for visiting the USA is don't be rude to your server at restaurants. Don't treat them like a servant from an underclass. Treat them like they are your son, daughter, or your brother, sister or aunt or uncle. Every American should be treated with respect, we are all individuals, equal under God.
We do use the metric system somewhat. We like Britain are a mix of the two. Like our soda and meny bullets are measured in metric. And there are other things.
And almost all measurements are based on metric and then converted to standard for the public at some point in the chain (some things earlier in the chain then others). And standard measurements are better at measuring some things (weight vs volume. Some things are better done by volume and some by weight and one is better at measuring one and the other is better and measuring the other. I cant remember which dies which better).
I think tipping should work like this: I put a stack of ones on the table and explain to the server that every time they piss me off, I take a dollar back
We tip, but we get free refills which makes up for it. What drives me crazy is some food delivery drivers will throw your food away or keep your food if you don't tip because the company will give the customer a refund and the driver gets free food or a black heart full of spite with no consequences.
A lot of states will send undercover agents to stores, bars, and restaurants to try to catch places that don't check ID's and sometimes arrest the employees.
We used the metric system to get to the Moon a few times. :) Ironically, it's called the Imperial system. We kicked out the Empire, but kept their measurement units. :)
"Free" healthcare isn't really "free", taxpayers pay for it. We could afford something like that if we weren't playing the World Police maintaining bases and equipment all over the world so other countries can reduce their military budget to afford "free" healthcare. The only reason smaller countries like Norway or Finland can afford their healthcare is their governments own offshore oil rigs to cover any shortfalls in tax revenue for a half million residents and they are VERY tight about immigration.
In the US, healthcare is expensive because of malpractice, over-regulation, mandatory health insurance (more people with insurance means more clients to pay for so they increase their rates to cover it), and hospitals are legally required to render aid and emergency care no matter what your financial situation. A lot of people will go to the Emergency Room, receive services, and not pay their bill, so the hospital raises their rates for the people who have insurance or who have the money to pay the bill. Hospitals also have to forgive debts after 5 years. It hurts your credit rating, making it harder to get a loan, but if you pay off other loans, your credit rating recovers eventually. There are charitable organizations that help out with medical bills and lots of free children's hospitals with state of the art procedures, staff, and equipment. The horror stories I've heard about Canada and the UK are people dying while waiting for specialized services, like cancer screening and treatment and organ donation. Stand and deliver! It's your money or your life. I guess that's really why surgeons wear masks. :)
There are 50 states plus Washington DC (District of Columbia) and a few "territories" (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and Guam) where residents are American citizens, pay US income tax, and have some representation in Congress (except for DC). The Territories have the option of putting it up for a vote to apply for statehood. Puerto Rico has come very close. People joke all the time about how Canada is the 51st state.
18:15 No... You do not have FREE healthcare in Australia. You have healthcare that is paid communally via taxes. It's a great deal if you need healthcare. Not so much if you're healthy. That said, in the US many people are locked into jobs they hate or have to put off retirement because they need the insurance. From what I've read, this started in WWII in response to laws (government interference) to control wages. Businesses were not allowed to increase wages so instead they increased benefits to appeal to workers. This continued to the current day with the healthcare system and insurance systems adapting to each other creating the mess we're in today. Also, insurance in the USA is regulated at the State level so Federal regulations are considered an infringement on State powers. (The divisions of Rights and Powers between the three sovereigns, the People, the (individual) States, and the United States, is something that you could get a university degree in. Simply, Rights belong to people who cede some to the States as Powers, and the States cede some to the Federal Government. Amendment X: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.")
In most cases you get good service no matter what (it is very common for people from Europe and other places to be surprised by how friendly, fast and attentive service in the US is) this is a product of the tipping culture. If you are friendly and expedient and attentive you are the higher it is likely your tip is going to be. Also because they get tipped they try and be friendly and attentive with service. It is more like bad service will cost you the customary tip then better service will get you a tip (it will likely get you a better tip).
There's actually a long term plan going on to slowly incorporate the metric system into the US going on: Anything related to international business or society (imports, exports, academics, business, etc) already DO use the metric system, but the average american isn't involved with international business so they rarely encounter it.
´That was interesting. I don't get the tipping system. Why is a customer supposed to pay the wages of the waiting staff? Here in Germany we tip a bit in restaurants, like rounding the amount up by one or two euros, that's it. - The price tags are also ridiculous in my opinion. Why not show the price that acutally has to be paid?
I met some nice Americans when I stayed in the Netherlands for a few days. They were like "no free tap water? no free refill of my coffee?" They couldn't believe that they had to pay for every glass or cup they got (BTW it's the same in Germany). On the other hand, no tipping in the NL. The staff wouldn't even accept it.
I used to be a waiter at a nice place...we WANTED the tipping. It has nothing to do with the quality of service. Tips are cash in your pocket BEFORE big brother takes a cut. Getting paid a wage means you will make less, far less.
