PEOPLE ARE SHARING THE EVERYDAY COMFORTS THAT MOST AMERICANS DON'T REALIZE ARE, IN FACT, LUXURIES
Chances are, there are aspects of your everyday life that you're so accustomed to that you don't even realize that many people around the world would consider them to be true luxuries. So, redditor u/Seraphicly329 asked, "What's a luxury that most Americans don't realize is a luxury?" Here's what people said:
1."As an American who now lives abroad, air conditioning. 🥵"
2."Owning different cars for every driver in a household."
3."Windows with screens. When I lived in Geneva, I was in a sixth-floor walk-up flat with no A/C. I was in for a very unfortunate surprise when the weather got warm and I opened the windows only for bugs to swarm in. No screens! How was I supposed to sleep in a hot bedroom and I couldn’t even open my tiny window for some air flow?!"
4."Excellent water pressure in showers. When abroad, showers are like a flower watering pot. I like to feel my shower. Make the pressure strong enough to tear my skin off, then back it off like 10%."
5."School facilities. As a rural Canadian, I grew up watching American TV and was always seething with jealousy over American schools. I was especially jealous that Americans could sign up for the school play and meet a teenage heartthrob. We didn’t have school plays, or a theatre in general, or band, or football, or a swimming pool, or art classes."
6."Great disability access. I can go to any place — theatre, store, office, school, whatever — with confidence that I'll be able to navigate fine in my wheelchair, and they'll have ramps and/or elevators."
7."Access to all types of climates and natural wonders in a single country. You like mountains? Go west. Beaches? There are lots of American cities located right by the sea. Like the cold? We've got Alaska! Deserts, canyons, waterfalls, geysers, forests? Got you covered all in one country where people speak one language and use one currency."
8."The ability to travel to most other countries without a visa. As someone who lives in a developing country, the hassle, the frustration, and the cost of applying for a visa just to travel is excruciating."
9."The ability to buy anything you can think of and have it arrive in less than a week (and often in two or three days). Many countries just don't have access to big box stores or infinite options for online merchants."
10."That our public schools offer children free services like speech therapy."
11."Backyards! Even if it's just a small patch of land attached to your residence that no one but you has access to, this is the sort of thing most people in cities around the world can only dream of."
12."The ability to use public restrooms without being charged for it."
13."Fully stocked grocery stores. Life post-COVID showed me how much of a luxury this actually is. I can so vividly remember driving to the store to pick up some things only to find half-empty shelves."
14."Garbage collection. When I traveled a little bit, one of the things that struck me most was the amount of garbage in the streets and piled in fields. There is no municipal collection in some parts of the world."
15."Clean drinking water. My folks traveled the world quite a bit and said that they were amazed every time they returned to the US that there is (or was, a couple of decades ago) clean water out of almost every tap or water readily available nearby. We don't realize how incredible and rare this is, and so we take it for granted."
16."The fact that we can control the temperature of our homes to whatever temperature we want 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Most other developed countries are either good at heating or good at AC, but rarely both."
17."Libraries. The American public library system is very advanced. It's also, generally speaking, free to use."
18."As Americans, we essentially bathe in drinking water."
19."Regular street-sweeping. You won’t notice how much of a difference it makes until you go somewhere without it."
20."Enormous supermarkets with abundant choices. I always feel like I'm in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory when I enter an American grocery store. There's so much variety to choose from!"
What is something you take for granted in your home country that is a luxury to many people? Or what did you only realize was a luxury after traveling abroad? Tell us in the comments or in this anonymous form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.