Personally, I was dragged up to be polite, not in an ingratiating way, just polite. Obviously as I have shifted my locus across the globe (I think I'm chasing the sunrise), the outline for the initial statement of this post becomes fluid (much as I, on a Saturday night) but the general theme of manners remains pretty much the same throughout. The golden rule being "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself".
So why is it that once in Asia (where there are huge tomes that relate to the conventions of the golden rule) do I experience an absolute disregard for the rest of society, and everything seems centred around the self.
I'm not referring to their inability to queue (Yoosay Dictionary: Stand in line), nor am I alluding to the tendency for the Oriental to eat noisily, (this only rankles me when the practitioner is of Caucasian descent, and thus, should know better) after all, you can't use two sticks of bamboo to eat your noodles quietly (I know, I've tried).
The most heinous of all offences (in my book, the big one printed in big font and with pictures) is standing in the way (or more precisely, my way),. I wish to express that this isn't just a "wee peeve" this is endemic to whole nations (incidentally all of which seem to be East of Cyprus) and it is infuriating.
I can't recall the amount of doorways that I have encountered, clogged up with Saudis who had met their friends (for the first time since the day before) nor do I care to imagine what fascinating conversations they managed to strike up, what I do remember is their consternation when they looked up to find others with the intent of using the said doorway as a route of entry or exit, (oh the inconvenience!). Likewise, on my purchasing trips into Thailand's malls, I frequently find that small Chinese/Korean/Japanese persons have walked through the main portal to one of these centres of commerce, taken one or two steps and stopped. No movement, no inclination to remove themselves from the thoroughfare, nothing registering within to tell them that they are being a pest.
I can conclude that if they made stopping in doorways an Olympic event, the team champions would normally be the Saudi Arabians and the individual Champions, the Chinese.
The fact that none of them will ever read this (who does?) just means that I can rant away, safe in the knowledge that it will still occur, and still grip my stools every time, futility being my joie de vivre.
Hey ho dear reader, if you don't believe me, just walk down a pavement in the east, and watch out for stoppages (Arrrrgh!).
Just follow the Johnny Walker adage!
Much as globalisation appears to be sweeping all before it and blending culture to culture, does it have to do so at the cost of manners? Do we (Homo Sapiens) adhere to the path of least resistance, are we so indolent as to adopt the worst of the crop? Why shouldn't we aspire to become more civilised with each generation?
I would have thought that the responsibility for how we interact, is upon us for the next generation.
So why is it that once in Asia (where there are huge tomes that relate to the conventions of the golden rule) do I experience an absolute disregard for the rest of society, and everything seems centred around the self.
I'm not referring to their inability to queue (Yoosay Dictionary: Stand in line), nor am I alluding to the tendency for the Oriental to eat noisily, (this only rankles me when the practitioner is of Caucasian descent, and thus, should know better) after all, you can't use two sticks of bamboo to eat your noodles quietly (I know, I've tried).
The most heinous of all offences (in my book, the big one printed in big font and with pictures) is standing in the way (or more precisely, my way),. I wish to express that this isn't just a "wee peeve" this is endemic to whole nations (incidentally all of which seem to be East of Cyprus) and it is infuriating.
I can't recall the amount of doorways that I have encountered, clogged up with Saudis who had met their friends (for the first time since the day before) nor do I care to imagine what fascinating conversations they managed to strike up, what I do remember is their consternation when they looked up to find others with the intent of using the said doorway as a route of entry or exit, (oh the inconvenience!). Likewise, on my purchasing trips into Thailand's malls, I frequently find that small Chinese/Korean/Japanese persons have walked through the main portal to one of these centres of commerce, taken one or two steps and stopped. No movement, no inclination to remove themselves from the thoroughfare, nothing registering within to tell them that they are being a pest.
I can conclude that if they made stopping in doorways an Olympic event, the team champions would normally be the Saudi Arabians and the individual Champions, the Chinese.
The fact that none of them will ever read this (who does?) just means that I can rant away, safe in the knowledge that it will still occur, and still grip my stools every time, futility being my joie de vivre.
Hey ho dear reader, if you don't believe me, just walk down a pavement in the east, and watch out for stoppages (Arrrrgh!).
Just follow the Johnny Walker adage!
Much as globalisation appears to be sweeping all before it and blending culture to culture, does it have to do so at the cost of manners? Do we (Homo Sapiens) adhere to the path of least resistance, are we so indolent as to adopt the worst of the crop? Why shouldn't we aspire to become more civilised with each generation?
I would have thought that the responsibility for how we interact, is upon us for the next generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment