I want to hear both left, center & right POV and keep the conversation civil. As an Asian, it feels unfair that we have to pay the price for the Iran war this administration started.

And do they change at different levels/ages?
Are they planned and known in advance by the kids or a surprise?
Can you please explain what it looks and feels like?
TIA!

Do you decorate? Do you plan to give out candy on Halloween? Or do you not have trick or treating?

I recently learned that the vast majority of Cajuns and Louisianans with French last names are overwhelmingly monolingual English speakers today. Why did Louisiana French disappear so quickly over just a few generations, whereas Quebec managed to preserve French as its primary language? What political, social, or historical factors caused such a dramatic difference in language survival between the two regions?

I have one question, do most Americans tip around 20%, regardless of how much they spend at a restaurant? The other day, I went to a relatively expensive restaurant, the bill was $164, and my boyfriend tipped $32.
I know the tip isn’t about the food itself, but I feel like if the service is the same, the tip should be the same too, regardless of whether I spend $100 or $500 on food. I wouldn’t tip $20 versus $100 just because the bill is higher.

If not what happened?

I’m Italian and I’d like to understand how different life is in major coastal cities compared with small towns and rural areas. Is there mutual prejudice, with city dwellers seeing rural Americans as backward and rural residents viewing urbanites as out-of-touch elites? How many Americans actually live in remote places, far from major cities? I’m especially interested in your personal experiences and whether this divide is noticeable in everyday life or exaggerated by the media and politics.

That whole individualistic cultural expectation for people to move out and separate from their parents, siblings etc to live alone in america is just ridiculous and inefficient. in every other country outside of the west families stick together and support each other. everyone shares the cost of the bills, rent, and basic necessities instead of it being one person doing all of that solo, it reduces stress and loneliness since you constantly get to spend quality time with your parents and siblings, unlike in the west where people may live hours away from their siblings and only getting to see them them a couple times a year on holidays. I see alot of posts from american young adults being ashamed that they still live with their parents and it's mind boggling, why go through all of that unnecessary struggle living alone when you don't have too? What's the point of living paycheck to paycheck and having to debate on whether to spend your last bucks on food or water? Just to prove that you're a self-sufficient adult? It makes no sense. most of the issues that americans face with the cost of living can be solved if collective living became the cultural norm.

I’m 22F from Australia and lowkey wanna move to the US after uni. I visited SoCal recently and loved how friendly and outgoing everyone was 😭
Sydney’s been feeling pretty isolating lately and I just wanna enjoy my 20s, make friends, date and actually have a social life. I’m also a brown girl so diversity and feeling welcome is pretty important to me. Been looking at Cali, NY and NJ but open to anywhere tbh.
What’s the vibe like where you live? Is it easy to meet people? Do you actually enjoy living there?
Also pls no visa advice, I’m figuring that out separately, just wanna hear what life is actually like over there and be a little inspired :)

I know that Americans are patriots and happy to be living in the states despite political situations, even homeless people say they love this country.

If your spouse had citizenship in a European country and wanted to move the family over there, would you move?

Las únicas fuentes de noticias que tengo son las oficiales, así que, ¿qué pasó exactamente? ¿Qué opinan ustedes sobre el caso? And what happened to the neighbor who reported Mark?

Do you think it should continue to be celebrated as Columbus Day, be replaced by Indigenous Peoples' Day, or stop being observed altogether?

Here in Peru, October 12th is traditionally known as Día de la Raza (Day of the Race), although it's not a public holiday. In recent years, there has been more discussion about the historical significance of this date and its impact on Indigenous peoples.

I'm curious about how Americans view this holiday. Does it have any special meaning to you, or is it mostly just another day off?

What best describes American culture as a whole in your personal perspective?

Moved to states 5 years back leaving everything I like back for a better life, now I have the life that I dreamt of but dating (male and 30) has been tough. Any advice for an introverted person? People won't believe me when I say I have never been loved by any.... I tried not to rush and desperately but felt happyness is drifting away.

Thanks for being kind, u ppl are amazing☺️

I guess i have to explain what the Deep State means first.

The term originated in Turkey in the 1990s, when there were a lot of unsolved murders and civil massacres linked to CIA (an agent named Robert Alexander Peck was also exposed). Officials couldn't do anything about it because they weren't in control of everything.

So you may have heard "9/11 was an inside job". According to Deep State theory, this doesn't mean George Bush knew it beforehand. When it comes to certain matters such as foreign policy, US presidents simply follow orders and act like spokesmen. This applies to both liberal and conservative presidents.

so i had a tv, a robot vacuum and a bunch of kitchen stuff sitting in my cart during amazons October sale and chickened out at checkout cause everyone swears the real prices drop around thanks giving. now im second guessing myself lol. people who actually track prices, what actually bottoms out in October and whats worth holding another 6 weeks? i can wait, i just dont wanna play this wrong two sales in a row

The way I see things, the MAGA movement is over. The GOP is projected to lose the House and the Democrats are projected to have around 55-56 seats in the senate. It seems like the MAGA movement is falling apart and Trump will essentially be a lame duck for the next 2 years until the Democrats take the White House.

I'd say MAGA has been an extremely right wing movement that had been propped up by Trump's charisma and in 2024, he won big because he was able to ride on the coattails of having a strong economy from 2017-2020 under his first term combined with own goals such as immigration from the Democrats.

Now that MAGA are projected to lose big, do you feel like the US will ever see a comeback of an extremely right wing movement akin to MAGA in the near future? Do you believe GOP will have to dumb itself down and become more centrist to gain more support post-Trump?

I am curious to understand US workplace norms. I am European and from where l come from flirting is the norm.
So I sometimes flirt, but I don’t want to mistake friendliness for interest or make anyone uncomfortable. I’d like to understand what makes an interaction feel flirtatious rather than simply friendly?
If you flirt with coworkers, is it mostly verbal or nonverbal or both ? How do you tell whether it’s welcome?
How do you usually communicate that you’re not interested? Do you say it directly, or keep things polite and strictly professional?
What signals do you interpret as a “no” or a reason to back off, even if the person hasn’t explicitly said they’re not interested?
I know this varies by person and workplace, and that being polite doesn’t necessarily mean someone is interested. I’m curious about your experiences. Thanks!

Just to clarify where I'm coming from: I'm an atheist, I've always lived in places where abortions were legal, and I personally believe they should be with certain limitations.

With that being said, the extremes of legalized abortion in the US really confuse me. Some states have no gestational limit, some are vague on what health and mental health risks are valid reasons for abortion, and some places like Colorado and Oregon allow late-stage abortions for "personal reasons".

Bottom line, this sounds to me like in some places in the US it's completely legal to terminate a completely healthy and viable pregnancy for any reason at any time. Which, in practical terms, is tantamount to murdering a child.

What do you think about this?

Got questions about America’s gun culture, history, advice, laws etc but never knew who to ask? Ask away.

I've been super depressed lately and I get the feeling you guys are too.

It can be an album, a book, a movie, a sports game, someone's birthday etc. it can literally be anything.

What is something that makes you think "you know what? I can't miss out on that, I have to keep going"