Back when Japanese knew manners ...
According to the Times online:
There was a time in Japan when courtesy was second nature. If you saw an elderly person, a pregnant woman or somebody on crutches, you would leap up and offer them your seat. These days, you pretend to be asleep and avoid eye contact at all costs.Is this true? Or is it just a myth? I've been in Japan 14 years, and it seems to me like it's always been this way. There are some pleasant exceptions, of course. And of course, sometimes there are valid reasons for not giving up a seat -- not that I have time right now to go into that ...
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Man, having lived in Japan in
Man, having lived in Japan in the late '90s and then coming back for a 3-month stay last spring/summer, I can assure you that it's better NOW than it was then! I don't know what that person at the Times is smoking...which, by the way, is another manner's issue that has improved greatly over the ten years I was away.
When i went over a couple of
When i went over a couple of years ago my husband (japanese) was the only one on the train that stood up and gave his seat to this mentally handicapped guy. Everyone else just looked down at their feet or pretended to be busy. I think it's pretty apalling. I've never seen anyone get up for an elderly person or pregnant lady either.
I think it was true until
I think it was true until early 1970s. Baby boomers initially changed the social behavior of people in the 1970s. I think that people's manners in public transport are getting worse these days, I mean, after 1990s.
False. People always say
False. People always say these things, but when you talk to old timers, they'll tell you things were at least as bad back in the 'good old days'.
Just for information, I have
Just for information, I have seen what I wrote above in real time. But I understand that people tend to believe what they want to believe.
Wasn't that one of the main
Wasn't that one of the main themes of 'No Country For Old Men?' Older folks often tend to feel that the world has changed or passed them by, but in reality, there's nothing new under the sun; Older folks often just tend to feel so disconnected they can no longer relate today's world to the one of their past.
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