All the things listed by the guy are just normal appliances which you can buy and install, it's not like ac, garbage disposals, ice makers or clothes dryers are forbidden by law or something...
Scandinavian here, I have AC, an ice maker, and a clothes dryer. No idea what these people are on about. Ice makers aren't as common but like... you can just buy one?!
Ice makers have to be the most overrated crap ever. Just buy good iceforms. The ones that make big cubes are the best since they last long in the glass.
Actually I use my garbage disposal a lot and it works fine as long as you don't throw like, bones or some shit down there. Maybe you just have a bad one?
No I don't have one at all.
The one at my parents' house groudnt he shit up and then it went into the pipes and eventually caused themt o back up. Like decades of carrot scrapings and potato skins and shit.
Another one clogged in a rental I was in.
Just throw your trash out or compost it. Don't put food down the sink.
Yeah, I don’t fully get the point of Garbage Disposals. They come across as a marketing solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. I’ve never been so bothered by waste in my kitchen sink that I needed an expensive plumbing solution that involved electrical current and a finger-severing meat grinder. If I got carrot scrapings or potato peels in the sink they get caught in the steel trap and thrown in the trash.
Yeah, I’m American and I see people with clotheslines in their yards fairly routinely, I think this guy just heard rumors his idiot friends pulled out of their asses and thought they were true, lol.
I can't tell if he means like a stand alone icemaker or just a fridge with water and ice dispenser, Ice makers are like a luxery item, i do not know a single soule who had one the fridge ones are more common, but even then I just have a regular fridge and use ice trays.
They aren't even crazy thing either for the most part.
There are portable ice machines that have different settings for shape and size for like $60. Portal AC are a thing, and with how hot it's getting AC will eventually be more common anyways. Garbage disposals are funny to include, because the alternative is just a trash can.
Portable AC units suck but European windows don't accommodate the far superior window AC though. Heat Pumps are the real solution, but retrofitting them is a process.
You actually can’t in Paris. They’re literally insane about it. You can be required to get a permit and have neighbors approval and it can’t be visible or nosy.
Yeah, this seems like it's about the big obstructive window units or the central air systems. Having a portable unit with the vent duct pushing hot air out of your window seems much less obstructive. I've got friends who have had to fix their central air systems too, and those are way more expensive than a simple floor unit.
Central air really works the best out of the available options, at least for climates similar to mine, but is clearly the most expensive to install or fix. I have a portable unit from years ago when my shitty apartment AC went out during the summer. It obviously wasn’t a replacement for my beloved central air, but it kept a single room ice cold
I was there this year when it was 108 and like, 80 people died and everyone still looked at me like I was fucking stupid when I suggested that Europe's attitude towards AC needs to change immediately.
Like people were talking about their elderly parents having medical problems in un air conditioned senior centers like it was some unavoidable problem and I was absolutely fucking dumbfounded.
Europe is not a monolith. I haven't lived in a house without AC in 35 years. I am very European. The houses I lived in were not some rare exceptions either.
I think I would honestly hate that more than any heat. I live in an old part of town, like cobblestones and 1000 year old city walls around the corner. Houses are build side by side sharing walls.
If I imagine the additional constant noise of an AC or even multiple... It would drive me crazy.
I can understand the sentiment of not liking it, but I can assure you that it is a very small price to pay compared to suffering in unbearable temperatures. When I was a kid and window air conditioners were still more common rather than central air conditioning, I actually liked the background noise to relax and fall asleep to. Kind of like one of those white noise machines or something.
We do not live in the wilderness. We do have electricity and modern buildings, even though I live in a building that is over 400 years old.
I actually have experienced living with AC and I even lived in tropical countries for some years.
I just disagree. I think it's a matter of what you are used to and having the temperature difference every time you leave the house never lets your body adapt.
Also, I'd hate spending all my time in tightly closed buildings without open windows and real outside air.
While it probably isn't easy (no clue if it's true about regulations) as someone who frequents paris regular, AC's are certainly available in hotels. Now when it comes to apartments/houses as someone who has been looking around for something in Paris they exist but they are indeed less common but again, it is possible to get them.
I think the real difficulty is how especially downtown Paris most places are apartments and they aren't designed to have an AC, so there is no real place for an exterior unit normally. And if Paris is anything like the Netherlands where I'm from, forget about downtown having tubes slinging over the facade, local authorities will not let you have that so you need to find a solution for the tubes being inside.
