Even Americans think the bathroom gap isn't cool!!!

As for the "How are you doing?" thing.. Yeah, that is a greeting. But if an American asks you "Are you ok?" that is genuine concern.

When I was stationed in the Middle East, one of our Catholic chaplains was from Ireland, the other one from Scotland. Some of us Americans were talking about the upcoming St Patrick's Day. The Scot said, "I don't understand why you celebrate that holiday." The Irishman said, "You're just jealous because they like us more than you..."

We have on and off switches. They're just on the appliances themselves rather than the outlet.

The bathroom thing is hated by all, it ain’t weird, we’re just cheap

In America, we're told not to stick a fork in an outlet, otherwise it's open season

Concerning the outlets. The reason you have a switch to turn off your outlets is because your electricity is 240 volts. Our electricity is normally 120 volts. That is a huge difference when it comes to getting electrocuted. We have some 240 volt outlets for heavy appliances such as stoves and window air conditioners but usually the plugs remain in those all of the time, so no need to turn them off. As a child I was shocked many times from sticking my finger, and even tongue, into outlets. If they had been 240 volts I probably would be dead. As it is I became an Electronics Technician!

Ok so saying “how are you” it’s like the equivalent of British people saying “you alright?” as a greeting. When I first met someone from the UK I was so annoyed at her asking me that because I thought she think I must look miserable if she’s constantly trying to make sure I’m alright. I finally asked her and then we had a laugh about cultural differences lol

Shaun, I appreciate how respectful you are to the US. Many non-Americans like to hate on us because all they see is negative things about the US on the news. Keep up the great work man.

The bathroom thing is for safety. If someone is in trouble, you'll know immediately. Also, if there's no toilet paper, you can ask the person next to you to hand you a roll.

Two Americans meet, one says "How's it going?", the second responds "Hey, what's up?"...they both keep walking without another word. This is normal and expected behavior, it's like being deeply tongue kissed by everyone you meet in France, or being slapped by everyone you meet in Italy...or so I've heard.

I was in Germany and ordered lemonade and it was a sprite

Putting a switch on the wall outlets is redundant for us, since our devices already have switches.

Brits: electricity is super dangerous Americans: hold my beer

My husband and I were overseas and needed someone to take our picture. There was an English speaking group nearby and we asked if someone would take our picture. A man came forward and took our picture. My husband said “I appreciate it.” As the group departed, we heard the man mumble to his group, “The least he could have done is say thank you.” My husband was perplexed. In our corner of the world, telling someone that you appreciate their kindness is the same as saying thank you.

Love the shirt. The Tennessee Volunteers got their name from Texas. When Texas was fighting for its independence from Mexico, Texas ask Tennessee for 2500 volunteers. Tennessee sent 30, 000. We have been the Tennessee Volunteers ever since.

The Chinese greeting of "nee-hau" literally breaks down to "you good?" Essentially "how are you?" So, it ain't just us 'muricans.

We do the 'how are you' as a greeting here in Australia, too, and it's pretty funny when you're meeting up with a friend and the conversation goes something like this: A: Hey, lovely to see you, how are you? B: I'm great, it's great to see you too, how're you? A: Yeah, good! [Greeting over - actual conversation starts] A: So, how _are_ you? B: Yeah, you know, it's been a tough few weeks at work... etc.

The tax thing is sales tax. It's not displayed because the % of sales tax changes per state. Some states, like the one I live in of Oregon, don't have sales tax at all. For me, that issue doesn't exist.

Yes! The lemonade is totally different. I spent a lot of time in NZ a few years back and they insisted “this is lemonade” ummm no that is Sprite or 7-Up not lemonade lol

as an American, WAS EXPECTING TO BE LAMPOONED, refreshing change. enjoyed it.

Most Americans greet someone with "Hi, how are you?" knowing full well that there's a 0.1% chance that the person you ask will lay their problems on you. Yes, most of the time people say, "Fine, thank you", and move on with the conversation. But occasionally someone will pour out their troubles to you, and because you asked, you have to be cool about it. American women handle those anomalous responses the way all women do, with a hug and words of sympathy. American men, respond the way men around the world do to hearing about a problem, we offer advice on how to fix it. Just saying...

I'm an immigrant and I remember whenever someone asked my mom How are you?, she'd go right in and tell you all the ills she was experiencing =)

Woah I could never even imagine having to drink a beer that wasn’t ice cold.

