migrants don't know how to wear deodorant or queue
Thoughts_Arrive
Melbourne, Australia Posts: 15,165
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-n ... 6240491026
Well I'm not a racist but I've experienced this.
I had members of a large migrant group stand on either side of me at the shop as I was punching in my credit card pin number, I politely told them to stand behind me and wait their turn to be served.
Well I'm not a racist but I've experienced this.
I had members of a large migrant group stand on either side of me at the shop as I was punching in my credit card pin number, I politely told them to stand behind me and wait their turn to be served.
Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
True.
And the real problem is that by generalizing an entire population in this case, now it becomes taboo to talk about the real issue...which is still it is probably true that there is a population of people that have a different set or norms then the society that they are living in. Differences are good, except when it comes to hygiene and courtesy.
I can't tell you how many stinky elevators I road on in engineering school.
I think differences are good, including hygiene and courtesy. It's an opportunity being offered up to step out of our "my culture is the right way" mentality that we can get into sometimes.
You should ride in those elevators.
I think some of those differences are good, hygiene is not one of them. And I'm a big fan of personal space, but not everyone is apparently.
It always amuses me when someone starts a conversation with I'm not a racist but.... It's almost as if they think it doesn't matter how racist they really are, they're off the hook if they prefix every prejudiced and ignorant remark with "I'm not racist."
You are correct. They think that comment is an absolution from the close-mindedness they are about to spread. I am not angry with Thoughts_Arrive, or anyone that posted. In fact, I am upset that it's even universally okay to think that it's alright to say I'm not a racist but.... before you say something generalizing. It's simply not, because if I said, "I'm not a racist but....all white people do such & such"... I would get a hailstorm of correction. It is not right for me to do it either.
I no longer find that comment amusing. When I was younger I would just pass it off. Now, I immediately say, "That's not okay to say. You are stereotyping." and/or I simply walk away. This time, I had to say something.
I have a friend who says it a lot...and also, "I'm not racist because Shimmy is my friend and she's coloured". :roll: So, am I the reason she can say racist things? So, if I wasn't coloured she wouldn't be my friend? :roll: Then, I would not rather be your friend if that will make you stop. What really makes me sad is that she makes racial comments thinking I would find them funny because I am coloured. I don't. Needless to say, I have slowly distanced myself over the years.
Yes, my parents are immigrants and yet, they bathe everyday, wear deodorant & can queue with the best of them. I was born here in Canada, speak only English, I also bathe everyday, wear deodorant, and now how to queue.
Instead of directing it at a group, just say: "I dislike it when people crowd me when I am using the debit machine, it makes me feel nervous. I feel it's necessary to bathe every day, wear deodorant, and queue correctly, because I feel it's polite behaviour."
An acquaintance had sent this video to me, and I couldn't help but feel sad because I have been on the receiving end of many of these comments, in one variation or another.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylPUzxpIBe0&sns=fb
It's funny. The only time I'm really bothered by b.o. is those guys at the gym. You know, the ones who wear the same workout clothes every day and they never wash them. I swear they seal them in plastic bags after the workout and then microwave them for full effect. Basic, 'I smell funky because of different cultural hygiene standards' don't seem to bother me a whole lot.
and oops she's in trouble ...
generalizing now about stinkiness ... really :?
Some years ago we had a group of Latino men put a new roof on our 4000 sq ft home
in less than a day, start to finish, in 90 degree weather
they still smelled like roses when I got em beer at days end
A room full of cats or dogs or reptiles or elderly women with flowery perfume or guys with musk cologne would each have a distinctive odor. Of all of the above, each of us would most likely prefer one group's odor over the other-- but that doesn't make one better or worse than the other. So why make an issue of it? If any argue should be made, perhaps it would be toward certain cultures being at least a bit too antiseptic.
White expats are always complaining about the slow walkers on the streets in Hong Kong.
It's always the the expat angrily shoving their way through a crowd.
We are the migrants here, but it doesn't stop ol expats from compaining about everything constantly. Basically if it isn't exactly how it was from ~insert home town here~ then it is the "wrong" way.
EDIT: If we are going to generalise.....I have found Italians and French can't queue either.
Are you calling me a racist?
If so, go fuck yourself.
I give every ethnic group a chance and am a friendly person, but when I see people that come into this country and don't adopt our culture then that is something that irks me.
