Somewhere along the line in my 30 years of living on this planet, I have developed a strong sense of what is 'right' and what is 'wrong'. I quite enjoy arguing about 'right' and 'wrong', and enjoy being right.
I'd like to think that as I get older I am getting better at dealing with the times when I am wrong, but I'd be lying to myself, really. In many ways, living in Japan is perfect for me, because people tend to follow societal rules here almost religiously. It is perhaps this mass adherence to the rules which make the exceptions to the rule stand out so clearly. I have taken to pointing out to people very loudly and obviously when they are doing something 'wrong'.
It's all Megumi's fault, really. when she was heavily pregnant, we caught the train a couple of times, and perfectly fit, able-bodied young men were sitting in the seats allegedly reserved for the old, the disabled and the pregnant. 2 or 3 times I politely asked these young men if they were injured. The response was always a puzzled look (just once a defiant 'NO'), whereby I then pointed to the sign that tells you that the seats are reserved. Without fail, they got up and gave Megumi the seat, whilst apologizing profusely.
More recently, I have become somewhat annoyed by people parking their bicycles in the wrong place. Near our station, the city has decided to decorate the area by putting down nice flower boxes on the pathway to the station entrance. There is not much room to walk, so the city has put up around 8 or 9 signs asking people not to park their bicycles next to the flower boxes. People still continue to do so, clogging up the path so that it is very difficult to walk to the station. Twice in the past few weeks I have scolded the culprits. Once, a middle-aged man feigned a look of surprise, the second time, a teenage girl pretended not to hear me. On both occasions, they then moved their bicycles and apologized.
I should probably chill out a bit and not let these things get to me, but I just find it bloody obnoxious when someone smokes next to a non-smoking sign or stops their car right over a pedestrian crossing...
Posted by Gary at January 7, 2004 12:18 PMI hear what you are saying. There is a lot to say for social order on the small considerate levels.
You may want to consider a longer term stay in Japan or chilling out. You take that attitude to the UK and you are likely to get an ARSE WHOOPING!!
Posted by: Paul at January 7, 2004 11:23 PMhe, he! Young father Mark of www.vudeja.com/blog is like you: he scolds smokers in train stations, I read in his blog some time ago. Good job. But please take care.
Posted by: vincentvds at January 8, 2004 09:45 PMgary you narky old bastard,
dave
I am with you all the way Gary. Most of the time it speople just not using their noggins!! A little bit of commonsense goes a long way. I have seen bicycles parked right in the middle of a footpath and right in front of the doorway to a shop making it almost impossible for people to enter. People stopping their cars on pedestrian crossings gets me going too. Where do these people get their licenses?
What has been really getting to me lately though is people runnning red lights. I often find myself crossing the street when a car runs through a red light and is comes straight for me, i often stop and stare at the driver and shake my head or shake a finger at them. What is worse though is the police who do absolutley nothing to stop this from happening. I get pulled over on my bicycle on a regular basis when really they should be pulling cars over just as often. And have the police even heard of 'random breath testing' in this country!! blah blah blah, rant rant rant. I could go on for hours!! But like you Gary i have had enough of rude and stupid people and will always say something now, not in a rude way mind you. I am always polite.
Gary, having known you for your 30 years on the planet, I must state again how surprised I am (and will always be) how you have only ever had one smack in the face. Perfect, right, loud, obnoxious - sorry, but just like most men I know!
Posted by: Trudi at January 9, 2004 05:44 PM