You bought a drone in one of the highest taxed states.

I don't think I would consider drinking a room temperature beer

So, about that “how are you?” business. Just the other day I went to the store and I slipped on ice. I tweaked out my knee, I was limping, it hurt, etc. I ran across a man in the aisles of the store, he asked “How are you?”. Literally, without any thought, I said “Aw, I’m fine thanks, you?”. I had just injured myself! I had to hobble home and take the day off of work and everything! But my answer was “Yeah I’m fine 🙂 “. 🤣 🤣 🤣

#4 When I lived in Ireland, I would often think I was cooking something on the stovetop, only to find I forgot to flip the switch on the wall as well. Aghhhh! 😫

I couldn't live without ice in my drinks. 😂

In the US there is no Federal Sales tax. The state, county, and city can all put their own taxes on something. That means that there is a lot of variance and that makes it difficult for chain stores to price things.

The public bathroom stalls here in the USA may be odd/weird, BUT we usually don’t have to pay to use public restrooms! The pay thing was so odd to have to pay to get into and out of the restrooms in the UK when we were there in 1996.

It's great to see how respectful and enthusiastic you are about American quirks. I have great respect for Scotland, specially for her people. While I was stationed in Europe I didn't get a chance to visit Scotland but me and my wife are looking forward to seeing everything y'all have to offer. I'm very interested in your food and historical markers. Great content 🙌🏾 Shaun!

We don’t know wtf is going on with the bathroom stalls! I’ve wondered the same thing!!

We Tennesseans have lots of Scottish heritage. Go Vols!

So the tax thing. In Europe y'all have a VAT tax. This is technically a tax on the seller of the item. We have a sales tax, which is a tax on the buyer. That's why it's displayed differently.

I smiled when you talked about us asking "How are you?" On our first trip to the UK, I had the same reaction when I was asked "You're all right?" It took me aback. I wondered if I looked off in some way, just smiled and replied "Yes thanks, and you?" Then our friends from Devon explained that it's just how folks greet one another. P.S. - I absolutely love the British version of public restrooms, much nicer than here! I was a little taken aback by them being called public toilets and had to force myself NOT to whisper the word "toilet" at first. But after a week, it was old hat. My husband and I love the U.K., particularly the northern counties, and Scotland. We were there on our honeymoon last year and both fell in love. We want to retire there! The natural beauty and the people and all the history are all awesome! Your videos are great, Shaun! Thank you.

The reason why we don’t display the final price is because taxes vary from city to city, county by county and then the state tax. Franchise business would have to print thousands of different price labels for the same item because items cost different because of the taxes. What your asking to have done will be impossible.

I would love more privacy in our public bathrooms!!! 😭

Shaun: "It's 21 degrees today." Me: tries to remember what that is in Fahrenheit for a second, then gives up and believes him that it's hot.

Absolutely love your perspective, so fresh and enlightening, also amusing and entertaining.

7:00 A lot of the tax stuff is more for transparency so we know how much we're actually getting taxed, rather than having it hidden in the cost of the item. Tax also varies by area, as there can be national, state, county, and/or city taxes on an item, depending on the item of course.

Hi, Shaun. About the taxes...in America because each state has its own state tax, but each state is further broken down by counties and each county has its own taxes, then there is also every city has its own city tax as well...now the reason they don't include tax in advertised prices is because you might have two retail stores both selling the same product but are separated by a few miles and a county line but the cost of that product may be less in one store because the taxes are less in that area, well the federal government has said that taxes will not be included in advertised prices as a way to give all retail stores a chance to compete equally in the retail market. Its all about promoting a capitalist market.

I'm from Tennessee in the USA and I was so delighted to see you wearing a shirt from my home state..all the way in Scotland. TY for posting. Have a great day

There used to be more products with the price printed on the package (way back, before barcodes). Sales tax varies state to state, and some cities have their own additional sales tax. Calculating sales tax at checkout was simpler than each manufacturer creating and keeping track of multiple wrappers for each product.

About the toilet stalls - unfortunately, they got less private because there was an issue with people doing drugs/having sex/doing criminal activities in stalls. It's a precaution. Most people here tolerate the gaps by ignoring the stalls and not looking as they walk past. Looking into a stall would be like a man checking out another man's privates at the urinal. It's not cool.

