I've taken etiquette classes, and in the US, it's considered polite to use both hands for eating if needed and to avoid putting your elbows on the table.
I think that the video was not based on any statistical data but her own observations/opinions/prejudices only. James you look good without the beard as well.
She was definitely getting a little personal towards the end. Started sounding like a Twitter feminist. I think someone needs to ask her if she has some past trauma she needs to talk about lol
13 is wrong, none of that is against the law for a person. It is against the law for a business to discriminate for any reason, though. Freedom of speech for an individual, even if the other person doesn't like it, is still the law.
Registries are great because you can make sure the person gets things they actually need. After my wedding I had to return two shopping carriages full of stuff I didn’t need or had multiples of. Registries keep this from happening.
19 is as wrong as it gets. Crossing your arms for some is just them doing something with their hands, it is no sign they are angry. This video is so stupid.
#26 I don't know if this lady's friends are all in a retirement home, but our friends and family's get-togethers are for fun, like having food, drinks, and dancing. PS - I'm 70 years old.
Absolutely we give money at funerals (well, maybe not AT the funeral) but a lot of times it is asked if people want to give money to give it to a donation in honor of the deceased. Top three things not to talk about a a family gathering, ,party, or dinner gathering: Religion, politics, and money. We never "pop over for a cuppa tea" as my British sister-in-law says. She learned that pretty fast. haha! I think if a man asks a woman out he should expect to pay but vice versa or if he says there is a group of friends going to the movies or somewhere and he invites you to come along, do not expect he is going to foot the bill. He's just including you in with a group of friends. We do NOT speak to our children as adults but we do expect them to be responsible for their own actions. We teach our children how to speak to others and that is with respect and we should also give our children respect but I do not speak to my small children as adults, just my adult children. Always give children the respect you would give an adult, I would say. They are little humans after all.
The majority of homeless are homeless by their own actions. They are drug addicts and alcoholics to the point of not being able to function in society. Some are mentally ill and refuse treatment. There is help/treatment for all of this if they would just do it. But many don`t, or simply won`t. Drug addiction is the main problem. Fighting an addiction is tough, even with help and treatment. Many just give up. People that are homeless due to money problems alone do exist, but these people seldom stay homeless for long. Most either find some sort of work or government assistance to get back on their feet.
I don't know if I agree with #50. A lot of kids will constantly ask "why" when being told to do things, but then a lot of adults will end up telling them to do what they are told, and don't question them. There are a lot of adults that don't want to answer the questions, and won't admit that they don't know the answer.
That is not true in practice. There is discrimination by police, prosecutors, juries, judges, parole boards, etc. "Following the rule of law" is a culture issue. Germans famously follow the rule of law. Italians famously do not. A cultural proclivity for following the law means following the law even if you are not likely to get caught, or the punishment is very small.
I’ll hug anyone. No one eats with a hand in their lap. We always have music in the back ground of a party. Most of these things are just normal human behaviors.
I think the key thing is to keep elbows off the table. You can use both hands when necessary as for cutting meat, but when the non-dominant hand is not actively required, old-fashioned etiquette would have you put it in your lap but I think modern etiquette says it's fine to just rest your wrist or forearm on the edge of the table.
The way y’all hold onto your knife and push your food onto your fork is INCREDIBLY rude in the south. You always put your knife on the side of the your plate when you take a bite. Y’all would drive my mother crazy , the way you wave your knives around
A large portion of homeless in US "want" to be homeless. I use quotations because a lot of them have had rough lives and/or have mental disorders, so even when shelters or options are available, they would prefer to be on the streets. So that's a whole other issue.
Very true--I just made a post expounding on this point. The nitty gritty is that American cities spend buckets of money on their homeless populations (my city spends close to $100,000 per year per person living on the street at any given point in time on providing housing and in various services to prevent homelessness of take care of the homeless in other ways like medical care). But many of these people just are resistant to a different lifestyle that has limited tolerance for their drug and alcohol use and/or behavior resultant from mental illness.
There are some young Americans who have a reaction channel and they react to old music such as from the 60s and 70s and they think all of America was partying in the 60s and 70s. Almost as if it was a Utopia. As if people didn’t have problems such as feeding their families, domestic violence, and civil unrest. This young couple also reacted to back to the future and they thought that this movie which was filmed on a movie set depicted the way America looked in 1985. The best way to see what life was like in the past is through home movies and news reels and not movies and TV shows since they are all scripted and are always an exaggeration of real life.
The reason you don't see the "dirty streets" is because people who travel to the US from outside the US, usually go to touristy areas and the local businesses will strive to keep those areas clean because they want tourist to have a good impress. When you get outside of these areas, where it's on the local governments to keep things clean.. as usual the governments fail miserably.
The streets in my town (San Francisco) are dirty because there aren't enough trash cans. "Why not?" you may ask. Well, blame a lot of it on recycling. The city has armies of people who make money rifling through the trash cans that exist for recylcable bottles and cans that they can turn in for cash, and they too often just pull everything out of the cans, strew it about, take the recyclables and leave the rest to blow in the wind. The city spent 5 years and $50,000 trying to design a custom trash can that was resistant to this kind of thing and the best they could come up with was a design that cost $3000 per can. The citizens rebelled against spending that much, so thus far the city has not bought new cans but has removed many of the old, rifleable ones. It is now pretty difficult to find a convenient trash can on city streets when you want to be a good citizen. Another factor is that while the city deploys street cleaning trucks once or twice a week, those truck follow virtually the same schedule in pristine upscale residential areas as in grubby downtown ones. The result is a waste of effort cleaning up trash where there is no trash but letting it pile up where there's plenty.
I think that mostly depends on the state. Oklahoma tends to be pretty clean no matter where I’ve been here. I can see it being gross in Washington (Seattle), California, or New York for sure though.
