The country you visit, the customs you find

Students at Hammonton High School have been asked the reasoning behind some singular behaviors of everyday life.

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Many behaviors go unnoticed among the eyes of people, but that will immediately appear as odd to the eyes of somebody who’s not native of the country. Many habits, trends and ideals have become part of the identity of a country, and strike as unusual to some unfamiliar eyes.

If going out on a walk, there’s a great chance to see a man wearing shorts, even if it might be snowing all around. Wearing shorts seems to be very popular, and of this habit, the basketball shorts are those who get the most attention as they are considered cool and occasionally stylish.

“Basketball shorts are comfortable,” said junior Daniel Morano. “They’re also easy to let match with many clothes, so shorts are usually a safe choice,”

“If you’re going to sit all day long in school, you might as well make sure to be comfortable,” said senior Matt Porretta. “There’s no point of dressing with something that makes you uncomfortable, you’re going to sit down all day long, so shorts are very comfortable and great for the purpose.”

Continuing with the idea of clothing, one of the most popular trends of the country is the “Lumberjack Fashion.” According to Buzzfeed, the United States are the country where this fashion has its biggest number if supporters.

“Every girl looks for a rugged man that’s yet hipster,” said teacher Tracy Davidson. “It’s the combination of being manly and modern at the same time”

Another interesting way of dressing on a daily basis is noticed in teenagers, particularly girls that have a trend of wearing non matching socks.

“My socks never match because of pure laziness,” said sophomore Bella Turner. “There’s people who say they do it for fashion, but I’m sure it’s because of laziness for them too.”

An interesting aspect is that many countries have man become more and more caring of what they look like. According to Mintel, the rise in cosmetics targeting men has risen by over 70% between 2006 and 2012, and the amount of products increase by the day. Premium Beauty News stated that cosmetic companies have started launching marketing campaigns regretting only men, symbol of how much things have changed over the course of the last decade.

However, with this great increase in sales, the United States are still less caring of man cosmetics than many parts of the world, where fewer people seem to care of having perfect hair and a youthful look.

“I don’t care of having my hair look all fancy,” said senior Isaiah Shrier. “All it needs is to look clean and nice, and that’s enough for me.”

Something noticeable when taking part in America’s everyday life is how people act with foods and beverages. On occasions foods seem to have big portions while still ordering a normal. Where does this habit come from?

“When people go out to eat, they usually wish there were bigger portions,” said senior Kevin Scott. “However, people don’t want to look fat, so they continue ordering normal. This made restaurants make bigger portions of food so that people can eat the portions they wish, and people will be happy to return there, so to eat a lot and still don’t feel like they’re eating too much.”

So there are occasions where marketing and economy tend to shape a view of a country, however, there are many instances where people attempt to conduct a healthier lifestyle, and the most basic way of seeing is by looking at what they drink.

If attending a regular high school, it’s possible to see on a daily basis people who walk holding containers where a piece of fruit (lemon, orange, and anything healthy you can think of) is floating in water.

“I put pieces of fruit in my water because it’s healthy.” said senior Wanda Bernal. “The water tastes better and it’s good for your body.”

“I put foods in water because then water tastes a lot better,” said junior Kayley Woulderk. “It’s somehting quick, easy and good to make, and you no longer have the taste of old plain water.”

After noting that nor the interviewed, nor the reporter have any medical knowledge regarding the healthiness of food in water, it’s possible to say that if water tastes better of fruit is added, it’s probably going to be a tasty and non harmful new way of consuming water.

Something interesting compared to European countries, is that not only guys do sports, but also many girls are very involved in physical activities of various sports.

“Doing sports is another way of socializing,” said junior Alexis Flynn. “Doing sports you spend time with your friends, and you even make a lot of new ones.”

“I’d say that girls are often pushed into sports from their parents,” said senior Tamera Webster. “Often parents try to relive their dreams through their children. Also sports are a very good thing to do if you’re a competitive person.”

Doing sports gives a healthier lifestyle and gives several reasons to remain in shape and fell good about your body. Injuries might occur, but they’re often supervised by physiotherapist who recommend to wether continue the activities, or take a break. Concussions are taken seriously when they occur, but are they sometimes overly exaggerated?

“Concussions must be taken seriously, but occasionally they are just an excuse people use to skip practice,” said sophomore Maranda Jo Shinn. “Some people just abuse of the concerns of a concussion, and this makes risks for concussions to be taken less seriously in the long run.”

The United States are a country full of many interesting behaviors. Somethings are common to every nation, other times its behaviors are so unique to fascinate and raise curiosity in an external observer. Each country is unique in its own way, but it takes the country that was created by the addition of cultures from all around the world to see something amazing. How can each country uniquely coexist and create something common to all, yet unique in the whole world.