r/ShitAmericansSay • u/jazz4 • 2d ago
“Europeans live in small apartments or multi-generational homes”
OP was complaining about European waiters taking too long to get the bill. American commenter thinks it’s because restaurants are more luxurious than Europeans homes.
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u/MarissaNL 1d ago
How to say "I have not a single clue about Europe" without saying "I have not a single clue about Europe".
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u/x_asperger 1d ago
It's "I grew up in a wealthy US neighborhood and only have friends from that area"
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u/Serena_Sers 18h ago
It's not only not having a single clue about Europe... but also about the US. Some People are living in storage places because they have such an absurd cost of living crisis. Some are living in Vans. Trailer-Parks are normal for decades in the USA. Only about half of the people in the US live in single family homes... and there we aren't even talking about nice ones.
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u/VenusHalley 1d ago
I mean we have houses and gatherings in them.
I lived through it. I prefer to hang out in a restaurant, since I have social battery of 8 year old cheap phone.
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u/Lunaspoona 1d ago
But the purpose of going out for a meal IS to socialise. If their houses are so great why don't they just have dinner parties in them?
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u/NefariousnessFresh24 1d ago
Their HOAs won't allow more than three people gathering a place and fine them if a cooking smell escapes?
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u/NikNakskes 1d ago
Bold of you to assume they can cook.
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u/bbalazs721 1d ago
They have one person in the friend group who can grill. He asks everyone how well done they like their burger patties, and then cooks them to the same level
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u/NikNakskes 1d ago
Oh yeah! The famous backdoor bbq! Pride of the nation. Hamberders. I mean. A good burger is great, but you can do so much more on a grill!
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u/NefariousnessFresh24 1d ago
Point taken - I should not make assumptions like that. They will just get take-out
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u/NikNakskes 1d ago
I thought this was one of those hahaha we make fun of american things, but no... when I visited a friend in the states, he had nothing to make or eat food with. Literally nothing, no pans or pots, no utensils, no plates, no spices. Nothing! Only bowls, coffee mugs and spoons.
My ghast was absolutely flabbered.
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u/Old-Importance18 🇪🇸 1d ago
Because they don’t know how to cook. An American’s idea of cooking is to throw 10 low-quality ingredients into a dish and stick it in the oven until it’s vaguely edible.
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u/computasaysno 1d ago
10 ingredients? Their idea of "lunch" is grabbing sliced bread and mayo. Then they decide what they are having as 3rd ingredient that day, which is often fake cheese.
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u/Snabelpaprika participation in the praising of freedom is mandatory 1d ago
They cook by using a can of ultra processed "aunt Clara's meat substitute stew" and making it their family recipe by adding a shitload of ketchup. That is American home cooking.
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u/DeskCold48 Eye-talian 🤌🏼🍝 1d ago
A friend of mine did an exchange with a school in Idaho and was telling me how some Americans don't know how to enjoy food. To surprise the family who was hosting him, he prepared fettuccine with Bolognese ragù, all handmade from pasta to sauce (making ragù is no walk in the park, it takes a few hours), he spent an entire morning cooking everything and was terribly disappointed by the way they ate; they basically literally gobbled up everything without even looking up from their plate. He might as well have cooked his fried shoe soles and it was the same thing.
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u/grip0matic S-pain 1d ago
Ragù it always takes a lot of time for my gf to cook, but 1 kilo and we have batches for a lot of more times.
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u/DeskCold48 Eye-talian 🤌🏼🍝 1d ago
At home on Saturday mornings my uncle prepared it and made enough for at least a month.
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u/grip0matic S-pain 1d ago
I have forbidden to cook it, apparently you have to be Italian to do it because once I suggested that passata Mutti was not needed and we could use any other tomato. The amount of times I got told "you don't understand"... sigh.
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u/DeskCold48 Eye-talian 🤌🏼🍝 1d ago
Doesn't he even teach you?
