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Man uses the shoe aisle to perfectly explain why middle-class Americans are hurting

The "garbage shoes" helped him demonstrate his point brilliantly.

Photo credit: Canva

Remember things being built to last?

Unfortunately, most Americans are well aware of shrinkflation, where food companies reduce the sizes of their products while the price remains the same at the grocery store. You see this in fast food restaurants when you pick up a burger and feel like your hand has grown a few inches, and at the supermarket when you buy a box of cookies, it weighs less than it did a few weeks ago. Companies use this strategy when they think you’ll be less likely to notice a dip in quantity than a hike in the price.

We see something similar in the world of retail, particularly fast fashion. Fast fashion offers cheaper garments made from low-quality materials that last about as long as the trend does, so people can throw them away and buy the next hot thing. This can be a real problem because fast fashion harms the environment and leads to exploitative labor practices. And the tough part is—even for the most conscious of consumer, it's hard to escape from.

Here's a prime example of what this looks like in the real world. A few months ago, a TikTokker named Tom (@SideMoneyTom), popular for making videos about consumer products, went viral for a video where he called out shoe manufacturers for dropping their quality while keeping prices high. “So many of you guys want to shoot the messenger, but look, it's not my fault shoes are made out of Styrofoam and oil now,” Tom says in a TikTok with over 528,000 views. “It's literally every shoe you look at now. It's not even just the cheap ones. I can find hundred dollar plus pairs of shoes all day long with glue squeezing out of their Styrofoam cracks.”

@sidemoneytom

Replying to @Oscar Magaña shoes are done #fyp #shoes #foryou

Tom notes that recently, shoes have been made with foam soles instead of rubber. Both have pros and cons. Foam is a little more comfortable, but rubber lasts a lot longer. Rubber shoes keep shape and support over time and are much more durable. Conversely, foam shoes compress over time, losing their support and comfort. When companies sell cheaper shoes that wear out more quickly, they make much more money because you must keep replacing them.

In the video, Tom adds that many companies that used to have shoes made with rubber heels, such as Carhartt and Timberland, have switched to foam. This is an interesting choice for brands that pride themselves on selling durable products.

Cora Harrington, a writer and lingerie expert, says that companies aren't entirely to blame. Americans don’t want to pay higher prices. “People don’t exactly want to pay more for all that stuff,” Harrington told Vox. "So what has to happen if everything is more expensive and the customers still want to pay the same price, something has to be cut and that’s often going to be the quality of the garment.”

“There is an entire generation of consumers at this point that doesn’t actually know what high-quality clothing feels like and looks like,” Harrington continues. “It gets easier, I think, for consumers to just not know any better.”

@sidemoneytom

Replying to @donkles #shoes #fyp #sketchers #nike

Many commenters have noticed the decline in shoe quality and praised Tom for pointing it out. "I am so happy I’m not the only one who is baffled by shoes being made of styrofoam and then being upcharged for them," one commenter wrote. "When shoes started being named some version of 'Air Light Cloud float,' my thought was it was because they went from quality rubber to cheap foam and less materials,” another commenter added.

Tom believes the decline in shoe quality is an example of a more significant trend affecting American consumers' products: quality is decreasing while prices remain the same. “The quality of everything is going to hell, and the prices are going up," Tom concludes his video. "The problem is, so many of us have just become used to it that we keep buying it, and we basically allow them to dumb down the quality of everything. Everything in our lives. These shoes are just the tip of the iceberg. Start thinking about it in your life. What are you gonna allow to be garbage quality?"

This article originally appeared in March. It has been updated.

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American woman moves to Australia and discovers embarrassing double-meaning of her name

Devyn introduced herself to a group of people and they immediately bust out laughing.

via Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels and Ethan Brooke/Pexels
A woman is shocked to learn that her name means something totally different in Australia.

