We Need Some Respectful Indians

[Wannabe Yogi]

just to point out - I was born and raised in India, and reside in India. Here's the important part - I do not "push and shove, burp and fart out loud in public etc." And neither do all the other Indians i know.

Make sense?
okay. Thank you.

Many habits of Americans are seen as rude in other parts of the world. Our loud conversation style, ignorance of other people cultures, and our hypernationist tendencies make many view Americans as rude and uncivilized.
Just go to France or Japan and ask around they will tell you what the term UGLY AMERICAN really means.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

even the good stuff - indians being more hospitable, more giving, etc.
pertains to only a few.

I have tried to organize my life around Indian Philosophy. There is no greater respect I could pay to any group of people.

The person who started this thread I think is an Indian.

In general I would disagree with your above statement. I find Indians to be very hospitable people. Any more argument you are just fishing for compliments

 

[kaisersose]

With all due respect, this topic has nothing to do with religion at all.

The OP appears to be confusing Hindu religion and Indian society to be the same.

 

[Madhuri]

With all due respect, this topic has nothing to do with religion at all.

The OP appears to be confusing Hindu religion and Indian society to be the same.

That is a very good point.

 

[Madhuri]

believe it or not! indians who are well mannered and polite, yes, they do exist. Imagine that!
if you guys are hell bent on believing otherwise, I have neither the time nor the inclination to convince you.

Nobody is claiming that they do not exist.

 

[brbubba]

Many habits of Americans are seen as rude in other parts of the world. Our loud conversation style, ignorance of other people cultures, and our hypernationist tendencies make many view Americans as rude and uncivilized.
Just go to France or Japan and ask around they will tell you what the term UGLY AMERICAN really means.

Our LOUD conversation you say? In my experience it is Indians that have the loudest conversations, particularly when in large groups. And typically they don't seem to care who's around at the time or who they are disturbing.

On the whole I agree with the article. The queue thing is especially annoying, just go to Disney World. I witnessed scores of Indians without a care in the world just pushing past people in line. In one case an Indian woman cut a woman with a baby stroller. Later on the woman in the baby stroller accidentally touched the Indian woman's foot with the stroller and the Indian woman quickly turned around and made a loud smirking sound as if to say that this woman was beneath her so much that she couldn't be bothered with her.

So no, Indians do not get a free pass because it is imbued in their culture. Manners in all cultures include a respect for other individuals. Also anyone traveling to another country should educate themselves on local customs and culture somewhat, this includes Americans!

 

[monta]

This article is at odds with my personal experience of Indian emigrants to Ireland, the vast majority of whom I have found to be courteous and respectful. Not everyone gets the queue etiquette, but that isn't reserved to Indian people. I have stood behind an American man in a post office who had a meltdown because he couldn't grasp our system of queuing and tried to jump the queue only to have the post mistress boot him back in line What I am suggesting is, that if someone jumps the queue or commits some other transgression of social etiquette, then either let them or say something, don't harbor resentment against them. I hope we never get to the stage where there are no differences in cultures, and we are all a bland clump of homogeneous, unremarkable dullards.

 

[Madhuri]

How do they queue differently in Ireland?

 

[monta]

How do they queue differently in Ireland?

Differently to the US apparently We usually form one queue and then the person at the top of the queue goes to the first available till (in shops) or teller, (in banks and the post office) sometimes people don't get it and stand behind the person standing at the counter. This leads to much tutting.

 

[Madhuri]

Differently to the US apparently We usually form one queue and then the person at the top of the queue goes to the first available till (in shops) or teller, (in banks and the post office) sometimes people don't get it and stand behind the person standing at the counter. This leads to much tutting.

Is there a very large gap between the queue and person at the counter? This queue style sounds very universal.

 

[brbubba]

Differently to the US apparently We usually form one queue and then the person at the top of the queue goes to the first available till (in shops) or teller, (in banks and the post office) sometimes people don't get it and stand behind the person standing at the counter. This leads to much tutting.

That's a much better system. Sometimes that does happen in the US, but rarely. Americans are by no means immune to queue etiquette breaches.

 

[Madhuri]

That's a much better system. Sometimes that does happen in the US, but rarely. Americans are by no means immune to queue etiquette breaches.

What is the system in the US?

 

[monta]

Is there a very large gap between the queue and person at the counter? This queue style sounds very universal.

Not always, Irish people would seem to have a hive mind when it comes to queueing :biglaugh:

 

[monta]

What is the system in the US?

4 counters 4 queues is my guess . Most of the manned tills in supermarket use this same syster, but not the automatic tills or the express tills.

 

[cynic2005]

Namaste Everyone,

Since this is the Hinduism forum, I can safely assume that most of the people here are either from India or are of Indian descent.

A few months ago, I came across an article on the Wall Street Journal by Mayank Maheshwari titled "We Need to Build A Class of Respectful Indians." In it, he complains about the lack of manners and the lack of respect for rules that he has observed among people in India:

How about some respect from Wall Street. Talk about uncivilized...

Anyways, this to me sounds ethnocentric, as he is comparing the mores of another culture to the western standard.

 

[brbubba]

4 counters 4 queues is my guess . Most of the manned tills in supermarket use this same syster, but not the automatic tills or the express tills.

Pretty much.