@@pdsrunner No, it's an anachronistic thing. I don't still have a copy of Emily Post's etiquette manual from 1947 any more but I think she prescribed it. These days, I think an updated version is just "keep your elbows off the table". If not actively using one of your hands for eating, rest your wrist or forearm on the edge of the table but not your elbow.
Number 19 saying that Americans are "angry" or "very serious" or even "cold" when they cross their arms is an old wive's tale. I have always crossed my arms my entire life and rarely intended to convey that nonverbal message. For me, (and many others out there as well) crossing my arms is simply a relaxed way of positioning my body. I also question the old assumption of how important a first impression of someone is. The first impression of someone for me means virtually nothing. I will not come to a firm conclusion on someone until a second or third impression. The first time I meant someone could have falsely meant they were having a bad or extremely good day. A first impression is such a gimmick.
I'm in NYC, and the public schools have a room set aside, directly off the street, where ANYONE can go in to get food. All of it is without any contact with any other person.
The foundation of the country's morals and success lies in its Anglo roots, however, which is why you see the nation declining as more and more foreigners enter.
@@ahoyforsenchou7288 In England; Canada, Australia and NZ also. But Ireland not so much, since they revolted successfully. Canada is split as is Britain, by ethnic division. The US is a totally different animal.
Making "insulting statements against someone's religion or ethnicity" is not punishable by law lol In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled that "hate speech" is free speech. And no, being arrested for any speech other than threats is not "good" because you never know who's going to be making the rules. It's a slippery slope that usually soon turns to "I heard you spoke out against the regime, into the gulags you go."
The question is, if you say something hateful and it starts a fight, who is considered responsible. There is speech that could result in the speaker being held responsible for the fight and any consequent injury. "Types of speech that are not protected by the First Amendment include the following: Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action. ... Fighting Words. ... True Threats. ... Obscenity. ... Defamation. ... Harassment. ... Material and Substantial Disruption." Obviously, "fighting words" is pretty vague but if you call someone one of the various commonly recognized slurs based on race, gender preference, religion or national origin, it might fall into that category if violence results.
@@BTinSFplease. You cannot assault or hit someone over any of these things. Well, you can but than once you lay hands on them YOU are the one who will be arrested and it doesn’t matter what they said. The speaker is not held responsible.
If we need to use both a knife & a fork, the polite thing to do is to put your knife on your plate (crossways at the top) & only put the knife in your hand when you are actively trying to cut something with your knife.
Some of these makes me laugh.. back in the day we use to have a scary movie night with a bunch of friends. So the tv was on for that. Other times if we got together there was definitely music!
This video was strange. But I still watched it. I'm not sure how you can put that many Americans in a box or say this is typical of America or Americans. The arms crossed could be they are closed off or shy. People cut in line all the time. It ticks me off. I'm definitely not a polite American. I eat with elbows on the table.😂
The issue with the homeless is that some people choose that life. I have met them. The other issue is mental illness and drug usage. We used to institutionalize people against their will. The problem was that was abused and violated peoples rights. There a many locations and services for people who want them, the problem is they do not always want the assistance.
My ex-father-in-law was a lot like that. The only time he wasn’t homeless was when my ex-husband convinced him to move in with us, supposedly because we couldn’t afford rent (at least that’s what he told his dad). He’d get some help, but within a month, he was back on the street. He actually preferred staying in homeless shelters because that’s where his 'friends' were. Surprisingly, about 70% of the time he was homeless, he had a job. For him, being homeless meant he could live by his own rules. The state he lived in didn’t care about the homeless. After his daughter passed away, he spiraled into a deep depression and got sick from not eating or taking care of himself. He went to the ER multiple times in one week, asking for help with his mental and physical health, but because he was homeless, they just assumed he was there for drugs and turned him away. The whole time they dismissed him, the last time the ER told him to go away they had the police escort him off their property even though they documented that he had pneumonia. He went back to his tent, and the next day, they found him passed away. His family had no idea he was even sick. It all happened so fast.
Another issue is inflation- there are so many working homeless people who cannot afford rent / mortgage so they have to live in their cars// vans or couch surf
There's a European style and an American style of formal dining. Either is accepted, but most people use the american style of fork in dominant hand, and putting the knife down before taking the bite.
There are certain jobs, including some of the positions I do at my current job that require you to not make eye contact with a person due to the nature of the job, examples from my current employer are life guard/ water park attendant, and ski lift operator. It is more important to focus on what you are doing than to be interacting with someone. The reason is those jobs have the potential to be very high risk due to you are responsible for the health, wellbeing, and life of another human being. Also children used to be taught things by the parents, but unfortunately now that isn’t always the case.
Napkin on the lap and the hand not in use is under the table, unless in use for cutting. Do not have your hand just resting on the table or elbow on the table.
The sad thing is many of our homeless are either addicted to something or have mental illness or both. This means that even if we help them out of that situation they often end up right back on the street. Makes helping the homeless situation very complex.
Littering, graffiti, etc. is against the law because you’re damaging someone else’s property. Loitering refers to groups of young people hanging around, usually “up to no good.” Often littering, painting graffiti, and sometimes harassing passersby. The table manners thing reminds me of an elementary teacher who tried in vain to polish her class of junior rednecks. She told us to keep our left hand in our laps unless we needed to pass some food around the table or to hold a knife to cut a piece of meat. 😅 Bless her heart!
When kids get stuck in a "Why?" loop it can help if you ask them "Why do YOU think this is happening?" It helps them work on their critical thinking skills and saves your sanity. I doesn't always work, but the times it does it is very nice. Also, you can get some very funny answers.
#47 is bullshit. not once on a date have i EVER had to tell a woman to put her wallet away. not only were they comfortable letting me pay, they expected it, as they should, because i invited them out.
