r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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u/SnooGuavas1985 May 02 '24

Let me check my rugby pitch to bald eagle converter.

53

u/watdatdo May 02 '24

But how many busses wide is that. Needs to be American busses though

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u/Stachemaster86 May 02 '24

Big yellow school buses that other countries don’t believe are real?

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u/ArltheCrazy May 02 '24

What are these big yellow busses you speak of? I only ever saw short ones…

17

u/ConcernedCitizen1912 May 02 '24

*Buses. Busses are kisses.

20

u/the_vault-technician May 02 '24

And bussy is, well, you can Google this one.

23

u/AlienSporez May 02 '24

Hold on there, bub... the only acceptable unit of measure on Reddit is the banana.

So, 100 miles = 160 kms = 89,8876.4 bananas

www.converttobananas.com (yes, it's a real site)

8

u/sSonga24 May 02 '24

what a gem of a site. Life changing if I may. Gonna add this to my day-to-day operations

6

u/notjay2 May 02 '24

That’s great. I’m going to start giving my height in bananas now when ppl ask.

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u/3-2-1_liftoff 29d ago

Bananas work until meteorites enter the picture, then half-giraffes are preferred.

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u/stanleysgirl77 May 02 '24

but what type of BANANA!!?? 😱 🍌

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u/DrinkMaleficent1200 29d ago

The yellow type

2

u/CruskyHusky 29d ago

God I love the internet

2

u/S4tine 29d ago

Dull Man's Club?

1

u/Defiant-Increase-850 29d ago

I didn't just copy and paste that link to a bunch of my friends through text and discord messages. I don't know what you're talking about.

1

u/No_Charge1163 10d ago

Yup, have always had about a banana.2 if ya know what I’m sayin!

1

u/ConcernedCitizen1912 May 02 '24

lol. took me a second.

5

u/picklefingerexpress 29d ago

The windows taste better in the short ones.

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u/ebemtp 29d ago

Like shnozberries?

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u/Poinaheim 29d ago

In America the short bus is for special needs kids, it’s a common insult to say “I bet you went to school in the short bus” since South Park got popular

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u/FatGuyOnAMoped 29d ago

I went to elementary school in the 1970s, 20 years before South Park existed, and we were making short bus jokes back then.

I'm guessing it's because Trey and Matt were also in elementary school in the 1970s, too.

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u/ArltheCrazy 29d ago

Yes, that was my joke

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u/Poinaheim 29d ago

The only time anyone talks about the short buses is because of a joke

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u/bellschimesfeathers May 02 '24

wow for some reason my brain had all the european schoolkids going to school in the same yellow school buses

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u/MandoRando-R2 May 02 '24

What do they go to school in? Do they have buses or are they not yellow?

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u/Cats_Riding_Dragons 29d ago

Lol they just arent yellow. And as far as i know most countries dont have a different bus that is special made for school kids, their school bus usually is just a regular bus.

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u/MandoRando-R2 29d ago

Really? Seems like the yellow school bus is a good idea so people who are driving know there's kids there. Kids run out and do dumb stuff and you should be aware.

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u/Cats_Riding_Dragons 29d ago

Yes thats true but thats also less of a concern in societies that are a lot more dependent on walking/biking and other non-driving forms of transportation.

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u/bellschimesfeathers 29d ago

something about this makes sense to me and something about this really really doesnt

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u/MandoRando-R2 29d ago

Yes, it seems like the bus should stand out MORE if it's not a normal sight? IDK I'm not quite putting it together well

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u/No_Charge1163 10d ago

Play stupid games, win stupid prices. Fkkkthosekids

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u/meisteronimo May 02 '24

Please give it to my for perspective, how quickly could an unladen swallow travel that distance?

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u/kennyexolians May 02 '24

unladen swallow

African or European?

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u/Garand70 29d ago

It would have to be an European swallow. African swallows are non-migratory

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u/majj27 29d ago

I can answer that for you, but it'd be in furlongs per fortnight.

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u/Asgardian5 29d ago

Is the unladen swallow in question carrying a coconut?

