"Is It Really A Common Thing?": 25 Popular American Myths Go Under The Microscope

No matter where you are in the world, you probably know a lot about what happens in America. Hollywood culture—and now American influencers—have made sure the rest of the world is familiar with life in the 50 states. Maybe you've seen TV shows that gave you an idea of American high school life, or footage of US portion sizes that made you wonder: are these depictions accurate, or just exaggerated myths? A curious Redditor’s online post sparked an interesting discussion, asking, "Non-Americans, what is something about the US that you've always wondered if it was real or just myth/hyperbole?" People worldwide responded with their questions, and Americans chimed in with their answers. We’ve collected some of the top favourites and shared them in the gallery below.

#1

Image source: RememberValentine, Jack Is it really a common thing that the police busts partys of high-schoolers? Do young people get arrested then because of underage drinking? ugh_this_world_sucks: I have ran and hid from the cops many times as a teenager. Almost always exclusively at parties

#2

Image source: lunchbockslarry, fajri nugroho I've always wondered if people really do have endless refills at restaurants or if it's just a thing in movies. DonovanSarovir: Yeah that's real, but generally only applies to fountain drinks like soda and cheap lemonade (NOT SPRITE), as well as black coffee. You'll pay once and they keep you topped up, or sometimes you can refill it yourself. Expensive drinks like cocktails and stuff are one-offs like other places though. Soda is just so cheap because of corn subsidies that each glass costs them like five to ten cents.

#3

For those that are against universal healthcare because they don't want to be paying for other people's treatment, do they really not understand how medical insurance works ? AllRhythmNoBlues: Yes. They really do not understand. At all. ETA: I should clarify that the health care system in the U.S. is purposely convoluted. There are a multitude of reasons for this thought process. Some, for example, may think everyone should simply be responsible for themselves, even though that is impossible in a functioning society. Mostly, it's corporate greed driven. Aside from the money structure which has been discussed in another answer, health insurance is tied to employment. It's seen as something to be earned or deserved for working. If you don't work, you supposedly don't deserve to be healthy? Very broadly speaking, the American perspective is that things should be earned and for some reason, your health is included in that. It's depressing on a whole new level because it's self-inflicted. Image source: Frothingdogscock

#4

Image source: WhoregasmPerfection, RDNE Stock project Is it actually true you're scared to call the ambulance or go to the hospital? Lily_Lupin: Called the ambulance in college once. Got a bill equal to several months’ rent afterwards. Haven’t called one since - uber or friends it is.

#5

Do your police systems/databases not talk to each other? Like you always hear “they crossed state lines we lost them” whereas in australia everyone is in the one database. You do something in one state? You’ll show up in the next. protomanEXE1995: We are remarkably divided among states and localities. The cultural demand for various levels of local sovereignty means that centralized control is heavily discouraged and rather uncommon. Image source: millycactus

#6

Are house numbers really as big as they are in movies. Every house is like 51234 something or other street. It's a rare road here in Oz that cracks more than 200. Flame_MadeByHumans: The beginning number of a house in the US usually relates to the cross street. So all the houses between 42nd and 43rd street will be 4210, 4220, etc. It’s typically a codified system instead of houses 1-20 specific to a single street. Image source: cackmobile

#7

Do you just hang up the phone without saying goodbye, like in tv shows and the movies? keirmeister: No. That’s weird to us as well. I’m not sure where that concept in movies came from. Image source: nerdy_vanilla

#8

Is it true that prices of goods in shops is displayed without the tax and you have to work that bit out yourself? Surely not. ItsNotKenough: The sales tax also varies from state to state and can even vary from counties and cities within each individual state. Typically people don’t take the time to calculate the sales tax and just know it’ll be more than the price tag. Image source: walktheground

#9

Is it true that millions of sedentary obese American citizens drive huge pickup trucks and hate cyclists & vegans? AllieLoft: If the other comments haven't answered your question- yes. All of those things: pickups, cycling, veganism, are tied to identity and politics at least loosely in this insane current political climate we have. At this point, a lot of us are programmed to make assumptions about people based on their car, eating habits, etc. Basically, we're drowning in propaganda over here. Image source: summitcreature

#10

Image source: Marco-YES, Meruyert Gonullu Do you really throw garbage down the sink? Doesn't it get clogged? Kent_Knifen: Some sinks are equipped with a garbage disposal. Think of it like a blender hidden just past the drain. It will chop up food particles small enough where they can go down the plumbing. You would NOT use this for all garbage, just discarded food.

#11

Image source: pseudo__gamer, Mathias Reding Are there really beer kegs in big parties? Where do you even buy kegs? GeorgeCabana: Yes. Many liquor stores offer kegs (you have to return the empty keg and taps).

#12

Image source: TheLesserWeeviI, Wynand van Poortvliet Do schools really have their own police/security? CuriousCuriousAlice: Yes, the bigger ones. In my city you will see them in their own police cars that say ‘[school name] campus police’ on the side. Honestly, most of their time is spent dealing with traffic before and after school.

#13

Image source: LenoreEvermore, Getty Images Do people really drive drunk as casually as they do in tv and movies? It seems like in tv shows even cops just get behind the wheel after slamming a few whiskeys, and regular people drive black out drunk. peternormal: Absolutely. It is not as common as it used to be, but like, for example... When I was a kid in the 80s it was legal to drink a beer while driving in Texas.