1) Bathrooms, you can legit recognize your co-workers and discuss the days event. 2) Ice is life. The US gets extremely hot, even in the north. The colder the the drink, the better. Iced coffee during the winter months is a staple, even in negative temps. 3) Not every states has a sales tax; because each states governs themselves, like a mini country, they are able to dictate their own state taxes. 4) We are work-aholics, not by choice, so people work around the clock. Food and drinks are essential at 3 am, or if you have the munchies...... 6) Sports....will get you killed. You ride or die for your teams. Its personal.... GO PATRIOTS! 7) Lemonade with ice.... OMG! SOOO GOOOOD. We grow so many lemons here. Thank you Florida! 8) "How are you?" Is more so like saying, "Hi, I don't really care about your life, but I'm gonna pretend so you don't think I'm an a$$hole... But most people who do ask, do generally care and want to know.

At my work, they actually installed covers over the gaps along both sides of the stall doors. That was definitely our favorite building upgrade ever!

Great video. When i was little I was taught that asking how someone is doing is part of polite conversation , that normally people will just say that they are "well" or "good" so if anyone ever does say things aren't going good to at least give them some encouragement.

I couldn't imagine not having ice cold drinks, i even take the lid off of my fountain drinks so i can sip from the top where the icy goodness is lol

We don't think about the bathroom thing. We are in such a hurry. We do our business and move on.

Hey, I see quilting paraphernalia in the background! Love your videos. Now I want to see your quilts, LOL.

As far as the outlets, it depends on the wiring of the structure. Some outlets are "hot" all the time, while others have independent switches wired to them from a given distance.

Note to self: Do not ask people in Britain "How are you doing?" They will tell you.

Tennessee girl here! Love the shirt. Just got back from my first trip to Scotland and loved every minute of it. Highlands were beautiful! Loved Edinburgh as well! I hate the bathroom gaps as well.

Just found you and watched several videos. And subscribed! It's fascinating to hear comparisons of cultures from someone who has experienced both. I'm from Dallas, Texas, and I'm not sure you've visited here, but I'll be looking out for any mentions. This was indeed a great find this morning!

Love this! Great insight and a very nice forum. I think I would very much like to visit Scotland one day, such nice people and a beautiful land.

Public restroom gaps are the least of my worries. Clean? Paper? Door latch work? I've worked in some industrial situations where there's 6 toilets and 500 guys using them. What's privacy? About the electrical outlet. 110v doesn't arc very much. 220v arcs quite a bit and the arc can burn you and burn up the prongs on the plug. Dang it now I have to calculate Celsius to Fahrenheit? 21 x 1.8 + 32 = 69.8 a little warm. Sports? I'm a New Orleans Saints fan why wait for the season to open lets start hating the Atlanta Falcons now.

When I was in Asia, a British woman told me she found it odd when Americans say "What's up?" Apparently it's not a thing in Britain. A French friend saw me and said "How do you do?" I laughed. She said "What should I say?" I told her we usually say "How's it going?" or "How are you?" or something like that. "How do you do?" would have been from some textbook fifty years ago or more.

Great video! I feel like you've earned the right to point these things out because you've said so many really nice things about us!

On point #2, as an American, I can say that I actually hate ice in my drinks, unless it is water.

I noticed that I had to pay to use every bathroom in the uk...

Add raspberries and Strawberries to your lemonade or lavender or vanilla. Dude I am a lemonade fiend.

I live in Tennessee! Thank you for your kind words and criticisms about the US. Very insightful perspective! :D

I have just recently found your blogs!! I love them!!

"How are you?" Is basically a polite "hi' - an acknowledgement of the person.

Regarding the electrical plugs: US wall plugs have only half the voltage of UK plugs. It will shock you, but it won't kill you, unless you are in the bath. US plugs in bathrooms have fuses to mitigate the whole shocking death thing, though that may vary by state. Building codes are very much a local thing. In Texas, electrocution is probably common, maybe even mandatory. No so much in New York. You left out baseball, the national pastime.

I love that in the UK you guys will genuinely answer the question "how are you?" I agree that sometimes it's nice when you don't want to say how you're really doing or to speed the conversation up. However, I think that it enables us to be superficial and unable to communicate our emotions. I also found it interesting to know that the light switches in the UK to turn on the electricity are for safety. Anytime I've visited a European country, I've just assumed that the purpose was to conserve energy. As a kid though, I don't recall the importance of safety with electricity being stressed. The only safety lesson I still remember is stop, drop, and roll.