Not complete BS. First couple of dates, I can see the expectation of the man paying since he had probably extended the invite. Pay that, though, the woman may extend invites that she's willing and even expected to pay.
“Rule of Law” means that no one is above the law. Everyone has to abide by the law, or face the penalty. In some countries, if you are part of the elite or ruling class, common laws don’t apply to you. In America, quite often it appears like the rich don’t obey the rules, but usually its just that they are willing to pay the fines when they break the law, whereas the average person doesn’t have that kind of money.
I don't usually offer my hand when meeting someone. It's mostly you look at a registry for the bride when there's going to be a shower. When I know about a new baby, sometimes if I know the mother, I'll make a baby quilt for the baby.
That's a weird thing to say. People follow the rule of law everywhere unless you are a criminal. There are criminals everywhere. All Americans do not follow the rule of law.
In posh America you don’t slouch and no elbows on the table and you’ve always put your one hand that you don’t eat with under the napkin on your lap but people don’t really do that normally. Normal American just grow up with no elbow on the table and no eating before grace. In my family we had the rule that you finish everything in your plate or no dessert or playtime until you eat it. Plus the expensive napkins were not for wiping your dirty face with or hands only the cheap ones. And that everyone have a chore to do with setting up the table and the cleaning up afterwards.
“Typical American party” isn’t a thing… parties are often influenced by regional culture or the culture of those throwing them. Been to Italian, Mexican, Pacific Islander, and many other parties and they are all different. Many so called American parties have music and dancing.
To give you an example of Americans and their need to ask 'why', this goes way back. For instance, during the American Revolutionary war (1775-1783), there was a point when the American army was not doing to well, and was going thru a very hard time during one of the Winters (maybe 1778), and the troops were still untrained with low morale. But then a German officer (supposedly) walked up to General Washington, and offered his training to the American Troops. Washington agreed, so during the Winter he trained the army to march, to shoot in unison, to stand together and keep fighting. But the German did not speak English, but he did speak French. And there was one of the Americans who spoke French and English, so all the commands as well as feedback had to g thru this translator. Now, to the point! The German trainer had trouble getting the American soldiers to preform his training commands, and he could not understand their comments, everything had to go thru the translator. So, eventually the Germain trainer asked thru the translator, what was going on and why the Americans were so reluctant. It turns out that they were constantly asking why, and upon getting the response back to the German trainer, he started to to tell them why all the time, and then the Americans responded well, and there was no longer an issue. This attitude has remained, and if you study the Wars America has been in, you will find this there too. They have to be told why, and this opens the door very quickly to come up with other possible actions, and makes the American army very flexible, where militaries of just about all other countries are very rigid and non innovative.
#26 is totally opposite to reality. We don't have a party without music...ever. #41 ia not true either unless they're talking about some snobbish affair. #47 I started dating a casual acquaintance once and we had been on 4 seemingly great dates, I had always paid. On the fifth date, she insisted on paying after I refused to let her pay and after another request I let her. A couple of days later I asked her to go out again, she said she would no longer date me, because I had let her pay. 🤔
It depends on what type of food I'm eating. Some things you just have to eat with your hands. Or, if I'm at someone else's house eating or in public, then yes, I put my hand on my lap. We do play music alot of the time. I don't agree with all of these.
Loitering has many reasons. For instance, if you allow loitering in front of a business, then the business can become inaccessible due to the number of loiterers. Great video, thanks for sharing your reaction.
Don't put much stock in the numbers in this video, case in point according to The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) counted 653,104 not 3.5 million homeless Americans in its annual point-in-time report, which measures homelessness across the US on a single night each winter. That's a 12.1% increase from the same report in 2022. Still way too many but not as bad as portrayed With the readily accessible programs of Welfare, Food stamps and Section 8 housing and food insecurity should not exist, buy sadly it does
The population as of the 2020 census was ~350 million. I suspect if you queried us individually you would get nearly as many answers to "what does it mean to be American?". That said, generalities aren't necessarily a bad thing, and this video sounds like it's a very broad overview rather than something trying to define one particular concept or claim to the title of "American". On languages - my city/metropolitan area has about 130-150 languages for which translation services are required in most years (for hospitals, police, schools, etc), and there are at least a dozen metro-areas with more languages. That reflects on food options, cultural celebrations, public policy and city council, etc. that spill over into the public sphere. At least in most cities and many towns, especially tourist and college towns, and towns with a diverse economy. This is not universal, however! edit: after watching the whole thing, this video is so oversimplified as to be borderline patronizing; it's not wrong but it is so simplistic as to be nearly useless except as ways to start a conversation with someone.
Loitering is almost always used as an excuse to try to get people to leave an area and can be difficult to prove if they try. I’ve never seen anyone eat with a hand on their lap. Any color flowers are normal and you can ask the director to donate them after to the old folks homes or hospital. Sometimes a request is made for donation to a charity instead of flowers. Mixed roommates are not that common when not in some type of relationship. I don’t think of it as speaking to an older child as an adult but teaching them about consequences and telling them why just lets them know it isn’t an arbitrary rule.
I think the point if eating with one hand, unless you need to use two, is to not intrude on another persons soace, especially for firmal occasions. Go to a nice restaurant and see how people are eating, especially women. It's "classier" to eat taking up a smaller space.
No elbows on the table and huh. I did grow up eating with one hand under the table...never thought about it before! ETA: Rarely music or dancing at a party?? Depends on the party...
yes, the rule of law is a cultural thing. in general people in the us are pretty much rule followers - this is changing but traditionally we respected police and the law. I've lived and traveled in many countries and many places have a cultural acceptance for breaking laws the person sees as trivial or trying to get around the rules or talk (or bribe) the police into letting them get away with things - esp if they have family connections.
From a wokie's perspective! As for obese, the 'charts' don't take into account the body/mass index. Mike Tyson at 5' 10" and 195 lbs, is termed 'obese'.