When people move abroad, it's normal to experience serious culture shock. Culture shock is a feeling of being disoriented or confused by a different way of life and set or norms than you're used to. You'd think moving from America to another English speaking country wouldn't be so jarring, but you might actually be surprised at how different things can really be even when the bulk of the language and customs overlap nicely.

Devyn Hales, 22, from California, recently moved to Sydney, Australia, on a one-year working visa and quickly found out that she had a lot to learn about her new home.

The first thing that made her feel out of place? Believe it or not, her name. It wasn't going to work Down Under. It all started when a group of men made fun of her on St. Patrick’s Day.

australia, names, americans, living abroad, cultural differences, culture, america, travel, traveling, english language Australia is a lot more than Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin. Giphy

After she introduced herself as Devyn, the men laughed at her. "They burst out laughing, and when I asked them why, they told me devon is processed lunch meat,” she told The Daily Mail. It's similar to baloney, so I introduce myself as Dev now,” she said in a viral TikTok video with over 1.7 million views.

For those who have never been to Australia, Devon is a processed meat product usually cut into slices and served on sandwiches. It is usually made up of pork, basic spices, and a binder. Devon is affordable because people buy it in bulk and it’s often fed to children. Australians also enjoy eating it fried, like spam. It is also known by other names such as fritz, circle meat, Berlina and polony, depending on where one lives on the continent. It's like in America, where people refer to cola as pop, soda, or Coke, depending on where they live in the country.

So, one can easily see why a young woman wouldn’t want to refer to herself as a processed meat product that can be likened to boloney or spam.

"Wow, love that for us," another woman named Devyn wrote in the comments. “Tell me the name thing isn't true,” a woman called Devon added.

For Devyn, it could have been worse, as her name was easily shortened to Dev. She could have been named Sheila, which is a slang term for women or girls that also carries slightly derogatory undertones.

@dhalesss

#fypシ #australia #americaninaustralia #sydney #aussie

Besides changing her name, Dev shared some other differences between living in Australia and her home country.

“So everyone wears slides. I feel like I'm the only one with 'thongs'—flip-flops—that have the little thing in the middle of your big toe. Everyone wears slides,” she said. "Everyone wears shorts that go down to your knees and that's a big thing here.”

Dev also noted that there are a lot of guys in Australia named Lachlan, Felix and Jack. (Noah, Oliver, Leo, and William have officially held the top spots for years.)

She was also thrown off by the sound of the plentiful magpies in Australia. According to Dev, they sound a lot like crying children with throat infections. “The birds threw me off,” she said before making an impression that many people in the comments thought was close to perfect.

"The birds is so spot on," a user named Jess wrote. "The birds, I will truly never get used to it," Marissa added.

@dhalesss

Replying to @j🌿 #greenscreenvideo

One issue that many Americans face when moving to Australia is that it is more expensive than the United States. However, many Americans who move to Australia love the work-life balance. Brooke Laven, a brand strategist in the fitness industry who moved there from the U.S., says that Aussies have the “perfect work-life balance” and that they are “hard-working” but “know where to draw the line.”

Despite the initial cultural shocks, Devyn is embracing her new life in Australia with a positive outlook. In a follow-up video, she mentions she hasn't even had many run-ins with Australia's infamous and dangerous creatures like giant spiders and man-eating sharks. There are other perks to living there, as well.

“The coffee is a lot better in Australia, too,” she added with a smile, inspiring others to see the bright side of cultural differences.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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Non-Americans share 15 things that left them utterly bewildered when they visited America

The way we just scrape our food into the sink after meals.

Derek Wolfgram/Flickr & Canva Photos

People are sharing the weirdest things that are considered normal in America.

For better or worse, it's easy for all of us to find ourselves in a bubble. We're surrounded by a certain way of thinking, a certain lifestyle, and a certain perspective on cultural norms. We can get caught up in thinking that people outside of our little bubble are weird, or different, and that the strange ways they might do things are flat out wrong or bizarre. This is especially common in the United States. The world, in a lot of ways, is America-centric. Most anywhere we go, people will speak English, accept our currency, and know who Taylor Swift is.

