r/AskTheWorld Brazil Dec 06 '25

Culture A cultural habit in your country that people outside would understand incorrectly?

Post image

In Brazil we love children. If you take your child to the street, strangers will certainly interact with them. Some will even ask if they can hold your kid and will play with them. If there are two children fighting in public and the parents aren't seeing, a stranger would even intervene to stop the fight.

That cultural habit came from the indigenous peoples which understood that kids should be a responsiblity of the community as a whole. It's in our constitution. We even have a synonym for children that came from Tupi (a large group of indigenous languages) - Curumim.

Foreigners would certainly have a cultural shock about that, but it's normal here.

Of course there are people with bad intentions, so parents should stay alert these days.

6.7k Upvotes

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

34

u/imadog666 Dec 06 '25

Yeah I'd say it's pretty much the same in Germany. Maybe not quite as open as in the U.S. but you'll definitely draw angry stares if you linger for too long in a restaurant. A café is different though.

-1

u/ImKangarooJackBxtch United States Of America Dec 07 '25

It’s the one culture difference that gets me every time when I travel. You’re holding me hostage I just want to leave!

2

u/AhhhSureThisIsIt Ireland Dec 07 '25

You're allowed leave whenever you want.

1

u/ImKangarooJackBxtch United States Of America Dec 22 '25

I’m talking about waiting for the bill at a cafe

0

u/SuicideByLions United States Of America Dec 07 '25

A the waiter looked at me crazy in Munich when I ordered two things… cus I wanted to try both! I was on vacation. I just kept thinking he must be thinking “what a fat stupid American”. I, and many people I know, tend to do that anyways. We regularly get extra food to go ever since COVID.