What’s something Americans do that sounds boring on paper but is actually really fun?

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front_torch@reddit

Almost every species is extinct.

That's not a thing anymore in virtually the entire country.

Thank you to the concept of the perfect lawn. Provided to you by Monsanto.

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The last place I lived still had them in the summer, it was wonderful. Still a lot of 1950's chain link fencing in the neighborhood. There was a neighborhood flyer saying if people kept replacing those with wooden fencing, we'd lose the fireflies. Kinda made sense, didn't verify.

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front_torch@reddit

There could be some truth there. Chemicals and raking leaves are the biggest factors.

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MsPooka@reddit

I still see them every summer.

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front_torch@reddit

I didn't say they don't exist.

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primitiveman12@reddit

We don't have fireflies where I live anymore 😞

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According-Union382@reddit

Stop removing leaves in the fall. That's where they lay their eggs.

Spread the word and they may recover.

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Burnallthepages@reddit

This is why I never take up the leaves. I let the wind scatter what may and leave the rest for the lighting bugs. (Or at least that’s what I’m going to tell the neighbors! 😉)

I didn’t know that actually. So many things suffer because of our obsession with perfectly tidy, uniform green lawns!

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Seguefare@reddit

Leave leaf litter on the ground as mulch. Grow sedges or ornamental grasses. They lay their eggs in leaves and long grass. In some species, the females can't even fly.

Plant any native tree, but especially an oak. There are a few that don't get huge.

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Burnallthepages@reddit

*lightning bugs 😉

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justmrmom@reddit

*linghtnin’ bugs where I am from.. lol

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Straight-Stick-2752@reddit

Something I love to do.

I love to see fireflies.

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Fun-Spinach6910@reddit

Naked volleyball in the pool during summer ☀️

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PugKraken@reddit

tubing - just sitting in a floaty going down a river with the buds

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TheLizardKing89@reddit

Depending on where you are, tubing may refer to being in an inner tube being pulled by a speedboat.

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Burnallthepages@reddit

That is also so fun! My husband is a radio DJ and he does this advertising thing for a weekend in the summer that basically involves a bunch of us being given free alcohol and being driven around the lake in a boat to give away alcohol. Last year we debated on renting a tube and we all decided against it. But later we wished we had so we said we’d rent one this year. Now I am having my doubts!

When I was young I got flung off those tubes and skipped across the water without a care in the world. But now I’m older. I broke my leg and ankle just walking my dog! I do delicate surgical procedures for a living. I can’t mess up my hands. Maybe we better just get a pontoon! Lol!

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Ahpla@reddit

I live on a lake and everyone here calls being pulled behind a boat tubing. We call going down the river floating.

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mynameisstacey@reddit

Same here in my part of Texas.

Tubing = I’m on a tube being pulled behind a boat, hanging on for my life.

Floating = I’m on a tube (or sometimes a raft) being carried down a river, hanging on to my beer.

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jewels94@reddit

That’s the first thing I thought of, too.

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Ms-Metal@reddit

Interesting, my thought was exactly what Opie described. Tubing the Apple River in Wisconsin or there's a bunch of minnesota, where you just lazily lay back in an inner tube, sometimes you tie all the inner tubes together including the one with the beer and just have a relaxing day rolling down the river. I didn't realize it referred to a more adrenaline inducing activity as well.

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jewels94@reddit

Funnily enough that’s an activity down here and I know people who’ve done it but I’ve never heard that term used for it! Tubing down here (typically) means an activity closer to water skiing in pace. It’s incredibly fun if you ever get the chance to try it!

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IP_Janet_GalaxyGirl@reddit

Or going down a snow-covered mountain.

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Burnallthepages@reddit

Yeah, honestly anything on or near a river. Floating in tube, raft, kayak, canoe, air mattress, whatever. Wading, catchin’ crawdads and minnows, building little dams and knocking the down again, looking for arrowheads and pretty rocks, finding small caves to explore, watching for turtles, taking teams to eat and sun on a gravel bar, etc. etc. Everything about it heals my soul. I am an absolute freak for the creek!

My little brother (RIP) was the same. He grew up to be a tow boat captain and lived on the rivers for weeks at a time.

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timesink3000@reddit

Everything you mentioned involves alcohol and alcohol makes entering more fun.

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forever-salty22@reddit

Im not sure if this is an American thing, an everyone thing, or a me thing, but I enjoy people watching. Like sitting on the porch watching people walk by. Sitting in my car in a parking lot just watching people walk around, etc

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Burnallthepages@reddit

Oh yeah! If you walk around my neighborhood in the evening you will find that people really enjoy sitting on their porches and smoking weed and people watching in the evenings.