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u/grip0matic S-pain 1d ago
She does. She also teaches me italiano, and then she gets mad at me because it seems I do sound kinda southerner (too many mafia movies I guess), and I have to speak "proper" or veneto.
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u/DeskCold48 Eye-talian 🤌🏼🍝 1d ago
If you speak Veneto then you should already swear like a professional 🤣
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u/grip0matic S-pain 1d ago
That's another thing! I cannot swear or so she says, I cannot be vulgar when basically her region it's known for that. I want to use some bestemmia myself, ostia!
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u/No_Signal954 1d ago
But the purpose of going out for a meal IS to socialise.
It is??
My anti-social autistic ass goes out to restaurants for the food and tries to leave asap
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u/Lost_Eskatologist 20h ago
I must admit I often enjoy a good book in places I go to eat.
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u/No_Signal954 20h ago
Hell yeah. Personally I just scroll my phone or just eat. I do not wanna talk to people. I'm just there for the food, which I honestly assumed was the reason everyone goes to restaurants?
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u/Pop_Clover 1d ago edited 1d ago
Erm, in some European countries that may be true (multigenerational homes and eating out just to get out of home). BUT in those same places you might go out to eat with your family too, and still expect to be 3 hours on the restaurant just chatting and eating 🤷🏻♀️
Edit: clarification
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u/x_asperger 1d ago
Multigenerational homes said like that's bad is crazy. Wonder who has higher in divorce rates and 1 in 3 people involved in domestic abuse, and if there's some link there.
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u/grip0matic S-pain 1d ago
I would love to still have my old family home, it was big enough to fit my sister's family and myself without even see each other...
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u/Millie-Mormont 1d ago
Right? In Argentina is a similar situation. Yes, we live in multigenerational homes and sometimes you go out to eat just to... go out. But we spend three hours on the meal at home, at others' homes and in restaurants. With family, friends, coworkers and even business meetings.
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u/SaltyName8341 🏴 5h ago
Yesterday at my parents house we all (3 generations) spent 2.5 hours on just Sunday lunch, 3 courses, plenty of wine and just chatting. Are Americans automatons?
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u/Rugkrabber Tikkie Tokkie 1d ago
Meanwhile in my country multi gen homes are extremely rare. It’s almost as if “Europe” doesn’t count for all countries, who would have thought!
Also I’d actually like multi generational homes to be more common here. The housing crisis is pushing families further apart and that sucks.
Oh and to top it off in the USA 20% are multi gen homes too so…. It’s also rising.
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u/Master-Dot-2288 1d ago
As a Canadian, im offended to even be mentioned in this ridiculous post...
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u/Little-Salt-1705 1d ago
My first thoughtss were woah Nelly! Do not speak for Australians as a USer, Canadians and peeps from the UK can speak of us collectively, not the US.
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u/OhShootYeahNoBi 1d ago
Clearly, they’ve never been in Richmond (BC or Richmond hill GTA) cuz as a Chinese dude, you’re not leaving the restaurant until half past midnight
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u/raven-eyed_ 1d ago
Aesthetically, Canada and Australia look a lot like America. But I think things like this are where we differ. Se have a lot of cultural similarities to Europe.
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u/TtotheC81 1d ago
To look at it another way: We haven't been brainwashed into being completely subservient to our capitalist overlords, and still treat meals as a social event rather than stealing valuable productivity from our 'betters'.
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u/Amber123454321 1d ago
*Sigh* I can't help thinking so many of these negative and wrong European posts are to encourage people in the US to tolerate the way things are headed there or to think they have things better. They can say 'things are worse elsewhere,' when a whole range of things aren't.
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u/Balseraph666 1d ago
The same sort of Yank who will then post pictures of European restaurant or cafe culture somewhere in Europe and complain about that as well. Pick a lane Yankees; either Europeans are all gathering at their homes for gatherings and not going out to eat. Or they are all eating out and hanging out at eateries, and not staying home. If one is bad and the other good, stop changing which is which all the time. Pick a wankery and stick to it.
