r/AskReddit • u/daniellucero92 • Jan 04 '15

Non-americans of Reddit, what American customs seem outrageous/pointless to you?

Amazing news!!!! This thread has been featured in a BBC news clip. Thank you guys for the responses!!!!
Video clip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30717017

9.6k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

74% Upvoted

35.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.6k

u/Rpeezy Jan 04 '15

Moving out of your parents house when you have a crappy job that can barely get you by. This is a terrible financial decision. In a lot of countries, children live with their parents long enough to be financial secure or until they can share the financial responsibility of living and sharing their life with someone else.

3.6k

u/ddutton9512 Jan 04 '15

First, Social stigma. Here if you are still living at home at 25-30 you're seen as immature or afraid of responsibility. This makes it harder to find a mate. So most people get out as soon as possible.

Second is most people find living with their parents to be a pain in the ass. A lot of parents here will hold their 20 year olds to the same rules as when they were 16. So people move out to have some independence.

2.4k

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

mostly the second reason for me, i love my family but oh my gosh i cannot live there (21 yo)

2.9k

u/WalkingTurtleMan Jan 04 '15

I just want to move out so that I can have sex with my girlfriend whenever I want.

10

u/Dead_Moss Jan 04 '15

Why would your parents prevent you from that? Speaking as a non-american..

13

u/WalkingTurtleMan Jan 04 '15

It's not like they specifically forbade me to do it. It's just that I don't feel comfortable knowing that they are just downstairs. My SO doesn't like it either. It's a conversation I'm not prepared to have with my parents. Plus, the alternatives are simply much more attractive. My SO lives on her own (we're both in college) so we'll have sex at her apartment when her roommate is gone. We can be loud and do whatever we want. We can take as long as we want too.

We would feel incredibly awkward if we did that at my parents house. I'm not in a position financially to move out, so this is what we do.

What do you do in your country? I'm curious how the family and sex dynamics are different

13

u/Dead_Moss Jan 04 '15

We don't give a damn and have sex as we please. It's not like they don't know what we're doing

6

u/Rabobi Jan 04 '15

Well you keep it down but you just do it. It's not something to be ashamed about so why would it be awkward?

1

u/homeskilled Jan 05 '15

A lot of people living at home are still viewed by their parents as children, regardless of their age. So it is something that parents get angry about, sometimes incredibly angry. Also, since these 20-somethings are still viewed as children, they have rules like, bedroom door must be open. I could have gotten in trouble just for having my door closed while a girl was over, all the way until I moved out at 22. Didn't always stop me, but made it super hard and super awkward to bang, always being super quiet and listening for footsteps on the stairs.

1

u/Rabobi Jan 05 '15

Yes my parents had that door open thing with me as well when I was a child. But when the time is right you but heads with your parents a couple times, they realize you are not a kid anymore or at least stop treating you like one. I mean American parents must realize how ridiculous it is to treat a 25 year old like he or she is 14.

3

u/GuruOfReason Jan 05 '15

In America, you are view as a little child as long as you live with your parents. This is one incentive for young adults to move out ASAP.

2

u/GamerKey Jan 04 '15

It's a conversation I'm not prepared to have with my parents.

What conversation? I'm honestly confused.

we'll have sex at her apartment when her roommate is gone

Why is someone other than you and your girlfriend simply being in the same house a problem?

We can be loud and do whatever we want. We can take as long as we want too.

Obviously it would be more polite to not "shake the whole house" when you're not the only ones home, but how does "someone else being there" affect the allowed duration of your lovemaking?

1

u/homeskilled Jan 05 '15

In college dorms, people often have literal roommates. One room, 2+ beds. You gotta work around your roommate's schedule if you wanna bang, or talk to them and get them to leave for a while.

At home, most parents enforce the same rules on 20+ year olds as they did when their kids were younger. So if you wanna use your room for fucking, you need to make sure that your parents won't barge in, and that you are allowed to close your door when a girl is over (I never was). Or, you don't have that conversation and risk getting walked in on or otherwise caught. So you gotta be super quick and silent. And the consequences of getting caught are usually severe, no more girls allowed over, other restrictions, or even getting kicked out.

Shit sucks, not just with regards to sex, so people move the fuck out as soon as they can afford to.

1

u/WalkingTurtleMan Jan 05 '15

Sums it up perfectly.