I live in a densely populated part of the city next to a busy road. A really busy sidewalk runs alongside our yard. We are the last house before it turns to commercial properties. We live within spittin’ distance of a Wendy’s, two chicken places, three sandwich shops, a pizza place, two banks, and a Starbucks (the liquor store closed down but the gas station across the street sells it).

Seriously I can go out on my back porch (and I’m not exaggerating) at any time day or night and there will be someone on the sidewalk. It gets a little wild/scary at times but hey, we can’t have it all.

The other day I heard a young woman screaming at the top of her lungs. I couldn’t tell what was going on for sure but wanted to make sure she was ok. She was absolutely SCREAMING angrily at this guy who was trying to catch up to her as she walked down the street. She was livid!

I realized I might need to make sure he was ok. Come to find out, he had cheated on her (as the whole neighborhood knows now) and just when she found out she is “FUCKING PREGNANT!!” 😬

I guess they patched it up though. I saw them walking down the sidewalk together. Looks like she’s got a bit of a baby bump now. Send that baby some good wishes! I have a feeling they will need all the help they can get!

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Psyko_sissy23@reddit

Me and some friends would people watch and make up back stories about them.

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jewels94@reddit

People watching is a god tier activity I swear.

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According-Union382@reddit

Star gazing. It makes me sad so many people live where they can't see a sky full of stars.

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Reagalan@reddit

playing video games all day.

it sounds awful until you realize that you're spending twelve hours bantering with friends you've known for a decade or longer while participating in events with thousands of other players.

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Charming_Bobcat_2613@reddit

Sitting at home watching college football all day in your comfiest hoodie on a crisp 55° Saturday in October with all the windows open and a pizza on the way. 😌

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makerofshoes@reddit

How does having a backyard bbq sound boring?

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elfamosocandyflip@reddit

Sitting around a campfire making smores and playing music.

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ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit

Walk on the beach. Meaning not to put on your bathing suit and bring a chair and towel and drinks but just walk and listen to the waves crashing and the gulls crying.

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Traveling-Techie@reddit

Watch rocket launches.

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Ms-Metal@reddit

I don't live somewhere where I can regularly do this, but I came across one accidentally well driving across New Mexico at night. It was really cool! It basically drew a big whale in the sky and the fact that I didn't know it was scheduled and it was completely unexpected and the fact that it was new mexico, made for a great story cuz I got to tell everybody I saw aliens😉 even though I pretty quickly assumed correctly what it had to be and it was, SpaceX launch from California. The fact that I could even see it from Southern New Mexico, was completely wild to me! I was the only thing that was confusing me, my brain said it's got to be a SpaceX launch but my brain also said how am I seeing it so clearly when it's two states away. I think the answer is curvature of the Earth.

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Silkies4life@reddit

Driving around with no destination. I’ll drive the scenic canyons and listen to music, maybe grab a beer and lunch in some small mountain town, take my dog to the river or lake.

Backyard bbq sounds boring but it’s really a party. Friends come over, everybody brings beer or something to eat, play some cornhole, listen to some music, maybe smoke a little weed.

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JulesInIllinois@reddit

We love to "go for a walk". And, yes, we love to throw a backyard BarBQ.

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VoopityScoop@reddit

This is a very German thing to do, also

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Future_Pin_403@reddit

My husband and I love going on walks because that’s when we gossip lol

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Burnallthepages@reddit

Absolutely! 😂 We’ve been watchin’ and wonderin’ about this one house a street over…

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Ms-Metal@reddit

Taking your dog on a walk but not just a neighborhood walk, actually seeking out a hiking trail or something that you've never been on. As I look back on some of the best days in my life, many of them have been walking the dogs in an area we've never been before, usually State Park or hiking trail that we've never visited before. There's usually so much to enjoy, from the animals to just the beauty of the forest or plains or mountains. Some of my best memories have been of those days.

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Desertbell@reddit

Oh man, I love going to Costco.

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Seguefare@reddit

But not on the weekend. After work during the week is peak Costco. No samples, though.

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towlie_howdie_ho@reddit

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

Also, the Costco hotdog welcomes you each trip.

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telephonelibrarian@reddit

The polite "how are you?" chit chat with almost anyone

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Burnallthepages@reddit

I love to drive! I drive a lot for my job, usually witching a couple hours’ drive if my office (from my location that could put me in one of four different states because I live near where they meet/almost meet.

And I love to take drives just for fun. How much do you drive where you are? Obviously gas prices are very high right now so that is a big factor in driving for fun, but I enjoy driving.

I love to road trip too! I regularly drive 12 hrs to see people and my longest road trip was 28 hours. And I always drive straight through, no stopping to sleep (we had three drivers on the 28 hrs trip, but also a one year old and a four year old. Lol!)

