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united states

Democracy

Video explains the surprisingly cool way U.S. highways are numbered

Did you know all of this?

CGP Grey/YouTube

How U.S. highways are numbered is surprisingly systematic.

A bunch of years ago, our family traveled around the United States as nomads for a year, driving thousands of miles through dozens of states. And throughout the entirety of that kind of epic road trip, I never once learned that there's a system for how our highways are numbered. It always seemed random, but it's so very not.

A viral Facebook post sharing just two basic principles of interstate highway numbering blew my mind, and also the minds of approximately 196,000 other people who shared the post in the past few days. Rich Evans included two images showing the East-West interstate highways and the North-South interstate highways with this explanation:

"I always knew there was a logic to it, but I never saw it explained so well until I stumbled upon this delightfully informative short video on how the US interstates are numbered.

Those with 2-digits traverse the entire country.

If they end in "0" they run East-West (10, 20, 30, ..)

If they end in "5" they run North-South (5, 15, 25, ..)

Those with 3-digits are bypasses and contain the last 2 digits of the interstates they bypass.

That's it! (plus exceptions ) Neat!"

It is neat, actually. But it's even a bit more complex than that, and the video link Evans shared explains it all in a clear (usually) and funny way. "The Interstate's Forgotten Code" from CGP Grey uses animation to show that the numbering system does indeed have a rhyme and reason, despite there being a few notable exceptions. (A highway system would be boring if it always followed the rules, wouldn't it?)

Enjoy learning something new if you didn't already know this:

This article originally appeared on 2.17.22

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u.s. highways

Pop Culture

A viral post argues East Coast folks are better people even if they aren't as 'nice' as those out West

It's sparked a "nice vs. kind" debate from people across the country.

OnlMaps/Twitter, Jordan Green/Twitter, Mike DeAngelo/Twitter

Having lived in small towns and large cities in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Midwest, and after spending a year traveling around the U.S. with my family, I've seen first-hand that Americans have much more in common than not. I've also gotten to experience some of the cultural differences, subtle and not-so-subtle, real and not-so-real, that exist in various parts of the country.

Some of those differences are being discussed in a viral thread on Twitter. Self-described "West coaster" Jordan Green kicked it off with an observation about East coasters being kind and West coasters being nice, which then prompted people to share their own social experiences in various regions around the country.

Green wrote:

"When I describe East Coast vs West Coast culture to my friends I often say 'The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind,' and East Coasters immediately get it. West Coasters get mad.

Niceness is saying 'I'm so sorry you're cold,' while kindness may be 'Ugh, you've said that five times, here's a sweater!' Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone.

I'm a West Coaster through and through—born and raised in San Francisco, moved to Portland for college, and now live in Seattle. We're nice, but we're not kind. We'll listen to your rant politely, smile, and then never speak to you again. We hit mute in real life. ALOT.

So often, we West Coasters think that showing *sympathy* or feeling *empathy* is an act of kindness. Sadly, it's really just a nice act. Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. (s/o to breenewsome and BlackAmazon)

When you translate this to institutions or policy, you'll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I've seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.

\u201cWhen you translate this to institutions or policy, you'll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I've seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

Nothing happens after the pronoun check-ins and the icebreakers. It's rare we make sure that people's immediate needs are addressed. There's no kindness. You have people show up to meetings hungry, or needing rides home, and watching those with means freeze when asked to help.

As we begin to 'get back a sense of normalcy' or 're-calibrate' to what people in Blue States™ think is Right™ and Just™, I want us to keep in mind the difference between Niceness and Kindness. If something sounds nice, doesn't mean that it's kind."

Of course, there are genuinely kind and surface nice people everywhere you go, so no one should take these observations as a personal affront to them individually. Generalizations that lead to stereotypes are inherently problematic, and broad strokes like "East coast" and "West coast" are also somewhat meaningless, so they should taken with a grain of salt as well.