The original video is meant for teaching English. The person doing the video is just making random statements for twaching conversational English. I dont understand why she can't make better statements that aren't so negative towards the US. Mist of the statements are just ignorant!!!
I'm American and I think there is no reason that people should be homeless and starving in the richest country in the world but that is the reality here and it should be changed! Weed is actually legal here in NYC so there are now weed shops and you can buy weed in some convience stores like local bodegas here now!
What measures would you take to change it? Even the far right Hoover Institution says that San Francisco, for example spends $1.1 billion (yes BILLION) per year on a homeless population of, they estimate (but others estimate much less), just under 20,000--the city's population is 800,000 so that's $1375 per city resident per year and far more per taxpayer. One would think $55,000 per homeless person per year might make some headway but it hasn't. Part of the reason is that until about 2 months ago the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals had said that forcibly removing the homeless from the streets (and offering them the option of shelter or institutionalization or arrest) was unConstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment". Two months ago, the Supreme Court disagreed so the city now has that option. But is it a practical option? What should it do with an opiate addict who has been living in a tent on a city sidewalk for one or more years and refuses an offer of space in a city shelter or single room occupancy hotel because in such facilities the use of illegal substances isn't allowed (or should it be allowed?). Weed isn't in any way the issue. It's also legal and used everywhere in San Francisco (I actually think more people here smoke it than tobacco now). It's fentanyl and crack and meth and ketamine. So should using those in city owned/run housing be OK. The city did, in fact, have a "safe injection" site for a while but it closed down due to citizen objection (there was an outdoor area where addicts were lying about under the influence, visible to anyone walking by--why the whole thing wasn't indoors and out of site you'll have to ask our brilliant leaders).
Homelessness has 3 main causes.. 1st is drugs and alcohal.. they will not stop even if folks try to help them. 2nd is mental illness.. they also will not accept help, even het violent. 3rd reason is how hard it is to make a living right now.. many folks rather than living on the street many live in their car, but it's caused by lack of job skills, a loss of job, no family support.. So my point is thats reasons arent fixed easily. I personally would force mentally ill into treatment, but its not allowed. I'd force drug addicts into treatment or jail.. since they are dangerous. Ladtly I would make willing folks be able to get work training... yes it coukd be abused like welfare has been abused, but Its sad if folks want a job but cant find one.
Making insulting statements against someone is NOT against the law and is not a hate crime. It might not be nice or advisable, but it's not illegal. It's covered by our free speech laws. Edited to add this must be an old video. Minimum age to purchase tobacco in the states is 21.
Yes.. thats the way I eat. I find the europeans way of using both hands weird. Cut with knife in right hand and fork in left.. then switch fork to right and left hand in the lap, fork pointed UP.
Honestly, and I know I'm going to get some hate messages, but.. I would wager to say that a very large percentage of the homeless we have in the US is because they are drug attics who really have no desire to become part of society. Again, I am in no way saying ALL homeless people fall into this category. Also, in the way things are currently.. A large percentage of those that aren't druggies are illegals who have charges across our open southern boarder and have no standing in American society. How could you when your first activity with the country you now want to be part of, was breaking our laws?
The "manners" that I was taught was no elbows on the table.
or tounges
My parents taught us to not put our elbows on the table while eating. 57 years old and I still observe those manners.
@@Gforceracing20 same here. No elbows.
I've taken etiquette classes, and in the US, it's considered polite to use both hands for eating if needed and to avoid putting your elbows on the table.
I think that the video was not based on any statistical data but her own observations/opinions/prejudices only. James you look good without the beard as well.
She was definitely getting a little personal towards the end. Started sounding like a Twitter feminist. I think someone needs to ask her if she has some past trauma she needs to talk about lol
Or AI generated. Because it missed that we love our 2nd amendment
13 is wrong, none of that is against the law for a person. It is against the law for a business to discriminate for any reason, though. Freedom of speech for an individual, even if the other person doesn't like it, is still the law.
we were taught no hat at the table and no elbows on the table when eating.
Registries are great because you can make sure the person gets things they actually need. After my wedding I had to return two shopping carriages full of stuff I didn’t need or had multiples of. Registries keep this from happening.
You shouldn't make rude remarks but it isn't illegal to be a racist, sexist or rude jerk.
Some of those things might have been true, and some not.
That was basically one person making a list of presumptions about people in general.
Take all of these with a grain of salt. None of these are really strict rules.
We do give money at funerals. Sometimes, they will buy masses and pay for the remainder of the funeral.
Yeah, like for the head.
?@@edwardmclaughlin719
19 is as wrong as it gets. Crossing your arms for some is just them doing something with their hands, it is no sign they are angry. This video is so stupid.
#26 I don't know if this lady's friends are all in a retirement home, but our friends and family's get-togethers are for fun, like having food, drinks, and
dancing.
PS - I'm 70 years old.
There’s usually always music and dancing at parties here in the south!
Yeah that one's just wrong. Always music at parties and often dancing.
Yea I’m in Cali and parties hosted by poc almost always have dancing.
Absolutely we give money at funerals (well, maybe not AT the funeral) but a lot of times it is asked if people want to give money to give it to a donation in honor of the deceased.
Top three things not to talk about a a family gathering, ,party, or dinner gathering: Religion, politics, and money.
We never "pop over for a cuppa tea" as my British sister-in-law says. She learned that pretty fast. haha!
I think if a man asks a woman out he should expect to pay but vice versa or if he says there is a group of friends going to the movies or somewhere and he invites you to come along, do not expect he is going to foot the bill. He's just including you in with a group of friends.
We do NOT speak to our children as adults but we do expect them to be responsible for their own actions. We teach our children how to speak to others and that is with respect and we should also give our children respect but I do not speak to my small children as adults, just my adult children. Always give children the respect you would give an adult, I would say. They are little humans after all.
