14 Weird Things That Americans Don't Realise About America

11. That Prescription Drugs Are Advertised To Consumers

For a lot of people all over the world, the notion of prescription drugs being advertised to potential consumers on television and via billboards might seem genuinely strange. Especially when you consider that the intention of said advertisements is to convince you to use something that your doctor hasn't recommended; the pharmaceutical companies are hoping that you, having seen the ads, will recommend them to your doctor. The semantics inherent to this "pitching" process are vast and complicated, but this approach to selling drugs will probably seem bizarre to most people living outside of the US, especially since it only occurs in two countries (the other is New Zealand).

10. That The Doors On Bathroom Stalls Don't Close Properly

In most cases, there is about an inch of space separating the frame of the door and the door itself, a design feature which could have only been implemented by a madman. Contrary to what your bathrooms are telling you, this isn't common around the rest of the world, where people prefer to defecate in something resembling privacy. And whilst we're on the subject of bathrooms...

9. That There Are No "Vacant/Occupied" Mechanisms On Your Bathroom Stall Doors

Which means, of course, that nobody knows whether the cubicle is empty or not, resulting in at least two of three moments of absolute terror whenever somebody tries the door from the other side, resulting in that pathetic declaration of: "There's somebody in here." In Europe, to cite a hefty example of an alternate system at play, the doors come fitted with a "vacant/occupied" locking mechanism; when you lock the door, the mechanism informs people that the cubicle currently has a person with their pants down trying to poop inside. So so simple, and yet...