In reality, a small town in South Carolina is probably more culturally similar to a small town in Eastern Oregon than it is to New York City, and there are some strong differences between various subregions as well. A more specific cultural comparison, such as "big cities on the West coast vs. big cities in the Northeast" might be more accurate as far as generalizations go, but regardless, many people related to Green's observations based on their own experiences.

To kick things off, a slew of responses poured in from people describing how New Yorkers can be cold on the surface while simultaneously reaching out their hand to help you.

\u201c@SikePiazza @jordonaut Stand at a flight of stairs in the NYC subway with a stroller. Someone will grab the other end, help you carry the stroller, and then walk away without saying a word.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

Several people explained that the hustle required to afford the expense of living in New York explains why people skip the niceties. It's about valuing people's time; wasting it with nice words is ruder than just quickly helping out and then moving on.

\u201c@mcgowankat @MikeDeAngelo @SikePiazza @jordonaut Yeah, this is the kind of thing people who have't spent time in NYC don't really grasp. Someone will be like, "Hey, you fucking yo-yo! You're money's falling out. Why the fuck is it in your back pocket? Get your shit together," and saved you all the cash in your pocket.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

\u201c@jordonaut In the South, politeness takes the form of "I will talk to you and inquire as to your day; I will give my time to you"; but in New York that CAN NOT WORK. In New York, politeness is "I will not waste your time"\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

Many people chimed in with agreement with the original post (even some Canadians confirming that their East/West differences aligned with ours).

\u201c@candaceforpdx @jordonaut I used to travel to the West Coast a lot for work. Everyone was \u201cnice,\u201d but they had no sense of urgency and didn\u2019t give one fuck about inconveniencing everyone around them. I\u2019m from the DMV. We get shit done. Smiling!\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

"No sense of urgency" is definitely a West coast vibe, but is generally viewed a positive out here. And "inconveniencing everyone around them" might be a subjective observation. Maybe.

Plenty of people with bicoastal experience weighed in with their stories of how their experiences lined up with the basic premise of the thread, though.

\u201c@jordonaut I am blunt, I cuss, I call shit like I see it, and if you need it I'll give you the shirt off my back, and that's East Coast culture.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

\u201c@KLDoorC @jordonaut This. I\u2019m from Pgh and talking to my friend in Seattle.. She lives by herself and needed some help moving something. I said why don\u2019t you ask your neighbors? She quickly replied we don\u2019t do that around here. It\u2019s frowned upon. I just couldn\u2019t live like that\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

Though certainly not universally true, the tendency for West coasters to be more hands-off might extend back to the frontier days. The pioneer and gold rush mindset was necessarily individualistic and self-sufficient. In my experience, West coasters assume you don't need help unless you directly ask for it. But people don't ask because of the individualistic and self-sufficient thing, so automatic helpfulness just hasn't become part of the dominant culture.

Things got even more interesting once the South and Midwest entered the chat.

\u201c@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Moving from the Midwest to the south my experience tells me this is true. If you drive your car into a ditch a Southerner will offer to call someone for you. The Midwesterner will jump into the ditch to help push you out.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

But the takes on warm/nice/kind thing varied quite a bit.

\u201c@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Midwest is warm/kind of you are or LOOK like you\u2019re \u201cfrom around here.\u201d\n\nThe other difference is that East/West coasts will never think of you again, while the South & Midwest will gossip about you til the end of time.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

\u201c@alexschiff @zsr5 @jordonaut I moved to Michigan after spending my whole life on the East Coast. It took me MONTHS to make friends. People were nice but already had friends from their old neighborhood, high school, college, church, kids' playgroups...they didn't need any more friends and didn't reach out.\u201d
— Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478

One thing that seems quite clear if you read through the various responses to the thread is that specific states and cities seem to have their own cultures that don't break down as simply as East/West/Midwest/South. There's an entire book about how the U.S. can actually be subdivided into 11 different regions that are almost like nations unto themselves. Even this map from 1940 included 34 different cultural regions in the U.S.

