202 - Holding the door open

Great Britain has struck me as very, very British - it has totally lived up to the expectations of this Filipino-Chinese, Hong Konger, international student.

For example, it is true that it is habit to talk about the weather at any point of any conversation, and also, to ask each other how the other is doing thirty thousand times in a mere five days.  Tea is consumed very often, and they always make sure to wait until everybody has arrived, or has sat down, or has been served, before we begin to jab our forks into our food. All English mothers are fabulous cooks, all English fathers 'know people', and all English kids love to go out and party. Everybody loves fish and chips, sausages, potatoes, pies, pastries, roast beef, bacon, baked beans, beer, ale, and cider. Everyone knows how to make knitwear, bake cookies, garden, navigate through London via the Tube, and perform a variety of different regional English accents. English people are also very informative (and very proud to be informative) when it comes to cricket, rugby and soccer. (Not football, I write in American English.) Contrary to popular belief, though, Prince Charles, The Beatles, Gordon Brown, David Beckham, and Her Majesty, The Queen, aren't that much of a big deal in Britain - in fact, I don't think I've heard them come up in conversation once in the last three months.

One particular social rule in this country, that is lightyears beyond just 'taken for granted', is the natural obligation you have to hold the door open after you have ambled through the doorway. It is a very British thing, because throughout my time here at university, I've observed how the Italians, the Koreans and even the Caucasian Australians don't seem to possess this behavioral principle these English people have obviously spent thousands of years practicing, ever since the last Celt that entered the medieval tomb had to tactfully roll the giant circular stone back to its original position to seal the entrance.

Back in Hong Kong though, nobody expects the people of the cold-blooded public to hold the door out for others in schools, restaurants, or shopping malls. It's like only the hotels and five-star restaurants consider the hazard that is the automatically closing door. On a side note, do you think there are any insurance companies out there that sell door-slamming-into-you insurance? I think it would be a very marketable idea. I mean, with treatment for nosebleeds and stubbed toes being such cheap medical regimens to compensate, there's plenty of room to overcharge clients.

Sigh, I hate it now when people hold the door open. They are always getting in my way. Unless you're telekinetic, there is no way you can avoid obstructing the path on which I'm walking. I never hold the door open for anybody here because everyone else does it too much. Everyone slows down as they get to the door, demonstrating a continuous domino effect of stupidity from 7 in the morning until 10 at night because they're all so desperate to do a good Samaritan-deed. Oh, you held the door open for me! You're my hero! 

What about the door, huh? When does it get done a favor? Can't two sides of a door hinge be brought together anymore nowadays as they were intended to be?

I just open a door and walk through it quickly, and expect whoever's coming through behind me to think fast, walk quicker or slower, and adjust the movement of his/her arm extension. If they get slammed in the face, it's only because they have slow reactions - not my bad. *shrugs*

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I also hate it when people don't say 'thank you' after you hold the door for them. And when people try to pull open a door that's meant to be pushed. If you choose to, posts #21 and #30 are there for your viewing.

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88 - Being too slow

It's Chinese New Year this week and I have the whole week off school. My friends and I went out for dinner and drinks after school yesterday and had a good time celebrating the fact that school's out. The restaurant-café we went to was a pretty cool place to eat. They had Monopoly and Jenga and a Foosball table, cards, board games, an Xbox, a Wii, comic books and manga, magazines, anything you would ever want to do to pass the time when waiting for food, or to entertain yourselves while you eat. They have several of those sorts of businesses here in Hong Kong and they're quite fun to dine at.

I was playing a game of Chinese checkers with my friends and a game that would normally take ten minutes amongst four people took much longer, or, at least, felt much longer. They weren't paying attention to the game, they were taking a long time to think, much longer than necessary since there were three other people who had to take turns, too. Thinking ahead about your next move would benefit everybody and save each player's time. The monotony was so intense I had to step out of the place to breathe and calm down. I hate it when another person takes forever to make their move in games, and I hate it when it's because they aren't really focusing on it.