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Burnallthepages@reddit

I also have many fond memories of passing time at ball fields when my friends and I all had husbands/boyfriends that played softball together. We had so much fun! The guys got to play ball and we got to sit in the stands and chat and cheer them on.

I’d say attending any kind of sporting event would sound mundane to some people, but just about everywhere in the world has sports that people get excited about, and some people aren’t into it, so that’s not really an American thing.

My one big gripe is that tickets have gotten so expensive to most sporting events that the average family probably can’t afford to attend. Tickets to watch our local minor league team play baseball are like $35 each. If you want to take a family it adds up in a hurry.

My friend is a trainer and is always going to pro ball games and is on the side of field/court or in insanely good seats. Just for fun sometimes I like to look up how much his seats would cost. And it is just crazy!

We also go to a lot of concerts, but that doesn’t sound boring does it? Concerts are also getting super expensive. Thankfully I’ve been married to a rock radio dj for 25 years and we don’t have to pay for tickets. We’d be seeing way fewer shows!

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ObjectiveOk2072@reddit

Driving around with no destination can be really fun. Too bad gas is fucking $5/gallon

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towlie_howdie_ho@reddit

I'm going to X place.

Nah, that place is packed and I'll be driving home now.

Total mileage = 20 miles

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BulkyTiger8706@reddit

American suburban dad activities are insanely fun once you stop resisting them. Walking around Costco with no plan, grilling meat for 4 hours to eat it in 9 minutes, driving at night with music on, and watching football from noon to midnight while barely understanding the rules somehow becomes peak happiness. The US really mastered “turning errands into an event.”

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Left-Star2240@reddit

There’s comfort in the mundane.

I usually visit my father and his wife around Father’s Day weekend. He lives about a six hour drive away. Some visits are longer than others depending on what time I can take off from work.

Without fail, I know that Friday we will have dinner at a local restaurant offering a fried fish special. I know that we’ll go for a walk in the evening, and he’ll plan at least one hike (more like a nature walk at our age). I know that Saturday morning we’ll go to the farmer’s market very early, the shopping list will be completed very quickly, and that wandering around is not an option. I know he’ll make eggs and pancakes for breakfast at least once. I also know they’ll both be dozing off in their recliners around 9pm.

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No_Piccolo6337@reddit

Going for a night drive through the rural back roads with the windows down, the heat on, and the music up.

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jkmhawk@reddit

Watching the weather change?

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BoBoBearDev@reddit

Turn off AC to turn the car into a sauna.

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Effective_Coach7334@reddit

laying in the grass and imagining things in the shapes of clouds

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Divainthewoods@reddit

Backyard BBQs are incredible fun. It's all about the company you keep.

Throw on some music, get everyone line dancing, set up a badminton or volleyball game, and light a fire pit at dusk, maybe roast marshmallows or make s'mores.

All of these are really fun activities to enjoy with the people in your life. The grilling is just the vehicle to get everyone together.

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jewels94@reddit

I love an afternoon running errands. Especially with your family or friends. Just stopping by a few places (including potentially Costco lol), talking with people, driving around, maybe grabbing a coffee or snack on the way home, and knocking things off your to-do lust to boot. A peak way to spend a day imo.

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john_hascall@reddit

When I was in high school I worked as a busboy / dishwasher. In the summer we often didn't get done until 1-3am. No much better in this world than rolling down your windows to catch the, at last, cool of the night and cruising on home on dark and empty roads.

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Zillajami-Fnaffan2@reddit

Costco was so boring when i went 😭

I love going to the grocery store tho lol

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bonerland11@reddit

Standing in a parking lot at a football stadium pounding beers for 5 hours prior to a football game.

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Grouchy-Macaron-1780@reddit

Staying home in a cool, low-humidity room cooled by central AC where all the air is ducted into each room, instead of blown out of one unit on the wall or window.

Most US houses aren't made of plaster and lath walls. They are drywall with insulation, double or triple pane thick windows with argon gas between the panes, (quiet and energy efficient), and an insulated attic with an attic fan to vent the hot attic air out rather than let it stay in the attic, heating up the ceiling from the attic side.

Unlike a window unit air conditioner, or a mini-split unit, a Central Air Conditioner comes on for a few minutes, cools and conditions (dries) the air, and we can sit comfortably all day. The AC may come on 2-3 times an hour, but it's not like the mini-split units that have to keep running just to barely keep up with the humidity and heat coming through the plaster and lath walls.

(I'm comparing my US house to one in Greece that my in-laws own. You could literally feel the heat from the inside. And cold winter dampness is VERY noticeable in a NON Central AC/Heated house.

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