What is normal, anyway? Just think about it: in some countries, women are supposed to cover themselves from head to toe. In others, bikinis are pretty sufficient. And baskets? People carry them in their arms or on the head. Very rarely is there one right way to do anything. It's all relative.
Recently, we at Bored Panda stumbled upon two posts on Reddit by u/ojlol2 and u/monitonik that essentially ask the same thing: what's typical and common in your country but is considered weird in others?
To say they went viral would be an understatement. As of this article, the two questions have received a combined total of 53,000 comments, including plenty of eye-opening answers that are bound to expand your understanding of the world. Here are the ones that interested us the most.
#1
India.We have matrimonial ads in newspapers and sites to find grooms and brides which I think don't happen in western countries and they find it strange. The ads are mostly published by parents. It's like tinder supervised by parents.
Image credits: boss_bj
#2
Canada.No fences between houses. It's almost considered rude to put up a fence.
Image credits: tandoori_taco_cat
#3
Saudi Arabia.Until recently, no women drivers.
Image credits: eromab
#4
Poland.In my friend's country, Easter is when gangs of boys roam the countryside, pouring water over girls and beating them (gently) with sticks. The girls then have to thank them for it.
I thought that was pretty weird.
Image credits: himit
#5
United States.The cracks that are just wide enough to be able to see in and out of public restroom stalls. I’ve heard it’s thought of as weird since many other countries enjoy the luxury of privacy.
Image credits: B1yPhon3
#6
Moldova.A short while ago they stopped selling alcohol after 10pm. At some stores you couldn't even get non-alcoholic beer. What's weird tho is that wine is not considered alcoholic drink so you can buy it anytime. Welcome to Moldova
Image credits: SergiuNegara
#7
Norway.Leaving your baby alone outside for their nap, even if it rains or snows.
Image credits: e_ph
#8
Bavaria.Drinking beer before 12 o‘clock and seeing it as part of the culture
Image credits: pflanzensindgeil
#9
US.Taxes. We have this weird system where the government really kind of knows what we should pay, but they offer us an opportunity to guess and maybe pay the right thing, but if we don't pay the right thing, we get penalized. I remember listening to a podcast where people all over the world were super confused about how the US does taxes. Most other places the government sends you a bill, and you pay it, and you're done.
Image credits: seanzorio
#10
Germany.Legal drinking age of beer and wine is 16
Image credits: Pablomablo1
#11
Eating with our hands.In 1969 (the same year the man landed on the moon), Miss Gloria Diaz coveted the Philippines' first Miss Universe Crown. During the preliminary Q&A, she was asked "Is it true that you Filipinos use your hand when you eat?" To which she replied "Why? Do you use your feet?" and went her way to winning the crown.
Image credits: NorqMarash
#12
UK.Whole restaurants cheering when a plate or glass is smashed. Once was in a Canadian bar/restaurant on holiday and a waiter dropped a tray of glasses, the local looked horrified when i was out of my seat screaming “wheyyyyyy”
Image credits: owen-sksk
#13
Australia.Putting cable ties, branches, fake eyes etc on helmets, buckets and hats in spring time to scare away the birds. Magpies are vicious bastards
Image credits: LostBetweenthePages
#14
Scottish here. We deep-fry our pizzas. No even sorry. Tasty wee bastards.
Image credits: MustardTigerPOW
#15
Direct democracy in Switzerland. It often baffles me when I read what the government can pull off in other countries without ever involving the population. Like...yea, you get to elect representatives but it often seems to me that those people then elect someone who elects someone who elects someone...is it really still democracy if you're about five steps removed from the actual decisions?#16
In Japan, there are public toilets in a few places where after urinating, you can opt to view a general health assessment report.
Image credits: Family-456
#17
Latin America.Putting broken glass bottles on the walls around your house so burglars cant jump it and rob you. I moved to Canada and they don't even have walls around the houses!
Image credits: jvcscasio
#18
Everyone rags on the US for using imperial, but can we talk for a second about how weird we are here in the UK for using both inconsistently?You buy a pint of milk or beer, but a litre of coke and 25ml of whiskey
People know how many miles to the gallon their cars get, but you buy fuel at pence per litre.
You watch the weather forecast and the temperature is in Celsius but the wind speed is in miles per hour
Most people can tell you their weight in kilograms, and their height in feet, and if they can't give you kilograms they can probably give you stone instead, which is even older than pounds, which nobody uses as a unit of measurement, probably because of the confusion between lbs and £...
It's a glorious mess.