But the truth is that there's a big wide world out there, full of vastly different cultures and ways of life! And have we ever stopped to think... maybe we're the weird ones?

A recent thread on Reddit posed the question: "What is something Americans consider normal, but people from other countries find it disturbing?"

Here are the best responses on things that are normal in the U.S. but considered strange, shocking, horrifying, or just plain weird elsewhere.

1. Portion sizes

america, usa, american culture, europe, culture, americans, europeans, americans abroad, tourists, immigrants, large portion sizes American portion sizes are colossal.Canva Photos

"The portion thing always makes me laugh now since I learned Europeans apparently dont do leftovers from restaurants. I get that if you're used to a restaurant portion being something you always eat all of in one sitting our portions probably seem ridiculous. ... As a big dude who eats a ton just to live, I'm glad our portions are what they are," one user wrote.

2. Garbage disposals in kitchen sinks

"Yeah, it’s wild how normal they seem here, but elsewhere they’re seen as loud, dangerous, or just plain weird," someone commented.

"They also seem to think we dump large amounts of food waste down them when they’re just meant for small scraps," a user added.

Garbage disposals, indeed, are not often found outside of the United States. In fact, they're outright banned in many European countries. The thinking is that encouraging people to scrape leftover food down the drain places additional stress on the sewage system and harms the environment.

3. Prices don't include tax

Foreigners think it's weird when they come to America and a 99 cent item ends up costing $1.06. Differing sales tax across state lines is partly to blame, but users in the thread were convinced that's only an excuse:

"If the cash register knows the price, then the price sticker machine can be set with the same price. It's really that simple," someone wrote.

4. Gaps between restroom stall doors

america, usa, american culture, europe, culture, americans, europeans, americans abroad, tourists, immigrants, bathrooms, bathroom stalls, privacy American public restrooms aren't very private.Canva Photos

Visitors from Europe are used to public restroom stalls that are almost completely enclosed. In America, for some strange reason, we love leaving gigantic gaps between the edges of the door, the floor, and the ceiling. Why? There are a few reasons: It's easier to mop under the stalls this way, and less privacy means it's harder for folks to get away with doing sketchy things in the stalls. But either way, a lot of people don't like it.

"I once cried during a layover in the US because I needed to empty my menstrual cup after 12+ hours of traveling, and you could literally just see into every stall. Plus I need to squat down to do it, and the doors ended at my knees. A random lady saw me panicking and when I said the stalls weren't private enough, she said "awwwwe, are you European?"

5. So. many. commercials.

"I had a British friend ask why were there so many commercials during an episode of Family Guy," one user wrote.

"And the content of those commercials. Apparently it's only American doctors who need their patients to ask about some amazing new medication that has crazy side effects," another added.

6. We get healthcare through our jobs

It always struck me as funny that a country that supposedly loves entrepreneurs and small business owners makes it so incredibly dangerous to leave your job for any reason. It's even more shocking to people from, well, almost any other developed country.

"This job pays like shit and I hate it, but if I quit my essential medication won't be covered until I get hired somewhere else, so I can't risk it!" one user joked.

7. Worrying about the cost of the doctor

At least a quarter of adults regularly skip necessary medical care because they're worried about how much it costs. Visitors from abroad are utterly horrified by the thought of having to consider whether potentially life-saving procedures fit the budget.

8. Cashiers don't sit down


america, usa, american culture, europe, culture, americans, europeans, americans abroad, tourists, immigrants, cashiers Cashiers in America stand all shift long.Canva Photos

People who work the cash register generally sit down in most parts of the world, including Europe. It's more comfortable and ergonomic, and, in fact, there's something called Right to Sit that guarantees this benefit.

In America, cashiers are often forbidden from sitting down while working, which comes as a big surprise to foreigners.

9. HOAs

HOAs exist in some parts of the world, but they are particularly intense in America. It can be a bucket of cold water for people who move here from abroad.

