Pointless But It Does My Head In
Martin Dust
Techno Zen Master
2 years ago 1 hour after getting off the plane in Berlin eating out with some (German) friends, who at one point said something like "you might have to get used to Germans not being the warmest of people" and i started saying "oh on the contrary all the Germans i've ever met have been really friendly and nice and in fact..." at this point i was cut off by the people sitting at the next table: "can you please talk a little bit quieter please. your voice is really loud and annoying."
Makes a mental note
this is for sure a very noticeable cultural thing like the personal-space comfort-zone. have always been unforgivingly critical about the US lifestyle (throwing away the egg yolk to watch one's cholesterol is just SO disgusting and wrong -- don't eat any fucking eggs then!!
), but until i left i never realized how much 20 years of living there had made me, in many ways such as this, very much "American". and it's a huge difference: a herd of American tourists in a quiet neighborhood is like a pack of hyenas in a library... but on the other hand i do like the boldness and the bratty brashness sometimes.Makes a mental note
does it say "bring ear plugs if ever going to meet zhao"?
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
this from a hip-hop fan! hilarious.
don't ever go to NYC. everyone there is so deaf from living there that they talk very, very loudly. and they don't give a FUCK about being polite.
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
this is for sure a very noticeable cultural thing like the personal-space comfort-zone. have always been unforgivingly critical about the US lifestyle (throwing away the egg yolk to watch one's cholesterol is just SO disgusting and wrong -- don't eat any fucking eggs then!!
does it say "bring ear plugs if ever going to meet zhao"?
I think this is kind of overstated, although I have seen some rude American tourists in Europe (almost without fail they were Midwesterners) who I thought should have been more polite about the native customs. But having lived in a city that's crawling with tourists for 10 months out of the year, there are a fuckload of really, horribly uncouth, not at all streetwise, outright rude tourists from Europe and elsewhere as well, who clog up every subway exit and entrance with huge maps and relentlessly beg you for directions when you're busy and late for meetings. They have stupid Eurodisco ringtones and text and talk quite loudly in restaurants in foreign languages. They go to bars and think every American girl is going to line up to get a chance at fucking them, but many of them seem rather gay by American standards, so it's kind of sad.
They also look you in the eye on the subway, and lean against the poles talking to each other, which is just wrong on every level. Those are two of the top ten unwritten NY rules. They act like everyone is going to shoot them, and they get mugged relentlessly because of this (plus they carry too much cash on them).
tartablanca
capped
What are the other eight?
(co)incidentally, a frenchman said exactly the same thing to one of my friends when she was in Paris last year. I quite like the idea of there being a bunch of unconnected mainland-europeans going around trying to get loud people to speak a bit quieter. One of my friends has a crazily loud speaking voice, he properly bellows at you, and it always makes me feel kind of uncomfortable if we're in say for instance a quiet pub, but that probably says more about me than it does about him.
STN
sou'wester
Ha! I'm off to NYC on a family trip soon and my mum and sister are the absolute fucking worst wanderers-around-slowly, map-studying, sudden-stopping, subway misinterpretering, overcautious tourits on the face of the earth. My sister also insists on carrying a fucking enormous, ill-stuffed backpack everywhere, for maximum comical getting in people's way and turning around and hitting people. I shall be skulking along ten paces behind them like a moody teenager. If you see me, say hi.
In fact, I might just spend the whole trip shopping with my cousin and standing around outside fitting rooms holding her prospective purchases. This will be somewhat more rewarding.
In fact, I might just spend the whole trip shopping with my cousin and standing around outside fitting rooms holding her prospective purchases. This will be somewhat more rewarding.
one is that every other sentence must be ended with "ya freakin' mook!"
and noon every day is mandatory breakdancing lessons
and six other unfunny stereotypes which i'm too busy to come up with at the moment
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
If you lean on Poles on the London underground they tend to get a bit narky.
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
I'll be there from Thursday for I don't know a week or maybe two. Staying on CPW near the Natural History museum. If it's warm I will probably be lying in the park on and off as far away from Strawberry Fields as possible.
