14 things people think America does better than Europe, and I’m curious if you agree

As we all know, there are plenty of differences between America and Europe. Redditor u/cohen5250 asked: “What are some things the US actually does better than Europe?” and because I love a bit of heated debate, I’ve shared some responses from the thread below. Here’s what some people shared.

1.“Don’t pay to go to the toilet.”

—u/Phil_MyNuts

2.“Compared to someone who has lived in France, the US and the UK: salaries are much better in the US. Customer service is also significantly better.”

—u/jaiunchatparesseux

“Wages for almost any kind of skilled workforce. If you’re in the bottom 20%, you make more in Europe. If you’re above that, you make significantly more in the US.”

—u/molten_dragon

3.“Central air conditioning is something we take for granted in the US. I realized this when I heard that countries in Europe were having summer heat waves and thousands of people were dying.”

—u/GammaGoose85

4.‘Mortgages. I know buying a house is hard right now, but it would be even harder, and for everyone, if our system worked like it did in the 1920s, or like Australia or Britain.”

5.“Lack of cigarette smoking (although vaping has increased in recent years).”

—u/quaosqueen

6.“Ice cream. I’m originally from Eastern Europe and have lived in the US for over twenty years. I was visiting my grandmother there and on a particularly humid day I ordered an iced latte. The barista looked at me mortified. She said that they had no ice so I asked her not to make my latte hot. She said ok, it was still piping hot.

—u/No-Rip5491

7.“I’m not American, but their national and state parks system is damn glorious. Services, set aside and protected lands, information, expert staff and infrastructure. NO ONE else is even close. I’ve lived in six countries and traveled to more than 60 – I still dream of American parks.”

—u/new22003

8.“Ice water in restaurants.”

9.“The one thing I would really miss is the cultural diversity in any major city. Any night of the week I can find great Mexican, Ethiopian, Cantonese, Sichuan, Japanese, Korean BBQ, Soul Food, Jamaican, Vietnamese, Thai, BBQ in Memphis style, other Latin American countries, Tiki bars, Filipino or Mediterranean.’

—u/Mercurius82jg

10.“Technological innovation. Think back to the past fifty years, from microwaves to iPhones.”

—u/WellActuallyUmm

11.“Work ethic. The number of times I’ve seen Americans get up at four in the morning to chop the ice off their pickup truck, before driving 200 miles to run a backhoe all day, in the dark to drive home and then work on building their pickup mountain house for another 18 hours. It’s just ridiculous.”

—u/IngenieurRemote2271

12.“Free water in concert halls and restaurants. I was at a concert in Europe and a bottle of water on the spot cost the same price as wine and beer. It was very hot and some people fainted during the show.”

—u/miserablearchitect·

13.“Dryers. This was certainly true if you compare the US to Britain, where their clothes are usually hung out to dry, or have terrible hybrid washers and dryers that don’t really work. I’m not sure if this is true across Europe. “

14.“The US has the friendliest people in the world. This is coming from an immigrant who has lived in many places in the world and the US due to my profession. It is also the easiest place in the world to do business as a foreigner because of how hospitable people are .In Europe and other places, people put more emphasis on the fact that you are a foreigner when they do business with you.”

—u/DifficultMovie155

Is there anything else you can add to this list? Share it with me in the comments below!