Not a single day goes by where we do not hear the comment on how we Indian's behave in comparison to advanced economies, such as USA.
Be it in media, your show off manager at work who worked there for a few years, or celebrity talk show host like Oprah - " They still eat with their hands !!".
And true to it, we see people sleeping on the floor of railway stations, fighting to go ahead in the ticket queues, throwing left over food or beverages in public places.
Last Tuesday, when I was stuck in a New Jersy airport, in a long long check-in queue created by "system failure", I had the true measure of civility.
The queue was long. People standing for 2 hrs plus in their positions with luggage, family etc.
Fist 20-30 minutes were very very civil. As the time went on, the patience stated toiling !
People started first sitting down, then sleeping on the floor. The line squeezed uncomfortably, for a culture that takes offense in physical proximity to the person ahead of you. Food was trashed right on the floor, so that they don't have to leave their position and walk up to the trash can.
Swearing was audible and in the air, even though it was a family place. So much for civility, that took a clear back seat when a the extra comfortable life, became just a tad bit un-comfortable.
I felt home :)
And to sum it up, when the line moved after 3 hours and started backing up at security check in, one real gentleman in business suit was instructed by the security to throw the left over water in his water bottle before he can pass through the x-ray machine. And irritated he was, he dumped the water right on the machine. A momentary loss of control of anger, and was instantly an outlaw with cops cordoning him off.
Nevertheless, the security line got delayed 15 mins more to clean up the mess for all others behind him.
Be it in media, your show off manager at work who worked there for a few years, or celebrity talk show host like Oprah - " They still eat with their hands !!".
And true to it, we see people sleeping on the floor of railway stations, fighting to go ahead in the ticket queues, throwing left over food or beverages in public places.
Last Tuesday, when I was stuck in a New Jersy airport, in a long long check-in queue created by "system failure", I had the true measure of civility.
The queue was long. People standing for 2 hrs plus in their positions with luggage, family etc.
Fist 20-30 minutes were very very civil. As the time went on, the patience stated toiling !
People started first sitting down, then sleeping on the floor. The line squeezed uncomfortably, for a culture that takes offense in physical proximity to the person ahead of you. Food was trashed right on the floor, so that they don't have to leave their position and walk up to the trash can.
Swearing was audible and in the air, even though it was a family place. So much for civility, that took a clear back seat when a the extra comfortable life, became just a tad bit un-comfortable.
I felt home :)
And to sum it up, when the line moved after 3 hours and started backing up at security check in, one real gentleman in business suit was instructed by the security to throw the left over water in his water bottle before he can pass through the x-ray machine. And irritated he was, he dumped the water right on the machine. A momentary loss of control of anger, and was instantly an outlaw with cops cordoning him off.
Nevertheless, the security line got delayed 15 mins more to clean up the mess for all others behind him.
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