15 Luxuries Europeans Take for Granted: Why Americans Are Jealous

2023-07-19 21:22:52
BuzzFeedEntertainment

Created: 07/19/2023, 18:21

By: Michelle Anskeit

“Not having to use a car every time you leave your house… A lot of people have to drive somewhere to go for a walk.”

Would you say you live a life of luxury? If you ask me, I would answer that question with a no. After all, when I hear the word “luxury” I immediately have a villa, a lot of money and expensive jewelry or branded clothes in mind.

Of course, I know that’s nonsense, following all, luxury can be defined in very different ways. That struck me particularly when I looked at the Reddit-Post von u/Specialist-Metal-458 looked at. In this, Americans have listed what things are considered luxuries for them, although many Europeans see them as quite commonplace.

In any case, the answers showed me that I really should be much more grateful for some of these points:

1. “Always available and reliable public transport.”

-Chicken_Alphredo

Of course, the trains in Germany are not always super punctual, but at least we have good connections. © Rüdiger Wölk/Imago

2. “That actually only applies to southern Europe. But cheap wine, cheap coffee and cheap pastries.”

“Cafes in the US are marketed as very trendy, and if you want a pastry and a coffee, be prepared to pay $8-10. You can get coffee and a croissant for around €3 in most parts of Italy, Portugal and Spain.”

-kulkdaddy47

3. “Local bakeries with wonderful groceries at fair prices that you can buy anytime on your commute.”

-Chrome-Badger

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German bread is also really good. ©Smith/Imago

4. “It’s great to be able to walk around town with a beer.”

-ooo-ooo-oooyea

5. “Toilet doors that actually reach the floor. I don’t need to know what shoes the guy pooping next to me is wearing.”

-maxncheese167

6. “You can travel back and forth between different countries in Europe without driving or flying for days.”

-WhimsicalGrenade

7. “Affordable universities… Our daughter goes to university in Scotland. Our US friends always react with shock at the ‘luxury’ of going to school abroad.”

“Until I tell them it’s half the price of a comparable US college. And that includes travel expenses.”

-Crafty-Arachnid6824

8. “Guaranteed 4+ weeks holiday. And the fact that they are encouraged to take vacations instead of being made to feel like going on vacations is a burden on the employer.”

-ARussianSheep

It’s sad how little vacation Americans get. ©Blue Jean Images/IMAGO

9. “Healthcare. work-life balance. Cities where everything is within walking distance. Good train connections.”

– Zunzarella

10. “Time! I studied in Italy for a while and it was just so much less ‘hectic’ there.”

“Often the lecturers were the last to come into the lecture hall before the lecture. Everyone really took their time and I didn’t really feel the rush of constantly ‘having to’ go somewhere when I was there.

I mean, the village where my apartment was located was practically closed for a few hours in the followingnoon so the shopkeepers might have lunch. It was wild.”

-SpaceMush

11. “Real sick days.”

-Sugar_Dizzy

Imagine that you feel really bad and then you can’t take a day off that you get paid for. © Westend61/IMAGO

12. “Paid parental leave. I used up all of my parental leave on my first child, and when I had another child a year and a half later, I was back teaching in less than six weeks.”

“Dogs are treated better than working mothers.”

-ElegantGoose

13. “Not having to use a car every time you leave your house… A lot of people have to drive somewhere to go for a walk.”

-_aelius

Europe has much more pedestrian-friendly ways. © Nikito / Imago

14. “Bread that doesn’t have the sugar content of cakes. And to be honest, all the unprocessed foods too.”

-Anonymous

15. “That elementary school kids don’t need bulletproof backpacks.”

– fowl garden

You just want to cry. © Zoonar.com/Max/Imago

Are you feeling the same as me following reading this post? It’s amazing how many of these things we have here in Germany and take them for granted. But that doesn’t mean that it will always stay that way, because here are, for example, 5 things that might soon also be luxury in Germany.

If you want to read more articles, check out the Facebook pages BuzzFeed DE and BuzzFeed DE Trending over.

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#normal #Europe #considered #luxuries #Americans

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