The majority of homeless are homeless by their own actions. They are drug addicts and alcoholics to the point of not being able to function in society. Some are mentally ill and refuse treatment.
There is help/treatment for all of this if they would just do it. But many don`t, or simply won`t. Drug addiction is the main problem. Fighting an addiction is tough, even with help and treatment. Many just give up.
People that are homeless due to money problems alone do exist, but these people seldom stay homeless for long. Most either find some sort of work or government assistance to get back on their feet.
I don't know if I agree with #50. A lot of kids will constantly ask "why" when being told to do things, but then a lot of adults will end up telling them to do what they are told, and don't question them. There are a lot of adults that don't want to answer the questions, and won't admit that they don't know the answer.
Black is the traditional color for funerals in America. Lilies are traditional flowers for funerals in America, but they are usually in arrangements.
The rule of law basically says that everyone is held accountable equally under the law.
That is not true in practice. There is discrimination by police, prosecutors, juries, judges, parole boards, etc.
"Following the rule of law" is a culture issue. Germans famously follow the rule of law. Italians famously do not. A cultural proclivity for following the law means following the law even if you are not likely to get caught, or the punishment is very small.
The why question only goes for so long before a parent says: Because I said so! We have all done that, lol.
#23 - Apparently I am not a "Polite American"...neither is anyone else I know! 😂
Not outside the realm of possibility. 😉
"Loitering" isn't against the law in many places, and is of questionable constitutionality.
33 They have never been to an "American funeral".
I don’t think there _is_ “an” American funeral. Traditions vary by community.
@@JustMe-dc6ks Exactly america is so diverse i wouldn't be surprised if their was 100 different funeral traditions
I’ll hug anyone. No one eats with a hand in their lap. We always have music in the back ground of a party. Most of these things are just normal human behaviors.
No we may hug with family or close friends but we wouldn’t hug people we don’t know
In my experience Americans are more likely to hug strangers than British people are.
I hug people I don't know.
Depends on the setting. I've hugged and am willing to hug strangers under certain circumstances.
@@carolyndavenport8899 Same. I've managed to keep my arrest record in the triple digits to boot.
Speak for yourself. I hug people I dont know and I know many others who do as well.
So much of this is generalization. Some is just b.s.
The video you watched is either quite old or made by someone out of touch and making a lot of assumptions.
I don't understand the eating with one hand thing. I've never heard of that before. If you're going to cut meat you need 2 hands to do that! 😂😂
Yep 😅
I think the key thing is to keep elbows off the table. You can use both hands when necessary as for cutting meat, but when the non-dominant hand is not actively required, old-fashioned etiquette would have you put it in your lap but I think modern etiquette says it's fine to just rest your wrist or forearm on the edge of the table.
The way y’all hold onto your knife and push your food onto your fork is INCREDIBLY rude in the south. You always put your knife on the side of the your plate when you take a bite. Y’all would drive my mother crazy , the way you wave your knives around
A large portion of homeless in US "want" to be homeless. I use quotations because a lot of them have had rough lives and/or have mental disorders, so even when shelters or options are available, they would prefer to be on the streets. So that's a whole other issue.
Very true--I just made a post expounding on this point. The nitty gritty is that American cities spend buckets of money on their homeless populations (my city spends close to $100,000 per year per person living on the street at any given point in time on providing housing and in various services to prevent homelessness of take care of the homeless in other ways like medical care). But many of these people just are resistant to a different lifestyle that has limited tolerance for their drug and alcohol use and/or behavior resultant from mental illness.
In my experience, in the northeast of the US, we wear black to funerals.
Same here in the Pacific Northwest.
lol @ millie for still thinking a TV show represent real life americans.
There are some young Americans who have a reaction channel and they react to old music such as from the 60s and 70s and they think all of America was partying in the 60s and 70s. Almost as if it was a Utopia. As if people didn’t have problems such as feeding their families, domestic violence, and civil unrest.
This young couple also reacted to back to the future and they thought that this movie which was filmed on a movie set depicted the way America looked in 1985.
The best way to see what life was like in the past is through home movies and news reels and not movies and TV shows since they are all scripted and are always an exaggeration of real life.
The reason you don't see the "dirty streets" is because people who travel to the US from outside the US, usually go to touristy areas and the local businesses will strive to keep those areas clean because they want tourist to have a good impress. When you get outside of these areas, where it's on the local governments to keep things clean.. as usual the governments fail miserably.
The streets in my town (San Francisco) are dirty because there aren't enough trash cans. "Why not?" you may ask. Well, blame a lot of it on recycling. The city has armies of people who make money rifling through the trash cans that exist for recylcable bottles and cans that they can turn in for cash, and they too often just pull everything out of the cans, strew it about, take the recyclables and leave the rest to blow in the wind. The city spent 5 years and $50,000 trying to design a custom trash can that was resistant to this kind of thing and the best they could come up with was a design that cost $3000 per can. The citizens rebelled against spending that much, so thus far the city has not bought new cans but has removed many of the old, rifleable ones. It is now pretty difficult to find a convenient trash can on city streets when you want to be a good citizen.
Another factor is that while the city deploys street cleaning trucks once or twice a week, those truck follow virtually the same schedule in pristine upscale residential areas as in grubby downtown ones. The result is a waste of effort cleaning up trash where there is no trash but letting it pile up where there's plenty.
I think that mostly depends on the state. Oklahoma tends to be pretty clean no matter where I’ve been here. I can see it being gross in Washington (Seattle), California, or New York for sure though.
I do not eat with one hand under the table.
agreed. I have never even heard of this. Must be a regional thing?
