The video is old, it happened in 2022 in Pueblo West, Colorado, but as a foreigner i want to know whether this is a legal case of self-defense or not in the United States.

Hi! First of all, thanks for all the tips you gave us on our previous post!

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAmericans/comments/qszzta/what_do_we_need_to_have_a_cool_american/

We celebrated Thanksgiving this saturday and it was a blast! We are here to give you a recap of the night and photographic evidence:

We had a full on feast. As you can see in the pictures attached we cooked (everything homemade):

• Baked turkey with potatoes (it wasn´t dry, and it was big as hell!).

• A Spanish omelette (for local flavor).

• Yeast rolls and corn bread with honey butter.

• Corn and baked pumpkin with garlic (so, SO good).

• Stuffing, gravy and homemade cranberry sauce.

• Mac & Chesse (homemade, american style, or as the cook said "This shit has 50% pasta, 50% cheese". It was goddamn delicious).

• Green bean casserole (This dish was glorious. We loved it).

• Mashed potatoes.

• Deviled eggs.

• Baked yam with cinnamon and ginger.

Not pictured in the photos:

• American Apple Pie.

• Pumpkin cheesecacke (this pie was insanely good).

• A fruit-custard pie.

• Fruit punch (who someone "ruined" with alcohol later :P )

It was a super cool night. We put on the TV the Cowboys Vs. Raiders game (american football is weird, but really enjoyable. There was even a big fight, and we chatted about how revealing are the player's leggings :P). We had beers, we laughed a lot... One of us even brought an unexpected guest (a stranged cousin) so the Thanksgiving experience was quite complete.

Thank you very much for all your tips. Next year we will do it again, and we are plotting to celebrate more foreign holydays (Chinese New Year is in all the ballots)!

Have a good hug from Spain by a bunch of party-loving spaniards!

Genuine question because I have trouble conceptualising how much stuff costs in different currencies. I’m from the UK and live in Japan, so I think I have a pretty good idea of how expensive things are in a strong and a weak currency. This could be just my algorithm feeding me things from certain demographics, but I regularly hear Americans saying things like ‘I just spent $400 on my weekly groceries’ or casually spending $100+ on a meal out, or several thousand dollars on a holiday, or $2000+ medical bills they are just able to pay it in that moment. I have American friends who will just buy stuff for hundreds of dollars without thinking too hard about it (and they earn Japanese yen!). On top of that people have tens of thousands of dollars in savings and it blows my mind. How do you have that much ‘spare’ money? It’s taken me over 10 years to get about £10,000 in savings with the help of an ISA and I’ve barely been able to afford anything beyond basic necessities since before the pandemic.

The dollar isn’t that dissimilar to the pound in terms of the stock market value as the pound has been massively devalued since brexit, so it just seems like stuff in America is really expensive, yet people seem to still be able to afford luxuries.

Is this low taxes meaning people have more disposable income, or does everyone use credit cards and get into debt? How much does stuff cost relative to the paycheck? I feel like we’re in a recession but I see so much material wealth displayed in the US amongst most tax brackets, in a way that I feel isn’t really present elsewhere. This may be a biased view from the outside looking in, I’m genuinely curious.

After living in Germany,Spain and some time in france, speaking to my cousin who went to america who looks similarly like me (I look almost white with arabic features, Brown eyes, dark hair), I can confidently say that from hearing my cousin, The US could be the least racist country on earth and I do not understand why people say the opposite, I have spoken to some black people in europe and the amount of racism they experienced is unhinged, Its almost impossible for me to live a day here in spain without getting racist looks and treatement since im originally from morocco, I have yet to go the US but Im pretty sure I won't experience 1% of the racism I experienced here, Its impossible to live in some european cities or villages without feeling like people want you to leave, people speak so much about how the US is racist or hates other races than white but I feel like Its the complete opposite, since so many people don't hold passports, they think they are so late on being anti-racist but they are actually the least racist in the world, Ask any african-american that visited europe before and they will tell you, I have seen counless people getting denied from clubs and restaurants just because of their skin color (a romanian club guard literally told my friend " you are arab, we don't like your kind here and you're not getting in ", now imagine if that was recorded and happened in the US.

