Hello my fellow Americans. Sometimes it annoys me seeing these questions “why do all Americans do x” as if we are a homogenous uniform group. However, I then thought maybe it would be fun to try and find some things we actually all do. Even calling ourselves “American” is not something completely uniform. The only thing I can think of is that we are all under the federal government, which we indirectly choose if we decide to live here. So help me out, what do all Americans do?

32 comments

  2. We uh..we eat food. Not all the same foods but in general. Also sleeping at least a few times a week is pretty common.

  4. Complain about 1st world problems. It’s like a competitive sport nowadays.

  6. But obviously we’re talking about in General when you say Why do ALL Americans. Like not all humans have 2 legs and 2 arms but you can say “Humans have 2 legs and 2 arms.” You would think everyone counts 1 2 3 4 5 with index, middle, ring, pinky, thumb, but there are people that start with the thumb as 1. You would think everyone eats 3 meals or everyone has a name or everyone has XYZ but there will always be outliers. So when you make general statements its with the assumption that there are outliers and we are talking about the average.

  9. People from other countries don’t get that we aren’t a homogenous population, because their country is. America is uniquely multicultural for its scale.

  10. Maybe I sleep walk, but I usually see “Why do Americans” where the word “average” or even “many” is implied. I don’t remember seeing “Why do all Americans,” at least on this subreddit.

  11. I am not sure how often it is phrased as *all* Americans tbh. I can assure you the same happens the other way round if it helps, on European subs stuff like “why do Europeans [something about no ice, free refills, paid toilets etc]” when it isn’t a universal thing at all. Just accept it as curiosity of something unusual elsewhere, answer honestly and move on.

  13. For this question we get hung up on the exceptions and forget the things we take for granted. I think 99.9% of us would reject the establishment of social classes. At least as many would undoubtedly reject dynastic rule by monarchy.

    And there was a thread a while ago asking how many of us have pretended to be from somewhere else when traveling abroad. To my genuine surprise, ZERO people claimed that they did this (with the exception of one who was traveling with all Canadians and didn’t out themselves, technically a lie by omission). So it seems nearly all of us would find it unthinkable to deny our American citizenship.

  15. Reject social classes.

    Fundamentally believe in the rule of law.

    Eat ice cream and even if you have a lactose intolerance find a way to eat non lactose containing frozen treats.

    Complain about the weather.

    Complain about politics (at least in certain company).

    Form social relationships with our fellow countrymen and women.

    Complain about traffic or commuting in general.

    Enjoy music.

  16. Everyone, and I mean *everyone*, shouts “BUM BUM BUM” in Sweet Caroline.

    Edit: ok clearly even something as uniting as Sweet Caroline is divisive. This country is definitely beyond saving

  20. Excuse me! I’m a Sovereign citizen under maritime law! I am a traveler! My name represents the being, the entity, and the corporation of this body, but not the “person”. I am a Free Inhabitant according to Article 4, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Articles of Confederation

    /s

  24. We all sing along to ‘Sweet Home Alabama’… even if we have all our teeth and haven’t dated our cousin

  26. Obviously, the word “all” is a bit strong, but tbh I think this sub gets a little bit too defensive about generalizations.

    Even if something doesn’t apply to you, it can still broadly be applied to Americans. Heck, even if a minority of Americans do something (lets say 30%), but the OP is asking from a country where its 0% of people do it, it’s still a reasonable generalization.

    It’s kind of painful reading threads here where OP asks a question based on a generalization, and people start going “well I don’t do it, so you’re stupid for generalizing” or even “we have 300M people so unlike your country we actually have diversity.”

  28. Need to add the qualifier that it’s not something all people do (e.g. breathe, eat, drink, sleep).

    I’m having a hard time thinking of anything. Even “federal government” is a bit problematic with places like American Samoa. I mean, they’re technically American nationals living under the Federal government, but they aren’t citizens — their experience is not the same.

    Majority is a bit easier — speak English, for instance. Definitely a large majority (at least to some extent), but definitely not 100%. Valuing literacy is probably in there too, and some level of “men and women should be equal under the law”. Also valuing rule of law.

  29. Agree that the Limu Emu commercials are bad. So are the Skyrizi commercials. Especially because the drug has a stupid name.

  30. I don’t know about the other demographics, but I can definitely say it’s physically impossible for a white American male to strap something to a vehicle and not say “that’s not going anywhere.” Even if they don’t say it out loud, they definitely thought it.

  31. I feel this so much as an “American” who has spent the better part of the last decade + living abroad (first in Taiwan as an English teacher and the ex-wife of a Taiwanese person) and now, in Europe…there is a whole set of presumptions about Americans heaped upon us as soon as we declare our country of origin.

    People may ask you, “Oh, where are you from?” in a jovial tone. And then you say the word, and then you say the word and they can’t control their physical reaction of evident displeasure. In order to cope, I’ve just gotten into the habit of not taking it personally, and then later hashing it out with fellow Americans who reside outside the US. We’re mostly not gun enthusiasts nor bible thumpers, but we might as well be whenever we introduce ourselves.

    My best friend from high school now lives in England and isn’t even a US citizen – she’s a Venezuelan national – but people regularly get triggered by her accent and launch into diatribes about “your country,” which isn’t even technically her country. It’s impossible to get around this sometimes in these types of interactions because another one of the qualities that we possess is “always being fake” — this is how our social rule about not bringing other people down with inane gripes and personal problems sometimes gets misconstrued.

    In the UK/much of Europe, you can brood and complain all day–openly! And it does nothing to tarnish the way in which others perceive you. And I’m not even necessarily complaining about that, I like the broodish types. I’m just saying that there are so many stereotypes Americans have to be held accountable for when we are out in the world, stereotypes that often do not apply to those of us who live overseas – we’re outside of our bubble, give us a chance to let you know what’s really in our minds before you put us into the proverbial box.

    I honestly have no idea why “we” *always do* the things that are projected into the international media because when I see that stuff I’m frequently face-palming and thinking, “Wtf, please stop it, y’all crazy.” I honestly don’t know why our healthcare is *always* so expensive, why we *always* drink from red Solo cups, *always* live in McMansions, *always* have friendship-like relationships with our parents instead of treating them like authority figures, *always* stuff our fat faces even though our stretchy pants are busting at the seams.. the list goes on.

    I just tell people in other countries to visit the national parks and experience the natural splendor of the landscape– then do a quick Google image search to show them the likes of Yosemite and Glacier…that’s the stuff I wish we could really be known for.

  32. I think most Americans like cheese? I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like cheese

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