@@pdsrunner No, it's an anachronistic thing. I don't still have a copy of Emily Post's etiquette manual from 1947 any more but I think she prescribed it. These days, I think an updated version is just "keep your elbows off the table". If not actively using one of your hands for eating, rest your wrist or forearm on the edge of the table but not your elbow.
We were taught to rest one hand in your lap while eating, until you needed to cut your meat with the knife and fork.
@@pdsrunner , No it is the way I was taught and it is considered to be good manners.. no elbows or arms on a table when you are eating.
We don't care where your hands are when out with friends but when you're at a formal dinner, etc.
We put our left hands in our laps.
I think that bit of etiquette is awfully anachronistic at this point.
Number 19 saying that Americans are "angry" or "very serious" or even "cold" when they cross their arms is an old wive's tale. I have always crossed my arms my entire life and rarely intended to convey that nonverbal message. For me, (and many others out there as well) crossing my arms is simply a relaxed way of positioning my body. I also question the old assumption of how important a first impression of someone is. The first impression of someone for me means virtually nothing. I will not come to a firm conclusion on someone until a second or third impression. The first time I meant someone could have falsely meant they were having a bad or extremely good day. A first impression is such a gimmick.
"UK vs US cultural differences" by JimmyTheGiant I think does a really good job explaining our different cultures.
I'm in NYC, and the public schools have a room set aside, directly off the street, where ANYONE can go in to get food. All of it is without any contact with any other person.
We come in many kinds, not just Anglo-American.
The foundation of the country's morals and success lies in its Anglo roots, however, which is why you see the nation declining as more and more foreigners enter.
@@ahoyforsenchou7288 In England; Canada, Australia and NZ also. But Ireland not so much, since they revolted successfully. Canada is split as is Britain, by ethnic division. The US is a totally different animal.
Making "insulting statements against someone's religion or ethnicity" is not punishable by law lol
In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled that "hate speech" is free speech.
And no, being arrested for any speech other than threats is not "good" because you never know who's going to be making the rules. It's a slippery slope that usually soon turns to "I heard you spoke out against the regime, into the gulags you go."
The question is, if you say something hateful and it starts a fight, who is considered responsible. There is speech that could result in the speaker being held responsible for the fight and any consequent injury.
"Types of speech that are not protected by the First Amendment include the following:
Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action. ...
Fighting Words. ...
True Threats. ...
Obscenity. ...
Defamation. ...
Harassment. ...
Material and Substantial Disruption."
Obviously, "fighting words" is pretty vague but if you call someone one of the various commonly recognized slurs based on race, gender preference, religion or national origin, it might fall into that category if violence results.
@@BTinSFplease. You cannot assault or hit someone over any of these things. Well, you can but than once you lay hands on them YOU are the one who will be arrested and it doesn’t matter what they said. The speaker is not held responsible.
@@fourleafclover2885 Gaslighting. Arguing against something no one said.
Eating with one hand IS wrong. But there is a common difference in which hand holds the fork when cutting with a knife.
Too many generalizations😴
If we need to use both a knife & a fork, the polite thing to do is to put your knife on your plate (crossways at the top) & only put the knife in your hand when you are actively trying to cut something with your knife.
It depends on which cities you visit, New York is known for having dirty streets and Chicago is the opposite, known for how clean the streets are.
Some of these makes me laugh.. back in the day we use to have a scary movie night with a bunch of friends. So the tv was on for that. Other times if we got together there was definitely music!
This video was strange. But I still watched it. I'm not sure how you can put that many Americans in a box or say this is typical of America or Americans.
The arms crossed could be they are closed off or shy.
People cut in line all the time. It ticks me off.
I'm definitely not a polite American. I eat with elbows on the table.😂
The issue with the homeless is that some people choose that life. I have met them. The other issue is mental illness and drug usage. We used to institutionalize people against their will. The problem was that was abused and violated peoples rights. There a many locations and services for people who want them, the problem is they do not always want the assistance.
My ex-father-in-law was a lot like that. The only time he wasn’t homeless was when my ex-husband convinced him to move in with us, supposedly because we couldn’t afford rent (at least that’s what he told his dad). He’d get some help, but within a month, he was back on the street. He actually preferred staying in homeless shelters because that’s where his 'friends' were. Surprisingly, about 70% of the time he was homeless, he had a job. For him, being homeless meant he could live by his own rules.
The state he lived in didn’t care about the homeless. After his daughter passed away, he spiraled into a deep depression and got sick from not eating or taking care of himself. He went to the ER multiple times in one week, asking for help with his mental and physical health, but because he was homeless, they just assumed he was there for drugs and turned him away. The whole time they dismissed him, the last time the ER told him to go away they had the police escort him off their property even though they documented that he had pneumonia. He went back to his tent, and the next day, they found him passed away. His family had no idea he was even sick. It all happened so fast.
Another issue is inflation- there are so many working homeless people who cannot afford rent / mortgage so they have to live in their cars// vans or couch surf
There's a European style and an American style of formal dining. Either is accepted, but most people use the american style of fork in dominant hand, and putting the knife down before taking the bite.
I love to watch y’all and your family!
There are certain jobs, including some of the positions I do at my current job that require you to not make eye contact with a person due to the nature of the job, examples from my current employer are life guard/ water park attendant, and ski lift operator. It is more important to focus on what you are doing than to be interacting with someone. The reason is those jobs have the potential to be very high risk due to you are responsible for the health, wellbeing, and life of another human being. Also children used to be taught things by the parents, but unfortunately now that isn’t always the case.
Napkin on the lap and the hand not in use is under the table, unless in use for cutting. Do not have your hand just resting on the table or elbow on the table.
The sad thing is many of our homeless are either addicted to something or have mental illness or both. This means that even if we help them out of that situation they often end up right back on the street. Makes helping the homeless situation very complex.
Littering, graffiti, etc. is against the law because you’re damaging someone else’s property. Loitering refers to groups of young people hanging around, usually “up to no good.” Often littering, painting graffiti, and sometimes harassing passersby.
