It very well might be genuine surprise. Most people from other countries have an extremely hard time understanding why most U.S. cities allow people to openly break the law in front of authorities with zero consequences.

The U.S. is a pretty far outlier in this regard. It's strange how many people in the U.S. don't realize this at all, and become appalled at when foreigners are shocked by the way things are done in U.S. cities.

The US is pretty average I'd say, not an outlier at all.

It's obvious nowhere near e.g. Switzerland or Singapore, for example.

But then on the other hand, people obey the rules a ton more than in places like Brazil or India.

Just as many foreigners are shocked at how polite and orderly Americans are, compared to back home.

The world is a vast and diverse place.

I suspect the US is an outlier amongst rich countries. Especially amongst the richest countries (as measured by GDP per capita).

Shit HN says....

American exceptionalism is just as silly when it’s “America bad.”

Well I now I think it might be genuine ignorance because you managed to read my pretty clear comment ("everyone is mentioning US cities, so obviously they're talking about the US") and contort it into whatever you're on about.

Once might be a coincidence, twice might be me overestimating how carefully people read other comments before jumping into conversations.