309
submitted 2 months ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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[-] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 158 points 2 months ago

I never understood the need to display multiple US flags in your yard. We get it, you live in america. You love America. We get that too. Are you afraid someone will think you no longer wish to be American if you took your flags down?

[-] Vanth@reddthat.com 49 points 2 months ago

It took me (an American) going to Ireland and Northern Ireland to realize how odd the excessive flag waving is. Still odd, but those two have the US beat.

[-] lemmyrolinga@lemmy.ml 31 points 2 months ago

"Those two" have a few reasons to want to wave their flags.

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[-] zcd@lemmy.ca 142 points 2 months ago
[-] paddirn@lemmy.world 66 points 2 months ago

I grew up in a home where we just never thought about wearing, or not wearing, shoes in the house. Like, we obviously didn't track mud all over the place if our shoes were that dirty, but if we were wearing our shoes inside, nobody said anything or cared, it was just whatever. Married a Kenyan who put her foot down and was like, "Are you crazy?" It's apparently a big thing elsewhere in the world. In Kenya alot of roads aren't paved, things get dusty, and it's just common sense that you don't walk all over the house with dirty shoes, so I get it from that perspective.

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[-] danjoubu@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago

As an American, it drives me crazy. Then there’s those heathens who lay on the bed with shoes on!

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[-] weew@lemmy.ca 114 points 2 months ago

American flags everywhere. Like EVERYWHERE. I get a bit of national pride but holy crap, every other house in the street is flying a flag, clothing has flag patterns, bumper sticker American flag, it's everywhere. And no, it wasn't even close to July 4.

It's like Americans are afraid they might forget what country they're in if they aren't in sight of a flag at all times.

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[-] Nath@aussie.zone 111 points 2 months ago

I'll try to avoid stuff you know is weird.

  1. Adjectives. You can't just have a thing. It has to have an adjective. For example: Milk. I wanted to buy milk. I get to the milk section, and there's no such thing. There's x milk and y milk and about a dozen other variants. Where is the basic milk (it turns out, I wanted "4% milk") in this damned place?
  2. Fresh produce. In fairness you've gotten loads better on this one after subsequent visits, but beyond some basic staples like potatoes, carrots, corn etc it was really limiting what fruit and vegetables you could get in the supermarket. Also: baby carrots are weird.
  3. Your cheese is radioactive yellow. Cheese is not supposed to be that colour - but you seem expect it to be for some reason, so your producers add yellow colouring to their cheese.
  4. Your eggs are weird. I'm not sure what yous guys do to to them, but it's like you blast away half the shell and are left with a porous super-white textured inner shell. They need to be refrigerated and last a fraction of the time they'd last if you just left them alone and sold them as they are laid.
  5. Your bread tastes weird. Maybe it's sugar or preservatives in it, I don't know. Bread is meant to have a really short ingredients list like flour, water, salt yeast and maybe a touch of oil and sugar. Take a look at the ingredients on your bread and it's 5 lines long.
  6. Portions! Your food portions are ludicrous. I'd much rather pay half the price for half as much food as they offer on the menu.
  7. Money. You have this weird unconscious pecking order thing in your culture where you value people more based on their bank balance. You show a weird unconscious level of respect to someone who is rich. And similarly, unconsciously look down on someone poorer than you. Not in a mean way - just as a "I'm better than this person" way that is hard to quantify. You are aware at some level roughly how rich everyone you deal with is. I see this trait far less in people under 20. I hope there's a cultural shift on this one, because money on its own is a weird way to measure someone's worth.
  8. Your police are run by the local counties. I think your schools also? I know you have state and federal police also, but most places only have police and schools at those levels.
  9. I'll mostly stay clear of health, because you know your health system is weird. But I will say that it's weird that very few of your hospitals are run by government. They're mostly run for profit. Health is meant to be a government service.
  10. Outside a few cities, you barely have public transport of any sort. LA is a mega metropolis, and it's train network is a joke for that level of population - something like 100 stations for 18 million people?
  11. You have no idea what's going on. Most of you couldn't name the UK Prime Minister (this one has been hard to keep track of, in fairness), the German Chancellor or any of the G20 leaders aside from USA and maybe Canada/China. You don't know about geopolitics beyond whatever you guys are doing. Your world news is literally stuff USA is involved in.
  12. I'll finish on a weird one: you guys are lovely. This may because I'm white and have an exotic accent to you guys, but almost everyone I've ever encountered from the USA in or out of the country has been wonderful. You don't seem to think of your fellow countrymen you meet as 'good' by default. There's a lot less connection and respect to each other than other nations I've been to.
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[-] Ziggurat@sh.itjust.works 109 points 2 months ago

