London Expat Calls America The ‘Greediest’ Country He’s Ever Lived In After Having To Pay For 5 Odd Things
Levon Avagyan's Images | Canva Pro Each country has its own characteristics and eccentricities that will seem to stand out even more than usual to foreigners. The U.S. is known for being a relatively wealthy country, but it’s also known as one where it costs a lot of money to live.
There’s no one better poised to pick up on this than an expat from another country, which is how a content creator named Lemuel feels. Lemuel, who is originally from London, has lived in the U.S. for a while now, and he confirmed that it is the “greediest country I have ever lived in.”
He shared a few things that he’s had to pay for that “would send the European mind into absolute psychosis,” and they seem pretty questionable, even to an American.
London expat calls America the ‘greediest’ country he’s ever lived in after having to pay for 5 odd things:
1. Processing fees
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Lemuel offered a specific example of bizarre processing fees he’s been stuck with, and what he said makes a lot of sense. “I pay my rent, and then I pay $6 to process my rent,” he stated. “Why am I paying you money to take my money?”
According to Investopedia contributor Julia Kagan, this is also known as a convenience fee. “This fee helps cover costs imposed by payment processing, commonly applied to transactions like taxes, college tuition, and mortgage payments,” she explained. Apparently, businesses are forced to pay a special “merchant fee” when a customer buys something from them with a credit card, and processing fees are supposed to help offset that cost.
Processing fees do seem at least a bit more logical when you consider that they’re actually covering a cost a business has to pay, but being told a bill costs a certain amount of money just to find out there is an extra fee on top of that feels incredibly unfair.
2. Healthcare
Perhaps the least surprising item on Lemuel’s list was healthcare. He shared the story of a time he went to the emergency room for a toothache as an example. The doctor he saw informed him that he couldn’t do anything and he would need to go to the dentist the next day. Later, he received a $600 bill for the ER trip, with $120 remaining after insurance.
“Think about this for a second,” he said. “I paid $120 for a doctor to tell me he can’t help me.”
Investopedia contributor A.W. Berry said that life in Europe is usually cheaper than life in the U.S., and healthcare is one of the main reasons for this difference. “One of the biggest savings in the cost of living in Europe is healthcare because most European countries offer completely subsidized, free healthcare for residents,” he said.
That’s obviously very different from the healthcare system that we have in the U.S., so it must cause a major culture shock for Lemuel and others like him.
3. Hidden fees
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Lemuel described the hidden fees we often face in the U.S. as something that “ticked me off beyond my imagination.” He had a story to go with this one, too.
He explained that he paid for two nights and valet parking at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago, but “the numbers just weren’t adding up” on his bill. That’s when he discovered that he was charged a “resort fee” of $32 per night that no one could really explain to him.
As of May 12, 2025, these kinds of hidden fees actually became illegal, even in the U.S. The Federal Trade Commission passed its Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, which prohibits ticket vendors and short-term lodging from using “bait-and-switch pricing and other tactics,” which forces businesses to have a new sense of transparency about fees.
Of course, this only applies to buying tickets or paying for lodging, so it’s very possible that Lemuel, or anyone else living in the U.S., will run into hidden fees again in another industry. That doesn’t make them any easier to explain, though.
4. Towing
If you’ve ever parked pretty much anywhere in America, you’ve probably seen a sign that says, “No parking. Vehicle will be towed at owner’s expense.” In other words, if you park your car somewhere illegally, you’re responsible for the cost of the tow, even though you definitely wouldn’t have chosen to go that route. This once cost Lemuel $350.
Allstate explained that the cost for towing a car can vary based on location, distance, size, time, and more. Still, there’s really no good answer as to why the car owner is responsible. You could make the argument that it was their fault that they illegally parked in the first place, which is true enough, but having to pay hundreds of dollars when your car is towed without your consent definitely feels fishy.
5. Tips
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The last thing Lemuel mentioned will also come as no surprise. Every country has its own tipping culture and etiquette that residents abide by, and America’s just seems strange to him. “Since living here, I’ve learnt to leave a 10% tip,” he said.
“But think about this for a second. Your boss is so greedy that he doesn’t pay you … a survivable wage, then guilt trips us, his customers, into covering the rest of your wage for you.”
Tipping is a hotly debated topic in the U.S., and it’s one that people from some other countries can’t really relate to. According to Western Union, leaving a tip isn’t expected in the U.K., Germany, Portugal, or Ireland. Other European countries automatically add a service charge to each bill, or people have a habit of rounding up their expenses.
So much pressure is placed on Americans to properly tip their service workers when they go out, with people arguing those workers can’t live without tips. But other countries are getting along just fine without a strong tipping culture, so it’s clear that we could make changes in the U.S.
There are plenty of things Americans pay for all the time that seem perfectly normal to them because they’re used to them. Having the perspective of someone like Lemuel is interesting because it reminds you just how odd it can be to be forced to pay a hidden fee or an outlandish amount for healthcare. There are definitely things that the U.S. could learn from other countries.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
