The WTF happened to.... thread

[GaijinPunch]

All right, being away from the states for 7 years is quite a long time. Things change, and reverse culture-shock can be more devestating than normal culture shock. I'd like to take the time to ask what the phuck happened to the following things.

-The word "actress"
-Orange Crush (and other crush drinks)
-People worrying about fat grams (obviously replaced by carbs for some stupid reason)
-The banking system. We were on our way to being the most convenient country in the world... yet now I have to pay my bills manually. WTF?!
-Cashiers that say things like "Hello" and "Thank You".
-Advertising for food.... particularly sodas and candy. Everything is so "in your face".

[kstyle25]

http://www.hometownfavorites.com/sho...=707&newp=
Thats a link for orange crush...we still have it in Tennessee.

I guess people maybe are more polite in the south because I still get hello and thank you and still have doors held open.

Only one of my bills are paid manually as the rest are automated and come out without any effort...
The no carb fad is sometimes unhealthy but highly effective...it can be dangerous but it does force you body to burn fat or protein as opposed relying on the carbs that we normally pump into our bodies.
Maybe you're just having a bad couple of months I 've always found most in Hawaii to be quite pleasant....
In any event I hope the adjustment goes well from here out... :smt023

[ryangassxx]

yea, thats gotta be wierd coming back to the US after being away for 7 years... I dunno if you've heard yet, but a nut case currently occupies the white house... Oh yea, you've been out of the country, not the planet.. The country is now constantly on edge about terrorism... Arnold Schwartsenagger (i tried) is the govenor (im retarded) of california,..... no seriously... The world is coming to an end...

[kstyle25]

a nutjob thats kept us safe from terrorism.....

I edited...didn't wanna start another fight.. :smt023

[cahaz]

what? there's no more crush in US? come here in canada , right now! :smt043

[Hawanja]

I will derail a flame war by merely stating that our country has swung back towards the right in more ways than one. But, these things usually go in cycles, and as long as they don't get too crazy and turn everything into a christian fundamental police state I'm sure it'll swing back someday soon and America will be a fun place to live again.

Yes, cashiers and clerks are rude as hell. But it's always been that way.

Remeber pinapple crush? That was the shit.

[kstyle25]

The pineapple kicked ass!! I completely forgot about that stuff...haven't seen it in a long time....Hawanja is right about everything in cycles...I tend to think this country is fun no matter the cycle though...I can live in the most liberal times all the way up to the most conservative and still enjoy myself....

[Greatsaintlouis]

We've got Orange Crush here. Pineapple Crush, however, I must claim ignorance to, although it certainly sounds tasty.

What is truely the shit, however, is Tiki Orange Mango. Distributed by Shasta (a bottling company that I think might only distribute in Oregon and California), it tastes like Mountain Dew Livewire, only it's sadly decaffeinated. Then again, at $2 a case, I'm not complaining.

[Blur2040]

Orange Crush is still around, but it's a bitch to find. Still the best orange soda. I don't see it too much, so I drink Sunkist instead. It's not amazing, but it's way better than Minute Made.

[kstyle25]

we have shasta here as well.... :smt023

[einbebop44]

One thing that has changed drastically is the radio. I'm sure if you listen to it you can tell why.

[Survival Tobita]

One thing that has changed drastically is the radio. I'm sure if you listen to it you can tell why.

Now instead of music for the morning drive, we have these bad standup comedians that you can't heckle, or jekyll, or throw highball glasses at.

[kstyle25]

Bob and Tom in the mornings kick ass!!

[GaijinPunch]

I quit listening to the radio after high school (didn't listen to it much then). Stern was all I listened to in college, and only when I was up for work before school (valeting).

So, Crush is still around. Hmm.... guess they don't have it on the island. Damn I miss the pineapple stuff.

The no carb diet is good if you're a complete lazy ass. If you do cardio excercise, you need them though. Nobody needs that much fat, which is why I can't figure out why nobody cares about fat anymore.

The biggest change though is the bank policies and whatnot. I guess you wouldn't know if you weren't around, but when I first started selling games from Japan, my mother set me up a bank account. Now, you have to do it in person w/ all the credentials b/c they think everyone is Al Qaeda. I can't get a CC either due to "lack of credit history". Again -- I don't exist on paper in the US for the last 7 years, so I must be Al Qaeda. I have to stick my life savings in my new bank account, and then threaten to leave if they don't give me one.

[WolverineDK]

well GaijinPunch times change if i were out of Denmark for 7 years i would be buttfucked and maybe even my language (my danish language) would be ruined

but what the fuck you will get used to it again.

because you still have your self :-)

[Hawanja]

BANKS: Yeah, security is tighter around bank accounts and such. That is one thing I don't mind though, for the reason that it nails scam artists and such as much as it does terrorists

Which, of course, was just an excuse in the first place. Do you really think Ossama Bin Lauden would have his money over at the local B of A, with his picture on the ATM card? Nope. They just used phoney info in the first place, or used someone else to set up a "legit" account to which they had access to. But now at least they can pull images of the securtiy cameras.

Seriously, banks are so easy to rip off it's not even funny, and the more money you bring them the less they care who you are. If they were really serious about nailing terrorist financing or drug money laundering crooks for instance they'd patch up the holes in the international banking scene (i.e. Caman Islands, private Swiss accounts, etc.) Joe Blow who goes to his local credit union isn't funneling money to Al Queda, the international heroin dealers out of Afganistan are.

But, I think it's a good step nonetheless, should have been that way in the begining. Inconvient for you I suppose.

THE RADIO: The radio is all screwed up now. It's all right wing Rush imitators, I can't stand it. The only radio I listen to is KPFK (ultra-left wing Pacifica network, yes I know it's biased) and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.


Food: The Atkins diet is going to give all those people cancer. But, it works, my mom lost 50 lbs on it. It's dieting to look good, not to be healthy.


Anyone ever try Jones soda? People send in their own pictures and they put them on the bottles, so each couple of weeks the pics on the label's change. Plus it's damn good stuff.

[madhatter256]

WTF happened to TAB?? I guess its just you and me Coco Rico. Oh and Arnold is fucking California, hard for four more years.

[Greatsaintlouis]

Anyone ever try Jones soda? People send in their own pictures and they put them on the bottles, so each couple of weeks the pics on the label's change. Plus it's damn good stuff.

It's pretty big here, and indeed really good - I love the cream soda, and some sort of mango-melon concoction I tried a week ago. You must take a taste of their chocolate fudge soda however - it sounds weird as hell, but is actually pretty good in an odd way.

we have shasta here as well....

Ah, cool. I didn't know how widespread the distribution was.

[Hawanja]

I really like Jones Green apple soda. It actually tastes like real apples.

[Evangelion-01]

bah, red fanta is da shit, and you cant deny it!