Family eating at shooters (and the whole hooters/twin peaks concept)

Need to take the car for a 500m trip because there is no sidewalk and a highway to cross

[-] fartsparkles@sh.itjust.works 89 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The car thing really blew my mind. My hotel was 400m from the office but 1.6km by car. Colleagues were waiting for a taxi while I walked. I had to cut over a couple of car parks and a bit of grass (zero sidewalks) and was there in a few minutes while they turned up 15min later since they were waiting for a taxi.

The worst part, they all jumped in cars to go 300m down the road for lunch. Yeah, I walked. With looking for a parking space then walking from the space to the restaurant, they got there after me.

I adore Americans; they’ve been nothing except kind and generous to me in every part of the country I’ve visited but damn, the money they’re wasting alone just starting their engines and the wear and tear on the vehicles blows my fucking mind. Build some sidewalks, guys!

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[-] i_am_not_a_robot@feddit.uk 105 points 2 months ago

Being overly fake nice because you want a tip. Tbh I'd be more inclined to tip you if you left me alone and stopped talking to me.

The whole tipping thing in USA is weird. Everyone wants a tip, it's entirely random (as a non-American) how much tip to give. Just pay your staff a wage they can actually live on ffs.

[-] TheKracken@lemmy.world 35 points 2 months ago

As an American I agree it's fucking weird. Tips should be for exceptional service and not an obligation.

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[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 82 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It's not the healthcare that bothered me most, although it did.

It's the cognitive dissonance around the unavailability of healthcare in order to avoid anxiety over the fact that a traffic accident can bankrupt you with no relief. Ignoring the risk takes some serious mental gymnastics and basic math failure to get there, but when brought up in this environment - where a TV show about a teacher who has to cook and sell meth to get hospital money is actually a plausible plot where no one actually examines the mercenary care at all and the main character just pays it - it's just a part of their existence.

Not understanding that few other people live like this - cubans don't live like this - is absurd.

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[-] psmgx@lemmy.world 78 points 2 months ago
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[-] nutomic@lemmy.ml 71 points 2 months ago

I only stopped there for transit on a flight to Mexico. Just before boarding my flight I was told that I need a visa for the US, which is extremely weird because normally airports have transit zones where you don't need any visa. But apparently the US is special, so you actually have to enter the country before going right back into the airport. This nonsense made me miss my flight.

Also I remember in the airport there was a security guard doing nothing but shouting nonstop that it's not allowed to carry water. Why not simply put up a sign?

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 45 points 2 months ago
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[-] BreadOven@lemmy.world 71 points 2 months ago

Signs telling you not to bring guns into shopping centers.

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[-] mbirth@lemmy.ml 71 points 2 months ago

The fear of naked (intact) female bodies, i.e. censoring of even the slightest nudity, when at the same time, it’s totally fine to have minors play computer games where they can dissect other humans in great bloody detail.

Oh, and chocolate that tastes like somebody barfed into it during manufacturing.

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[-] Cruxifux@feddit.nl 69 points 2 months ago

I’m from Alberta Canada. I’ve worked up North in camp jobs, and have been working in the trades with the rowdiest people our country has to offer.

Every time I’ve been to the states I’m shocked at how aggressive a large portion of your population is willing to talk to people. Every time I’ve gone there I’ve had at least one negative aggressive interaction with one of your citizens. I’m a large man with a beard and tattooes up to my neck, I’m a pretty intimidating looking dude paired with the Canadian politeness we’re known for. I do not understand how this keeps happening. And I see you guys do it to eachother too! It’s fucking wild.