\u201cCultural Regions in the United States, 1940. https://t.co/RGGBgP5OzO\u201d
— OnlMaps (@OnlMaps) 1601417553

And don't even get a Californian started on the differences between Northern CA, Southern CA, and the Central Valley. "Culture" can even be narrowed down even to specific neighborhoods, and people's experiences and perceptions vary for all kinds of reasons, so once again, generalizations only go so far before they fall flat.

If you're curious about what the data says about all of this, a cursory search of surveys about which states are the kindest brings up a fairly mixed bag, but people seem to find Minnesota quite friendly. A Wallethub ranking of charitability by state based on 19 factors including volunteerism also placed Minnesota at number one, followed by Utah, Maryland, Oregon, and Ohio. Pretty hard to make a regional generalization with those states.

Then again, there's the whole "Minnesota nice" thing, which brings us full circle back to the original thread.

\u201c@SejalShahWrites I'm from Minnesota, where we have a whole theme of how "Minnesota Nice" means only on the surface.\u201d
— Sejal Shah (@Sejal Shah) 1611281404

So many elements go into the culture of a place, from population density to the history of settlement to the individual personalities of the people who make someplace their home. And nothing is set in stone—the atmosphere of a place can change over time, as anyone who's visited a city a decade or two apart can attest.

One thing that's true, no matter where we live, is that we play a role in molding the culture of our immediate surroundings. If we want where we live to be friendlier, we can be friendlier ourselves. If we want to see people help one another, we can serve as that example. We might stand out, but we also might inspire others who yearn for the same thing.

"Be the change" might seem a bit cliche, but it truly is the key to shifting or world in the way we want it to go, no matter what part of the country—or the world—we live in.

This article originally appeared on 01.22.21

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culture

Science

Fact: NASA takes the best before-and-after photos. Here are 10 of them.

Our world is changing every day.

via NASA

Setiment in Louisiana

The city has started to take up more space than the natural environment.

All images from NASA.

San Antonio — home of the Alamo and the Spurs basketball team — had a population of just over 1 million people in 1991. Today, it's added another 400,000 people.

The above images are only a small set of the many pictures NASA released. Globally, there were a ton of other interesting sites, like entire lakes turning red in Iran, new islands being formed by ocean volcanoes, and dams flooding rainforests in Brazil.

The world — and our country — is constantly changing, and we play a part in that.

Sometimes nature changes us, such as people having to respond to floodwaters, but we also know humans affect the Earth as well. And while it's true that the Earth has gone through natural cycles, we know it's now happening faster than ever before.

As the Earth will continue to change, it's important to remain aware of how we affect the Earth — and how the Earth affects us.

This article originally appeared on 01.23.17

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science

Pop Culture

British man in U.S. explains why Americans aren’t 'well-traveled’ and it’s so true

“I don’t think people really understand the size and scale of America.”

Glacier National Park (Michael Kirsh/Unsplash), Badlands (Jéan Béller/Unsplash), Key West (Meriç Dağlı/Unsplash)

All three of these places are in the continental United States.

Americans are known for many things, some of which are mostly true (we do tend to be open and friendly, though not all of us are) and some of which are exaggerated stereotypes (we're not all obsessed with guns, though some of us are).

But one stereotype that isn't exaggerated is that Americans aren't as "well-traveled" as our friends across the pond—at least not in the international sense. The United States has an overall level of wealth that enables many citizens to travel to other countries, but Americans are less likely to be traveled internationally than Europeans—a reality that might make some assume Americans just aren't compelled to travel as much.

However, as Joshua Cauldwell, a man from the United Kingdom staying in the U.S. explains, it's a misnomer that Americans aren't well-traveled.

"Brit in America here," he begins in response to a video about Europeans complaining that Americans aren't well-traveled and can't point out Switzerland on a map.

"I now know why Americans aren't 'well-traveled,'" Cauldwell says. "Trust me, they are well-traveled, but there's a reason why. I've spent many months in America like actively trying to get to as many states as possible in America, and I haven't even scratched the surface. American's don't need to venture outside America because America is that big. Americans go on vacation in America."

Cauldwell goes on to explain that in the U.K. you can get to France, Germany or Amsterdam in about 45 minutes.

"I just don't think Europeans are clued upon how big America really is," he says.

Watch:

See on Instagram

He's not wrong. A lot of Americans don't have passports, even if they travel a lot. The U.S. has 50 different states—more states than Europe has countries—that are comparable in size to European nations. And the geographic diversity between those states is is mind-boggling.

Compare the Olympic Rainforest in Washington to The Badlands in South Dakota and they look like different planets. You can travel around the U.S. and experience mountains, deserts, plains, deciduous forests, coniferous forests, saguaro cactus forests, oceans, lakes that feel like oceans, rolling hills, glaciers, swamps, canyons, palm trees on tropical white sand beaches, moss-covered trees on ocean cliff sides and more. There are 63 official National Parks and 429 total National Park Sites (federally protected places of historical or geographical significance, which include the National Parks) in the U.S., so even just trying to go see all of those places alone could take the better part of a lifetime, even for an avid traveler.

— (@)

In other words, he's right. There's so much to travel to and see in the U.S., it's not necessary to leave the country to have many unique, interesting and beautiful travel holidays. That's not to say Americans shouldn't travel to other countries simply because there's so much to see at home, of course. There's arguably more cultural diversity throughout the U.S. than many people realize, but it's not the same as going to another country. Certainly, there's value in experiencing the cultural richness that comes with traveling internationally.

But for Europeans, traveling internationally is much easier, more affordable and more accessible than it is for Americans. The U.S. is only about 4% smaller than the entirety of Europe, so it's a bit silly to say that Americans aren't "well-traveled" if they've not visited multiple countries. Distance and convenience-wise, traveling around the U.S. is similar to traveling around Europe, and well…it's just nice to see it acknowledged by someone from outside the country.

You can follow Joshua Cauldwell's American adventures on Instagram.

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travel

Popular

People share the person they wish would actually run for president

Some popular names got people excited, but descriptions of the ideal president were most telling.

Photos by Canva, NASA, Kris Harris King and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Jonny Kim, Dolly Parton and Jon Stewart were all suggested as POTUS candidates.

As we ramp up to the November 2024 U.S. presidential election, many Americans are feeling less-than-enthused about it. In our de facto two-party system, we will realistically have a Republican and Democrat candidate to choose from, and this year both of the top candidates are struggling to inspire a great deal of confidence or support.

While Joe Biden and Donald Trump will most likely be duking it out come November, people are imagining who they'd really like to see on the ballot. A Reddit thread asked, "Who do you WISH would run for President of America?" and the answers span from ideal descriptions to hilarious hypotheticals to actual people who have the knowledge, skills, experience and character to be a good presidential candidate.

Here's how people responded:

A good, smart middle-aged person

By far, the most popular answers for who they wish would run for president revolved around being a good, responsible, humble person who is somewhere in the middle-age range.

"I am in my 60’s. I would like a 40-60 year old who is honest, intelligent, moral, and has a sense of balance. Not a perfect person who never made a mistake, but someone who made mistakes and learned from them. Someone who has overcome hardship. This will allow them to have empathy for others. Someone that will make sure the tax burden is shared evenly, based on one’s income. Someone who can work with other countries and promote partnerships and be strong against corruption, violence, and war. Someone who understands they won’t ever fix all of societies problems, but strives to make our society better. Should I go on. Young people out there who want to make the world a better place, we need you to step up." – No-Grapefruit-83

"Some random 40-56 year old guy, who no one knows, has worked quietly in government for years, understands how it works and how to navigate it, with a smart wit and who just wants to help people.

And he has no desire to be POTUS because he'd rather do some nerdy hobby with his wife. But if elected he would feel he had to do the duty." – kirbyfox312

"This is so pie in the sky, but someone who loves this country but also understands we are a small part of a big world. Someone who is intelligent. Someone who is like in their 50's? (maybe) Someone who is not an asshat, but also not weak. Someone who reads. Someone who is willing to listen to all sides.

Is this too much'? Probably." – Catalyst886

Some fun suggestions

More than a few responses were pure comedy.

"With absolutely nothing to do with his politics, but senator Sheldon Whitehouse. I just want news anchors to have to say “president Whitehouse” with a straight face for 4-8 years as though it didn’t sound like something out of a cartoon." – nothomelandersacct

"The mayor of Idyllwild, CA, is a golden retriever named Max. I think it’s time for him to make the step up to the national stage." – piray003

"The guy who owns Arizona Ice Tea." – MumpsMoose

Although, that one may not be a joke, considering:

"I just saw an interview with him where the reporter asked him why not raise the prices, and his response was fantastic. Basically said they're doing well and have all their bases covered so why make it harder for struggling people to enjoy their products when there's no need? That alone gives me mad respect for him." – MindOverMedia

Personal recommendations

Some people offered up people they know personally who would make a great president.

"My stepdad. He has done truly impressive things for the university where he is president. He grew up dirt poor in eastern Kentucky. Worked his ass off to put himself and several siblings through college. He came from nothing to get a PhD. He is fair and kind and wise. He is extremely generous. As an example of one of the many reasons I find him qualified: He once sued the state of kentucky on the grounds of unconstitutional funding of public education (as a board of education member representing the poorest school in the state - with only a bachelor’s in accounting) and WON! He is an incredible human being and he is one of the only people I would trust to run this country." – Ok-Parfait-

"My 7th grade social studies teacher, he's tite." – luxury_yacht

"My mom. She’s awesome." – Miss_Medussa

A few fictional possibilities

If we're going to play an imaginary game, we might as well bring in some imaginary players, right?

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn." – Lord_Battlepants

"Pedro... I think he would get votes." – Pinorckle

"Josiah Bartlet." – VoteForLubo

"Leslie Knope. I feel like we would all be better off it she was in charge." – Odd_Mix_8675

"If I could Thanos snap my fingers and make Jean Luc Picard an American politician in the present day, I would have done it by now." – RiflemanLax

Real people who will likely never run

Lots of names were thrown out, but a few of the most popular ones were:

Jon Stewart

"He has expressed specific disinterest in being president.

Which makes him the ideal candidate." – DigNitty

Dolly Parton

"I especially love Dolly Parton's stance on early childhood literacy. She has worked to improve it." – leannmanderson

Jonny Kim

"Jonny Kim:

- Harvard doctor
- NASA astronaut
- Navy SEAL (Bronze Star and Silver Star: rescued wounded Iraqi soldiers in the face of enemy fire)
- Navy flight surgeon and naval aviator
- Grew up poor in south Los Angeles
- Dad ran a liquor store
- Mom was a substitute teacher
- He went to public school. He went to University of San Diego as an undergrad (summa cum laude in mathematics)
- He was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of his father
- The police killed his father in their attic
- Married with 3 kids
- is 40 years old

He understands poverty, being a victim, intimately familiar with police engagement in domestic situations, being a POC, going through the public school system, understands numbers, military, healthcare, and bleeding edge science. and invested in the future of our country with 3 young children."

Hank Green

"Hank Green, absolutely. We need a scientifically literate president." – WildLudicolo

And yes, some politicians, too

Many people did name some people in politics that they'd like to see run, with the most popular names being Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete [Buttigieg], Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, Congresswoman Katie Porter, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, California governor Gavin Newsom and Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth.

Each of those established politicians received multiple shout outs with people praising the qualities they felt they had that they felt would make them a solid candidate among the current crop of lawmakers.

Will any of these folks actually run for president in the future? It's entirely possible. As we've learned, when it comes to modern American politics, literally anything is possible.

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democracy

Family

Woman explains why having quadruplets resulted in a $4 million hospital bill

Here's how she paid the bill.

via Mikhail Nilov/Pexels

A man and woman looking over their bills. Representative image.

The United States is the second most expensive country in the world to give birth, after Japan. In Japan, it costs around $61,000 to have a vaginal delivery, although those costs can be offset by government health insurance.

In the U.S., it costs around $14,000 to have a child without insurance, although there are a lot of factors that affect the price, including where you give birth, the type of insurance you carry and if there are any complications.

While $14,000 is a lot of money for most people, Hanna Castle from the Columbus, Ohio, area received a $4 million hospital bill after having quadruplets and that didn’t even include the delivery. All 4 of the children needed to spend time in the NICU for lengths between 64 and 147 days.

Castle explained the costs in a video that has been seen nearly 8 million times.

That hurt 🤣

@hannacastle
That hurt 🤣 #Quadruplets #nicu #america #healthcare

The 4 children, Atlas, Dominic, Magnolia and Morgan, were all born at 28 weeks via Cesarean section and were treated at separate NICUs. According to Investopedia, a stay in the NICU can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000 a day in the United States.

The smallest child of the 4, Atlas, weighed just 1.5 pounds but had the shortest stay in the NICU of 64 days. His total bill came to $714,747.15. Next was Magnolia who stayed 74 days at a cost of $728,625.56. Morgan stayed 86 days for $976,415.69 and Dominic stayed the longest, 147 days, for $1,626139.55.

All in all, the total bill for the NICU for the Castle Quads was $4,045,927.95.

Commenters on the video couldn’t believe how anyone could pay such a massive bill. "To put this in perspective, it would take $500 a month for 675 years to pay this off," Gouda wrote.

See on Instagram

The good news for the Castle family was that Medicaid of Ohio picked up the entire tab. Knowing that the babies would need extensive care after being born, the couple quit their jobs to qualify for financial assistance. "At 16 weeks pregnant, I decided to quit my job to get some of that assistance because there was no other way," Castle told Good Morning America.

"I moved my mom in with us to kind of help financially for the first year and see how the kids were going to be,” she added. In Ohio, adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level and children with a household income of 211% of the poverty level can qualify for Medicaid.

In a recent Facebook post, Castle discussed the tough challenges of being the parent of multiples in America.

“You can believe that you’ll have 1 full-term child, but every pregnancy is different. A lot of us do not believe in terminating healthy children because of finances. Things happen. No one wants to live off of government assistance just to be able to survive and frankly there’s a lot of shame behind it,” she wrote. “But other countries don’t even have to worry about that. Do they truly think that a 1-time tax credit per year is enough to get us to keep having children in this economy? With the type of medical bills we rack up here? With the lack of financial medical assistance we have here?”

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healthcare

Joy

He's Italian. She's American. Their delightful love story has won the hearts of millions.

Carlo and Sarah share the quirks of combining cultures.

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Carlo and Sarah share their cross-cultural relationship hilarities on TikTok.

When cultures come together, sometimes it can be challenging, sometimes it can be beautiful and sometimes it can be hilarious. For one couple, highlighting the hilarity of their American-Italian love story has endeared them to millions of people around the world.

It all started when Sarah, who is American, went to southern Italy to visit family members who live there. Carlo worked as a lifeguard at the beach club his family owns where Sarah's family would go. He barely spoke English, but he asked Sarah on a date in the summer of 2019. They basically became inseparable for the rest of the summer.

Sarah returned to the U.S. and Carlo surprised her with a month-long visit in the fall. Their long-distance relationship was supposed to get a reprieve when she was to return to Italy in May 2020, but pandemic travel restrictions destroyed that plan.

They ended up meeting up in Ireland during the summer of 2020, one of the only places allowing both Americans and Italians to travel. That's where Carlo proposed.

Their wedding plans also got thwarted by COVID-19. They got married in Italy, but without Sarah's family and friends able to attend. Now they're about to have their second wedding in October here in the U.S.

@carloandsarah
@justinbaldoni @wayfarerstudios this is my #lovestory 🤍 #LoveWithNoLimits #longdistance #ldr #couple

But their cute love story is only one part of why they've grown a following of 4 million people on TikTok alone. The cross-cultural nature of their relationship regularly creates hilarious moments, from Carlo's confusion over English words and phrases to Sarah committing Italian food faux pas just to see his reactions.

