Many people have various misconceptions and misinterpreted views about America. Although many of these notions are speculations, there are some that are to some extent true. Everyone has different connotations when asked what comes to mind when they hear the phrase “only in America.” I don’t think of overall beliefs or holistic attitudes regarding the country. Rather, I think of specific examples of things that I can only imagine happening in America. For example, I associate that phrase with the concept of people taking photos in front of green screens to make it look like they went to say the Statue of Liberty when in fact they were no where near the statue. This is correlated with the idea that Americans are very lazy. I see examples of this all the time intertwined with the fact that Americans can also be impatient. Rather than travelling all the way to the Statue of Liberty and waiting in long lines they will take a picture making it look like they were there.

Furthermore, Americans tend to be obese. According to the Food Research and Action Center, two-thirds of all American adults are overweight or obese. Only in America would one be able to get a variety of different types of fast food just about anywhere they go and then complain about how unhealthy the food is and how uncomfortable they feel. Americans will order a double cheeseburger, large fries, and then a diet coke. Americans also like to complain about absurdities that they themselves contradict. Often one can experience something similar to the following: a person who is drinking a $5 latte from Starbucks texting on an iPhone 5 and complaining about how the government allows people to make too much money (while in other countries people cannot even afford a Starbucks latte). Only in America would people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have. All of these are things that come to my mind when thinking about what goes on in America, even though they may not all be accurate or are simply generalizations. Of course, everyone has vastly diverse interpretations and understandings of this phrase.