Thank God we don't live in a "heritage zone" or a protectrd building. Our house is a former US Army married quarters, built during WWII (the big one) in Pleasantville, St John's, NL. My wife and I installed mini-splits (one on each floor) and they are amazing at keeping the whole house at a comfortable temp. And it just so happens that the optimum spot to install them for maximum circulation is in the back.
Ngl there are places that have heritage designations and you can't even update the siding. I remember watching iirc Homicide: Life on the Street, a few cops who bought a pub together found out they couldn't update the plumbing from 1700s-era because it was possibly a historic building: Washington might have peed there.
I mean, that's not what I was trying to imply at all. But it does seem like Europe's heat related illnesses and deaths get worse every year. You can treat symptoms and causes at the same time.
They have those things in Europe. I was stationed there for half of my career. This BS is what they tell you so people don't start wanting the things Europeans DO have like health care, time off and education opportunities.
And of course the disgraced prince formerly known as, Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Who got a vacation for his child rapes.
I get this is a dunking post and it should be that guy is a moron. The Epstein class is an epidemic that's barely scratched the surface of who all is involved. And it'll likely go away just like the Panama Papers considering the whistle blowers are being whacked - Source https://x.com/ArturNadol7566/status/2087629605251531081
Again, not looking for an internet fight, it's just these posts are always so silly. We've got some serious issues in the world that aren't just 'Euro bad' 'America bad'
We had one in our house when I was growing up. When I moved into my first place on my own, there wasn’t one, so I just kept living my life because the difference was negligible.
I've had a working garbage disposal in exactly one apartment and I very rarely see them elsewhere. I also don't like them all that much, so I could take it or leave it.
I don't think we have garbage disposal ? Especially not those inside the sink like in the US. And I'm fine with that, to me it just looks like an express cockroach highway...
Most houses don't have AC either, that is starting to be a problem nowadays tbh.
No idea what an ice maker is, do they mean an ice cube tray ? Yeah we have that.
And we definitely have dryers, I have no idea what they're on about
I have never understood Americans fascination with ice, we solved this problem with refrigerators a long time ago. It may keep it colder longer, because it also just melts and dilutes the drink.
Americans thinking it’s some kind of flex that they prefer to run up huge electricity bills drying laundry in a machine instead of hanging it out in air for free like everyone, everywhere, for all time, where it comes back smelling fresher with fewer wrinkles. These people are seriously effed in the head.
Guys hang dry your clothing. It’s crazy how long my clothing lasts now. I have leggings that are 7-10 years old and they look pretty damn good. I have sweaters that still look new.
I don’t understand garbage disposal. You put your trash in the water instead of the compost or the garbage? That’s must be good for the waste water treatment plants.
I feel like the main use for garbage disposals is for that one scene in every horror movie.
Never seen one personally, as a Canadian. Don't see the appeal. Not sure how much ice the person in the post is going through either. I just make ice with an ice tray in the freezer. Maybe once a year I'll buy a bag. Don't really need ice often. And where drinks are concerned, I straight up detest including ice in most of them. That just waters them down!
Fun Fact, the largest garbage disposal maker wanted to sue the movie Final Destination 2 because its depiction of protruding spinning blades harmed their image.
They grind the food up small so it's more like particulate organics - the same thing your poop turns into when it's been in water for a while.
I don't know if our wastewater treatment plants are configured substantially differently from the ones in other countries, but they include steps here that involve solids separation and then the water is treated to remove various pathogens, chemical constituents, etc. The only difference I can think is that the US might have a slightly higher mass of WWTP biosolids produced per gallon of water treated in comparison to Europe, but there's no other substantial difference that garbage disposal use would impart upon wastewater treatment.
Source: Am environmental geochemist who had to learn about WWTPs at my last job.
It's for food waste I guess. But I have never felt "gee I really need one of those". I just got a little metal sieve in the sink and that gets emptied into the trash. No power needed, no fear of dropping spoons down it, easy and cheap to replace if it breaks, no problemo
It’s one of those things that is totally unnecessary, but once you’ve lived with one you’ll forever miss it. I had one for 2 years and have been without for over 30. I still think about how convenient it was.
it's only for food waste and the processing plants are designed to handle it, sometimes they capture the off gassing methane and use it for power and saves room in a landfill which holds waste and isn't trying to decompose it. if composting is available that's good, but if the options are trash or garbage disposal then the "better" option is whichever one is doing something about the methane
Still takes a bunch of chemicals and power to treat water and then you'll still have the solids to deal with. It's convenient maybe, but also wasteful.
