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Q: You get used to things or do you?
This afternoon I went to the local supermarket to buy some junk food and was standing in the queue and there was a foreign guy in front of me and we gave each other the friendly foreign nod but no conversation. After he paid, he was putting his shopping away and out of the blue this young girl decided to jump ahead of me and throw her instant noodles, fruit and a bar of soap at the cashier and completely disregarded that I even existed. I didn’t bat an eyelid as there is always one moron but the foreign guy was completely appalled, his jaw literally dropped and he kept staring at the girl who obviously didn’t give a monkey. So she paid and left then it was my turn and the guy started to talk to me and was genuinely shocked and said that the girl was so rude and I should have pulled her back and I smiled and said ‘It’s China’. It made me laugh and thought have I got used to things and ask do you ever get used to things from when you first arrived or do you stop caring to an extent any examples?
I buy mostly everything from the internet now. Good workaround.
I can't say I have seen this often, but every single asshole that has ever tried to jump on me has been nicely but firmly told to GTFO with no counterargument so far.
Last time some rude lady jumped in front of me at the grocery store (on her phone, completely oblivious of my existence), I grabbed her goods and threw them in a nearby empty basket behind me, then I gave her some angry look, no need to say that she was pissed (as if I was wrong), but I didn't give a f*ck.
Usually I stand my position firmly and people don't dare jumping in front of me as I am 2m05 with 95 kg of muscles.
I have been in China for many years and it is still out of question for me to give up my values of respect and civilized behavior in order to "fit in". I have changed Chinese people around me, but China did not change me and never will.
Robk:
I have to agree, some things are tolerable but trying to take advantage of a foreigner because you think he can't cry for help or speak back deserves what she gets.
Chinese do that too, try to jump the queue RIGHT in front of the foreigner on purpose.
Once you ascend to good manners and behavior or a decent society it is nearly impossible to revert back into a bumpkin. So good on you... some of their actions are tolerable but... if they are just plain rude, then I am just plain rude right back at them. They will pull they "you are a bully, and I am the victim card" but who cares. If they kick me out of China... big loss...
ambivalentmace:
a foreign friend here that knows the language always embarrasses anyone who jumps in front of him, he will actually kowtows to the ground and bow and say im sorry great emperor or empress i did not see you, may i kiss your ass while im down here also, he says this all in chinese and i have seen the line jumpers turn red and run out of the store, and everybody is laughing at the crazy foreigner but it works.
It's a fact that people who jump queues go to hell
The other day driving home from some shopping, I drive on a street where the is on lane in the direction I was going + a non-motorized vehicle lane. As the street was, and often is, jammed in the opposite direction, some douche was jumping the queue in the other direction by being in my lane. I simply just stopped, he expected me to go to the non-motorized vehicle lane, but I don't break the rules just because he does. So the dance began. He would roll back 20 cm, and I would roll forward 20 cm. While this is going on, I am not blocking traffic as everyone else is just driving on sidewalks and in the non-motorized vehicle lane. It just so happens that I am a very patient guy. So he was "pushed" 150 meters backwards, onto a side-street before I let him go. It didn't occur to the guy he could at any time have gone back to the lane he was supposed to.
This happens all the time. In the supermarket, at KFC, Mackers...everywhere. Sometimes they will pretend to ask questions and then simply dump their stuff in front for the cashier. I simply push their stuff away and take my place. Their glare at me and I glare back. I don't ever blink. Sometimes, I'm in a tank top and seeing my tattoos helped a lot. LOL! Usually it's the middle age women who does this. Just don't give in. They have to be put in their place. Things is, once I refuse to give in, the rest in the line did the same and she ended up right where she started...at the end of the line, swearing, cursing under her breathe, the picking up her phone calling all her friends telling them how she was bullied. Crap!
It kills me that if I make a fuss the clerks always seem to think it is alright and make gestures to calm down. When I was at the airport standing in que, a famiy came up an asile on the side and I was next, they ran to the counter in front of me, I said go and pointed, was visibly pissed. The agent stood up and pointed and told them to go, thats the only time that happened. I'm the bad guy for getting angry. At home no one would tolerate this behavior, groceries etc would be shoved on the ground, jumper pushed, maybe punched, but you'd rarely see this. China this is normal, for people that I expect to be humble and harmonious, this is agressive and arrogant behavior.
