Electricity

In the States, when you want electricity, it's there (unless you didnt pay your bill or there is a rolling blackout...). In Scotland, anything that requires electricity also has a switch. Dont get me wrong, you get used to it, but at first you do things like plug your phone or laptop in, thinking its charging, when its not. The stranger aspect of this whole situation is how it applies to appliances. In the picture, the switch on the left is for the stove top 'cooker' in my kitchen.

From what I can gather, these switches save electricity as trace amounts of electricity are lost when things are plugged in (and maybe even when nothing is plugged in).