I will start. I’m in the United States.
Credit unions! Nearly half of all Americans are credit union members. They don’t seem to be popular in Europe and Asia. A credit union is a not-for-profit co-operative financial institution that essentially provides all the same services as a bank, except it’s run as a democratic institution with directors elected by the customers instead of as a profit maximisation machine for shareholders.
They’re common in Canada as well. In my experience, they’re much better than larger banks for things like fees and interest rates.
Historically the main advantage of a larger bank was having banks and ATMs everywhere, but lots of CUs have formed mutual agreements for ATM access, and internet banking being ubiquitous has rendered any advantage the big banks have had moot (in my opinion, at least).
The biggest problem I’ve had with My credit union is there an ability to fix problems, and they’re absolutely antiquated systems.
I went to Florida on vacation instantly tripped fraud. I had contacted them prior They put a note in my account because they had no other way to do anything. I tripped fraud on a Friday night and they were not able to answer a call from me until Monday morning.
A couple of years later I spent a few days in Niagara. The very first day I got up there I tripped fraud. I had already called them went through three different people to make sure there was nothing else I could do. I made sure that I didn’t arrive on a Friday this time. My big problem now was that I was looking at an hour-long phone call and I was roaming. I drove up to one of the higher points in town and managed to get a US Tower. I got them to unlock me which worked for approximately one day.
Their web portal the last time I used it required me to have a 7 to 10 character password uppercase lowercase only. Tell me you’re storing my data and securely without telling me your storing my data in securely.
You don’t always end up with the best management by having the clientele pick the management. And sometimes those really low rates end up making you suffer on the security side of things.
Still the best interest rate I’ve ever gotten on a car loan and the entire staff was absolutely sweet, They were just entirely incapable of keeping my card working whenever I left the state.
I ended up going back to a larger bank. 24-hour fraud unlock hotline, also capable of unlocking me via a link in email as soon as it’s tripped.
Apparently years later I find out that I possibly could have gotten by some of the fraud issues with the credit union if I would have used the card in debit mode. They apparently assume that a debit transaction is inherently secure. I have no idea if this actually works but if you’re having trouble it’s not a bad idea to try it. Just do at least one pin transaction every time you go to a different location.
Ah, that would definitely make a difference. A debit transaction uses some form of “password” like a PIN or the data embedded in a card chip. A credit transaction technically only relies on easily available data and sometimes a signature, much more common for fraud (it’s pretty easy to read and replicate the data from a magnetic strip–one of my classmates did a project to read magnetic strips, and they had to stop letting people swipe their own cards on it because it popped up tons of confidential data).
My CU’s website definitely looks like it’s from the early naughts, but they at least kept things up to date and security practices seemed legit, and I don’t think I ever tripped the fraud detector. I guess everyone’s mileage will vary a bit.
Yeah, I just got the impression that everything they were using was a canned service. And whatever service they bought for fraud protection was either poorly serviced or they weren’t properly trained on it.
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Not from the US but currently living here. I would say the Disability Act is the gold standard worldwide. The amount of consideration for people with a variety of disabilities that almost universally applies is exceptionally amazing. It’s kind of shocking to see the dedication to adhering to that law while otherwise abandoning that portion of the population (e.g. Healthcare, SSDI, etc.).
Yeah it was surprisingly jarring going to Europe and seeing places that were completely inaccessible by wheel chair. I have never used a wheel chair in my life but I know there’s bars in my area that have mini elevators for peole on wheel chairs to access the lower level that’s only like 4 steps down.
Hold on, I’ll phone the Romans and ask them why they didn’t make the pont du Gard wheelchair accessible
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They currently live in the US. So, whether they properly answered your prompt seems to depend on your definition of “your country”.
Oops, I didn’t see that. My bad. Guess I made a fool of myself here.