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[-] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 69 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

based on knowledge of the US : many things that other places take for granted or fight to preserve, you guys struggle to obtain.

based on my trip : fucking nothing, I visited new york and stayed at a run down, pre paid hotel. I ate food from stores or carry out. I can't exactly critique the healthcare system, tipping culture, driving culture when I had access to a fairly modern public transport system, didn't need medical assistance and didn't need to tip 50 people just to eat one thing.

EDIT: it's like asking tourists in antalya at the beach what they think of turkey, they're fucking tourists, they aren't affected by the dictator and his bullshit

[-] assaultpotato@sh.itjust.works 46 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I was just in Göcek and Ankara and I had some wildly interesting interactions with locals when they asked me how I liked Turkey.

"I like it, very beautiful country, lovely people, great food."

"So you'd move here?"

"Uh... perhaps not"

"So you don't like Turkey"

👀

lol

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[-] sweetpotato@lemmy.ml 64 points 2 months ago

Your urban planning. Your cities are unwalkable, the scenery makes me depressed af, everything is scaled up for cars, even restaurants are for cars, the highways are huge, all I can see is tar. I don't know how you can live like that.

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[-] SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works 63 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Going out in public in your pajamas.

How difficult it is to find fresh produce in small shops (food deserts)

How much fat is in all the meat.

How old and badly maintained many of the roads and bridges are (I am from Africa, so that says something)

The levels of national arrogance.

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[-] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 62 points 2 months ago

Shoes. Indoors, in your own house, on your furniture?!

[-] Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 31 points 2 months ago

That is divisive even within the country.

I was raised in small town Ohio and taking your shoes off, especially in a strangers home (occasionally not in your own because of practicalities like going back and forth to unload the car), was considered part of common etiquette along with not wearing hats indoors.

Both of those things really depend on your family though as I've definitely met people that just don't care.

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[-] MuffinHeeler@aussie.zone 59 points 2 months ago

Your public toilets are not private. There should never be a gap around the door. The height should be above what any reasonable person would grow to, and the lower height of the door should hide the person's feet on the toilet unless you crouch down. It's weird and very off putting to use one

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[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 59 points 2 months ago

First thing I (another Canadian) noticed when we switched from the car to a shuttle to the airport (crossed the border by car to take a flight to Florida) was that there were multiple people on that shuttle that were at least as big as the most obese person I'd ever seen in person up to that point.

Even though our cultures overlap quite a bit, there's something different in that aspect.

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[-] StopJoiningWars@discuss.online 58 points 2 months ago

The amount of sugar in any food of yours! It's incredibly sickening and I'm not sure how you deal with that.

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[-] scott@lem.free.as 58 points 2 months ago

Sweet bread.

OMG. It's bread. Why is it sweet?

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[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 56 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Canadian here, British Columbia.

Going to a Wal-Mart in a small-ish town and counting 38 CCTV cameras across the outside front of the building. Ours, in a city with 28× the population, has only 6.

Inside that same Wal-Mart, going into a checkout line without first checking out the customers, and the very next guy ahead of us was an open carry: a semi-auto (AR-15 like looking weapon) slung over his shoulders, a handgun in a holster on his waist, and a lump on his right ankle above his boots. And two knives on his belt. Dude looked like he was ready for some urban warfare.

The sheer amount of infrastructure decay. Sure, even Canadian towns that haven’t seen economic good times look run down and dilapidated, but American towns really kick that up a notch. Most small-town buildings look like they haven’t seen a makeover since the Carter administration.

Unusually authentic Mexican food. Up here 90% of Mexican places are run by white dudes who make semi-authentic “fusion” dishes that are mainly just spicy. Cross the border and less than 15 minutes in, there is one family-run chain (Rancho Chico, Rancho Grande) with super-cheap 100% authentic foods run and staffed solely by Mexicans. And like, holy shit, that’s good food.

The sheer number of people who support and vote for a party who will do absolutely nothing for them, and will enact policies that will drive them even further into poverty and destitution just so their Parasite-Class campaign donors can get even more obscenely wealthy. Conservative voters are just weird, man.

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[-] Anderenortsfalsch@discuss.tchncs.de 51 points 2 months ago

German, only having been there once some years ago, so no idea if it still is that way:

Not knowing what I will have to pay in the grocery store until the cashier tells me what to pay. Here the price on the shelf is THE price. I might have a voucher that reduces the price in the end, but nothing is ever added only subtracted, all prices on the shelf are easily comparable, because no matter the weight of one package there is also given the price of 1kg or 100 g for everything.

