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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167 - When people are impolite

At my job, I work alongside another bartender. He's actually been bartending for years, and has way more experience than I do, but there are some things I just do not understand about his behavior, because he lacks some qualities that I would normally expect from an experienced barman.

One of these things is the fact that he has extremely bad manners. There are many times during the crazy hours of our job (6pm to midnight) where the two of us must co-operate in order to handle all the food, drink, and customers, properly. Sometimes, I'll ask him to help pour that gin and tonic, and one coke, while I, at the same time, pour three glasses of beer. That's just a typical drinks order from a five-person table in our restaurant.

Even though I may sound bossy and rushed, I always ask him to help me out with some large orders, and I follow it up with the magic word, "please". When the job is done, I say "thanks, man", because I know I would've handled it much slower without his aid. He, on the other hand, never follows up a request with "please", and he never responds with "thank you" after I help him out. It just irks me because I was brought up to be well-mannered, while he offers not the slightest hint of such courtesy.

He never says "excuse me" either. He's a big guy, which means I always have to let him have the most convenient route while we both navigate around the bar, lest I might get trampled. He is so rude, and so unknowingly aggressive. He just talks in my ear while I'm taking a customer's order, nudges me while I'm pouring six glasses of wine, taps my shoulder while I'm cutting a lemon, practically knocks me over while I'm squatting down to grab bottles of beer out of the fridges, pushes into me while I'm carrying two cups of hot coffee, bumps into me while I'm cleaning the shelves...

In this respect, I hate working with him. First of all, it adds risk of injury to my job. Plus, it just makes me want to swear at him (e.g., "Two glasses of hot water, please, for table 5!" ...graceless asshole).

That's not good.

That ain't good at all.

126 - People who are too lazy to pick up the ball

Ever heard of soccer? The sport that the British call 'football'. I call it football because I haven't had a whole lot of experience playing American football, so there's no confusion to me.

But whatever. I went out with three of my friends today to kick a football around. I'm a goalkeeper at heart, although in the past few years, I haven't had much practice playing any role, goalie or otherwise. My frequency of practice is nothing compared to how much I used to practice five or six years ago. I think I'm going to try and do it more often.

Being a goalie has a lot of advantages, chiefly you don't need to run around all the time. Although this is the case, I try to lessen the physical burden of the people sprinting, turning and kicking on the field, and allow them to get a bit of rest by offering to pick the ball up instead, whenever it flies over, or to the side of, the goal (which happens around ninety percent of the time). I do nothing but stand there for the most part anyway, so might as well jog for the ball whenever I can, to get the exercise I intend to get from going to play football in the first place.

Plus, it speeds up the play, the quicker it is, the more fulfilling the session, the more fun we can have, the more kicks we can fit in in a given amount of time.

As the goalie, perhaps it's not in my right to say so, but I hate it when attackers, defenders, centers, the ones on the pitch, don't run for the ball and pick it up. I say it may not be in my right to say so because my role of goalkeeper never requires me to do much running.

The reason I don't really like running on the pitch is because my coordination sucks while I'm running with the ball. I'm the goalkeeper in hockey, netball and football, I prefer going for stationary three-pointers in basketball rather than doing layups, I'm no good at rugby or American football because the passing-while-running thing is just too much for me, and the sports I like tend to be ones in which you don't need to run with the ball, such as tennis, volleyball, and badminton. My favorite activities are those in which you don't run at all, like snooker, bowling and golf. Goalkeeping is the only position I can do okay in when playing football, I'm tallish, have big hands, sharp eyesight, and relatively fast reflexes, and I'm (usually...) not afraid of the ball coming at me.

But as I said, I try to go pick up the ball whenever it flies over my head, or to the side of the goalposts. It's just common courtesy as you're closest to the ball, and it's like... if you don't pick it up, who will?

It's slothful when a player falls to the ground and lies there moping just because his shot went way off, or whenever a person passes it to someone else but doesn't care to continue what he started and run with his teammates all the way 'til they reach nearer to the goal. What is the point in not running, honestly?

If your shot resulted in an utter miss, I mean, go run for the ball, man, you kicked it there. Even if it is in the goalie's convenience to go pick it up, at least, run for it sometimes, or offer to.

And don't say sorry. It's not like an apology makes picking up the ball any less taxing or unenjoyable. Someone has to go get it, and it might as well be you. Sorry doesn't solve anything.