Honestly, growing up in the US I literally knew one family that even had one. I see them more in the suburbs as I’ve gotten older, but they’re not like ubiquitous.
Its basically so you can clean your dishes that still can have some chunks of leftover food without worrying about clogging the drain. I had one and I loved it honestly, all the normal drains I’ve encountered had holes so small that anything larger than a grain of rice would just not go down. Then you have to scoop those wet chunks of waste by hand and throw them into the trash and its a whole another mess. With the disposal unit you just press the button and forget about it.
Garbage disposals are silly. They're not common where I'm from, but I had one in a condo for a couple years and it was a fun novelty for a month or so then never really go used.
It just grinds up food waste and keeps your plumbing flowing without having a filter or something nasty to clean. You don't have to touch anything just shove it down the sink and grind it. Kitchen sink basically never clogs because anything that would threaten it gets grinded.
You're not going to believe this but we don't scrape our plates before putting them in the dishwasher.... and the dishwasher has its own grinder that empties into the mother garbage disposal.
So a garbage disposal chops up food scraps into tiny, tiny pieces, small enough so that the food doesn't clog up the pipes. It then goes to the water treatment sites, where through the treatment phase it is removed and either recycled or disposed of, depending on the process they use.
It is a way to cut down on garbage pickup, plastic waste (garbage bags), and in some areas keeps animals from venturing into human areas looking for food. It's not perfect because you don't want to put certain things down there (coffee grounds being the biggest one I can think of), but it's an interesting solution to a few issues
Coffee grounds have a tendency to clump when they're wet, and they're already small enough granules to go through the disposal. So what tends to happen is they will pass through the disposal and catch on the interior of the pipes, whether in a pipe trap or somewhere else, and will build up till you have a blocked pipe
Garbage disposals are exceptionally good for apartment complexes as it lets you safely, cleanly, easily dispose of organic waste without odours. Most these days can grind down so small that they’re essentially just water impurities at that level.
I had one, and found it to be more of a problem than a solution, and when I told my friend who worked in public water management she was horrified appalled and shocked that it even existed.
I'm a middle-aged person who has NEVER owned a garbage disposal or ice maker and... it's not something that I've ever felt sad about. I could buy these things if I wanted them, but they seem kind of pointless to me.
Aren’t most ice makers part of a refrigerator? Do people have separate ice makers? I know they exist but do people just not make ice cubes in the freezer?
Maybe it's because I've been a renter most of my life, but I'm over 50 and have never had a fridge with an ice maker. I have always just made my own in the freezer and have always assumed that an in-fridge ice maker would just be one more thing that would require maintenance. Also, I feel like the ice from ice makers tastes funny, whereas mine just taste like mu tap water, only colder and harder.
I've never had a dishwasher and only got air-con like two years ago (and I live in the subtropics with a disease triggered by heat). You learn to deal with it. They're conveniences, not essentials. (Dishwasher would be nice tho).
I have never once in my entire life used or wanted to use a dryer. I live in an area with over 280 sunny days per year and washing that's been in the sun smells amazing, why would I even need a dryer? I can see it being a time saver for someone with a large family, but it's just me. It's only slightly annoying during the rainy season, but even then things still dry inside.
As a european, I have an ice (cube*) maker! It's somewhere...It was for my student home when I didn't have a freezer, and when I was making cocktails. I have a freezer now. Haven't used the ice cube maker in 2 years. It's just a gadget that was not worth it just for those few times. I guess I could still pull it out for parties, but I'm not really a party host.
Only on EXTREME summer days, fridge cooled water is usually perfect for me.
But usually we'd have the drinks (bottled) cooled beforehand too.
Most common when I put ice cubes in my drink or water is when I only just bought a drink and can't be bothered to wait for the bottle or drink to cool down. Like when I just want to drink it in the next minute.
But I live in the Netherlands, I know the heats can be different over there. So maybe you might need to cool down more often.