No kids on playing grounds without parents standing around. No kids just playing on the side walk (often there is no side walk anyway), no kids walking to school. It made me aware of how much freedom kids have in Germany, how independent even 6 y.o. are in Germany compared to kids in the US. They walk to to school alone or use public transport alone, they buy groceries alone, they visit friends by foot or public transport, three y.o. already having a bike and cycling besides their parents to kindergarden...

On the other hand seeing so many very young people having a job, like a really hard job for many hours besides school. It broke my heart, they should be free to be young and having all the time, working comes fast enough and goes on forever. Also I saw very old people doing jobs that should be able to retire because you could see them being in pain and barely able to function, definitely not a "choice" for them.

The amount of medication, especially pain medication, people take in the US compared to Germany and how much of it is freely available while it is needing a subscription from a doctor here. Every time I was feeling unwell I was offered pills that I found to be numbingly strong and switching my brain off? Hard to explain. I found them scary, but was told that they take them on a daily basis and they are harmless ... nope.

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[-] anzo@programming.dev 47 points 2 months ago

Sorry to be honest, but this is my view...

Voting between two parties, and then getting whatever the "electors" pick. All the while, thinking they live under the biggest democracy of the world.

Having all sorts of inhuman behaviors, like robbing childs from immigrants.

Child marriage.

Having lots of weapons in the country but all wars outside.

Mmm.. What else? Ah, prisoners are slaves.

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[-] Windex007@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago

Juxtaposition of pearl-clutching Puritanism w/ a 21 drinking age against beer available in a 7-11.

Pick a fucking lane

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[-] espentan@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago

The toilets/restrooms at restaurants (or at least many fastfood restaurants?) are often shared and used by both employees and customers. It grossed me out a bit a bit at first, especially as they are, in my experience, quite often pretty filthy. So all the nastiness customers drag in could potentially be picked up by employees.

I've been to BKs and Wendys' where I left the establishment as soon as I entered, just because the whole place looked and smelled like somewhere you shouldn't eat. I suppose these were more often than not in pretty rural areas..

While on the toilet topic, I've found public restrooms at e.g. gas stations and shopping malls to often be, uh, less than inviting. I think I've seen more overflowing toilets on a 4 week vacation in the US than I've seen in 40 years over here, in northwest Europe.

To be fair, I've driven east/west at least 10 times over the years, so I've been to a lot of public restrooms and the bad experiences tend to stay with you for longer than the good ones.

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[-] Twofacetony@lemmy.world 45 points 2 months ago

The firearm culture, and how normalised it is.

I went into a Walgreens in Chicago, and waited in line behind two other people. There was a cashier free but the person in front of the line was waiting to be called. The guy behind the person in front politely said, “ma’am, the cashier is free” ‘I’m waiting to be called” was the response.

So the guy behind her just walked past her, and she pushed him and said, “Careful buddy, you’ll get shot for doing something like that”

I was taken aback at how quickly a simple discourtesy escalated to shooting someone. It just blew my mind that shooting someone over queue jumping was verbalised, and seemingly normal to each other.

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[-] Argyle13@lemmy.world 41 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Many things. To say some...Billboards with lawyers advertising for things like demands after accidents. Like dozens one after another on the road.

So much sugar in everything. Last time I was there had to throw to the bin a yogurt. Was so sweet It was awful. Prices of "fresh" food.

Tips for everything. Going to a restaurant and have to tip like 20% of the bill, or even more, is crazy.

Wáter consumtion. Like big golf camps completely green in the middle of a desert (Vegas). When asked about It, people there just answered "no problem, we have the Hoover Dam for that".

Lack of public transport outside four or five big cities. And that just walking on the streets in some places is very strange fot the people living there. I was asked ten years ago in Palo Alto if I was Russian because I was not driving, just walking on the street!!

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[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 41 points 2 months ago
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[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 41 points 2 months ago

As an American, my top realization was... everywhere else in the world yall use electric kettles - Americans frequently only have a stove top kettle like it's the fucking eighteenth century.

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[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 37 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Another Canadian.