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u/Embarrassed-Fault973 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's more to do with not running restaurants like a hustle to maximise throughput on tables while shaking you down for a 40% tip.
I find the way a lot of US waiters hover around your table constantly trying to upsell stuff gets irritating, and is probably designed to be, as it maximises sales and throughput. You're moved on constantly as you eat, often offered a doggy bag when you're not quite finished etc.
Obviously some very high end places don't do this, but for the middle of the road kinds of restaurants they definitely feel more like you're being processed in dining sequence where you must reach certain targets by certain time limits or they will come around and ask you "can I get you anything else?" .. The whole thing just feels like you're being pushed along until they can get you out the door and from a European point of view, it feels more like they all about trying to get the bill paid and the tip shakedown done.
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u/blackheath111 1d ago
Nothing to do with feeling harassed by the staff the eat and fuck off but leave a big tip.
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u/Lazy_Maintenance8063 1d ago
USians have great houses as long as mild breeze don’t blow those drywall paradises into space.
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u/Specialist_Safe_4555 Tea drinker🇬🇧 1d ago
They think it's more effective to constantly rebuild slightly cheaper homes every year after tornado season
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u/ComprehensiveAd8815 1d ago
Fun fact: they are never cheaper and certainly not with the tariff king.
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u/Affectionate_Ant3350 1d ago
20% of usaians live in a multigenerational home (according to Pew Research Center dated 2021) compared to 11% in the EU (Eurostat 2020 using 2019data). So, no. Average house in the EU is between 90 and 130 sq m. Average house in us is between 232 and 242 sq m. So ok One of the purposes of going out to eat is to have somewhere different to discover. Can you imagine always eating in the same restaurant for your entire life? As to « having somewhere to hang » well, I mean it’s called socializing, hanging out with your friends and people you enjoy being around. I guess usaians don’t have friends? Whereas* (sorry, I’m a teacher) or is it the new spelling of « whereas » because ‘merica ? American is not a nationality, sorry. You’re officially and forever usaians. And lastly, percentage of homeowners. Australia : 65%, Canada : between 68% and 69%, EU : average at 70% (highest : Romania 96%, lowest France : 65%), usaians : between 65% and 66%
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u/expresstrollroute 1d ago
Living in your mum's basement means you are living in a multigenerational home.
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u/Johannes_Keppler 1d ago
1 in 5 Americans live in multi generational homes. In the EU... 1 in 10. So yeah.
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u/xxiii1800 1d ago
All the rest is BS ofcourse but sometimes om also annoyed how long it takes to get the bill. That's why when ordering my last drink i add "and the bill please".
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u/JRisStoopid 1d ago
No, they want to leave because they seem to always be in a rush. It seems like they DON'T want to be there, more than it seems like Europeans want to be there longer.
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u/sunbakedbear 1d ago
Hahaha. As a Canadian living with a family of 4 in a 650 sq ft condo, I whole heartedly disagree with this statement 🤦♀️. Also, Canadians are not rushed in restaurants like they are in the US. We might not hang out there as long as many Europeans but we definitely aren't pushed out the door so the servers can get more tips.
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u/hime-633 1d ago
I shall hear nothing of the sort from people who habitually eat in their cars. Yuck.
(Although to be fair, I think some American ve-HICLES are indeed bigger than central London studio flats :))
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u/bishsticksandfrites 1d ago
have a house to go back to that is more peaceful and luxurious than a restaurant
Sure, Cleetus serving up a portion of Hamburger Helper in his trailer really fits this description.
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u/triggerhappybaldwin 1d ago
Meanwhile I got a mortgage on a 4 bedroom house, without a partner, as a factory worker in the Netherlands. Even my cat has her own bedroom for fuck's sake!
In the US I'd probably have to share an appartment with 5 adult roommates or live 7 hours away in Bumfuck, Nowhere for some affordable housing as a factory worker...