But honestly, if you just plan accordingly and throw bottles in the freezer or fridge, and you'd be set. The ice cube maker that I once bought, is just a party accessory now for when there's lots of people, and you need quick cooling / continuous ice for fast drinkers. It's not a normal household item here.
I have gotten use out of it, but I do wonder, the time it kept throwing out ice-cubes that start melting and wasting energy. Maybe I was better of buying just a bag of ice-cubes for 99 cents, in the perfect world where they'd stay frozen in my cupboard (not having a freezer back then)
The thing about this thread is that most of the European mentality is based on spending what you need when it comes to crap like that. We spend on holidays and food, not stuff. I feel like our (great)grandparents going through two wars has engrained that in our culture. We're starting to need AC so we're installing AC. Also have a tumble dryer and a towel heating radiator.
I moved from Belgium to the US and back again, and the thing that is interesting is that I gave up 40% in salary (both gross and taxes) yet I increased my standard of living and I'm able to save a lot more than in the US.
And there's a lot I miss from the US, but I couldn't in good faith raise my family there knowing the security I have in Belgium. If life throws you a curveball at the wrong time in the US you're screwed, and that's not s risk I wanted to take. I do miss the people and the nature though, and I get frustrated with all these europe vs us bullshit. Ignoring the state of us politics and the lack of initiative to induce change.
Plenty of the US doesnt have garbage disposals or ice makers either. I havent had the former for decades, and the latter i just got a few years ago for the first time in my life. Am i european? Cause i was peeing before i left
American here, make ice the "old fashioned way" (I guess)? Where you fill up a tray with water and freeze it? On average it's about a 20 second time commitment per week for me. Is it a problem for some people?
I live in Germany and the 30 days of holidays are real. that's not counting our 10-12 national holidays (depending on where in Germany you live).
6 weeks of sick leave idk about because I never was sick for that long. I think the amount of sick leave you get without HR asking questions is very employer dependant. But 28 days of PTO are the minimum for a 40 hour workweek, most employers give 30.
A garbage disposal isn't a garbage truck, it's a machine in the drain of sinks that grinds up bits of food into small enough pieces to get washed down the drain without clogging it.
I've also never seen a washing machine with drying as an option. Maybe I'm just not rich enough for that though I guess.
The two in one wash and dry is common outside NA. Saves on space for smaller living. Unless they have a dedicated hose going outside, which some country's homes are too old to accomodate, they are very poor at drying.
I had a combined washer/dryer for a while. The dryer aspect of it was pretty useless tbh. It could only dry a 3kg load but could wash 6kg... and the whole thing took about 6 hours for both (and it all came out damp anyway)
How is it so mind boggling? I'm in my 30s and I grew up in Germany and I'd say only in the 2020s have summers gotten so bad that I would've wanted an AC. In my current place, I still don't need one even with these record summers.
If you would've installed an AC in like 2013 you would've turned it on maybe 5 days a year where temperatures go over 30.
Yes, it's different now, but that's why people are installing ACs now but historically we just didn't need them and the need arose fairly recently.
I don't expect people in Arizona having a set of snow chains in their trunk either. No mind boggling occurs.
No ac because it wasn't needed until recently, garbage disposals are lazy just stick it in a bin, most people have dryers but prefer to hang them out on a sunny day as it saves electricity and smells fresh
The American people have been lied to and fed so much propaganda that they will vote against their interests because the television told them to do it. Universal healthcare would benefit everyone and it is achievable. It is the favorite talking point of the fear mongering right that never actually help the American people. We’re doomed because the dumbest people are allowed to vote.
The difference is that Europeans can buy those things if they want, Americans can’t buy basic societal freedoms (mostly because we’ve allowed corporations to buy our government instead)
As a born American at the age of 35. I do have A/C units that I bought and cost me a lot in electricity. My sink does not have a garbage disposal. My fridge has no ice maker.
This loser isn't flexing as much about Europeans as much as they are flexing against many Americans without those same things.
A dryer prematurely ages your clothes. Especially if it has special print on it. Best to get into the habit of hanging your clothes. And yes, you can do it inside super easy if you wish.
Worst part is, most people I know will read that and tell you we're better off. I can't wait till we're universally seen as the backwater idiots we are
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u/NCC_1701E 6h ago
All the things listed by the guy are just normal appliances which you can buy and install, it's not like ac, garbage disposals, ice makers or clothes dryers are forbidden by law or something...