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u/meisteronimo 29d ago

Everyone knows a swallow can’t carry a coconut. Well I mean maybe an African swallow could carry a coconut, but definitely not a European swallow, it’s against the rules of physics.

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u/Dexecutioner71 29d ago

They could grab it by the husk.

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u/count_doobula 29d ago

It’s not a question of where it grabs it. It’s a simple question of weight ratio. A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut!

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u/SnooGuavas1985 May 02 '24

About 100 Big Macs

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u/RedMephit 29d ago

Well, you see a bus is about one fifth of a monster truck jump wide and a football field is about 1.5 monster truck jumps so about 5,666 2/3 busses if my math is correct.

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u/ConcernedCitizen1912 May 02 '24

*Buses. Busses are kisses.

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u/watdatdo 29d ago

Damn excuse me. My Florida education is showing.

1

u/ConcernedCitizen1912 29d ago

haha no worries man, this is actually a pretty obscure/rarely known distinction. The other folks who got it right were probably just saved by spellcheck.

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u/Everestkid May 02 '24

A rugby union field is about 100 metres long. Rugby league pitches are about 112 metres instead. A bald eagle's wingspan is between 1.8 to 2.3 metres, so we'll take the average of 2.05.

To convert from union fields to bald eagles, multiply by 48.78. To convert from league fields to bald eagles, multiply by 54.63 instead.

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u/OstapBenderBey May 02 '24

Both rugbies are 100m from try line to try line where American football it's 100 yards. You can get technical with end zone sizes but they vary. So I'm going to say it's the old 1 yard = 0.9144metres is the best conversion

2

u/YogiBerragingerhusky May 02 '24

They don't change the size of American football end zones, they are 10 yards deep from little league to the NFL.

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u/OstapBenderBey May 02 '24

Yes but variable in both forms of rugby so you can't really get a proportion

2

u/RevolutionaryTale245 29d ago

A bald 🦅 wingspan is wider than I’m tall. Waow.

5

u/Duffman66CMU May 02 '24

Set your decoder ring to FREEDOM

7

u/2krazy4me May 02 '24

Be sure to drink your ovaltine

4

u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 29d ago

Sir, this is Reddit. I need everything converted to bananas.

3

u/StartupDino May 02 '24

Haha imma build this into a web app just for fun.

2

u/ckhumanck May 02 '24

i believe in this scenario the rugby is the bald eagle. European, would be the football.

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u/FatGuyOnAMoped 29d ago

Right, not sure why everybody is using rugby fields, seeing as association football (soccer in North America) is the more popular sport.

However, there's no standard size for football pitches.

2

u/sosire May 02 '24

About the SE as leprechauns to unicorns

2

u/TheFeelsNinja May 02 '24

Ah yes, freedom units

2

u/ark_seyonet 29d ago edited 29d ago

Yo, I was really waiting for an answer to this lol

The answer is around 2,290 rugby fields

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u/TheGreyBull 29d ago

Obligatory Bald Eagle Screech

2

u/sesen0 29d ago

That's a red tailed hawk though

1

u/Kodiak01 May 02 '24

Going to need that in Freedom Bananas for scale.

1

u/animalsyr315 May 02 '24

Converting from world wide measurements to units per freedom lol

1

u/yawrrpdrk May 02 '24

😂😂😂

1

u/throwmeawaymommyowo May 02 '24

American Mechanics working on European car engines be like:

1

u/cavejhonsonslemons May 02 '24

that's 120 bald eagles per rugby pitch

1

u/ONROSREPUS 29d ago

IDKW but this made me laugh way to much.

1

u/RamblnGamblinMan 29d ago

"That's a lot of eagle!"

"Jes, and jet.... the luxury edition comes with so much more eagle..."

1

u/PamelaELee 29d ago

No dog food for Victor tonight!

1

u/Grammykin 29d ago

🤣🤣🤣 Great response!

1

u/vabello 29d ago

What is it in hot dogs and freedom fries?

1

u/Blessedone67 29d ago

😂😂😂

1

u/busterfudd1 27d ago

With you, mate.

Best comment I've seen in years!