I fully agree. Don't touch us or get to close. Arms length is the closest we get. Anything closer we don't feel comfortable. Tipping is important. In restaurants these ladies get less then minimum wage. Yes it sucks and should be change but I have never went anywhere and found poor service. Americans are very friendly and provide top service. . It's who we are. Very friendly people.
The main thing with tipping is because most service staff make 2-5 dollars per hour
Also, our national parks are not well patrolled. Many foreign tourists don't realize that and get into some serious trouble and few have even died. It seems as if Australia and the US have some things in common due to the size of our countries.
21 now for smokes here
11:44. We don't do metric because imperial got us to the moon. Metric crashed our probe on Mars. Imperial is based on the human body. My thumb is an inch across, my foot is roughly a foot. Etc.
American here... Sticker price not being the end price doesn't make sense to us either. Been asking since i was a child why not just add the sale tax to the sticker, so its the same when you get to the register?!
We don't use the metric system, because changing our infrastructure to it would be horribly expensive, and time consuming. It would cost upwards of
$340 billion just to change all the mileage signs in America, and that doesn't include everything else.
Taxes can vary from state to state if they have a sales tax also counties within the state have their own set of taxes and cities and villages within the county have their own set of taxes and certain products have taxes while others don’t like soft drinks, alcohol, and tobacco. Also taxes can change at a moments notice. Here in the state of Illinois. they just voted to eliminate the food tax and now counties and cities across the state will be introducing new taxes on other products to make up the loss of revenue. Because of how quickly they can change, they can make it very difficult for stores and restaurants to include sales tax with the price, it would mean, changing all the tags in the store and constantly changing menus. Some stores have adapted to this with digital price tags but they’re rare and they’re not very common in most establishments.
The tax thing isn’t really confusing. Each state is basically like an individual country. We have our own taxes, our own military, our own laws.
Sales tax is my personal misery, as I am a an accountant for a company that pays sales tax to each state, and individual counties. It's so aggravating, but I don't see it ever changing. I'd love for taxes to be included.
Where I live is nothing like what you see on these videos!!! We are a very diverse range of people!
This isn’t about diversity. It’s about doing what is commonly practiced and expected. Jeez.
@@hrussell9677 I'm just saying what this person is telling you is really not 3/4 of the country.
I learned both metric and imperial systems. it's useful for discussing things with other people or even sharing recipes. It's not hard to learn both. You could try using the system of the country your visiting if you would like other people who visit your country to adapt to it's systems and customs.....
My takeaway from this reaction is Australia and the U.S. have more in common than almost anywhere else.
Hiya Lyle!
If you include the sales tax in the price, every time they change the price, sticker change, it's expensive. Sales tax is to keep from paying state taxes or city taxes. Take your pick. Either way you are paying taxes
I am not sure where the 52 comes from but even I as an American have some memories of 52 states from when I was in elementary school in the late 80's early 90's. I think it may be related to Alaska, Hawaii, Porta Rico, the US vurgin Islands and maybe DC. I vaguely remember a lot of talk about Porta Rico and the US Virgin islands and they were teaching a lot about Alaska and Hawaii (tgey had only been stares for 30+ years at that point) and then somehow this all got mixed together into 52 states if we count Porta Rici and The US Virgin islands (or maybe it was Panama we still had ownership of it at the time). And so in the late 80's into the early 90's at least in California some schools tough 52 states or at least the likelihood of 52 states soon and this then spread. Meaning meny people my age (just turned 41 a few weeks ago) believe their are 52 states.
My state doesn’t have sales tax and I know in Washington & California if I show my license, I don’t pay their sales tax. I am talking buying clothes, bags and other big items, I still have to pay tax on food and services.
If they have a problem, just buy it and ship it home and no tax
Sales tax is different everywhere.
Most people in the US think people who use metric are insane, just like people who use the metric system think of people using Imperial. As much as that bugs you...its the same way the other way around.
Unfortunately restaurants pay like $3 an hour. We don't tip for good service. We just tip because their salary depends on customers. It BS
Correct. Entering our space is automatically going to change our interaction, especially if we don't know you. I will say this though, putting hands on us is possibly an ass whipping, jail, or thrown out of wherever you do it.
I know sales tax is weird to other countries, but when you look at the totals, the after-tax price in the US tends to still be less than the prices elsewhere, though that is starting to climb due to the current economy. Here in Amarillo, sales tax is 8.25%, so your $12.99 meal at McDonalds will be $14.06. The state sales tax is 6.25% and the city sales tax is 2%.
You don't tip in Australia because the restaurant is paying their staff far more. You're paying for their service in the price rather than as a tip. I like tipping because it allows me to give extra in the case of exceptional service, where as without tipping they're getting what the restaurant is paying them and nothing else.
No, you don't get bad service. That's why you talk to the manager
We do like our personal space. Stay an arms length away.
In the U.S. health care is COD, cash or die.
2:45 Back in the 1990s my wife and I did a nine-day Italian trip. We took public transport in Rome especially. It was pretty good except that my wife had her ass rubbed by some old guy, ironically on our way to the Vatican.