Don’t mistake single news articles for cultural norms.

Things like these are in the headlines because they’re weird, rare, and noteworthy. I assure you this situation isn’t playing out across the entire US. Stereotyping an entire massive country based on a single news story about a weird dispute between neighbors is just illogical.

This is outrage journalism. The entire purpose of the story is to make you think “that’s outrageous!” and get angry. The journalist who wrote it might have even exaggerated the situation or left out key details to make it as sensational as possible.

Don’t take the bait.