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snarl. Even when working at a Mcjob, Americans are expected to
do their job as well as possible, and pride is taken in providing
pleasant service to customers. Americans will complain to
managers or not tip well if service has not been friendly.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

There is no law in the United States about how many children
a couple can have, whether a woman must take her husband's
name (although a majority still do), or what names children are
allowed to have. The average number of children comes out to 2.4,
and you will sometimes hear "a couple with 2.4 children" used to
mean "the average family." Many women hyphenate their last
names when they marry, so that if Susan Smith marries Bill Jones,
she becomes Susan Smith-Jones. Their children, however, usually
have the father's last name.
Families are modern and complicated in the United States; the
divorce rate is one out of two marriages, so there are a lot of
families with only one parent or with stepparents. Women usually
work at least part-time outside the home, and so many children
who are too young for school spend all or part of their days in day
care. Families still try to eat their evening meal together at home,
but this is often not possible because of parents' work schedules or
children's after-school activities.
Many couples now live together without being married, or live
together for a period of time before they marry. Adults in these
relationships sometimes prefer the word partner to the words
"boyfriend" or "girlfriend." Homosexual couples with children are
increasingly common, although mostly in large cities where people
tend to be a little more tolerant.
Americans say Mom and Mommy, not "Mum" and "Mummy."

UNMENTIONABLES

For all their willingness to talk about personal matters, there
are a few subjects that Americans prefer not to discuss with
anyone other than their closest friends and relatives. These topics
are religion, money, and politics.