Last one about “how are you”...explains a lot! I said hi, how are you to a British family at Disney and they talked for a long time. It was nice but I was like *awkward

In America, if you serve your beer any warmer than 29° F, you're gonna get a bad review.

We don't add the tax because we want to know how much tax we're paying. We believe in transparency on taxation. We don't really like doing the math in our heads, but we want to know the portion of our purchases that the government is keeping.

in winter we drink warm coffee in summer we drink iced coffee its almost like we adjust to our seasons!

Hi Sean, great video content. I am a Saint Clair (Sinclair), thank you for making these great videos.

3 minutes and 17 second before he gets to the first item on his list.

Everyone is here talking about taxes, bathrooms and electricity while I'm just thinking "carbonated lemonade sounds gross."

Yes! The bathrooms! When we traveled to Iceland and London I could not get over how amazing the toilet doors were!

About the "How are you?" normal response is "Good! How are you?" If things aren't good sometimes I will respond with "Not too bad" or "It could be better" but even then I'm not looking for a conversation, I'm just being honest and brief.

The gap is there but for me, in 30 years, nobodys ever cared to peek thru. Its mostly a mind thing.

After a 2 year study, the National Science Foundation announced the following results on America's ball-related recreational preferences: 1. The sport of choice for unemployed or incarcerated people is basketball. 2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is bowling. 3. The sport of choice for blue-collar workers is football. 4. The sport of choice for supervisors is baseball. 5. The sport of choice for middle management is tennis. 6. The sport of choice for corporate officers is golf. Conclusion: The higher you rise in the corporate structure, the smaller your balls become.

Oh, Shaun, You are so funny...I love listening to you & I love learning about your country :)

I enjoyed hearing your opinion on the different things. Specially about the ice and also the lemonade.

Tax differs by state. And in some cases by county and city. Your mistake was buying it in NYC. In Delaware, there’s no sales tax. In West Virginia, there’s no sales tax on most food items. I live where there’s about a 6% sales tax. We don’t like it, but hey we are used to it. Just a part of life!

Definitely refreshing to hear a European give an honest take on the US and isn't just totally trashing us. Nice

You are not kidding about your shops, I went to to Edinburgh a couple years ago and we got there about 4pm on a Sunday and nothing was open. We did finally find this small bar that had food.

“Hey how ya doin” is basically my default nonchalant greeting.

You might be interested in the "Arnie Palmer" drink. A %50 / %50 mix of Lemonade and Tea.

1. Bathrooms - we are used to it and intentionally avert your eyes. 2. Cold drink is important, because of heat and ice is optional if cold enough. 3. Tax - you must have never been to Canada! LoL their VAT tax is like 15+% on top. 4. Electric plugs - we often hide the locations where stuff is plugged in because it's unsightly to us. Sometimes we have wall switches.

you make valid points! I do find it strange that you count up. Generally we always count down to #1. but I love hearing about the differences. Next time come to Wisconsin. We have cheese and beer!

Love the cultural differences. Always good to here the opinion of others. Thanks for the honesty. Love to here more

Howdy is the rhetorical version of 'How do you do?'...an explanation isn't required.

69° is hot!? 😂 come to the south in July! Over 100° will feel 115° with humidity!

#8 is an absolute fact.. love it.. and your channel. Big ups

WOW!!!!! Just came across your channel and I’m LOVING IT! I think you make really good and professional videos that have really interesting topics keep up the work man I’ll be catching up on your videos

The gap is not THAT big. I get that it's there, but the exaggerations make me laugh. That said, I hate them too and appreciate when the public toilets are more private.

Our outlets run at half the voltage of yours. Safety isn't as big a concern. For the few things that do run at 220, safety precautions and special outlets are in use. From our perspective, it seems odd to use 240 volts to charge a cell phone.

The first "How are you?" is rhetorical. If we ask again in the same conversation, then we want to know how you are actually feeling.

First: Love the UT jersey, -GO VOLS!!!- Second: Next time you’re in America, get away from NY, drive thru our heartland, like TN., youll love it!!!

Quick, polite, efficient (and surface). That is American. We will be more deep and open, but that is reserved for family and close friends.

Just discovered your channel, and was so excited to see you wearing a Tennessee shirt. 😁

Very interesting observations. Thanks for sharing.

Subscribed not only because of your vids are great but you have the best channel name ever. I'm an American and approve this message.