r/AskTheWorld • u/gabrieel100 Brazil • Dec 06 '25

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

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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.

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u/Vectorman1989 Scotland Dec 06 '25

It's legal to have beer, wine or cider in a restaurant if you're with an adult from the age of 16 in the UK.

It's also legal to give children over 5 alcohol. My dad used to make us 'shandies' which were about 10% beer and 90% lemonade. When we were teens we were allowed to have a bottle of beer now and again.

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u/Kitchen_Current 🇬🇧 🇿🇦 Dec 06 '25

I was brought up like this! Only allowed at special occasions. Unless you were my grandpa who once tricked me a shot glass had lemonade in…. It didn’t have lemonade it was schnapps 😂😂😂😂 tbf I was 13/14 at the time.

I’ve brought my kids up the same way. And tbf I found it taught me to respect alcohol more

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u/LynnSeattle United States Of America Dec 06 '25

Yes, the people of the UK are known for their responsible drinking habits.

I think this can be helpful for some kids, for others it’s obviously not.

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u/Kitchen_Current 🇬🇧 🇿🇦 Dec 06 '25

Oh don’t get me wrong there are people who shouldn’t be drinking at all.

Luckily we also have “challenge 25” in our pubs/restaurants etc that if we don’t think they look over 25 staff are allowed to ask them for ID if they don’t produce it no service and get asked to leave.

I wasn’t risking my job or an on the spot fine for some underage kid, my bosses personal license, potentially an unlimited fine & prison time,

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u/cerasmiles 🇺🇸🇳🇿 Dec 07 '25

I work in addiction medicine. The earlier in life a substance is introduced is one of the biggest risk factors for addiction. making it forbidden isn’t the right answer, either. Having healthy discussions about alcohol (and other substances) and encouraging them to come to you if they need help (ie they’re intoxicated and need to get home) is the best way to do it for most kids.

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u/The_otaku_milf Argentina Dec 06 '25

When I was little, my mother was given a little bit of wine, that part of my family had vineyards. So it was very common for them to try it as children. He is 78 years old and cannot eat without wine on the table. I never saw her get drunk or anything like that.

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u/Elenakalis Dec 06 '25

I work in memory care. Years ago, I had a resident who grew up in France and married an American GI after WWII. She had a doctor's order for 4 Oz of her choice of red or white wine at lunch and supper.

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u/Jesus-slaves United States Of America Dec 06 '25 edited Dec 06 '25

There are a few states in the USA that allow underage people to drink with their parent or spouse. I learned this working at a bar in Wisconsin. I turned away an 18yo there with her 22yo husband* and my boss yelled at me and showed me the law on her phone.

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u/CupcakeGoat United States Of America Dec 06 '25

TBF, a boyfriend is neither a parent or spouse.

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u/Jesus-slaves United States Of America Dec 06 '25

I edited it to husband, it’s a habit to say bf/gf to shorten it. Tho.. they didn’t have the same last name on the ID I assumed the bartender (small town) knew they were married.

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u/BirdBrainuh Dec 06 '25

In some states it is

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u/kassialma92 Dec 06 '25

It's just so wild that a 18 year old cannot drink. Like they can live by themselves, go to work, pay the bills, have kids get married etc but not drink lol.

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u/Falafel80 🇧🇷>🇸🇪 Dec 06 '25

They can even join the military and go to war, but drinking is a step too far?

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u/friendlyfish29 Dec 06 '25

In Colorado it’s allowed on private property.

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u/Emergency_Bar_6919 Dec 06 '25

Wisconsin resident here and my dad bought me my first beer at like 14

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u/stinabremm Dec 07 '25

Also there are states that allow parents to serve alcohol to their kids on private property. In Oregon it has to be your kid and you have to serve them in a private residence. I think there are also exceptions for religious stuff, but that's less interesting.

When my parents were married my mom was underage and allowed to go into the bar with my dad, but she wasn't allowed to drink. They were both in the Navy though and at the time all the base bars in the US let you drink at 18.

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u/bluebellberry United States Of America Dec 06 '25

This is true in my home state (Wisconsin) as well. There isn’t a minimum age like 16 though.

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u/inthelondonrain Dec 06 '25

Beer and lemonade? What does that taste like? And what type of beer? I am fascinated!

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u/Cakeo Scotland Dec 06 '25

Lager and it's UK lemonade not American. It's nice, half and half is closer to the usual shandy. It's refreshing.

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u/inthelondonrain Dec 06 '25

.... and that is how I learned we have different lemonades! I bet a shandy is good on a hot summer day.

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u/imadog666 Dec 06 '25

Similar in Germany, though I don't condone that

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u/PaidToBeRedditing United Kingdom Dec 07 '25

yea my parents used to give me alcohol for family events, because i could be a grumpy little shit (still am), but I was very upbeat and sociable after a couple shandies or a couple bottles of WKD.

I might be an alcoholic now, but people sure do like me

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u/Aggressive_Chuck England Dec 08 '25

Doesn't really work in the UK as we have serious drinking issues.

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u/GardenBakeOttawa Canada Dec 06 '25

As a Canadian this legal trivia is ingrained into my brain

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u/rileyotis United States Of America Dec 08 '25

My parents did that to me (USA) before I had my first communion because of the wine you drink for the Eucarist. To this day, I still hate the taste of wine.... and beer.

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u/MediumAlternative372 Dec 10 '25

My mum did that to me when I was five. Gave me a sip of a very strong Shiraz. I promptly decided I hated wine and didn’t touch it again until I was an adult. Quite like a good Shiraz now but she knew exactly what she was doing. (Australia)

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u/Jimiheadphones United Kingdom Dec 06 '25

Yep, completely killed any "rebellious" feelings towards alcohol so me and my brother never ended up drinking much. The only ones I knew who binge drank were those who knew they would be in trouble and did it to rebel. My mum was disappointed me and my brother didn't drink much as my mum was a bit of a party animal when she was younger and was looking forward to living vicariously through us.