"A client of mine had a sick husband. He unfortunately passed away. She leaves her garbage cans out during this time and begins to get fined by the HOA everyday her cans are left out, and letters posted on her door," one user shared.

10. School children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance


america, usa, american culture, europe, culture, patriotism, pledge of allegiance America loves the Pledge of Allegiance.Canva Photos.

Some countries around the world have their own version of the Pledge of Allegiance. What's extremely rare is a democracy forcing children to recite their loyalty every morning and even face punishment if they refuse.

"Did a student exchange [in the US] when I was 17 and got detention on my first day for not saying it. I didn’t know it, but even if I did… It’s not my country! Tried so hard to politely explain that to the teacher and they wouldn’t have a bar of it," one commenter shared.

11. Our obsession with grass lawns

The love, nay, obsession, with lawns found in the America suburbs is not a global phenomenon. A lot of foreigners find it to be extremely strange, and a little disturbing. But there is a bright side:

"As a married, middle aged man with 3 kids, ill let everyone in on a little secret: Its the only time we get to ourselves... It also is really satisfying. But the actual reason behind why it became a thing is rooted in the classwar and racism like everything else in this country," one user wrote.

12. Declawing cats


america, american culture, europe, european culture, cats, cat claws, declawing animals, cosmetic surgery Cosmetic surgeries on pets are...a choice.Canva Photos.

Optional or cosmetic surgeries on pets are pretty unique to America, all things considered:

"Docking tails, and clipping ears, and dew claw removal on dogs, too! Our miniature pinscher has had all three done to her by her previous owner, and it's just so needlessly cruel. She didn't need any of those surgeries," someone wrote.

13. Wearing shoes in the house

Shoes in the house is not uniquely American, but it's more common here than most other places around the world.

"This is insane and nasty. The city I live in unfortunately has a lot of shit — and I don’t mean from dogs — on the ground. Wearing shoes in the house is disgusting," someone wrote.

Personally, I love wearing shoes in the house—otherwise I'd constantly be stubbing my toes!

14. Circumcision

Again, a few other places around the world perform circumcisions, usually for religious reasons, but America is unique in the way it has become the default choice for almost every boy regardless of religion or background. Europeans, in particular, find this practice extremely strange.

"So glad I didn’t do this to my son. My fiancée’s family gave me serious backlash for choosing not to because all of the boys on her side of the family are circumcised. I simply told them that I am not a barbarian and I don’t care what they think," one user wrote.

15. Sugar in weird places


america, usa, american culture, europe, culture, sugar America loves extra sugar in savory foods.Canva Photos.

A lot of food items on American shelves include tons of added sugar and high fructose corn syrup. You expect to see it in soda, candy, and desserts. But bread? Pasta sauce? Why is there so much sugar in everything?

Sugar is used regularly in America to enhance flavor and work as a preservative, whereas the practices isn't as common in many other countries.

This article originally appeared in June.

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Non-Americans revealed the 15 things that Americans never knew were an 'American Thing'

"Carrying a gallon of water with you everywhere you go."

via The KarenD/Flickr, Will/Flickr, Sandra/Flickr

A red solo cup, leprechauns and Miracle Whip.

One of the great joys of traveling is finding a new appreciation for your home country and culture after seeing how people do things abroad. It’s also funny when you begin to miss the comforts of home that you never knew weren't popular abroad. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and when you get home, you’ll have a new appreciation for the life you briefly left behind.

For Americans, there are obvious things we know are unique to us, such as referring to the game where you kick a ball into a goal as soccer, rather than football. There are also some of our nonsensical sayings, such as “See ya later, alligator,” or “Put your John Hancock on it,” that you won't hear anywhere else. However, there are also some unique aspects of American culture that are so American, most of us don't even realize they aren’t widely adopted elsewhere.