And yes native people of one country don't use deoderant and push in as well, I've seen it many times.
i'm pretty sure there was no deodrant in aboriginal culture,
Not aborigines....
Does it irk you that many aborigines have chosen not to adopt your culture?
i know what you meant, i was just pointing out your culture is not actually native to austrailia in the first place
I'm not racist, but...
I give everyone a chance, but...
You want everyone to be exactly like you, and your culture? :?
Personally, I used to notice people who smelled badly because they didnt use deodorant, but then it occurred to me that maybe they had their reasons, and I cant expect them to be exactly like me. In the US, most deodorants are loaded with things like aluminum chlorohydrate, parabens, propylene glycol, triclosan...
So, basically, I dont apply this shit either.
everyone I've met that agrees with assimilation are racists.
it always bugs me when people my parents age say shit like "come to my country, wave my flag, don't sing our anthem in any language but english, go back to where you came from, etc".
if they really thought assimilation was the right way to go, then everyone in Canada should be culturally Aboriginal and live in teepees and eat bannock. we white men/women didn't assimilate, so no one else should have to either.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
your first step shoud be treating people as individuals, and not as a group.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
"Forgive every being,
the bad feelings
it's just me"
They were here first so no.
What you getting at with the constant references to the Aborigines?
Constant references? I count one made by me in this thread.
Anyway...this thread is weird.
Shame on me.
If I have read this correctly, I disagree with it entirely. I don't care what culture exists, courtesy is a baseline and staple human behaviour that reflects compassion and understanding for fellow man. In Canada, with exceptions of course, we teach and extend courtesy to people as a fundamental behaviour. Disrespectful attitudes are frowned upon. Any culture that accepts selfish behaviour as normal is flat out weak and hardly one to accept or celebrate for being merely different.
With the aforementioned said, I'm not sure which cultures are universally poor at being courteous?
China would make it onto that list. There really is a problem here with people having no regard for others. Like when a lift door opens, the people on the outside don't wait for those inside to walk out before entering, but just push straight in. Same on buses.
It's weird, because in many other ways the Chinese are the friendliest people you could meet. I've had strangers walk up to me in restaurants here and just pay for my meal. And on many occasions in a bar or club people will just invite you to their table and buy you beer and food all night.
But in other ways they can be really rude, like people will always try and push in front in a queue, and they have no qualms about smoking in lifts ('elevators' for the Americans reading this). On the other hand, they're not really an aggressive people, and are often quick to apologize if you call them out on their lack of courtesy. The lack of manners & courtesy is something they inherit from their parents, as you often see the children copying their parents - just this morning the lift door opened and a young kid was standing dead-centre in front of the doors and tried to barge straight in, with her Dad standing behind her.
The bottom line is, when it comes to common courtesy and manners, the Chinese definitely scrape the bottom of the barrel.
But this place is full of contradictions.
On the flip side, I worked in London for six years and commuted on the Trains and the Tube every day, and that was pretty much a daily bout of uptight antagonism. People pushing and shoving. People taking hot, smelly food onto the Tube, people walking onto the train and then stopping still so that those behind them can't get on...
So basically, I think a lot of people are just pretty rude everywhere. Not everyone, but a fair percentage. And I'm pretty sure I must have contributed my fair share of animosity and impatience over those years. :oops:
I can't say I miss it. I never want to have to commute to work again.
People growing up elsewhere may have different manners.....shocking
just because they don't share your "manners" doesn't mean you don't offend them in other ways becuase you don't share their "manners". There is huge cultural differences in common courtesy.
The question you raise for me is how much of this is courtesy that is lost in large urban areas. You make the point yourself when referencing London being similar to China regarding trains. I don't have experience in China, but in London I found people to be courteous in more isolated situations, say one-on-one, but in the tube I saw several old ladies getting shouldered in the mash on and off the train, especially during rush hour.
Within each culture, you'll find certain contradictions or exceptions. The term 'critical mass' in relation the cycling, comes from China, where auto traffic will stop for cyclists if a large enough group has amassed at the intersection in order to let them pass. In the U.S., I don't see this happening as the only way cars would stop at an intersection (in a large city) would be if it's legally required.
A good research question would be what culture is able to retain it's courteous behaviors and norms across the population density spectrum (from small town to large city).