one of my favorite things in the WORLD is when people clown on American culture, like those "American culture shock" videos: why yes, it is wild that our stores sell gallon jugs of mayonnaise and a random person will just start talking to you like they know you and you can't go anywhere without a car!!! go on and point out more stuff that I don't even notice every day but is actually pretty ridiculous!!!!!
the thing is though, this only works if you've, y'know, ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED whatever thing you're pointing out
it's like when people talk about "crazy Japanese culture", but then half the time they're just repeating outdated or entirely inaccurate lists of things they saw online; it is far more interesting to point out the every day things that are a bit different than to go, this thing I made up is sooo weird!!! I mean, yeah, I'm sure people would think things that I made up to be weird on purpose were weird, that's not hard! but the conversation is over as soon as people find out it's fake
so it is frustrating when people go, haha, garbage plate, what a weird name, looks gross! or whatever without actually knowing anything about America
not only is it low hanging fruit, but it's also a hyper-regional dish that most Americans have never even heard of
you wanna talk gross American food? girl, all across America there are gas stations kitted out with "roller grills" where logs of pre-cooked hamburger meat with cheez fleckz (tm) get slowly reheated over several hours so that kids on multi hour road trips can more conveniently give themselves indigestion by sucking them down in hotdog bunz from a steam tray that has possibly been circulating the exact same water since the station first opened, washed down with a 64 oz Diet Coke/Rooster Booster slushy float that will keep their blood SURGING past the grease solidifying in their veins well into their early twenties
and all you have to talk about is GRITS?!?!?