What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S. • Hacker News Board

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#131

Post by tptacek » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 5:40 PM UTC

waterlesscloud wrote: post #126

tptacek wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a pesky 4th Amendment in our Constitution that broadly (but not completely) prevents the police from pulling over cars without cause. So, it is true that if you're a "steady" drunk driver, you're perhaps more likely to get away with driving drunk here than in Oz. If you get pulled over though, you're likely to be arrested. Getting arrested in the US (as opposed to getting cited) is very unpleasant.

Cause is pretty easy to come by, though. Speeding is the most likely, but there's also the old standby of "weaving". I worked in a bar for a few years, which oddly enough involved driving home at the well-known bar closing time for the city. And that late at night I pretty much ignored speed limits. I got pulled over quite a lot, and every time as soon as they realized I wasn't drinking, they let me go with no penalt…

Good for them, I say. At any rate, obviously, if you're speeding (which I, too, do all the time) it's tough to complain about being pulled over.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#132

Post by ScottBurson » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 5:58 PM UTC

woodpanel wrote: post #90

adrianhoward wrote: post #65

One thing I remember from a long road trip I took in the nineties across the US was, on multiple occasions, being told that I was "brave" or "courageous" when it came up in conversation that I was an atheist (okay - technical agnostic, working atheist if you want to be picky :-) Everybody was nice. Nobody was mean about it (I got a lot of hassle over being a vegetarian though) but it was felt odd for two reasons. Fir…

When I asked the guy running the local tourist/visitor-center in some small town in PA what to do out there, his second question (after 'where you from?') was: 'So how are you baptised?' It took me some time to think about an answer. This question was odd to me for a couple of reasons: 1) I have never been asked that question in my whole life. 2) I haven't been baptised. 3) I didn't want to offend him, so after some…

I am an American, and not an atheist -- but I'm also not a Christian, and that question would have taken me aback too. In fact I'm quite sure I've never been asked that in my life. I would have been tempted to say something sarcastic like, "you really should get out more; there are people in this world who aren't Christians" but really, the guy was just trying to answer your question -- the reality being, I suppose, that everything there was to do in that town was organized by sect.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#133

Post by Cyranix » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 6:02 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #40

a-priori wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is normal here in Canada for a husband to accompany his wife to the hospital, and has been at least since I was born in the 80s. I think refurb's point is that it's strange to include that in something you give a Canadian moving to the US.

That was my point exactly. Canada and the US share 90%+ of their culture, so it was interesting for two reasons: 1. Why send that kind of a book to a Canadian? 2. It's interesting to read what other cultures might find shocking about US culture.

The only possible explanation I can think of is that such a statement would be targeting the non-Anglo Canadian residents, who may be able to live in relative isolation from what we'd consider mainstream North American culture. Even that explanation seems a bit far-fetched, but perhaps there are semi-detached Asian immigrant or First Nations groups. Interesting anecdote.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#134

Post by simonjw » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 6:18 PM UTC

Turing_Machine wrote: post #118

nfg wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Irish also and absolutely agree, none of my peer group would even consider driving after drinking in Ireland, but in my experience it's much more common and accepted in the US - you can even see thi in action in US television / films.

"you can even see thi in action in US television / films." So Ireland is just like "Darby O'Gill and the Little People", then? :-) In virtually all U.S. states, driving while intoxicated will result in a stiff fine, the loss of driving privileges for a very long time, and quite likely some jail time to boot. This has changed dramatically over the last 20-30 years.

I'm also Irish and I think the original comment is pretty valid - The point is you would never see a "normal" character in an irish/uk made production drink-driving, it is just a complete taboo. However, a massive amount of American produced shows have the protagonists driving home from the bar, and it is just accepted, which I always find quite jarring. If it was part of the character's image to be a law breaker/troubled/etc, that would be one thing, but "Sideways", the newest American Pie movie and "Dan in Real Life" spring to mind as 3 films I have seen lately which have examples of this casual drink driving. Clearly they aren't documentaries :-) but the American Pie movie in particular is pretty mainstream, so it was really surprising. I think it is reasonable to assume that the US attitude to drink-driving is quite a way behind Ireland.

And on your point on Darby O'Gill - That was an American film depicting Ireland, which was obviously full of stereotypes. The films and tv shows we are talking about are an American view of America, which you would assume should be a little more accurate in terms of attitudes/culture...