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u/Particular_Jello_917 1d ago
And you get generous holidays, with 25 days of 20 statutory days + 5 Non statutory days per year, as well as Vakantiedeld (holiday pay) a mandatory, extra payment equal to at least 8% of your gross annual salary, healthcare free at the point of delivery, sick pay, reasonable job security, in that you can’t be fired without reason, and if you do get a partner, paid maternity leave for 16 weeks.
But hey, America is the best country in the world.
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u/Johannes_Keppler 1d ago edited 1d ago
The holiday pay isn't 'extra'. It's a part of your income you employer sets apart each month, to be paid out once a year (in May).
Also we pay 150 euro per month for healthcare plus the initial 385 euro in medical costs per year.
The rest you said is about right and while Dutch people like to complain it's practically god darn paradise over here.
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u/Particular_Jello_917 1d ago
I stand corrected, I sort of misinterpreted how your holiday pay worked, but I stand by my claim your healthcare is free at the point of delivery, just as it is in the UK, which is funded through taxation.
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u/InterestingTank5345 1d ago
No, it's about culture. In Europe it's a common culture to visit Cafes, clubs, malls, etc. to hang out with friends, especially in big cities like Berlin and Paris. There's also entire family trips dedicated to some of these experiences and often a mall trip can become a fun experience for the entire family, due to accomodations like Restaurants, Cinemas and in some cases even play areas.
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u/Emperors-Peace 1d ago
As an Englishman, I don't think I've ever spent 3 hours in a restaurant except if there was a wake, christening or some other sort of party in one.
But in the states you could easily go for a meal and be out in 25mins because the staff just bother you constantly.
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u/cassandra-isnt-here 1d ago
This is hilarious. Americans will wait until the bill is brought to them without having to ask for it. Because in American restaurants the waitstaff don’t get paid a decent hourly wage, they live on tips, and the faster you can turn over a table the more tips you can make so they are constantly on the lookout for when people look like they are finished (or in many cases just nearly finished) with their meal and the bill arrives at the table (often with a “whenever you are ready”). Everywhere else where waitstaff are paid hourly, it’s considered rude to bring a bill unless it’s asked for. If Americans want to leave the restaurant it just doesn’t occur to them to ask for the bill to pay it but then they complain their minds aren’t being read.
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u/Beagle432 1d ago
Huh?? How to say you never been outside the US, or even outside your state, whout saying it out loud.
Waiters in Europe (generalising but still) get paid wages, they do not live on the optional (mandatory) supplement by patrons.
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u/CakePhool 1d ago
The Northern Europeans are confused, why live with people or even go out to restaurants?? There is humans out there!!!
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u/DeliciousCut4854 1d ago
When I lived in the US, I lived in a number of apartments. I also lived in houses but that's not the point.
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u/Eremitt-thats-hermit 1d ago
So why do they go to a restaurant? Because they are too lazy to cook?
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u/Sxn747Strangers 1d ago
Show me you are completely ignorant and have absolutely no idea of other countries or cultures without telling me you are completely ignorant and have absolutely no idea of other countries or cultures! 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Thalassophoneus Greek 🇬🇷 1d ago
Cause, you know, in Europe we all hang out in Parisian style cafes every day.
Maybe that's his way to say "in America we don't get our ass out very often cause we are all isolated in vast suburbs".
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u/Open-Homework5676 1d ago
For me it was actually the truth when I was single and living in a 36m2 apartment😅
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u/PavlovsDog6 ooo custom flair!! 1d ago
Ooooh! Thank you for explaining being me - to me. That was very helpful!
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u/computasaysno 1d ago
Have you ever seen an american trying to use a fork and a knife? You can tell they are used to eating sandwitches, pizza and burgers.
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u/Newburyrat 1d ago
Sorry, only just read this as I was staying at a restaurant to avoid coming home to my minuscule apartment I share with 27 members of my extended family
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u/PrincessYolda 1d ago
"Americans [...] have a house [...] more peacefil and luxurious than a restaurant."
