Happy 4th July to all my friends and loved ones in USA

...wish I could have been there, so have a drink for me!! Be careful with the firworks.

Smiley Uncle Sam
by made_in_the_USA

American as Apple Pie, Happy 4th July Card

Differences between USA/UK; fun facts

Whenever I'm in the USA I get asked what it's like in Scotland. More often that not I now say "It's much the same as here" But I guess on my first trip I saw a LOT of differences. Of course, I've only been to Northwest Arkansas (and just over the state lines into Oklahoma and Missourri) so some of my observations may be state-specific, but here are a few of the differences that I recall noticing that first trip.

In the UK we:

• don't have drive through banks (nope, got to find somewhere to park your car, walk to the bank and get your cash). We don't have drive-through pharmacies or Utility providers either.
• don't have 50 different fast food chains (pretty much we have McD's, BK, KFC and Dominos the same as USA but that's about it - yes there are a few others dotted around but not real nationwide chains)
• get a lot more rain!
• we think 77 Degrees Farenheit is a hot day!
• sit on the right and drive on the left
• have a lot more smaller cars with smaller engines (probably because our gas prices are around 3x those in the USA)
• already have tax included in the ticket price, you buy a £20 shirt, it's £20.
• call it a supermarket (as opposed to a grocery store) and it's pretty standard in the UK to buy your cigarettes and alcohol there as well as your groceries
• call a grill a barbecue and a broiler a grill (still causes confusion when I visit the USA)

In the USA they:

• don't have a National Health Service (most people I personally met can't afford to visit a doctor when they get sick,  and one or two even went thousands of dollars into debt when they needed an operation, a scary thought to me!)
• have drive-in movies (I went for the first time ever last summer, lay on an airbed in the back of the pick-up truck and thought it was sooooo cool)
• are really Patriotic and it's common to see small versions of the US flag in people's gardens
• don't have roundabouts (okay, where I  have been in the USA they don't)
• can turn right at a red traffic light

That's the tip of the proverbial ice-berg, but spending time in the USA, I hardly notice a difference at all anymore. Feel free to comment with any observations you've made.

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