The table manners thing reminds me of an elementary teacher who tried in vain to polish her class of junior rednecks. She told us to keep our left hand in our laps unless we needed to pass some food around the table or to hold a knife to cut a piece of meat. 😅
Bless her heart!
When kids get stuck in a "Why?" loop it can help if you ask them "Why do YOU think this is happening?" It helps them work on their critical thinking skills and saves your sanity. I doesn't always work, but the times it does it is very nice. Also, you can get some very funny answers.
#47 is bullshit. not once on a date have i EVER had to tell a woman to put her wallet away. not only were they comfortable letting me pay, they expected it, as they should, because i invited them out.
Not complete BS.
First couple of dates, I can see the expectation of the man paying since he had probably extended the invite.
Pay that, though, the woman may extend invites that she's willing and even expected to pay.
We wear black to flowers unless instructed otherwise. Flowers can be any color.
Yes, the one hand in lap is good manners but yes, I've been mocked while traveling for this :)
Our cities are huge. There are very clean areas in a lot of our cities and bad areas also.
Staanding around doing nothing is called " Loitering" and is defined within what's called " Time, place, manner" rule.
“Rule of Law” means that no one is above the law. Everyone has to abide by the law, or face the penalty. In some countries, if you are part of the elite or ruling class, common laws don’t apply to you. In America, quite often it appears like the rich don’t obey the rules, but usually its just that they are willing to pay the fines when they break the law, whereas the average person doesn’t have that kind of money.
23. No most people don’t do that eat with one hand under the table
I don’t know what she was talking about when she said when you eat one hand is in your lap. You just don’t put your elbows on the table.
You use both hands to cut up your food but getting the food to the mouth is one hand
I don't usually offer my hand when meeting someone. It's mostly you look at a registry for the bride when there's going to be a shower. When I know about a new baby, sometimes if I know the mother,
I'll make a baby quilt for the baby.
That's a weird thing to say. People follow the rule of law everywhere unless you are a criminal. There are criminals everywhere. All Americans do not follow the rule of law.
Get better soon! Best to you!
This was obviously a list for people from countries with very different cultures than America and Europe.
Number 12. Not all that she listed is not a violation of the law.
Quite fun to watch even though there's a lot of generalizations. Cheers from Tennessee
In posh America you don’t slouch and no elbows on the table and you’ve always put your one hand that you don’t eat with under the napkin on your lap but people don’t really do that normally. Normal American just grow up with no elbow on the table and no eating before grace. In my family we had the rule that you finish everything in your plate or no dessert or playtime until you eat it. Plus the expensive napkins were not for wiping your dirty face with or hands only the cheap ones. And that everyone have a chore to do with setting up the table and the cleaning up afterwards.
Thw most important one that this AI forgot. We LOVE OUR 2ND AMENDMENT.
“Typical American party” isn’t a thing… parties are often influenced by regional culture or the culture of those throwing them. Been to Italian, Mexican, Pacific Islander, and many other parties and they are all different. Many so called American parties have music and dancing.
Where do these people get this information?
only table manners I oberve is no elbows on table but I often eat with both hands specially a big burger lol!
"Americans follow the rule of law"
Followed by like an asterisk, a double asterisk, a dagger, a double dagger, and like 1-9 in subscript notations.
To give you an example of Americans and their need to ask 'why', this goes way back. For instance, during the American Revolutionary war (1775-1783), there was a point when the American army was not doing to well, and was going thru a very hard time during one of the Winters (maybe 1778), and the troops were still untrained with low morale. But then a German officer (supposedly) walked up to General Washington, and offered his training to the American Troops. Washington agreed, so during the Winter he trained the army to march, to shoot in unison, to stand together and keep fighting. But the German did not speak English, but he did speak French. And there was one of the Americans who spoke French and English, so all the commands as well as feedback had to g thru this translator.
Now, to the point! The German trainer had trouble getting the American soldiers to preform his training commands, and he could not understand their comments, everything had to go thru the translator. So, eventually the Germain trainer asked thru the translator, what was going on and why the Americans were so reluctant. It turns out that they were constantly asking why, and upon getting the response back to the German trainer, he started to to tell them why all the time, and then the Americans responded well, and there was no longer an issue. This attitude has remained, and if you study the Wars America has been in, you will find this there too. They have to be told why, and this opens the door very quickly to come up with other possible actions, and makes the American army very flexible, where militaries of just about all other countries are very rigid and non innovative.
#26 is totally opposite to reality. We don't have a party without music...ever.
#41 ia not true either unless they're talking about some snobbish affair.
#47 I started dating a casual acquaintance once and we had been on 4 seemingly great dates, I had always paid. On the fifth date, she insisted on paying after I refused to let her pay and after another request I let her. A couple of days later I asked her to go out again, she said she would no longer date me, because I had let her pay. 🤔
It depends on what type of food I'm eating. Some things you just have to eat with your hands. Or, if I'm at someone else's house eating or in public, then yes, I put my hand on my lap. We do play music alot of the time. I don't agree with all of these.
Loitering has many reasons. For instance, if you allow loitering in front of a business, then the business can become inaccessible due to the number of loiterers. Great video, thanks for sharing your reaction.
I have never heard the one hand thing.
You can use both hands to cut meat, etc. then your left hand goes into your lap.
Not when your left handed
Don't put much stock in the numbers in this video, case in point according to The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) counted 653,104 not 3.5 million homeless Americans in its annual point-in-time report, which measures homelessness across the US on a single night each winter. That's a 12.1% increase from the same report in 2022. Still way too many but not as bad as portrayed With the readily accessible programs of Welfare, Food stamps and Section 8 housing and food insecurity should not exist, buy sadly it does
Loitering often applies to homeless people or gang members taking up a spot and staying for hours or days.
