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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179 - Chavs

So, I have to catch two buses in order to reach ASDA, which, if you didn't know already, is a British supermarket chain that sells foods, clothes, magazines, and miscellaneous paraphernalia. I need to go there because the stuff that they sell in the university supermarket is overpriced, and there isn't as much of a variety on campus. The ASDA in Canterbury is big, and they do a lot of good deals, the choices you have to pick from is great.

Basically, I was waiting for the second bus that takes me to ASDA. It came eventually, and I stepped on board. As the bottom deck of the double-decker bus was crowded, I decided to go upstairs.

Sitting in the front of the second storey of the bus, were these five chavs and chevettes - for all of you unfamiliar with those terms, a stereotypical chav is a British-made derogatory term for a young adult who often engages in rambunctious public behavior, and have little-to-no money and education under their name. A chevette is the female form of chav.

The first thing they did, was say, "It's Jackie Chan walking up the stairs."


...No.

One of these stuck-up morons was eating a packet of fries. For what seemed like no good reason at all, she would put one fry in her mouth, then take an alternate one and throw it down the stairs. To me, it seemed like she found it amusing in her own mind. But she wasn't laughing out loud, though, so maybe it was just 'cause she was bored?

She would eat consume one, then throw one on the floor, at the front window, or down the stairs. I watched as her friends didn't seem to give a damn about her littering. One of those friends was actually too busy sticking up the middle finger at random bystanders on the streets and in the windows of some buildings. I was trying to read a book, but this was simply too fascinating to me. I certainly don't think that all English people act this way, I've observed a few lunatic kids back in Hong Kong - but they were definitely some interesting specimens.

The girl with the fries started getting a bit full, I suppose, so she stopped alternating her ingestion and her disposal of fries, and instead, just stuck with throwing them down the stairs.

Maybe her arm got tired?

Because then she just threw the whole packet, still half-full of french fries, down the stairway.

To which my response is, "wow".