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#135

Post by simonjw » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 6:54 PM UTC

maratd wrote: post #127

Kudos wrote: post #96

> Of the many pieces of advice proffered, four of the most common are: [...] don't drink and drive (they take it seriously here!) That is absolutely not my impression of America. Americans I have met have a shockingly casual attitude to drink driving. I've also seen it been portrayed in a positive light on American TV (e.g. fictional protagonist regaling a tale). In Ireland drink driving is still fairly pervasive amo…

> Americans I have met have a shockingly casual attitude to drink driving. Were these Americans cops? Their opinion is the only one that counts. Getting caught with a DUI = jail, mandatory suspended license for 3 - 12 months, thousands of dollars in fines. And unlike in other countries, slipping the cop some money will = more jail and probably a beating. That's for natives. A foreigner? LMAO!

Haha something tells me other countries which have very negative attitudes to drink driving are not the type of places that you go around bribing police :-)

And I'm not sure what you are suggesting with the comment about getting a beating from cops, and it being much worse for foreigners? Are you defending the US as a tourist destination or attacking it? :-)

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#136

Post by nfg » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 7:07 PM UTC

simonjw wrote: post #134

Turing_Machine wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"you can even see thi in action in US television / films." So Ireland is just like "Darby O'Gill and the Little People", then? :-) In virtually all U.S. states, driving while intoxicated will result in a stiff fine, the loss of driving privileges for a very long time, and quite likely some jail time to boot. This has changed dramatically over the last 20-30 years.

I'm also Irish and I think the original comment is pretty valid - The point is you would never see a "normal" character in an irish/uk made production drink-driving, it is just a complete taboo. However, a massive amount of American produced shows have the protagonists driving home from the bar, and it is just accepted, which I always find quite jarring. If it was part of the character's image to be a law breaker/tro…

Agreed on all points, and just to emphasise: my primary experience of this is in person in the US in a variety of cities with groups in their 20s / 30s. In my experience this just doesn't happen in Ireland anymore and it would be very surprising to see this sort of behavior show up in a movie / tv here except in the context of highlighting the 'wrongness' of the action.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#137

Post by Natsu » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 7:14 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #131

waterlesscloud wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cause is pretty easy to come by, though. Speeding is the most likely, but there's also the old standby of "weaving". I worked in a bar for a few years, which oddly enough involved driving home at the well-known bar closing time for the city. And that late at night I pretty much ignored speed limits. I got pulled over quite a lot, and every time as soon as they realized I wasn't drinking, they let me go with no penalt…

Good for them, I say. At any rate, obviously, if you're speeding (which I, too, do all the time) it's tough to complain about being pulled over.

I often drive home from work very late at night and I've been pulled over and followed for doing absolutely nothing wrong. I think one said my license plate was dirty. They let me go and told me to have a nice night when it was clear that I wasn't doing anything wrong, though.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#138

Post by Natsu » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 7:21 PM UTC

christiangenco wrote: post #41

Hemospectrum wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. In Japanese, for example, you'll sometimes hear conversations littered with なんか (nanka) and かしら (kashira).

Do the Japanese really say "desu"?

It means "is", so yes, they do. It's used for predication instead of existence (iru & aru are for existence), but that's probably the more common is in English as well.

If you want filler, it's when people are going え～と while trying to collect their thoughts.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#139

Post by tptacek » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 7:23 PM UTC

Natsu wrote: post #137

tptacek wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good for them, I say. At any rate, obviously, if you're speeding (which I, too, do all the time) it's tough to complain about being pulled over.

I often drive home from work very late at night and I've been pulled over and followed for doing absolutely nothing wrong. I think one said my license plate was dirty. They let me go and told me to have a nice night when it was clear that I wasn't doing anything wrong, though.

The point is, the police are (usually) required to have cause to stop motor vehicle drivers, and if they arrest you for DUI after stopping you for no reason, you have grounds to challenge the arrest.

Obviously, "grounds to challenge" is no guarantee that you'll be acquitted or have charges dismissed, and obviously the police can and do manufacture reasons to pull drivers over, but the requirement to have cause creates a disincentive to do that routinely.

Which, my point was, was one reason one might experience stricter detection of DUI's in another country.

Re: What Guide Books Tell Foreign Visitors to the U.S.

#140

Post by roel_v » Sat, Jun 02, 2012, 7:50 PM UTC

jordanb wrote: post #45

alain94040 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting to see that according to your source, European standards are 3 to 5 times more strict than the US. Depending on your definition of "rest of the world", maybe you meant water in the US is higher quality than India? Probably true.

It's perfectly safe to drink the water out of virtually any tap in America. If you do much traveling, you'll find this is very untrue of the rest of the world (not just India). Even in Europe water quality varies between "great" and "I wouldn't drink that" on a country-by-country basis, and sometimes on a city-by-city basis. Remember that "Europe" isn't a country and there aren't any such things as "European standard…

"It's perfectly safe to drink the water out of virtually any tap in America."

Safe may be, but on many occasions with a strong chlorine smell, something that stops me each time from drinking from such taps, even if they're perfectly safe.