USA vs UK.

I know a lot of my post recently have all been about my trip to America but I thought i'd post about some of the differences between us and our american counterparts. Here's a short list of differences I noticed during my recent trips.

Photos taken from: The Guardian.co.uk, farm4.staticflickr.com, Imgarcade.com & Salon.com

Privacy.

In the UK most toilets cubicles are basically a room on it’s own or enclosed enough that no one can see you. However, in the USA pretty much all cubicles have a two-foot gap at the bottom and top and inch hinges. Because, yeah, we want everyone to see us wee.

Sales assistants.

I’m not saying that all sales assistants in the UK are grumpy, it’s just the difference is so noticeable compared to sales assistants in the US. They welcome you on arrival, will do pretty much anything to help and 98% of them try and find a way to compliment you. (Doesn’t necessarily transfer the cashiers they all seem to hate their lives not matter what country you’re in.

Food.

Everything is bigger in the US, I don’t think they’ve heard of portion control. I bet they have the shock of their lives when they go to Europe.

Beggars.

The majority of beggars in America, well in New York, weren’t just asking for money. They were politely asking or complimenting people before asking help, not the ‘spare any change love?’ we’re used to in the UK. Some were even preaching their life’s story on subway cars, explaining how they got to be in their situations. Some of them were quite heart wrenching.

Tips.

Tips to me are a recognition of good work, in the UK tips are only really given if your server has done a really good job. In the US tips are customary, they even put suggested tips on the receipt! America is definitely the place to work in the service industry.

The Big one… Prices.

When you initially go state side every thing seems more expensive, only because you’re comparing dollars directly to pounds. If you use a currency converter you soon realise that even though the prices look higher they do tend to act