Zhao--you don't lean on the pole because that's for all of the dead tired people who worked all day to hang onto as they commute home to the outer boroughs...not for people to lean against so no one else can share it as they ride for 5 blocks.
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nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
1) do not bring your disgusting smelly food on the damn subway and eat it
2) do not touch me ever, and if we are forced to sit next to each other, do not look at me. pretend i don't exist.
3) do not bring your bike on the subway during rush hour, not even if God himself told you to do this--if you're so healthy just ride them damn thing
4) do not lean against the poles unless the car is nearly empty
5) do not look into my eyes
6) do not talk to me unless you've already been denied a cab. it's a grid you'll be fine.
7) i don't care where you are from or which broadway musical you are going to see
8) do not push your huge, spoiled 10-year-old kids around in strollers just to inconvenience everyone further
9) just pay with a debit card for christ's sake, you're holding up the line looking for change
10) avoid teenagers at all costs, even if it means giving up your seat and changing cars. their evil is contagious.
swears
preppy-kei
I'm going to add backpacks in general to this thread. Also big gortex jackets with loads of superflous zips and pockets all over them. Do you really need to dress up like you're scaling everest to stroll around a city for a few hours? There's something really self important about people who cart all this shite around, like they're on a special mission or something.
When I've been out for the day in a big city, all I've needed is some cash and a travelcard. Leave your crap at the hotel. Buy a sandwich for lunch, ffs. You will not starve to death without your tupperware box and thermos flask. You can make it down the length of Oxford Street without a change of thermal underwear and three spare jumpers. And hanging around in bars or clubs with all this stuff?
You deserve to get mugged, honestly.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
But do they ever get mugged? I mean, what's the street value of thermal underwear or a tupperware box full of cold pasta?
Perhaps it's actually a sophisticated anti-mugging strategy, on the basis that any prospective mugger probably can't be arsed to wade through all that crap to find something that might actually be worth nicking.
Perhaps it's actually a sophisticated anti-mugging strategy, on the basis that any prospective mugger probably can't be arsed to wade through all that crap to find something that might actually be worth nicking.
haha i love striking up random conversations with people on the subway. but only if there is something worth mentioning or asking about, and only if they are not reading or look really tired. just last week i saw this older chap with a mute records t-shirt, had that non-descript yet particular life-in-music look about him... turned out he was the manager of the label back in the 80s or 90s, and got out of it because there was no money or something... too bad my station was up i think he had stories.
although i have attempted to chat up girls in the past on occasion as well... glad it wasn't nomad and get stabbed.
although i have attempted to chat up girls in the past on occasion as well... glad it wasn't nomad and get stabbed.
STN
sou'wester
Ah well, these rules sound eminently more sensible than the sole unwritten rule of the Paris Metro, namely that it is vital that, at your stop, you wait till the last possible millisecond before the doors are about to close and hurl yourself the entire length of the carriage, toppling bystanders like ninepines before launching yourself through the doors onto the platform, infuriating everyone who is trying to get on.
These all sound very much like Toronto attitudes as well. The rest of Canada hates Torontonians for being uptight and unfriendly. The stereotype is mostly true though: if you go anywhere else in Canada people talk to you without shame whereas here if you approach anyone they will immediately try to determine if you
a) want money
b) want a cigarette
c) are offering drugs
d) are mentally ill
I am guilty of this as well from living here now. It's interesting you say this hostility is prevalent in NYC (it wouldn't have been the first similarity between NYC and Toronto) but when I visited there last year I was blown away by how much nicer everybody was. They all yelled a lot more, but there wasn't this evil passive aggressive self-centeredness you find in Toronto. In fact when we were having an argument in a subway station about where we should go to find a good restaurant, some lovely (and beautiful) woman, came over to us and asked what we were looking for and put us in the direction of what turned out to be a really great French joint. That would never happen in Toronto.
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scottdisco
rip this joint please
yeah those rules sound good for most big cities i'm familiar with i must admit.
