r/AskReddit • • 5h ago

"those little differences" Americans who visited Europe, what was surprisingly different for you?

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75

u/Blooblod 4h ago

You aren’t rushed to leave your table at a restaurant because the staff is working on tips and trying to turn as many tables as possible. You can sit there for an hour after your meal for all they care.

Gas/petrol stations, fill up at the pump before you even go inside to pay.

37

u/Low_Strawberry_7965 4h ago

Ahh I had the gas station thing, but the other way around when I was visiting the US! I had to pay before I filled up the tank, but I had a rental (no idea how big the tank was) and wasn’t doing too well calculating litres to gallons etc. It was a mess haha. I asked the guy behind the counter how much he thought I should pay and he looked at me like I was an alien. Which, perhaps, was fair.

Why do you have to pay beforehand? And how do you calculate filling up the tank if you don’t know precisely how empty the tank is?

10

u/SaneNSanity 4h ago

It prevents people driving off without paying for their gas.

We don’t calculate it. We pay with a card, we only get charged what we fill.

5

u/riskateftw 1h ago

I still dont get it, you give the card, then you fill up and then they charge you and get your card back?