US here. I don’t think we get enough credit for our anti-smoking culture, and given that Hollywood is a major culture driver…
Even in my poor little town, where the broke and uneducated smoke more, it’s getting to be where I’m a little taken aback when I see someone smoking in public.
All this coming from a guy that smoked for 20+ years. The culture shift has been dramatic and I hope we’re exporting it.
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I’m a smoker in the US. It seems like a hell of a lot less than 6% of people here smoke. I don’t think I have a single family member or friend who still smokes. Feels like it’s just me.
The UK has seen a stratospheric drop too. Banned from all non-private indoor spaces, taxed through the roof. At least in the South, it’s rare to see or even smell someone smoking now, even on TV. Although in some cities it’s just as likely to smell cannabis as tobacco.
I don’t think you’re “exporting it” though - it’s not an American initiative. This was a pretty universal shift of “why the fuck do we do this stupid shit?”
Also US, we’re definitely not exhibiting an “anti smoking” culture. I think you’re confusing what you’re exposed to to what is really going on in the world. It’s important to recognize the limitations of your perspective, and not confuse them for a national trend
Turkiye: E-Devlet.
We have this E-Government system that centralizes almost all relations with the State, I really don’t remember when was the last time I saw an official document in paper. With all 1000+ official agencies involved, you can access and manage over 8000+ services like GDPR permissions, analogue tv frequency infos, paying traffic tickets, state-backed escrowing, fraud checks, my kids grades, my medical records etc within an handsome mobile/web app.
It was shocking to see even my German friends still need to use their physical mailboxes to handle official stuff. I can imagine it’s even worse at the rest of the western world.
Much of the UK’s regular government stuff is online and very simple too - their website is actually very good. It doesn’t integrate everything though. The health service is particularly fragmented and communication is often by post and not that good.
Same in Spain.
Everything is digitalized and you have the right to do everything digitally. I’ve never mailed anything to the government.
Same in Lithuania.
In fact it’s so good, that if you owe the state money, they’ll just take it directly out of your bank account…
That‘s nice. We have this forepayment discount with all our taxes and tickets instead :D
Not sure why you would think Germany is the best in this respect as I’ve often heard the opposite in my travels there. They are very anti-tech in government, privacy/cybersecurity reasons are what’s usually cited.
France - treating people the same no matter what they do for a living.
It’s really nice to be respected even if you’re a cleaner or a bin man, and very much deserved
I’ve only spent a couple months in France, but I agree from my experience. I think that foreigners that complain about the French being rude were just expecting special treatment, didn’t put in any effort themselves to be friendly, then shocked that the storekeeper/waiter wasn’t kissing their ass, even though they didn’t even manage to say ‘bonjour’.
Who complains the most about the so-called french “attitude”?
Brits and Yanks, the ones that think cleaners and waiters are beneath them and need to dance to earn tips
Makes sense
French people are nice. Parisians are a special kind of hell.
I lived in Paris for a year, speak french and respect people who work extremely difficult jobs in the most tourist-heavy city on the planet
I think I met three or four grumpy cunts in that year. Considering everything, that’s a miniscule percentage
Bear in mind these people aren’t being false-nice. They don’t rely on tips to feed their kids
Japan is like this too, and I loved to see that when I was living there.
The bus drivers often wear nice uniforms and white gloves, and clearly take a lot of care in their appearance and work. And people give them respect.
I wish it was like that everywhere, because being able to have pride in what you do and be respected for it is such an important thing that everyone deserves to have - regardless of what your job is.
I’m currently living in the Netherlands and I found some awesome, (for me) novel things, like ATMs all being from one company that all the banks in NL share ownership in. That means no matter your bank you dont pay for getting cash. Which is ironic cos I dont need cash as much anymore since non-cash payments are so much more prevalent here compared to Germany, for example.
I was just on the Turkish coast and to my surprise, I found an ING atm. “Sweet, its my bank so I shouldn’t have any fees!” I said to my boat driver (who only speaks Turkish).