Their playful energy is delightful, but people also can't get over Carlo calling Sarah "my love" over and over again.

In one of their first mega-viral videos, which has nearly 100 million views, Sarah breaks the pasta in half before she puts it into the water—a totally typical American thing to do—and Carlo nearly has a heart attack.

@carloandsarah
did someone say... DRAMA??? 🤣

Or how about the time Sarah suggested that she ask for pineapple on her pizza while in Italy and Carlo basically said he'd be forced to move out of the country if she did that?

@carloandsarah
Carlo has had it with me🤣

Italians have far more superstitious beliefs about luck than Americans do, which come out frequently in Sarah and Carlo's videos. For instance, you're not supposed to put a loaf of bread top-side down. And if you get a new car, you're supposed to put a jar of salt in the car to ward off "malocchio" (evil eye/bad luck).

@carloandsarah
YOU WANT MALOCCHIO?!🌶😡

Carlo's English has come a long way since they met—he started learning the language because he was interested in Sarah—but as with anyone learning any language, there are sometimes some funny misunderstandings.

For instance, calling a tall building a "scratchy sky."

@carloandsarah
Gelato with a nice view of scratchy sky😩😂

Or mistaken a seed for a seaman or … something else.

@carloandsarah
the SEA MAN😩🐟

There's often some confusion around which words are appropriate and which words aren't, which is illustrated no more clearly than how Carlo reacted to saying the word "peacock."

@carloandsarah
THE WAY HE YELLED IT💀

Cultures may clash sometimes, but cross-cultural relationships can also create humorous moments that highlight the human side of all of us.

Sarah and Carlo even came up with a way to "fight" without having to understand one another's languages at all.

@carloandsarah
You should try it out💀

You can follow Sarah and Carlo on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

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united states

Video explains the surprisingly cool way U.S. highways are numbered

Did you know all of this?

A viral post argues East Coast folks are better people even if they aren't as 'nice' as those out West

It's sparked a "nice vs. kind" debate from people across the country.

Fact: NASA takes the best before-and-after photos. Here are 10 of them.

Our world is changing every day.

NASA satellites continually monitor the Earth, snapping photos and sending information to researchers on the ground.

1. In May 2016, NASA's satellites picked up the devastating 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire.

2. The satellites also captured how landscapes eventually recover from fires, like in Yellowstone.

3. They saw drought shrink Utah's Great Salt Lake over the last 30 years ...

4. And they showed the Mississippi pouring over its banks in March 2016.

5. In West Virginia, surface mining reshaped mountaintops.

6. In Washington state, the Oso mudslide changed the Earth back in 2014.

7. In Louisiana, sediment carried by water created new land.

8. The images show Hurricane Isaac touching down in Louisiana.

9. And warming temperatures shrink Alaska's Columbia Glacier.

10. Meanwhile, our cities grew and expanded, like this image of San Antonio, Texas, shows.

The world — and our country — is constantly changing, and we play a part in that.

British man in U.S. explains why Americans aren’t 'well-traveled’ and it’s so true

“I don’t think people really understand the size and scale of America.”

People share the person they wish would actually run for president

Some popular names got people excited, but descriptions of the ideal president were most telling.

A good, smart middle-aged person

Some fun suggestions

Personal recommendations

A few fictional possibilities

Real people who will likely never run

And yes, some politicians, too

Woman explains why having quadruplets resulted in a $4 million hospital bill

Here's how she paid the bill.

That hurt 🤣

He's Italian. She's American. Their delightful love story has won the hearts of millions.

Carlo and Sarah share the quirks of combining cultures.

Astronaut shares the profound 'big lie' he realized after seeing the Earth from space

A story about two pairs of boots illustrates how rich people get richer in ways poor people can't

She got a nasty note on her car for parking in a disabled spot. Her response is a vital read.

Psychologist shares 15-second trick to make kids of any age less rude and more cooperative

Surprising 16-year-long ADHD study reveals opposite of what researchers expected

Sweden makes stunning decision to trademark its name to avoid confusion