Sometimes we make things a little harder than they need to be. For some reason, I recently realized how backwards a lot of our customs are.
1. We don't use the same measurements.
The way we measure temperature really doesn't make sense. Instead of measuring in Celsius where the freezing point is 0 and the boiling point is 100, we think water should freeze at 32 and boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The funny thing is that we didn't even create this system, but we are one of the few countries that uses it. Along with that, we had to grow up learning the metric and customary system. Nobody really knows why we do this because it makes explaining measurements to the billions of people in other countries more difficult.
2. Time.
Many other countries use the 24-hour clock. I'm pretty sure they choose to use this because it actually makes sense. Instead of getting confused between a.m. and p.m., military time tells it like it is. Why don't we use this so we don't accidentally set our alarms for 7 p.m. when we really need to wake up for work at 7 a.m.?
3. We rarely travel outside of our country.
I am an adult, but I've never left the US. I've been to many of the states, but leaving the country is normally a pretty far trip and extremely expensive. In Europe, they are easily able to bounce between countries on the train or short plane rides because everything is closer, smaller and therefore cheaper. I'm thankful that America is large and surrounded by the ocean but I also kinda wish that I could just take a train to France.
4. Sales tax.
The biggest question of all time: why is sales tax not included on the price tag? Why are we not allowed to know how much we are spending until we get to the cashier? A few other countries do this as well, but it's mainly America. This proves that we are actually run like a business. Companies want to market their products at lower prices so you're more likely to buy them.
5. Soda is cheaper than a bottle of water.
It's fine, I'll just save money by being dehydrated and loaded with caffeine. Also, we are one of the few countries that encourages free refills and has soda fountains all over. Not only is soda cheaper than water, but junk food is generally way cheaper than healthy food. This is really bad.