They charged me like 3%.
ING Turkey ≠ ING Netherlands ≠ ING anywhere else
Oh he spoke other languages, it’s just easier to pretend not to
Portugal has exactly the same system (I’ve lived in both countries) which has actually even more features (such as letting you pay yours bills at any ATM) than the Dutch one.
I think that at least in Europe the countries were ATMs rely on VISA or Mastercard for inter-bank withdrawals like in the UK and US are the exception rather than the rule.
Dutch traffic infrastructure. It’s incredibly safe, promotes walking, bicycling and public transport, well maintained and easy to understand. There’s a reason the largest Youtube channel on urban planning center around the Netherlands experience (and how other places could learn): https://youtube.com/@notjustbikes
You may shit and piss all over the NS, but once you’ve been abroad, you’ll accept those delays with grace.
Falconry is set up really well in the US and several foreign countries clubs are petitioning their government to emulate us.
- It’s difficult to get into on purpose. This reduces impulse buys of raptors by completely inexperienced people which reduces raptor harm.
- Self regulated for the most part through an apprentice / sponsor system.
- Clearly defined as a hunting sport with “pet keepers” kept to a minimum as they can lose their license for not hunting. Raptors make shit pets and need to fly and hunt for their mental well being.
- Wild take of raptors. This is a huge one, pretty much no other country that actually has wildlife protections allows this. Falconry in the US is basically built off of wild take as an exclusion to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- Very difficult to monetize. A falconer cannot use their license to make money. Educational programs can be done but they can’t be paid more than gas money and if they are doing more programs than hunting they can lose their license. Doing abatement (using a raptor to chase off pests at an airport for example) is a separate license which requires 7 years as a falconer minimum.
- Each state has their own club that works with their state government and then there is a national club that works with the feds and other countries.
Can you actually buy raptors? I was under the impression they were all caught wild, and then had to be released after a certain time period.
I did see though when I looked up “wild take” that means removing pre-fledged birds from the nest. They can’t be sold though.
The state regulations I pulled up said out of state birds could be brought in, but not released. Do people just import birds from other countries with poor rules?
Wild take is mostly only for juvenile raptors (only exceptions are Kestrels and Great Horned Owls as they are almost impossible to determine their age by plumage). There is a fledgling season where a chick can be taken from a nest, and a normal season where the bird is trapped while it’s on its own.
A fledgling will be imprinted onto humans and cannot be released back into the wild ever. It is way too accustomed to people and can be a nuisance at best and a danger at worst to the public if released.
A wild trapped juvenile is a normal bird that is trained to hunt cooperatively. They can be released at any time or kept their entire 20+ year life.
Wild birds can not be sold, but they can be transferred to other licensed individuals. Any tit for tat stuff can lead to trouble with this.
If wild raptors are kept for a certain number of years, they can be bred and their offspring sold to other falconers or licensed individuals. These captive bred birds cannot be released into the wild but they in turn can be bred too. They have a seamless band put on their legs when they are chicks to differentiate them from wild birds.
Importing birds from other countries is extremely expensive because as far as I know they need to stay in government quarantine for 30 days or so.
My 3 Harris Hawks, all captive bred. Their native range is the American Southwest and Mexico but mine are from Seattle, Los Vegas, and Baton Rouge: https://falconry.party/post/13676
Very interesting. There seems to be a lot of rules, but they all at least make good sense and look after the birds.
What do you do with what they catch? Is it mainly rodent and birds, or do they catch stuff like rabbits or squirrels that people eat?
I hunt rabbit. For the most part I feed the rabbit back to the birds over the summer but I’ll make a couple rabbit dishes a year.
UK: Crumpets. Crumpets lightly toasted with butter soaking into its pores, and then lightly toasted once more with a slather of Marmite.
These are nothing like pancakes. You bite into the crispy surface and are met with a butter/Marmite infusion that explodes into the back of your mouth, and whilst you’re dealing with that sensual assault, your teeth sink into the soft almost creamy texture of the crumpet itself.