#14

Image source: No_Step9082, Carol Highsmith's America Does your front door actually lead directly to the living room? that's so wild to me. Like if I'm lounging on the sofa and my room mate comes home with maybe even another guest in tow, they'd be entering right into the living room and the door is opened to the outside? Ironhold: Depends on region, age of house, design of house, and lots of other things. Most of my apartments had some kind of entryway, at least. A few of my friends' houses front door was straight to the living room/front room and the back door was straight to the kitchen.

#15

Image source: MisterBerry94, Gerald Schömbs Shark Week. Is it really just about sharks? vixiecat: Sure is! It’s great! All day and night, nothing on that channel but programs about sharks.

#16

Do school kids really sell wrapping paper and cookies to make money? budgie02: Sometimes, school fundraisers are common. At least when I was in school we got a magazine of home items like candles, blankets and such and would have to canvas the neighborhood and our family to sell it. The kid who sold the most would win an Xbox, or something like that. Image source: Thatkoshergirl

#17

Can you really pull yourself up by your bootstraps all on your own and achieve the American dream? Amenmeit: Unless you get extremely lucky or severely neglect your health, not anymore. Round about the mid to late nineties that fizzled out. Image source: KratosLegacy

#18

Image source: dexvoltage, Gustavo Fring That you have to "earn" your sick days at work. ATLDeepCreeker: Not earn, "accrue". When you start a job that pays by the hour, you accrue a certain percentage of PAID sick time per week. The same holds true for vacation time. You can also take unpaid sick time. Some companies are flexible also, allowing you to use un-accrued sick time, before you actually earn it. If you are on salary, its a bit different. All of my sick and vacation time is available to me on January 1st.

#19

Haven't really thought about it "always", but become wondering some time ago if americans really can't go anywhere without car. Do they really can't come outside their homes and go by legs with friends to nearest park or some shopping mall to just chill there? Are they really imprisoned in their suburbs untill some parent drive them on their hammer 100 km to the nearest "fun place" or untill the same parents buy them a car? LakeExtreme7444: The more rural you are, the more dependent on a car you’ll be. Where I live, the closest gas station and grocery store are about 10-15 minutes away and I live 30 minutes from my work (this is all by car). We don’t have public transportation where I live, so if I didn’t have a car, I wouldn’t be able to work or buy things without a full day’s walk, at the very least. Timtronic125: My local park is about 1.4 miles away. That's 4 minutes by car, 35 minutes to walk. I work in the next city over. 26 miles by interstate @ approximately 40 minutes commute time. Walking to work would take 9 hours. America is huge and really spread out. And I live in the suburbs. Couldn't imagine living in the Midwest. Image source: InteractionGreedy159

#20

Image source: SomePeopleCall, Mary Taylor One of our exchange students was floored when she found out that the yellow school buses are real.

#21

From watching (admittedly too much) reality shows - how common is lip-fillers/Botox in people in their 20s/30s? FluffyOwl30: In every day people? Probably not high. In people who make money off their appearance? Probably high. Image source: Iluvaic

#22

How you guys are able to punch a hole through a wall. Where I’m from, all our homes are brick and concrete so if you punched a wall you’d be pretty screwed for life. arrius01: Most residential walls in the US are sheetrock which is fairly easy to punch through between the studs which are generally 16 in apart. Before sheetrock, many walls were strips of wood covered in plaster. I think hitting one of those would not have gone well for the person. There are lots of homes here with brick as well, but that is not as common, particularly portions of the country that aren't constructed pre-turn of the century Image source: Beneficial_Pay5720

#23

How common are basements and attics in houses? Is it exclusive for middle and upper middle class and above or most houses have them? atomiku121: Depends on the area you're in. In my area (Midwest) both are quite common for a couple reasons. Attics are common because we can get a LOT of snow, so sloped roofs are needed to handle the load. Depending on the slope, the space may not be usable for much outside of storage, hence the attic. My home has an attic that was large enough to convert into a large master bedroom. Basements are common here because the soil has a lot of clay and is generally soft enough to dig through without too much issue, and having a portion of your home below grade is very nice to have in the event a tornado comes through. Image source: WnDelPiano

#24

In The Sopranos, Tony quotes another character saying "Nowhere else in the world [do] people expect to be happy except here in this country and still we're not." Do most Americans actually have that expectation? jimb575: As an American, I can unequivocally say that this is 100% true. I never understood this drive that people have here that they need to be happy. Not content, but happy. We’re taught that if you’re not happy then there is something wrong. In my view, this causes all types of issues - hyper-materialism, self doubt, false competition, etc… And the worst part is that the people that expect to be happy usually expect someone else to make them happy… Image source: johnnyknack

#25

Is it true Americans have no job security and your boss can just fire you for no reason, like Trump in the Apprentice? tstackspaper: Yes this is true. It’s called “at-will employment” It is illegal for an employer to terminate an employee for reasons that violate federal or state laws, however you’d be burdened proving this in a court of law so typically people just move on instead of wasting time trying to sue over it. Image source: ElkNaive8344