A Redditor recently asked people on the Ask subforum, “What do Americans not realize is an American thing?” and the responses prompted many Americans to question their reality. The responses highlighted numerous items that you won't find overseas, as well as some of the creature comforts we love, such as carpet and air conditioning.

Here are 15 things that most Americans don’t realize are an ‘American thing.’

1. Medical commercials

"I’ve heard that other countries don’t have commercials for medications."

"True in a lot of Europe, at least. You get what doctors prescribed you, that's it. You will see ads for some over the counter medication though, like antacids and ibuprofen."

2. Garbage disposals

"In-sink garbage disposers."

3. Graham crackers

"Graham crackers. I was telling some Aussies about s'mores and then had to stop and tell them about graham crackers."

"In the UK, we just use chocolate digestives."


4. Red Solo cups

"Red Solo Cups really aren't a thing outside of the USA, except for explicit 'USA Theme' parties in Europe."

"They’re very handy. The bottom line is for single drinks, the second line is for mixed drinks, and the top line is for non-alcoholic drinks like soda, iced tea, lemonade, etc."

5. Air conditioning everywhere

"Baffles me that most Europeans don’t have it. I don’t care if you 'don’t need it' most of the year, I can’t imagine not having control over the temperature of my own home. It’s almost never the perfect temp outside."

"The weird thing is it’s not just places like U.K. and Germany that don’t have it, they don’t even have it in Spain and Italy where it gets just as hot as the deep south!"

6. Miracle Whip

"I recently realized Miracle Whip is a North American thing. For those who aren't familiar, Miracle Whip is often used as an alternative to mayonnaise, on sandwiches and in some salads & such. I've heard it's similar to salad cream in the UK. A lot of people say they don't like Miracle Whip, but I actually like it, at least in certain things."

7. Athletic shoes

"Wearing athletic shoes everywhere."

"Look, after growing up watching Bourne, James Bond, and the Mission Impossible films, I’m convinced I need to be ready to engage in a high speed foot chance at any moment."



8. Window screens

"My sister lives in Australia. I can't tell you the number of times she's told me they just leave their doors and windows wide open and have had to chase things out or scare them off. I'm always like, wtf!! We have mosquitoes the size of airplanes here, and that alone is enough to make me NEED screens. I can't imagine living somewhere where everything wants to kill you and practically inviting them in for coffee."

9. Leaning on things

"What's this? The way we stand to the side when we talk? Isn't that normal?"

"It's not abnormal but I think Americans do it slightly more. People often say its Americans leaning AGAINST things, but I've always noticed that Americans more lean on one leg? If that makes sense? That's not to say other cultures don't do it (I do for sure), but that Americans do it more."

10. Massive water bottles

"Carrying a gallon of water with you everywhere you go."

"Well, we do not have free water fountains everywhere and I am not paying $3 for a bottle of water."


11. Baseball caps

"Wearing baseball caps all the time, all ages, all places."

"Wearing them faced the wrong way is usually what gets me. And then shielding your eyes with your hand. If only there was a solution for that."

12. Embracing ancestry

"I'm Polish because my grand-grand-grandmother from my dad side was from there."

"Americans view it differently. Stating your heritage is more akin to...a mix of zodiac sign combined with the holidays your grandma would let you drink on. But to be fair, we have millions of US citizens who were born in different countries, and I fully support them identifying how they choose."


13. Military idolatry

"In most places, you don't get special treatment because you joined the army. That was just a job. There's no such thing as "stolen valour" (already a weird phrase, implying that joining the army is valorous in general)."

14. Peanut butter

"First one I've seen that I genuinely had no idea was American. Do other countries just not consume much peanut butter, or is it completely foreign?"

"I had an exchange student as a friend, all he wanted to eat was PB&J lol."

15. Fear of police

"Not talking to cops. And not getting out of the car when you get pulled over. Cops in other countries aren’t (usually) your enemy, and will listen. And (makes sense), what cop wouldn’t want the driver out of the car so they can’t speed off?"

This article originally appeared in June.

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