For those of you who don’t know, apparently Americans have a huge tendency to lean against things like walls, columns, or counters when they’re standing around or to shift most of their weight to one leg. I’m just curious as to why this is an American-specific thing?
Also, how does everyone else just stand there with all their weight on both feet? Doesn’t that hurt? You guys just stand straight up on both feet like a soldier?
Comments
I lean on everything but it’s funny I don’t know why
I’m an American and I don’t lean on things unless I am standing for a super long time
Cuz we posted up straight chillin at all times
Alright. I’ll say it.
Widespread obesity combined with the reality that many Americans never walk for more than a few minutes at a time.
Extra weight plus poor leg muscle condition means free-standing is harder for Americans.
It’s because we aren’t allowed to sit and have a culture based around work. When you have to stand all the time, you naturally look for ways to relieve the strain that accumulates in your lower back and pelvic region. Hence the leaning.
We’re exhausted all the time.
Laziness
Yes, we are all pushed to do the “American Lean” which just makes us better soldiers. How’s life for you?
The James Dean lean
we’re just indescribably cool at all times, I guess
real answer, I think I do the lean / weight shift thing because I spent years working shitty retail jobs where I had to stand for 12hrs at a time
Americans are less formal in most situations, good posture is less emphasised
It’s cool.. think James Dean or fashion models
Laziness.
More discussion here https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/s/TqvTN3yfzf
I do not believe non americans don’t lean…. what if they’ve been standing in a line for an hour?
For the same reason the Slav swat is a thing.
You are giving me Putin vibes.
We don’t think about it, we just do it.
Because we are lazy.
😂 is this seriously an American thing? I always do this and I’m not American. Done it since I was a kid and was always being told by dad not to lean against the wall 😅 I really don’t think this is a country specific thing. It’s just a comfort thing
People in general when standing around/waiting tend to lean on things for support, I don’t see this being an American thing.
Idk why it’s an American thing, but I’m American and I lean on things because I feel uncomfortable and awkward all the time and having a third point of grounding (2 feet + shoulder/back) is more comfortable.
I do it because I’m fat and standing still is brutal (I’d honestly rather be walking than standing still. I’ve got a knee injury and it’s very painful when I’m standing with all my weight on it).
America forces people to constantly stand when working, even when not necessary. Combined with the amount Americans have to work to afford cost of living…
Tinfoil hat contributing factors: poor diet and overall poor health with even worse healthcare.
Because we own the damn place
Cuz I just drank the purple lean. The sizzurp.
my back is sore from carrying the company.
Cuz we’re so damn cool and we run the world. And Donald Trump makes other nations obey us.
Great. Now that I’ve learned about this, I’ll probably see people leaning everywhere.
Uhh. There is no such thing as “American lean”. There is “human lean”. Go ask a human.
I do it because I have POTS and EDS which makes standing around extremely uncomfortable.
I’ve seen people from many countries do this.
Cause we are fat, obese and don’t exercise. Even the people who do do it to avoid being larger but not healthy. Walk into the average American office and you’ll see 3/4 of us are out of shape.
Because I have arthritis and can’t stand for too long
In the restaurant business if you got time to lean you got time to clean.
When people stand on both feet evenly, they look like a soldier, or they just look weird.
Shift your weight people. When stand with both knees locked, that’s how you pass out from standing too long. We were taught in grade school to shift our weight so we don’t pass out during assemblies.
We’re tired.
We’re fucking LAZY
I’m not leaning, I’m holding up the wall or desk or whatever might fall over on me so I lean into it to protect myself from harm.
Not allowed to sit at work so we tend to lean against things. The phrase time to lean, time to clean is also very prevalent. We’re not okay btw.
In case you haven’t noticed, the stereotype about Americans being lazy is true
I believe people have been shifting most weight to one leg for a long time. There are many Greek and Roman statues with figures in a contrapposto pose.
this isn’t a thing.
American and ive gotta lean on everything because every job i worked was agressively against us sitting incase the customers saw us comfortable ig? Theres a weird notion that sitting equals lazy
Is this not normal…
Sure here in the US we do tend to lean quite a bit, yet neither I nor anyone else has thought that it was only americans
That’s an easy one. It’s from carrying the overwhelming burden of capitalism.
I’ve noticed this since the 1970s. It’s because there is a lack of good public infrastructure for seating plus the idea that sitting down is frowned upon in work culture at the working class level.
I had a persian roommate. We had to clean those damn walls cos the mofo would lean on everything.
If you lean on something in Europe or Asia, you might accidentally lean on something that’s thousands of years old. Like if I was British, I might casually lean on something and oh shit, turns out that was Stonehenge and I just knocked over this treasured ancient artifact. Way less likely to happen in America.
I don’t know about you, But I’m always diggin the scene with a gangster lean
I don’t really notice if I do or don’t lean… I don’t notice if anyone else does or doesn’t, for that matter. I just move through the world and whatever feels comfortable works? lol I’d imagine the same is true for the vast majority of humanity
It’s just a relaxed, casual way to stand that’s common in American culture. Leaning or shifting weight feels more comfortable for some, while standing balanced is just normal in other cultures!
My knees hurt from standing all day, I work in a clinic. I lean when I can get a break lol