My ignorant brother in celsius room temperature iq, you people live in cardboard houses.
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u/VenusHalley 1d ago
My parents and grandparents had houses.
At my grandparent's village we held the local Saint's holiday (St. Jacob). It mean slaving to prepare two warm meals, bunch of desserts, canapes and having relatives linger in the house till the night.
Now I live in tiny condo in Prague. I meet my friends in restaurants. We hang out as long as we want to. Order food we want. Then we go home when we want. Nobody is left with social battery drained and pile of dishes to wash
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u/Billy_Ektorp 1d ago
Long wait for the bill at a restaurant somewhere in Europe? Just walk up to the bar/counter and ask to pay. This is normal.
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u/DieMensch-Maschine A good reason to keep the drinking age 21. 1d ago
What boomer wrote this? A whole generation of Americans will not be able to own a home because of shitty job prospects and flatlined incomes for anyone who’s below upper middle class.
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u/CodenameJD 1d ago
On top of the other terrible points, I have to wait way too long to see American waiters all the time, be it to pay or to get another drink.
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u/KiwiFruit404 1d ago
That smart USian is a genius!
I love hanging out in a restaurant, because my two story condo with two lovely balconies and a roof terrace is nothing compared to a restaurant with uncomfortable chairs instead of a lovely sofa and toilet cubicles instead of a nice bathroom.
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u/daveoxford 1d ago
More luxurious than a restaurant.
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u/InattentiveEdna 1d ago
My house is more luxurious than a restaurant.
The local Dairy Queen (an ice cream focused fast food chain), for example, that hasn’t been updated since the 80s. 🙃
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u/OperationOne7762 1d ago
Bro throwing in Canada and Australia to make it seem like he has any clue what he is talking about is so funny. What house are you talking about lil bro, do you guys not have a housing crisis going on?
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u/Virtual_Project_5308 1d ago
Yeah .. 🤣🤣 he should come visit me - a teacher 🇩🇰 in my 1 mio $ house.
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u/Medium_Trade8371 Australian 1d ago
This idiot thinks that if he stays longer than 3 hours, he is at the "Hotel California".
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u/Low-Message9305 1d ago
Sounds like a pissy tourist who only had 2 hours to walk his fat ass 1 KM back to the Carnival Cruise.
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u/InattentiveEdna 1d ago
We own a 1960s box that would get knocked down if we sold it. The last owner was a “handyman” and did some really sketchy things with the electrical that almost burned it down. We have people and dogs constantly coming and going through our proverbially open door. My kitchen floor hasn’t been properly scrubbed in longer than I would like to admit to. More often than not I’m dealing with one autistic child or another having a meltdown. We live on a busy street, with cars constantly speeding up and down.
Despite its location in this most desirable part of North America, Canada, it is neither luxurious nor peaceful. It also has no bearing on the length of time we stay at a restaurant.
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u/CurrentWrong4363 15h ago
Wait so all the videos you see of 3 generations of the same family living in a double wide are in Europe?
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u/SpecialistAd7120 5h ago
I will take my time in a restaurant but unless I’m having a catch up with family or friends I would not stay more than an hour or 2. I think it’s crazy how often Americans go out to eat. I would eat out maybe 4 or 5 times a year
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u/depressed_momo 1d ago
I can say as American there is so many Apartments here! And they are being built on top of each other. And the houses are going up too quickly just as quickly as the apartments. My husband and I laugh every time we pass by one cause we watch how fast one is being built compared to others so we can say well that took longer! May be better built due to inspections but maybe not 😂 My ex father in law and my father used to build houses back when I was growing up. And it would take a couple of months due to inspectors checking codes. And they built them right, the houses are still standing. Now forget it. I would rather buy an old one with good bones and refurbish than a new one that has crap bones and thin walls.
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u/torrens86 1d ago
Australia does it the European way, waiters that hover over you are seen as rude.