Image credits: Koras
#19
US.Cheese in a spray can
Image credits: lukeyellow
#20
I teach in Japan, but grew up in America. The other day my students asked me wide-eyed if Americans really wear their shoes inside. I told them yes and that sometimes my dad would cross his legs like this while we sat on the sofa and I could touch the bottom of his shoes. They were super grossed out. “Eew, why would you wear shoes inside! That’s so dirty!” These kids are 2nd graders so it starts pretty young.
Image credits: coffeecatmint
#21
South America.Having dinner late.
Usually around 9 pm.
Image credits: sorude27
#22
NZ, going to the shops without shoes
Image credits: Taneatua
#23
China.Boiled Coca Cola with lemon and ginger.
Image credits: Duraxyll
#24
UK.A teeny tiny nation with atleast 50 different accents.
Image credits: sereneskys
#25
Ireland.Alcoholism and eating spuds for at least one meal a day.
Image credits: ghhhptj
#26
There's this sport in Finland called eukonkanto, where men participate in running a specific distance, all while carrying their wife or girlfriend. Winner gets their woman's weight in beer.
Image credits: VenenoG
#27
In university we thump the tables to "applaud" our professors. Instead of actually applauding. Or doing nothing.During my exchange semester everyone not from Germany was looking at me confused why I did this.
Image credits: Toffelhunter
#28
Finland.Strangers sitting totally naked skin to skin in a steamy room heated to +80 to +100C... and us having competitions on who can last the longest in there.
Image credits: SinisterCheese
#29
Having Spaghetti in Mcdonalds.#30
Having a garbage can in the bathroom for used toilet paper.#31
South Africa.Being middle-class with a property having a 6' wall, electric fencing linked to an alarm, automated gate and garage doors (with security clamps over the gate motor to prevent theft of the motor), security gates over every door, burglar bars, and a house alarm system with infra-red sensors linked to armed response with a reaction time of under 3-4 minutes.
Image credits: Claidheamhmor
#32
In the Philippines, it would be people living with their parents. Everybody I know whose parents' homes are in the city choose to live there. With the relatively low wage to cost-of-living ratio, it is not unusual for married couples to share houses with their in-laws.I work remote and I still live with my parents and pay zero rent. Of course, I pay all the bills, feed them and do all the home repairs and chores.
Image credits: Levelup94
#33
Calling mixed race people coloureds. Im from south africa and im coloured but when i went on holiday in Spain, coloured is a derogatory term but in south africa its completely normal.#34
Men wear skirts even when it’s poring outside, which is all the time.#35
Having a kettle apparently it’s weird to have a kettle in America wtf#36
Touching elders’ feet#37
Pharmaceutical commercials#38
Walking all over the countryside along ancient footpaths (as well as bridleways and byways, and a lot of disused railway tracks that have been designated as footpaths). These paths often go across privately owned land; the landowners are required by law to keep the paths clear, and if they put up a fence to provide a gate.If you're walking with a dog, you're expected to keep it under control around livestock and when the path crosses a road, but otherwise it's just accepted that dogs are going to run around sniffing everything.
#39
Deep fried mars bar#40
Having someone fill up your gas tank for you#41
I don't know why but teenagers from my place ( Vietnam ) like to put hot sauce on everything, like pizzas, chips ( French Fries ), spaghetti, rice, cakes, hamburgers, anything you can think of...#42
Still using the imperial system instead of the metric system.#43
Saying "hi" or waving to strangers. Some areas in the country take it even further and you're considered rude if you drive through a residential street and don't wave to anyone walking as you pass them.#44
Saudi Arabia.Marrying someone without knowing them and only seeing their face once the marriage is agreed on.
Image credits: Jansiz
#45
Where I'm from the answer is guns. Lots of guns. You shoot guns at 9 years old with your buddy at an old washing machine. They are a way of life, and I suppose death for a lot of people. I understand why people support owning guns, they grew up with them and see them as normal. You tell people from other countries about shooting guns at 9 and they look at you funny.#46
Eating biscuits and gravy. I traveled to the UK and told them that biscuits and gravy is a very common breakfast food and as you would expect they were highly confused (biscuit=cookie across the pond) why we would take something sweet and cover it in gravy. And also was confused that the gravy we use has sausage in it and is white.#47
Instead of toilet paper, we use a handheld jet spray type thing to clean after shitting.Also our milk comes in bags.
#48
Probably talking to people so that no one else can hear you except the person you are directly talking to.It's a skill almost all Dutch people have, I have found, but it can be very unnerving for other people because you can be sitting pretty close to two people having a conversation and have no idea what they are saying.
It's a small country and very densely populated with people who value their privacy. It's a survival skill, really.
#49
In my country you bike everywhere. Cars aren't used much. For longer distances you mostly use train and public transport. Also being 6 foot is normalfrom Bored Panda https://bit.ly/3FRoc0A
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