This list is ridiculous! I'm a 63 year old American and don't agree with most of what's on this list!
The population as of the 2020 census was ~350 million. I suspect if you queried us individually you would get nearly as many answers to "what does it mean to be American?".
That said, generalities aren't necessarily a bad thing, and this video sounds like it's a very broad overview rather than something trying to define one particular concept or claim to the title of "American".
On languages - my city/metropolitan area has about 130-150 languages for which translation services are required in most years (for hospitals, police, schools, etc), and there are at least a dozen metro-areas with more languages. That reflects on food options, cultural celebrations, public policy and city council, etc. that spill over into the public sphere. At least in most cities and many towns, especially tourist and college towns, and towns with a diverse economy. This is not universal, however!
edit: after watching the whole thing, this video is so oversimplified as to be borderline patronizing; it's not wrong but it is so simplistic as to be nearly useless except as ways to start a conversation with someone.
Loitering is almost always used as an excuse to try to get people to leave an area and can be difficult to prove if they try.
I’ve never seen anyone eat with a hand on their lap.
Any color flowers are normal and you can ask the director to donate them after to the old folks homes or hospital. Sometimes a request is made for donation to a charity instead of flowers.
Mixed roommates are not that common when not in some type of relationship.
I don’t think of it as speaking to an older child as an adult but teaching them about consequences and telling them why just lets them know it isn’t an arbitrary rule.
Uk has rule of law. The narrator is referring to due process.
Get well soon!
I think the point if eating with one hand, unless you need to use two, is to not intrude on another persons soace, especially for firmal occasions.
Go to a nice restaurant and see how people are eating, especially women. It's "classier" to eat taking up a smaller space.
No elbows on the table and huh. I did grow up eating with one hand under the table...never thought about it before! ETA: Rarely music or dancing at a party?? Depends on the party...
Yeah I have went to parties with and without music some birthday parties had music while others didn't.
yes, the rule of law is a cultural thing. in general people in the us are pretty much rule followers - this is changing but traditionally we respected police and the law. I've lived and traveled in many countries and many places have a cultural acceptance for breaking laws the person sees as trivial or trying to get around the rules or talk (or bribe) the police into letting them get away with things - esp if they have family connections.
From a wokie's perspective! As for obese, the 'charts' don't take into account the body/mass index. Mike Tyson at 5' 10" and 195 lbs, is termed 'obese'.
Rule of law means no person or group of people rule us rather we are ruled by the laws we ourselves made.
Rule of law vs rule on monarchy
The original video is meant for teaching English. The person doing the video is just making random statements for twaching conversational English. I dont understand why she can't make better statements that aren't so negative towards the US. Mist of the statements are just ignorant!!!
I'm American and I think there is no reason that people should be homeless and starving in the richest country in the world but that is the reality here and it should be changed! Weed is actually legal here in NYC so there are now weed shops and you can buy weed in some convience stores like local bodegas here now!
What measures would you take to change it? Even the far right Hoover Institution says that San Francisco, for example spends $1.1 billion (yes BILLION) per year on a homeless population of, they estimate (but others estimate much less), just under 20,000--the city's population is 800,000 so that's $1375 per city resident per year and far more per taxpayer. One would think $55,000 per homeless person per year might make some headway but it hasn't. Part of the reason is that until about 2 months ago the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals had said that forcibly removing the homeless from the streets (and offering them the option of shelter or institutionalization or arrest) was unConstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment". Two months ago, the Supreme Court disagreed so the city now has that option. But is it a practical option? What should it do with an opiate addict who has been living in a tent on a city sidewalk for one or more years and refuses an offer of space in a city shelter or single room occupancy hotel because in such facilities the use of illegal substances isn't allowed (or should it be allowed?). Weed isn't in any way the issue. It's also legal and used everywhere in San Francisco (I actually think more people here smoke it than tobacco now). It's fentanyl and crack and meth and ketamine. So should using those in city owned/run housing be OK. The city did, in fact, have a "safe injection" site for a while but it closed down due to citizen objection (there was an outdoor area where addicts were lying about under the influence, visible to anyone walking by--why the whole thing wasn't indoors and out of site you'll have to ask our brilliant leaders).
Rule of law is different in each state
White lily is the death flower 😊
Homelessness has 3 main causes.. 1st is drugs and alcohal.. they will not stop even if folks try to help them. 2nd is mental illness.. they also will not accept help, even het violent. 3rd reason is how hard it is to make a living right now.. many folks rather than living on the street many live in their car, but it's caused by lack of job skills, a loss of job, no family support.. So my point is thats reasons arent fixed easily. I personally would force mentally ill into treatment, but its not allowed. I'd force drug addicts into treatment or jail.. since they are dangerous. Ladtly I would make willing folks be able to get work training... yes it coukd be abused like welfare has been abused, but Its sad if folks want a job but cant find one.
Making insulting statements against someone is NOT against the law and is not a hate crime. It might not be nice or advisable, but it's not illegal. It's covered by our free speech laws. Edited to add this must be an old video. Minimum age to purchase tobacco in the states is 21.
You guys should react to 72hrs in Chicago (My honest first impression) by Crosby Grace Travels
Yes.. thats the way I eat. I find the europeans way of using both hands weird. Cut with knife in right hand and fork in left.. then switch fork to right and left hand in the lap, fork pointed UP.
Honestly, and I know I'm going to get some hate messages, but.. I would wager to say that a very large percentage of the homeless we have in the US is because they are drug attics who really have no desire to become part of society. Again, I am in no way saying ALL homeless people fall into this category. Also, in the way things are currently.. A large percentage of those that aren't druggies are illegals who have charges across our open southern boarder and have no standing in American society. How could you when your first activity with the country you now want to be part of, was breaking our laws?