Being slow isn't good. I hate it when someone slow gets in my way while I'm walking on the street. People who type slow on the computer for work, when chatting, people who take forever to reply to e-mails, texts, Facebook messages or invitations to an event, people who run slowly in a basketball game, people who read slowly in language classes, people who talk endlessly at meals and take forever to eat, people who have to try on fifty different clothes at a store when shopping, cab drivers that take their sweet time transporting you, restaurants that take ages to serve you food, buses or trains that take forever to arrive at the station, movies that don't start at the specified time printed on the ticket, cashier ladies that need time to count the change, teachers that go off on tangents, speak monotonously and take a long time to present material, all get on my nerves so much.

There are some individuals that even preach relaxedness, and say that walking slowly allows you to enjoy life more, to absorb the environment around you, to appreciate the trees and the fresh air and the sounds of birds in the morning time. They say that talking slowly in heated debates help get the point across clearer, they prevent us from losing our tempers, they can enunciate words properly, and we can admire how calm their words are. They say they would rather have the job done right than have the job done quickly. They say being in a rush is too stressful, that there's too much pressure.

I prefer fast to slow. It's more efficient, and people can always learn how to get the job done right and quickly. I'm constantly annoyed at how slow some people can be. I don't know how they get anything done, because there's just so much to do out there that's just... waiting to be done.

That's just it: slowness makes people wait. I tell you, you can do everything quickly if you just get used to being proficient in life. Just because I'm not sitting at a dining table and, instead, running around on the streets doesn't mean I can't have breakfast every morning before school. People can enunciate quickly and properly if they work at it, people can train themselves to be fast thinkers. Controlling the temper is another issue. And no, it's not stressful. What's stressful is when you're pressed for time at work, at school, in life, and if you handle stuff faster, you'll naturally become stress-free. Wouldn't you agree? I mean, how many times have you been stressed out by someone or yourself being slow? How many times has procrastination bitten you in the ass? We always prefer sooner to later. The early bird gets the worm, right?

Slow people, do you hate it too?

52 - When someone helps you but is slow about doing it

Have you ever tried to do a favor but realized you were taking too long to do it as the person you're helping stands beside you, anxiously awaiting your help to finish? The person you're helping sort of lingers behind you staring at your work over your shoulder, just waiting, waiting, waiting for you to be finished.

I made someone wait like this a few days ago and I then noticed that people always offer help but tend to be slow. Perhaps it's all subjective. While someone is doing something and you are doing nothing, you get impatient quickly. How do you deal with them?

Do you point out to them bluntly that they're too slow?
Do you ask if they could hurry up?
Do you lie and conjure up a reason to leave, maybe continue with the work at some later point when you'll feel more patient?
Do you tell them that you think you've got the hang of it and want to see if you can do it yourselves?
Or do you simply appreciate their help and wait until they're finished, however long it may take?

12 - Not knowing how to touch type

I feel like I've been losing my edge lately. I think I've been having a more positive outlook, a perspective where I'm not noticing many of the littler annoying things that exist out there. This has led me to write posts about very general problems such as gluttony and forgetfulness. Everyone talks too much at some point, everyone forgets some things, everyone gets greedy some times. So today, I thought I might focus on something a bit more specific.

This is another bad habit that I have, as we countdown the days 'til I stop displaying what a hypocrite I am. The habit is not typing the 'proper' way, the proper way being touch typing. This is where all ten fingers rest upon the keys on a keyboard. The main advantage of this method is your capability to keep your eyes on the screen at all times.

Now, obviously, I've taken lessons on how to type, and I can touch type, but I do it reeeeeeeeally slowly. I'm just used to my own system of 'use the finger that's most comfortable for me to use for each respective key'. I don't look at the keyboard, and I don't type slowly either. It's just the way I do it, and I do it well. I just wish I could do it the proper way though, but it's a difficult habit to get rid of.

I guess the thing about typing improperly that I hate is when people type slowly, because they're too busy looking down at the keyboard, up at the screen, back down at the keys, and back up the monitor, head down, head up, down, up, down, up... It's annoying to watch. And annoying to talk to someone online when you know they're being slow because of their improper typing methods.

It's even worse when people type slowly because they're using the proper method, since touch typing is meant to provide efficiency. I think you should just find the method that provides you with the best accuracy and speed. But then again, I wish I could touch type. I'm obsessive about having things done the right way for things like this that we do on a daily basis. I hate that I don't do it right. And I dislike seeing others that can't either.