A $61 cup of tea, or how the annoying Chinese custom of not patiently waiting your turn partially caused me to get a parking ticket
Written By: 孙智谦 on December 4, 2008
3 Comments
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| I recently went on a long trip up to the northeast of the United States. My first stop was New York. I love New York…the excitement, the mass of people from all backgrounds, the public transportation! But driving and parking aren’t so fun. My first day there, I took my trusty GPS to help me get to where I was going that day. A GPS isn’t really all that trusty in a city like New York because half of the buildings block the satellite signal from getting to the GPS. But with a little patience, I managed to find my destination, only to realize that there was nowhere to park. So I drove around for about 10 minutes in circles looking for a place. Eventually, as I was making my 3rd lap, I found that there was a parking space right in front of where I wanted to go! “Awesome!” I thought. “This totally rocks!” So I parked and went down the street and around the corner to get a hot tea with milk. I walked in, ordered my tea, and wandered up to the vicinity of the counter, where the girl behind the counter was helping another lady. I waited patiently for my turn. As soon as the other customer left, though, two more customers elbowed their way to the counter and paid for their tea and whatever else they bought. I stood there rather sheepishly, not wanting to loudly demand my right to be served next and thinking that the lady behind the counter would serve me next anyway. Then, as those customers were leaving, a couple more came in and did the same thing. Suddenly I remembered that I was in Chinatown, that in Chinese culture lines practically don’t exist, and that the Chinese government had even gone to the trouble of naming the 11th of every month “Queuing Day” in an effort to make Beijing more comfortable for the people visiting from the rest of the world during the olympics. “When in Rome…,” I thought to myself, and stepped right up to the counter so that I could not be ignored. I paid for my tea and was out the door in under 30 seconds. I was feeling pretty good about my cultural sensitivity as I walked back to my car, proud that I had respected the Chinese people and handled the situation without coming across as a jerky foreigner…until I saw the meter maid writing me a $60 parking ticket. I didn’t notice the yellow paint on the curb when I parked, but she was all too happy to point it out to me as she wrote me the ticket. Had I gotten there about 30 seconds earlier, I would’ve been able to move before she started the ticket, she said, but since she had started and put it in the computer, she couldn’t stop writing it. Ugh… |
| Now, anybody that knows me knows I’m a huge fan of the Chinese language and people and culture. And I can understand where this annoying custom comes from: in a country of over a billion people, with extremely crowded cities, to wait your turn in every instance could turn out to cost you your youth. A young man may go to the store to buy something simple and then on the way out of the store suddenly find himself an old man because of having patiently waited his turn in line while millions of his neighbors jumped in front of him. Yes, I’m exaggerating, but to make a point. To some degree, it makes sense that the more assertive people will get the most benefit. But seriously…even if it’s absolutely packed with people, it won’t take you THAT long to get out if you wait your turn to pay for food in a bakery less than 1000 square feet in size. Just wait your turn! You won’t die…and I won’t get parking tickets. |
Tags: china, line, parking ticket, Queuing Day
哎……真感到羞愧……有很多人是没办法给他叫道理的，因为他们绝多数都没有受过良好的教育，而且中国人一般都不会制止这种行为，大多数人都会报有“多一事不如少一事”的忍耐心态。我很多时候都很反感这些插队的人，但却又无可奈何…
老孙，对不起啊，有机会我请你吃饭赔罪，呵呵…..
对了，前段时间我去了上海一个多月，让我非常非常的难过:(
Hi, I just found your site. I find your reviews of Chinese Language sites really helpful.
This January I want to begin an intensive study of Mandarin Chinese (In two years, I hope to go to China.)
I have many questions for you about Chinese culture, but I will reserve them until after I have read the majority of your blog.
Anyway, will you please review Serge Melynks site? Just google his name and his site will be at top. I’ve downloaded a few of his lessons. I think they’re okay but I would really like your opinion.
Thanks.
Oh, and sorry about your car. Though if you have experience in New York, shouldn’t it have been obvious that something was up with a perfect parking spot?
‘proud that I had respected the Chinese people’
They sure as hell didn’t respect YOU as they pushed past you like you weren’t even there.