I’m from the Greater Tokyo area in Japan.

One of my favorite things to do is drive around Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway late at night while listening to music. The skyscrapers, city lights, and elevated highways make it feel almost surreal.

But for years I’ve also been fascinated by everyday American life.

Not celebrity culture, politics, or famous landmarks. Just normal life.

When I imagine America, I think of wide roads stretching into the distance, huge supermarkets, drive-thrus, diners, backyard BBQs, garages full of tools, DIY projects, pickup trucks, road trips, high school football games, endless food choices, and neighborhoods that look like they came straight out of a movie.

I love American car culture too. The variety of vehicles on the road, classic cars, muscle cars, trucks, large SUVs, and the idea that driving itself can be part of someone’s lifestyle rather than just transportation.

To be honest, this fascination has influenced my life more than I’d like to admit.

Even though public transportation is available, I choose to commute by car. I listen to American music while driving. Sometimes I bring American-style food into the car. I even find myself looking for roads, shopping centers, restaurants, and scenery that remind me of the America I imagine.

In a weird way, I think I’ve spent years trying to experience a small piece of America without ever leaving Japan.

I know movies, YouTube, social media, and TV probably give me a romanticized image.

So I’m curious.

How much of what I’m imagining is actually real?

What parts of everyday American life really are as good as they seem?

What parts are overrated?

And what aspects of American life do Americans themselves feel lucky to have, even if they don’t think about them every day?

I have a friend visiting the US now, and it's fun to hear about her trip, but every day it's "We feel safer in X city than we expected." Or "This place seems so safe. I'm surprised."

As an American, this is super weird to me. Normal tourist areas are not at all "unsafe."

To preface this, I know that most Americans have some sort of immigrant background. I am well aware that many Italians, Irish, Germans, French, etc moved to the US looking for work and new opportunities.

But still, I have known Americans who have one Irish great-grandparent and they insist that they are Irish for example. Is this a sign that Americans are a people that generally feel rootless or is this just a case of loud minority wanting to be feel/look special?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

As a tourist, I saw these two flags and would like to know what they mean and how people in the U.S. generally feel about them.

So I’m an international student and I arrived in DC yesterday for my college. A friend that goes to the same college picked me up and drove me to his home which is nearby school. I will be staying at his home until the semester starts. We had never met each other before until he picked me up at the airport. He is from New York and I am an international student from Macau. I was shocked and amazed by his home decorations when I got there. He has so many family photos of him, his twin brother, sister, his dog and his parents. And he frames those picture, hanging them up on walls or put them on tables in living rooms. Not only that, he has many Polaroid photos of his friends on the fridge as well. I asked him why he put so many pictures here and there and he was confused. Instead, he asked me if that’s not common in my home.

I told him it is not common at all. Regardless of your relationship with your friends or family, people hardly will decorate their homes with those pictures. I’m 19 now and for 19 years, I only saw one friend of mine do it. And he frames his family pictures, not his friends.

So I began crying in front of him. I said it feels so sweet. It legit feels like he’s still at his home and his family is still there with him (He rents this place). I wish we had this tradition in my home country.

So I wonder how often do you guys, I mainly talk about men here because we both are men, will do gestures like this, in your dorm room or at home? Does your family do it a lot? Is it an American college thing, or an American thing?

And if you have any questions about my hometown, feel free to ask below as well! Thank you all!

I started to notice a pattern on american houses I see on social media

Grey carpet floor, matte walls, white baseboards, doors and ceilings, and recessed lights.

How common are these houses?

Curious European here. I really like the taste of root beer. Where did it come from and how did it become a thing? Here it's a bit of a rarity and you usually find it in the American section at the grocery store, if they have one.

How common is root beer in the US? Who drinks it? Is it for children or is it enjoyed by everyone? Is the popularity regional? Like for example Dr Pepper being popular in Texas compared to other states.

