Not in the US. About 80% are circumcised in the US, including most Christians.

I mostly threw these out of the top of my head. You’re mostly correct:

• most people use cards, not checks, but they’re still widely in use. For example if you’re paying a handyman, piano teacher, or just dealing with someone older, or someone who just doesn’t have other ways to receive payment
• I’m in rural Ohio so I see Amish on the roads all the time. They’re not where it is expressly forbidden, like a divided highway, but you can find them on roads with speed limits around 50 or 55 at times
• For the windows, the sliding style is what is weird to Europeans. We mostly use the kind that swings out in one direction it the other. American windows make more sense when you take into account that they have screens on them. (I forgot to list screens.)

The societal problems if the US has been covered by others, but here are some culture shock ones I’ve experienced, in no particular order:

• still use personal checks
• put down knife after cutting your food, move fork to dominant hand
• drive through everything, including alcohol purchases
• horse and buggy on highway
• doorknobs instead of handles
• almost everyone has air conditioning, so doors and windows stay closed in summer
• double hung windows
• carry water bottles everywhere
• gas stoves and ovens are by far more popular than electric by a good margin
• in sink garbage disposals

I can only count to four!

I believe the movie Gattaca’s premise is around this subject.

I would still have my other citizenship, so I would plant a flag and claim it for my homeland, ignoring any other residents who may be present, as is tradition. Bonus: free healthcare.

Yep. You still get the measurements done and can get a piece of paper with the numbers on it from the optometrist.

Things have improved over time in the US. As someone mentioned, you can submit your prescription to an online store and get cheaper glasses that way. It used to be I had to go to an eye doctor’s office for that.

They still try to convince you to stay with them, of course. When I needed bifocals they tried to tell me I had to come in for training on how to wear them. I declined.

As is typical for the US, if you have good insurance you’re generally in good shape. I haven’t had out of pocket expenses for glasses for years, and I only paid a small amount to have laser surgery later.

I’m addition to what was already mentioned, I will say that is not like that everywhere. In Europe I can go to an optician and they will do the eye test and sell you glasses without any kind of medical prescription. I would only see the actual eye doctor if I had some medical issue (e.g. diabetes).

I suspect some of that relates to reimbursement. My insurance in the US covers my eye glasses and checkups. In Europe my glasses were not covered.

If it’s sunny: go for a good walk (about 5km/3mi). Or failing that, take the cat outside and sit on the back patio for a little while. The sun exposure gives me some much needed vitamin D.

Other than that, I make sure I get some quiet time each day to recharge away from other people, virtual and otherwise.

I legit thought this was a Wagner poster until I read the comments.

This. Especially if you’re a naturalized citizen. The certificate of naturalization is expensive and hard to replace. It should not be your only id. Keep it in a safe place.

If you are a permanent resident, you should already know that you must carry your card on you at all times. That is more important now then ever.

Note that you will need to mail the original certificate to the authorities to get your passport. You will get it back after a couple of weeks, but in the meantime you will have nothing, unless you paid to get a certified copy. It is a large piece of paper that cannot be folded, so it’s not practical to carry around.

While you’re at it, get your driver’s license updated with the federal id. Make sure the BMV records reflect your status. Register to vote. In other words, document your citizenship in as many ways as possible.

During my recent travels I carried a photocopy of my naturalization document plus my passport. I was not asked for it, but my reasoning was that if they took my passport I at least had something. I also had a physical notebook with important info in it, i.e., not just in my phone.

That is famously a bad idea.

My main one is to learn shortcuts on your most used programs. Using the mouse for everything is a waste of time, but that has been said multiple times.

My second is to create scripts to do a bunch of repetitive tasks. For example, I have a script I run on my work PC after I log on to the VPN that starts my “always on” programs (like notepad++), unlocks the hosts file, etc. I have some sendto scripts for converting files with pandoc, fetching multiple git repos in one go, etc. It just speeds up things and avoids errors versus me doing them manually.

On Windows I use PowerShell and on Linux I use bash, meaning they work without additional software installed.

I think ma may be the closest thing to Norwegian «modern» in the sense that it is more of a dialect/region difference than an adult/child thing. In my experience, ma is used more in the South and in rural dialects in the US. I’ve heard modern used more in Eastern dialects in Norway. Maybe more curiously, I’ve mostly heard modern used only in the sense of “my mom” (third person) but rarely to address them. Maybe others can chime in on their usage of it. Norwegian has a lot of regional variation.

I’m Norwegian and say «mor» (mother). My mom asked me to use that instead of «mamma» (“mom”) when she thought it sounded childish.

You can also say «modern», but to my ear it’s a little more harsh sounding. Maybe it’s a dialect thing.

In English, I don’t think many adults would normally say “mommy”, but many adult Norwegians say «mamma».

So to me, at least, a closer match is mom=mamma and mother=mor and mommy has no Norwegian equivalent.

My reaction as well. He was an absolute master of shaggy dog stories. The punchline is not the point, the delivery is.

He may still have enjoyed seeing this. Maybe make another long and hilarious joke about it. RIP Norm.

I think a lot of them don’t realize who is being categorized as illegal. Conservatives I know seen to be able to hold multiple conflicting ideas at the same time, e.g., hating immigrants but be friends with them on a one on one basis. I don’t think they actually see the problem with that.

Anyway, I think a lot of centrists especially take “illegal” and “criminal” at face value. You can see the argument for deporting people that shouldn’t have been here to begin with. The difference is that we’re seeing a very loose definition of those terms being applied by authorities. Innocent people are being targeted and treated as terrorists.

I think a lot of them don’t realize this, or refuse to believe it. You will see them online saying “Come to America. You have nothing to worry about if your papers are in order and you haven’t done anything wrong.”

This is just my impression of things. People are different and it’s a big country.

First: you’ve done good, raising a kid that asks for your permission first.

Second: realize that this comes from peer pressure, them wanting a space away from parental supervision. If you truly want to make your kids savvy about the Internet, you need to assume they will eventually encounter seedy places, run into assholes, and be exposed to things like bullying.

Have a conversation: you will encounter these things. Your friends may be into them. But they can have bad effects and here is how you avoid it and how to deal if it happens to you. Talk about keeping private information private.

Be open and non-judgemental. You want them to feel safe coming to you for advice.

Be truthful and stay credible. Keep up with what’s out there, but don’t just buy into the latest Tiktok scare.

Talk to your kids about stuff they found that was cool or scary.

Embarrass them by using memes incorrectly.

Setting up a mastodon instance may be cool at first, but their friends are going to think it’s lame with the supervision. You could still do it for a number of other reasons, but it won’t prepare them for the ugly Internet.

Source: me, a parent.

I’m not a doctor or pharmacist, so I can’t give you medical advice, but if I were you I would contact your doctor’s office and ask.

Sometimes pharmacists can recommend an exchange, but it’s best to first check with your doctor. Typically it’s just a matter of getting a generic or different brand, but they will know best what the options are. It can be a headache though if one option is covered and one is not. You will have to check with your insurance company to find out if it is covered. Doctors don’t know the details of your plan and could end up prescribing something not covered. Pharmacists can often help with finding drugs that are interchangeable.

Not sure if it’s an overall increase, but you can always search the FDA drug shortages database.