Weird Habits of Americans: When Mobiles Are More Important Than Sex

Prepared by business comparisons | Author: David Adelman | See our Vimeo

In a land tucked away from the Old World lives a tribe with odd habits. In this infographic we take a look at the weird habits of Americans, topped by, among others, mobile phones are more important than sex! Is it because they are developing a relationship with our mobile phone?

Around 26% of Americans admitted that they can’t live without cellphone, while only 20% said the same for sex. Moreover, 44% of Americans said they sleep with their phone, while 67% check their phone even if it’s not ringing or vibrating.

Maybe because they are enjoying life by themselves today more than ever, when only 17% said so in 1970 compared to 27% by 2012. Likewise, they no longer know what a date is today. 69% of single Americans said they are unsure whether an outing someone they liked was a date or not.

However, many of still prefer a sleeping companion because 58% of Americans revealed they sleep with their cat or dog. And when they have real people living with them, they mark their territory. Americans who have assigned seating in the living room: 43%.

Americans are also eco-friendly in their own way… or just plain paranoid? 28% of Americans said they take fewer or shorter shower to save the environment, and 67% of us even have wondered if our food or beverage were produced in a sustainable way.

Sometimes, we don’t know if Americans are patriotic or just unhealthy. 52% of Americans said doing taxes is easier than eating healthy. Speaking of eating, they know their kind of food: 56% of Americans consider barbecue a must-try food for tourists.

The odd habits continue. We even have some weird ways to measure the economy. Take this—

Consumer indicators of an economic downturn in the U.S.

• Higher lipstick sales
• Higher nail polish sales
• Higher sales of cheap spirits
• Lower underwear sales
• Lower hemlines

Consumer indicators of an economic upturn in the U.S.

• Higher cemetery plot sales
• Higher sales of cardboard boxes
• Higher sales of champagne
• Higher hemlines

Americans also have one weird way to measure a storm’s severity: The Waffle House index. FEMA once said they get a fairly good measure how bad the situation is after a storm by checking the local Waffle House. The chain is famous for keeping the business open during calamities. FEMA has even alert levels for this:

Green = the chain is serving full menu
Yellow = the chain is serving limited menu
Red = the chain is closed

“If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That’s really bad,” FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate once remarked.

By the way, Americans love giving greeting cards. Americans spend $7.5 billion yearly on greeting cards including “just because” for lack of any occasion. But they are awful at using gift cards. They wasted $41 billion, that’s the worth of gift cards that they didn’t use from 2005 to 2011.

If there’s a silver lining in their weird habits, maybe it’s the fact that Americans are starting to be modest. More Americans today see their country as less respected. In 2004, only 20% believe so; by 2009 the figure jumped to 41%, before shooting up to 53% in 2013. It begs the question: is the loud American stereotype gone?