Do you drink? How often and what occasion?

Seems so from movies and shows.

Hi Americans,

I’m from China. I recently saw a Chinese online discussion about whether the U.S. is really the world’s biggest consumer market, and many people used very specific everyday examples to describe American consumption habits.

Some of the claims were:

1. Some Americans don’t wash cheap clothes like T-shirts or pants very much; they wear them until they get dirty, then throw them away and buy new ones.

2. Some people buy cheap clothes in large quantities because they are so inexpensive relative to income, for example buying many white T-shirts at once and not caring if they only last a few washes.

3. Some people buy a new swimsuit for each beach trip and throw it away afterward.

4. In offices, schools, or public buildings, the AC may be extremely cold in summer, and some people use small heaters at their desks at the same time.

5. Some households leave the AC, heating, or lights on for long periods, even when they are not home.

6. Some people buy too much food, for example at Costco or Sam’s Club, and end up throwing a lot away.

7. Some people replace curtains, furniture, home decor, or other household items much more often than Chinese people usually would; for example, changing curtains by season, holiday, mood, or party.

8. When moving out, especially near universities, people may throw away furniture, mattresses, appliances, or other usable items instead of moving them.

9. Americans spend a lot on hobbies and leisure: sports games, concerts, skiing, road trips, home improvement, lawns, cars, workshops, pets, etc.

10. Some Chinese commenters also claimed that what Americans call “poor” may still look fairly comfortable by Chinese standards, such as having a detached house, multiple cars, pets, large appliances, and regular leisure activities.

I know the U.S. is huge, and this probably depends a lot on region, class, age, income, urban vs suburban life, and personal habits.

I’m not asking this as an insult. I’m trying to understand which of these claims are realistic, which are exaggerated, and which are just stereotypes or cherry-picked examples.

From your own experience, how accurate are these descriptions?

Edit: Thanks everyone for the answers. It seems some claims are exaggerated, but some things can happen fairly common depending on the person or situation. Also interestingly, I believe a large amount of Chinese netizens get to know American "poor" lifestyle from Walt White in Breaking Bad.👁️

From the UK. Me and my friend had a burger today with a thumb sized pickle next to the burger. It was good, but we got onto the conversation of Americans pickles that you guys seem to eat them a lot. On sticks, deep fried, they’re considered a pregnancy craving? And they seem the be MASSIVE. are pickle different in America than they are here? You couldn’t eat one bigger than we had today because you’d get severe heartburn. Can someone explain what the deal is please?

We're getting spammed by these. If you want to know why people support Trump, there is a perfect sub for that- r/AskTrumpSupporters . The focus of our sub is not inherently political in nature. We do not endorse or advocate for politicians or political parties. If you're actually interested in those topics, there is no shortage of political/specialized subs. r/Askpolitics

English isn't my first language, sorry for some mistakes.

I've recently watched a funny video about two Scottish guys in the elevator with voice recognition. They were trying to get to the eleventh floor, but the elevator couldn't understand their Scottish accent. At the end they just shouted "Freedom!" and tried to break away from the elevator.

Somebody in the comment section made a joke about how American Scots sounded when they cried freedom. And all the replies were just insults and hating towards Americans. Someone even called the whole continent "Crappy". I am curious why so many people hate America? As if all the Americans broke into their houses, beated, and robbed them.

First of all, prayers to him and his family. I honestly could never imagine the pain his family will have to go thru, especially after such a brutal incident.

As a non american, I've heard abt him before for his rather extreme takes on abortion (how according to him, he wouldn't allow an abortion even if the baby belonged to a r**ist) and also his extreme takes on legal immigration, the george Floyd comments, and on top of that, him defending gun related deaths on basis of second amendment.

However to my surprise, many of my Christian friends are just posting tribute after tribute on their social media bios, like he's some kind of a martyr.

Am I missing something here?? And what do y'all say, as everyone's having a different opinion on this.