All-green money is weird, about as weird for us as ours is for you. Once I knocked over some products in a store and then picked them up. The staff acted like that was saintly, so I guess other people just make a mess and move on? Drive through liquor stores are weird, and seem like an invitation to drink and drive. Paying at a hospital is weird just in concept, although thank god I've never had to deal with it down there.

Uhh, other than that it's been pretty similar in the places I've been. Etiquette around "sorry" is famously different, but aside from giving me away as Canadian it has little impact.

Edit, to add a couple positive things: Amazing Mexican food and barbecue not only exists but are ubiquitous. Coding jobs pay good money.

Everyone has an air conditioner, although Canada might be the weird one there.

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[-] mbirth@lemmy.ml 35 points 2 months ago

The brown paper-bag thing with alcohol in public. I mean, everybody and their dog knows what's in there, right?

And the fact that people ask if you need help if you decide to NOT take the car but instead walk the 5 minutes to somewhere.

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[-] Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 32 points 2 months ago

A church and a MC Donald every 250 meters The sheer size of everything

[-] majestictechie@lemmy.fosshost.com 31 points 2 months ago

All of the ads for Medication on TV

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[-] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

To name a few:

Calling yourself Americans, after the entire dual continent. There are two continents and many other countries in the Americas, you know... [I know you know. And, what are you supposed to call yourselves, 'USAians'? 'Americans' makes more sense and is easier to roll off the tongue. But it's weird.]

Holding the door open for me. Smiling at me on the street. Those are sure signs of a swindler, but it's the norm in the USA. [I am not suggesting USA folks are swindlers, only that those actions are what swindlers in much of the world use. USA people are generally super nice and a genuine pleasure to be around.]

Turning right on red light. Red means stop. It's weird and confusing.

Edit: I added a third thing.

Edit2 in []

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British.

I found a lot of things weird, but I did go to Florida like 8 times so it’s to be expected and maybe some of these are exclusive to that state.

  • I found it weird that alcohol seemed to be sold only in liquor stores. But you can buy a machine gun in Walmart.
  • The food. Don’t get me wrong it’s nice and all but the quantity. Take sizzlers, you go in order your main meal then get an endless buffet for free. Like I couldn’t eat my steak when it arrived as I was full from the buffet.
  • syrup all over breakfast items and people bigger than id ever seen were gorging and then taking a box home too.
  • enthusiasm: grown ass adults whooping and hollering as we were queuing for rides. I’m a man child myself but it was startling.
  • Jaywalking. Wtf

To throw out some positives. Everyone I met was lovely and nothing like the nut jobs we get to see online. People were polite, friendly and accommodating.

Beautiful nature and national parks.

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[-] Album@lemmy.ca 30 points 2 months ago
  1. The intense income disparity.

  2. Healthcare bills.

I suppose these are cliche topics but as a non-american non-tourist the first thing that has stood out to me is that the highs are so incredibly high, and the lows are so incredibly low. Being a Canadian, it's not like we don't also have income disparity...but the gap is not as insane. The rich in the US have yachts that are 100's of millions of dollars, and the poor literally carry their kids on their backs while selling fruit on the side of the highway. You can see both in the same day.

Also I don't think Americans truly understand that you can get weeks of hospital care in Canada and not even receive a bill. Like a month in a private hospital room and i paid for a phone bill, a wifi bill, and some parking fees. In the US if you even so much as flash your eyelashes at a doctor you get a bill for hundreds of dollars.

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[-] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Fast food portion sizes. It's out of control. Drinking 1 liter of soda for lunch shouldn't be normalized. BTW most people are super friendly and nice, in Michigan at least.

Oh, and why is all the cheese orange ?

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[-] DrFuggles@feddit.org 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Your bread is sweet. Like, all of it. And not just like, pleasantly so like a French brioche, but almost candy-like. Wonder Bread is one of the worst offenders, coming in at 5g added sugars per 100g: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wonder-Bread-Classic-White-Sandwich-Bread-Sliced-White-Bread-20-oz/37858875?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1600

Edit: as a commenter pointed out, it's actually closer to 9g/100g, bringing it to soda levels of sugar ಠ_ಠ

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this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024
309 points (97.5% liked)

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