They are divine, and are the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.
Ah, yes. Trypophobia pancakes.
I feel trypophobia quite strongly with some triggers, even things like budding plants pushing through the ground can make my akin crawl. But for some reason crumpets are okay.
I guess my brain just sees the crumpet texture as being like a macro bread texture, which is okay because it’s kinda bready.
the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.
You do know you can get crumpets in any supermarket in sunny Queensland, yeah? You can even get Marmite (but why would you when Vegemite is superior).
Yes, yes, there there, now…
*smothers face with a pillow whilst making shushing noises*Australian Marmite is from New Zealand and is not quite the same as British.
Vegemite is superior to marmite, but crumpets are best with butter & honey/golden syrup.
Is that the same thing we Americans refer to as an “English Muffin”? I always thought crumpets were cookies or something lol.
No it’s not. It’s more of a spongy consistency compared to a the dry, breadiness of an English muffin.
Exactly. It is the optimal food sponge; not too deep, not too shallow.
It’s also a fantastically endearing insult to use, since it means someone is a little dense but not actually stupid, and I like to believe that we are all crumpets in this way.
In my dad’s era, a bit of crumpet was something completely different
(I might actually be using it wrong. What does it mean?)
Say what you will about the chaebols running the country and the rampant corruption, Korean roadworkers are incredibly fast and efficient. There’s never some guy standing around doing nothing.
Recycling. In Sweden we recycle so much that we have to buy trash from other countries!
Billiard balls and playing cards. Belgium is world leader in both.
Edit: forgot to add pigeons. Belgian competition pigeons are the most expensive in the world.
Edit 2: Belfries. Clock-O-Matic is a Belgian company and world leader in the automation of Belfries. It’s not that hard because most Belfries are located in Belgium and France, if not all of them.
Edit 3: It never ends. Roller coaster wheels. Let that sink in. No their country produces more roller coaster wheels nor is as good as we arr at it.
Man, it feels weird to think of USPCC as a Cartamundi subsidiary, but I guess you’re right — since 2019 (had to look that up) Belgium really has been the playing-card hub of the world! (A little American patriotism just died in me…)
USPCC only makes for a fourth of Cartamundi’s revenue. And to make it even more Belgian, Cartamundi is still run by the same two families that founded the company 6 generations ago Each family owns 50% of the shares.
Damn. This actually makes me want to live in Belgium. If not for the billiards,then for the church bells. If not for those, then for the competitive pigeons… Then the cards. (In that order)
slaps on the pigeon shed
Fastest pigeons in the world baby.
But seriously. 1.252.000 euro for a pigeon
America: our mail system is. USPS processes 23.5 million packages per day, and processes and delivers 318 million pieces of mail every day, to every single household in America, 6 days per week (7 days per week for packages).
They will throw mail sacks onto the backs of donkeys and trek them down into the Grand Canyon to deliver to tribes down there. They will deliver by bike, plane, boat, truck, car, etc. Hell, name any other organization where you could hand someone a letter and $0.62 and ask them to take it to Alaska for you, and they’d say no problem.
“Post” roads in the U.S. are named as such because they were roads built specifically for the movement of “post” across the country, and people have even argued that USPS (then the Postal Service) created the layout of the country as we know it.
And despite what many may think or know, USPS is incredibly efficient when it comes to mail and delivery compared to other countries. I remember them telling us during our orientation (I used to be a mail carrier) that back around 2013, representatives from USPS were actually flown to Germany to teach and help them start delivering 6-days per week. USPS taught Germany how to be more efficient at something 😂
Slovakia: corruption
Isn’t the party in power pro Russian? Would make sense then.
I live in a 10 million people European country which is the leading cork producer in the World
Also the first European country to explicitly decriminalise drug consumption.
Those two things are unrelated.
